From Bach to Beyonce: Why a church orchestra aims to lift up young musicians of colour

DEEPA BHARATH, of Associated Press, reports on an initiative of the New Hope Presbyterian Church in Anaheim, California…
Conversations: Jemar Tisby on ‘The Spirit of Justice’ and the Black Christians who pursued it

ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, speaks to author and historian Jemar Tisby about his latest book, ‘The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance’…
“A model for reparations”: How historic Pittsburgh Black church and hockey team reached an historic land-use accord

PETER SMITH, of Associated Press, reports on the agreement between Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins…
My Mission: ‘Healing the healers’ with the restorative wisdom of the Black church

Rev Jennifer Bailey believes Americans’ divisions are experienced as grief and loss, and looks to provide rituals to help us heal. JOSHUA STANTON and BENJAMIN SPRATT report for Religion News Service…
Meet the organisation preserving and promoting the stories of Black Methodists in the US

RNS When most people think of the United Methodist Church, Carol Travis said, they don’t picture Black people. “People still think that the United Methodist Church is white,” said Travis. “You don’t see enough Black faces even though we have been there from the beginning. We never left.” The congregation of East Calvary Methodist Episcopal […]
Wow!: Docuseries on Black church highlights history, links to Biblical orthodoxy

ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, reports on a new docuseries exploring the Black church…
Essay: Will the Black church continue to sing ‘I Believe I Can Fly’?

In an article first published on Religion News Service, professor, assistant pastor and author CHERYL TOWNSEND GILKES writes that from its beginnings, Gospel music has had a strained relationship with commercial interests and secular artists…
Sight-Seeing: Black history can’t be told without the Bible

Rev NICOLE MARTIN, vice president of church engagement and executive director of trauma healing at American Bible Society, says the Bible has been a source of “healing, hope and refuge from danger” for Black Americans…
Fire at Black church in US being investigated as possible arson
Springfield, Massachusetts, USAP A fire early Monday morning at a Massachusetts church with a predominantly Black congregation is considered “highly suspicious” and is being investigated as a possible arson, authorities said. City, state and federal authorities are investigating the fire that heavily damaged the Martin Luther King Community Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Fire Commissioner Bernard […]
In the US, Black church leaders push for census participation despite coronavirus

RNS Community of Hope African Methodist Episcopal Church in Maryland is switching gears as it promotes the need for African Americans to fill out the 2020 census form in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The Prince George’s County congregation had planned to hold block parties with other churches in the Washington metropolitan area to […]