RNS Weekly Digest: RNS reporters look ahead to the big religion stories they expect in 2024

Weekly Digest

RNS reporters look ahead to the big religion stories they expect in 2024 As America gears up for another presidential election — with an expected repeat of the 2020 candidate face-off — RNS reporters anticipate plenty of political coverage in their future. But 2024 also promises opportunities for expanded Hindu American coverage, deeper dives into the future of faith in the growing post-religious population, and continued examination of the COVID fallout for congregations large and small.  And, 2023’s final quarter brought with it a vicious war in the Holy Land that will undoubtedly continue to be a main point of coverage for RNS in 2024. From papal reforms to psychedelics, here are the big religion stories RNS reporters expect to cover in 2024.  Religion & Politics How Philadelphia's faith community held together as Oct. 7 attack tested ties The top religion stories of 2023 Top stories of the year in Judaism In Opinion What Christian moral theology has to say about Trump's eligibility for office Study: Utah is no longer a majority-Mormon state Rabbi David Wolpe's pagans aren't the ones I know And finally, In a secular age, some young Americans still choose religious life In an America where institutional religious practice itself is on the wane, a good Catholic sister — or priest, or brother — is sometimes hard to find.  But not, as it turns out, impossible. Though the number of men and women drawn to religious orders has dropped dramatically over the past 50 years, a small but steady stream of millennial and Generation Z men and women still choose this strikingly countercultural life, often finding religious life in surprising ways. Sister Jenny Wilson, who until recently taught theology to high schoolers in Buffalo, New York, said some of her students initially learned about nuns by viewing horror movies.  “I never even knew that was a thing,” said Wilson, 46, who is now a vocation director for the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, a 200-year-old order of about 6,000 nuns worldwide who are engaged in varied ministries, including health care, education and spiritual direction. Find more Religion News Service content on social media and at religionnews.com.

RNS Morning Report: RNS reporters look ahead to the big religion stories they expect in 2024

Top Stories RNS reporters look ahead to the big religion stories they expect in 2024 (RNS) — From papal reforms to psychedelics to presidential elections, here are the big religion stories RNS reporters anticipate next year.   Southern Baptists settle abuse lawsuit against legendary conservative leader Paul Pressler (RNS) — Texas Judge Paul Pressler, a conservative activist and one of the founding fathers of the so-called conservative resurgence, had been accused of abusing young men for years.   What does Watch Night mean for Black Americans today? It dates back to the Emancipation Proclamation Watch Night is still being observed each New Year's Eve, at many multiracial and predominantly Black churches across the country.   Pope says ‘our hearts are in Bethlehem’ as he presides over the Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s VATICAN CITY (AP) — Francis, draped in white robes, led the Mass standing at the foot of one of St. Peter’s grand columns.   2023 Photos of the Year (RNS) — This week’s gallery looks back at some of the best photographs from 2023. RNS Opinion Study: Utah is no longer a majority-Mormon state (RNS) — With more nonmembers moving into the state and smaller Mormon birthrates, Utah is no longer a majority-Mormon state.   Why Israel matters: A conversation about the National Library of Israel with Raquel Ukeles When people tell me that they are ‘culturally Jewish,’ I can now say: ‘Welcome to your culture.’ ICYMI The top religion stories of 2023 (RNS) — Some of the year's most dramatic global events had religion at their center.   13 emerging faith leaders who made their mark in 2023 (RNS) — 2023's rising stars in religion are loud, proud and defiant.   6 pop culture and religion clashes from 2023 (RNS) — Remember when the pope became a fashion icon? In Other News The Church in the Holy Land rings in the new year with pleas for peace At these schools, Arab and Jewish students share their feelings, with each other   Talk to Us We want your feedback on the RNS Morning Report — what you think we're doing right and what we should be doing differently. Send us an email at Comments@ReligionNews.com Subscribe to other RNS Newsletters. Forward this email to a friend. View the archive of past newsletters. Religion News Service is free to read, but it's not free to produce. If you value our reporting, please consider making a donation today at religionnews.com/donate. If you prefer to mail a donation, please address to: Religion News Foundation, PO Box 1808, Columbia, MO 65205. Yes, I support the work you're doing! Forward this email to a friend

