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First LookChurch membership in US hits new low, Gallup poll showsThe percentage of U.S. adults who belong to a church or other religious institution has hit a new low of 50% last year. Delayed marriage and fewer children could be factors. The most significant membership drops are among Democrats and Hispanics.
20 years after Columbine: one parent’s reflectionTwenty years after Columbine, a reporter and former Colorado teacher reflects on raising children in an era of school shootings.
First LookNYC, largest fur market in country, considers ban on fur salesIf passed, New York would become the third major American city to ban the sale of fur. Industry advocates argue the ban will trigger the loss of more than a thousand jobs.
For animals stranded by flood or fire, a network of strangers to the rescueFrom Nebraska to Texas and California, disasters inspire volunteers for animal rescue tasks – pulling horses from floods, donating food after fires.
In Atlanta, a Civil War painting stops stretching the truthThe Cyclorama’s costly restoration has become a teaching moment for Atlanta, whose 1864 defeat by Union troops it portrays.
‘It’s a constant hustle.’ 2020 brings renewed attention to US child care woes.Finding affordable, quality child care has been a decadeslong struggle for working parents. Fresh leadership and thinking may offer new solutions.
When dam burst, here’s how one Nebraska town met the epic floodsThe Nebraska community of Lynch has only 230 residents. One-third of the houses ended up under water last month as epic floods hit the region.
In SPLC’s crisis, a broader lesson for how to combat hate?The Southern Poverty Law Center faces an internal housecleaning, but also deeper questions about the care needed to identify promoters of hate.
As China cracks down on Uyghurs, some keep their culture alive in the USAs part of a Uyghur crackdown, China discourages Nowruz, the Uyghur New Year. Now some in the U.S. are celebrating it to sustain their culture here.
After California wildfires, what survivors say they gained from lossAfter wildfires and other disasters, potential exists for post-traumatic growth, a concept that suggests survivors can emerge with renewed purpose.
In the growing gospel of ‘workism,’ is all work holy?T.G.I.F.? For many millennials, it’s T.G.I.M. – thank God it’s Monday. But can “workism” – searching for a sense of purpose and identity on the job – work?
Winter, where are you? Please come back.Our reporter communes with other cold-loving folk at an icy park in New Hampshire on the last day of the season.
First LookSlave photos fuel lawsuit against HarvardA woman is suing Harvard University over its use of 19th century photos of two slaves, whom she claims as ancestors, that were commissioned by a Harvard biologist. The lawsuit says the continuing use of the images by the university is denigrating.
After Christchurch, Muslims ask: Are we safe in the West?The Christchurch attack has shaken Muslims around the world. It was preceded by increasingly Islamophobic rhetoric and hate crimes.
After New Zealand terror, the faithful grapple with big question: Why?In recent years white supremacist gunmen have targeted worshippers as they gathered, from Charleston, South Carolina, to Christchurch, New Zealand.
First Look'Redface' remains persistent, despite Native Americans' pushbackRacist imagery that stereotypes Native Americans' speech, dress, and rituals has a long history in the United States. Recent conversations around blackface have many indigenous communities frustrated at the comparative lack of discussion about "redface."
‘Love is the only thing’: After tornado, Alabamans lean on one anotherAn EF4 tornado killed 23 and injured nearly 100 in Beauregard, Alabama. Residents say they’ve lost everything, except faith in God and one another.
Spiritual or atheist? More nonbelievers are saying ‘both.’In a letter up for auction, Albert Einstein talked about admiring “in humility the beautiful harmony of the structure of the world.” More nonbelievers say they are seeking a sense of awe and reverence in their own lives.
Alternative churches: are they the future of religion?Is church still 'church' if you meet in ... a laundromat? With alternative churches becoming more common, it raises the question: Is this just a fringe movement, or is it what the mainstream churches of tomorrow will look like?
Cover StoryPray and wash: Finding church in unexpected placesFor many, worship has always been about much more than the edifice in which it occurs. Today, a new locus of spiritual growth is emerging around alternative settings that redefine “church.”
