Veterans Administration revises policy on religious displays
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision permitting a cross to remain on a public highway, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has revised its policies on religious symbols in displays at VA facilities.
Family burial interrupted by lack of death certificate
The prayers had ended and Rose M. Stith stood near the open grave in Oakwood Cemetery steeling herself to watch her youngest son’s casket lowered. But, suddenly, a member of the March Funeral Home staff was telling her that the …
Dr. LaKeesha Walrond is breaking glass ceilings as new seminary president
Sitting in her office on Manhattan’s far west side, the new president of New York Theological Seminary, Dr. LaKeesha Walrond, recalled how she was reprimanded as a youth for crossing the pulpit area of her church during a choir rehearsal.
History of enslaved sold for Georgetown University detailed in new genealogical website
A genealogical association has launched a new website detailing the family histories of enslaved people who were sold to keep Catholic-run Georgetown University from going bankrupt in the 1800s.
U.S. Supreme Court upholds Bladensburg Peace Cross
A 40-foot-tall cross-shaped war memorial standing on public land in Maryland does not represent an impermissible government endorsement of religion, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a major decision testing the boundaries of the federal Constitution’s separation of church …
High-intensity workouts end with prayer
On a Tuesday evening under the roof of a public picnic shelter, a group of women ages 20 to 55 groaned through a series of high-intensity exercises in the 88-degree heat and humidity.
Nuns sell St. Emma and St. Frances property
A historic Powhatan County estate that was once home to two Catholic residential schools for African-Americans, including a military academy for boys, now belongs to a Petersburg area businessman.
Dementia and religion: Inside a church’s Alzheimer’s support group
They sat in a circle in a room usually used by high schoolers and talked about the people they loved who no longer recognized them or who had died forgetting the names of family caregivers in their last days.
Report urges congregations to support family caregivers
A new report on family caregivers details how congregations can play a role in supporting the increasing number of members caring for elders.
Hard hats replace bishops’ miters at Notre Dame’s first Mass since fire
Everyone, it seems, has an idea for how to rebuild Notre Dame.
Boston church stamping Harriet Tubman on its $20 bills
Three years ago, the Treasury Department announced that it would put Harriet Tubman’s face on the front of the $20 bill by 2020. A portrait of the abolitionist, championed by activists, would replace that of President Andrew Jackson, who would …
SBC president: Racial insensitivity disregards the gospel
Speaking at a black church last Sunday in a city that is nearly 75 percent African-American, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. J.D. Greear, said white Christians who are racially insensitive are disregarding the gospel.
Evergreen Cemetery receives international recognition
Evergreen Cemetery, the historic burial ground of such Richmond greats as businesswoman Maggie L. Walker and crusading newspaper editor John Mitchell Jr. as well as thousands of other African-Americans, has just garnered international recognition.
Report notes U.S. Jews of color overlooked, undercounted
The typical photo of American Jews on synagogue websites, camp brochures and Jewish organizations’ fliers features happy-looking white people.
Former St. Philip’s rector consecrated as bishop of West Tenn.
The Rev. Phoebe Roaf, 55, former rector of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, was officially consecrated as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee on May 4 in Memphis.