Weekly digest for EPConnection, on January 1, 2024

EPConnection Episode 109: A Promise of Renewal for a New Year | A Devotional with EPC Stated Clerk, Dean Weaver EPConnection Dec 29 Dean Weaver, EPC Stated Clerk, gives a devotional for the New Year about a God who takes brokenness and makes “all things new”. As we consider a new calendar year and the many attempts humans make to reinvent and renew ourselves, we spend several minutes in Revelation 21 to consider the God who can, and will, renew all things. Dean leads this devotional to encourage us to turn over our every part of our lives to the One who specializes on eternal renewal. Comment

RNS 2023 Photos of the Year

(RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s gallery looks back at some of the best photographs from 2023.   People queue to see the late Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI lying in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, where thousands went to pay their homage, Jan. 3, 2023. Pope Benedict was a German theologian who will be remembered as the first pope in 600 years to resign. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)   A member of Filhos de Gandhi, a Yoruba Afro-religious cultural group, participates in a ritual during the first cultural and religious activity of the year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)   Orthodox Christians celebrate Epiphany, a colorful festival celebrated all over Ethiopia to commemorate the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in the River Jordan, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday Jan. 19, 2023. The eve, starting on Jan 18, is known as Ketera, which means blocking the flow of water for the blessing of the celebrants. On the eve of Ketera, people escort their parish church tabot (replicas of the Ark of the Covenant) to Timkete-Bahir (a pool, river or artificial reservoir). (AP Photo)   The Venerable Guo Yuan, in orange, leads a Buddhist prayer ceremony on Jan. 31, 2023, outside Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California, the site of the mass shooting that left 11 people dead. (RNS photo/Alejandra Molina)   Hindu devotees join a procession as they walk inside the Sri Subramaniyar temple during Thaipusam celebrations at Batu Caves, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023. Thaipusam, which is celebrated in honor of Hindu god Lord Murugan, is an annual procession by Hindu devotees seeking blessings, fulfilling vows and offering thanks.(AP Photo/Vincent Thian)   People mourn after they bury their loved ones in Adiyaman, Turkey, Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. Emergency crews made a series of dramatic rescues in Turkey, pulling several people, some almost unscathed, from the rubble, days after a catastrophic earthquake killed more than 20,000. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)   A “momotxorro” participant takes part in the carnival wearing typical carnival dress, in Alsasua, northern Spain, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. During the carnival Momotxorros, characters who seem to have been resurrected from a prehistoric ritual come out onto the streets wearing horns and hiding their faces under headscarves, and dressed in a white sheet stained with blood. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)   Attendees come forward to pray together during worship at Hughes Auditorium on the campus of Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. Both floors were completely full of attendees for the service. A student-led revival lasted for weeks at the university. (Photo by Fiona Morgan)   A woman searches for the grave of her husband, a Ukrainian serviceman killed in the Bakhmut area, in the Alley of Glory part of the cemetery in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Feb. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)   Men from Barsana village smeared with colors play Holi at Nandagram temple in Nandgoan village, 70 miles south of New Delhi, India, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Women from Nandgaon, the birthplace of Hindu God Krishna, beat the men from Barsana, the legendary birthplace of Radha, the consort of Krishna, with wooden sticks in response to their efforts to put color on them. The same act is then replicated in Barsana between the women of that village and the men of Nandgaon as they observe the Lathmar Holi festival, a celebration of love and friendship. (AP Photo/Deepanshu Aggarwal) Click here to see the rest of the photos. Talk to Us We want your feedback on the RNS Photos of the Week — what you think we're doing right and what we should be doing differently. Send us an email at Comments@ReligionNews.com Subscribe to other RNS Newsletters. Forward this email to a friend. View the archive of past newsletters. Religion News Service is free to read, but it's not free to produce. If you value our reporting, please consider making a donation today. If you prefer to mail a donation, please address to: Religion News Foundation, PO Box 1808, Columbia, MO 65205. Yes, I support the work you're doing! Forward this email to a friend