religion

A Columbia University professor says spiritual beliefs can decrease our rates of anxiety and depression. I needed to understand how she came to these conclusions.

Thousands of United Methodist congregations have been voting on whether to stay or quit one of the nation’s largest denominations amid intractable debates over theology and the role of LGBTQ people. There are stark differences over recognizing same-sex marriage and ordaining LGBTQ clergy. More than 400 congregations have disaffiliated in North Carolina.

The new guidance comes a little less than a year after the U.S. Supreme court loosened rules for teachers and staff praying while on the job.

College Park Baptist Church found itself in the news last week when the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee voted to remove it from its rolls because of its “open affirmation, approval and endorsement of homosexual behavior." That action came 23 years after the congregation itself voted to leave the SBC, but according to the Executive Committee, it had remained on its rolls until now.

The Southern Baptist Convention's top administrative body voted to cut ties with two congregations on Tuesday — an LGBTQ-friendly church in Greensboro, North Carolina, that had itself quit the denomination decades ago and a New Jersey congregation it cited for “alleged discriminatory behavior.”