2+ week, 10+ hour ago (95+ words) Area church leaders are embracing new programs as they try to understand what's driving change and how to better reach communities. Jennifer Pallikkathayil is the health and social services reporter. Prior to coming to the News-Tribune, she worked in reporting and editing roles at small newspapers in Iowa and Nebraska. She also worked for nearly a decade at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism. She is married to Jothi (Joe) Pallikkathayil and is step-mom to Jazz. She can be reached at 573-761-0254 or email protected...

6+ day, 10+ hour ago (757+ words) This growing social concern in 19th century America eventually resulted in 13 years of Prohibition, a time during which it was illegal to manufacture, sell and transport alcohol. But during the late 1800s, prior to its implementation, one local Baptist pastor had to address the issue of drunken youths who disrupted his worship service. "Robert Hood worked for the Missouri Pacific Railroad for 21 years," noted the "Moniteau County, Missouri Family History Book" printed in 1980. "He was ordained into the ministry by the Green Ridge Baptist Church in Miller County. He began preaching March 12, 1893." Though spending his ministry with churches within the Concord Baptist Association, Hood went on to preach for several small Baptist churches throughout Mid-Missouri. In January 1896, he became the pastor of Cole Spring Baptist Church near Russellville. The following year, only four years into his career as a minister, Hood's patience…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago (495+ words) When millions of European immigrants came to the United States in the 19th century only to be scorned by mainstream society, it was the Catholic Church that embraced them, taught that keeping the customs of one's native lands was not bad and created systems of mutual aid and education for the newcomers that didn't rely on the government. Catholicism is the faith I was baptized in, the one I embraced as a teen and that's the bedrock for my moral code of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. My work desk covered with statues and devotional cards of Jesus, Mary and the saints is a physical testament to this. But I'm also one of the 72 percent of U.S. Catholics that a Pew Research Center survey from earlier this year found don't attend weekly Mass, which we're obligated to do. I stopped…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago (686+ words) This is the first of two columns about the convert-era in Orthodox Christianity in America. For Orthodox Christians in America, the 20th century was shaped by waves of believers fleeing wars, revolutions and persecution in lands such as Greece, Syria, Russia and Romania. The Orthodox did everything they could to preserve their faith and cultural traditions. When bishops visited these small flocks, it was rare to see converts. Then, in the late 1980s, flocks of evangelical Protestants swept into the Antiochian Orthodox church and then the Orthodox Church in America, which has Slavic roots. These converts began reaching out to others. Then came the seeker-friendly internet. Then came COVID. Suddenly, streams of young families began exploring what was often called the mysterious, ancient "Eastern Church." "Some observers liken this influx to a flood, and the comparison is accurate. I do not visit…...