5+ day, 19+ hour ago (512+ words) Thanksgiving Day is around the corner, and the Kennett Area Ministerium created another meaningful Thanksgiving service with a welcoming invitation to the broader community. This year, Second Baptist Church hosted the event on Sunday, November 23, 2025, at 2:00 pm with the theme of the day, "Gratitude for our Senior Saints." Churches participating this year were: First Baptist Church; Second Baptist Church. St. Michael Lutheran Church; Episcopal Church of the Advent; and Unionville Presbyterian Church. Rev. David Grainson from St. Michael's Lutheran agreed: "I am thankful for the clergy who are so open and willing to collaborate, despite some real differences, to live out the compassion, mercy, and justice that Jesus calls us to." There was music by the Kennett Community Choir, led by Leon Spencer and by First Baptist Church choir accompanied by Chris Wells. The congregational singing was accompanied by Bill…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago (782+ words) U.S. Catholic bishops voted Wednesday to make official a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender patients at Catholic hospitals. The step formalizes a yearslong process for the U.S. church to address transgender health care. From a Baltimore hotel ballroom, the bishops overwhelmingly approved revisions to their ethical and religious directives that guide the nation's thousands of Catholic health care institutions and providers. More than one in seven patients in the U.S. are treated each day at Catholic hospitals, according to the Catholic Health Association. Catholic hospitals are the only medical center in some communities. Most Catholic health care institutions have taken a conservative approach and not offered gender-affirming care, which may involve hormonal, psychological and surgical treatments. The new directives will formalize that mandate. Bishops will have autonomy in making the directives into law for their dioceses. "With regard to the gender ideology,…...

2+ week, 5+ day ago (617+ words) By TIFFANY STANLEY, Associated Press The United States" Catholic bishops will elect their next president and vice president on Tuesday in Baltimore. The vote acts as a barometer for the bishops" priorities, hinging on whether they choose an outspoken culture warrior as their next leader. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as a whole was often at odds with the approach of Pope Francis. His successor, Pope Leo XIV, is continuing a similar pastoral emphasis on marginalized people, poverty and the environment. Half the 10 candidates on the ballot come from the conservative wing of the conference. The difference is more in style than substance. Most U.S. Catholic bishops are reliably conservative on social issues, but some place more emphasis on opposing abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. "The slate of 10 candidates perfectly reflects the dynamics of the American hierarchy in that it"s split…...

4+ day, 21+ hour ago (1018+ words) But quiet and worship are just what airport chapels have provided for decades to travelers and to the airport workers that many were originally designed for. "I love seeing travel bags and workers" outfits. It gives hope that you"re ministering to a need," said the Rev. Brian Daley, one of the priests at Our Lady of the Airways at Boston"s Logan International Airport. Built in the 1950s so that airport employees could attend Mass right in their sprawling workplace, it"s widely considered the first airport chapel in the United States. It"s also among the last to still function as a Catholic church instead of an interfaith space " though Muslim prayer rugs discreetly placed on the rear pews show it welcomes a variety of believers. Midday on a Friday, a man rolling a carry-on suitcase prayed for a…...

2+ day, 1+ hour ago (969+ words) By NICOLE WINFIELD, ANDREW WILKS and MEHMET GUZEL, Associated Press Leo, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and other Christian leaders met on the shores of Lake Iznik, the site of the Council of Nicaea that produced a creed, or statement of faith, that is still recited by millions of Christians today. Standing over the ruins of the site, the men recited the creed, which Leo said was "of fundamental importance in the journey that Christians are making toward full communion." "In this way, we are all invited to overcome the scandal of the divisions that unfortunately still exist and to nurture the desire for unity for which the Lord Jesus prayed and gave his life," he said. The prayer marked the highlight of Leo's visit to Turkey and the main reason for his trip, the first of his pontificate. The Nicaea…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago (519+ words) By MIKE PESOLI, Associated Press The church's history and tradition, said Washington National Cathedral Provost Rev. Canon Jan Naylor Cope, put it "at the intersection of the civic and the sacred." The funerals held there shed light both on the deceased and their place in the country's history. Titans of American history keep watch over the cathedral, as statues of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln stand in two separate bays near the entrance of the nave. The cathedral has five chapels on the main level and four chapels and burial vaults on the lower level, or the crypt. French-born architect Pierre L'Enfant's original design for Washington included a church "for national purposes." In 1893, a congressional charter was authorized to build a cathedral dedicated to religion, education and charity. Construction on the Protestant Episcopalian church began in 1907, with President Theodore Roosevelt…...

3+ week, 1+ day ago (333+ words) Causs, 62, joins an all-male governing body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which sits just under the church's president and his two top counselors. Apostles help set church policy while overseeing the faith's many business interests. With his appointment, he joins the order of succession to the church presidency, which is decided by seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve. A native of France, Causs spent the past decade as a presiding bishop who managed the church's money and welfare programs. Under his leadership, the church increased its humanitarian spending and dotted the globe with lavish temples where the faith's most sacred ceremonies take place. The faith known widely as the Mormon church does not disclose or discuss its finances, but the latest filings from its investment arm, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc., valued its portfolio at $58 billion. The church's…...

2+ week, 1+ day ago (514+ words) By NICOLE WINFIELD and PAOLO SANTALUCIA The two-volume Borso D'Este Bible, which is known for its opulent miniature paintings in gold and Afghan lapis lazuli, was unveiled in the Italian Senate, where it will remain on display until Jan. 16. The Bible is usually kept in a safe at a library in Modena and is rarely seen in public. It was transported to Rome under heavy security and its arrival in the Senate was televised, as workers hauled two big red crates from an unmarked van and then extracted the volumes, which were covered in bubble wrap. The Bible, commissioned by Duke Borso D'Este, was created between 1455 and 1461 by calligrapher Pietro Paolo Marone and illustrators Taddeo Crivelli and Franco dei Russi. The Italian Culture Ministry considers it one of the highest expressions of miniature art "that unites sacred value, historic relevance,…...