As universities shutter DEI offices, progressive Christian groups open their doors

It’s a blustery Sunday evening in January and about a dozen students are splayed on couches in a church sanctuary a block away from Ohio State University.

It looks like a movie night, but they’re here to worship with a student ministry called Jacob's Porch. The service begins with a collective breath, a prayer, and a song written by the group called “Be Here Now.”

“We are together,” the students sing from their comfortable perches. “We are enough, we are now present, we are your own.”

The informal setup reflects the ethos of the ecumenical Christian group, which, though founded in the Lutheran tradition, welcomes students who wrestle with faith — including those who are not religious.

“Some of our students who are actually atheist and agnostic have said, ‘I never thought I’d find a place that would let me explore without pushing me to be a certain way,’” said the Rev. Taylor Barner, a campus minister at Jacob’s Porch. He said the group’s approachability could be part of why roughly 60% of the group, which serves about two dozen students from Ohio State University, is LGBTQ.

Religion & Politics

Photos of the Week: Bulgarian saint of beekeepers feast, monks arrive in DC

Believers attend an Orthodox service for the "sanctification of honey," at the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Church in the town of Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, marking the feast day of St. Haralambos, the Orthodox patron saint of beekeepers. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

In Opinion

And finally, As Walk for Peace reaches DC, Buddhist monks share interfaith message with thousands

Thousands of onlookers gathered at Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday (Feb. 10) to see and hear from the venerable Buddhist monks who have completed a 108-day, 2,300-mile walking journey from Texas to the nation’s capital. Surrounded by leaders from several faith traditions, including Washington Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde, who began the gathering with a peace prayer from St. Francis, the monks talked about how the practice of compassion can transcend religious differences.

“In front of you all, you can see all religions’ leaders here together for the same mission: peace,” said Venerable Bhikkhu Paññākāra, the monks’ leader, who spoke for a half-hour on a sunny day. “This is the first time to me, that we are working together. We are walking together on this path to find peace for ourself, to share that to our nation and the world.”

At the event, called “A Sacred Stop on the Walk for Peace,” the 19 monks from the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth were welcomed by a cheering crowd of people young and old, some of whom had waited for hours to secure a spot close to the monks. Many held flowers or signs, while others sported homemade “Walk for Peace” garments.

Support our responsible reporting on religion