Summary

AFRO News – Exclusive: Women Clergy talk – Video: four clergywomen who spoke about COVID, coping in a crisis and Christ…

Associated Press – Faith leaders, including Trump allies, condemn Capitol riot – Religious leaders across the political spectrum, including several staunch supporters of President Donald Trump, strongly condemned the storming of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters…

Religious News Service – Why Christianity remains an in-person religion, even in a pandemic – The COVID-19 pandemic has been a reminder for many Christians that their worship is an in-person experience at its core. For some churches, that’s meant going to court to challenge restrictions on in-person gatherings. For others, it means doing the best they can and keeping the faith till they can all be together again.

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Exclusive: Women Clergy talk

AFRO News – National

Bishop-Elect Paula Clark, the Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, and {AFRO} Managing Editor and Publisher the Rev. Dorothy Boulware and the Rev. Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper, spoke on “{AFRO} Live” about their personal faith journeys, the pandemic pivot and keeping God first despite challenges.

The year 2020 was tough, but God is tougher and stronger than any pandemic. To usher in 2021, “AFRO Live” featured four clergywomen who spoke about COVID, coping in a crisis and Christ.  In a robust hour-long conversation, Bishop-elect Paula Clark, Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, and AFRO Managing Editor Rev. Dorothy Boulware and AFRO Publisher and CEO Rev. Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper, spoke in detail about their personal faith journeys, the pandemic pivot and keeping God first despite challenges. […]

Faith leaders, including Trump allies, condemn Capitol riot

Associated – Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Religious leaders across the political spectrum, including several staunch supporters of President Donald Trump, strongly condemned the storming of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters.

The violence “is an assault on democracy and representative government,” tweeted Ralph Reed, a longtime political conservative strategist who heads the Faith and Freedom Coalition.

“Resort to mob violence has no place in the life of our nation,” Reed added. “It does not represent our movement or the cause of Christ.”

Several pro-Trump faith leaders, while condemning Wednesday’s mob, attempted to draw a parallel between protests by anti-Trump activists earlier this year, which turned occasionally violent, and the harrowing riot at the Capitol.

“Violent, anarchist behavior emanating from the far left or the far right is immoral and criminal. It should be summarily condemned — beginning with the President of the United States,” said a statement from two Trump supporters, the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, and the Rev. Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders. […]

Why Christianity remains an in-person religion, even in a pandemic

Religious News Service- New York, NY

On Christmas Eve, members of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church in Tallahassee, Florida, will gather in the parking lot for a service that’s part tailgate, part worship and part family reunion.

Holy Comforter has been hosting indoor worship with strict limits on attendance since the beginning of the pandemic. But at this time in the liturgical calendar and this time in the pandemic, said the Rev. Jerry Smith, rector of Holy Comforter, people need to be together.

“We’re now Zoomed out. That’s part of the problem,” said Smith. “We don’t want to sit in front of the TV screen anymore. It’s not the same as being in each other’s presence.” […]