(RNS) — They’re best known for their post-hurricane disaster relief efforts —  ripping up homes damaged by floodwaters and rehabilitating them from the studs.

But in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Baptists on Mission, an auxiliary of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, is remaking itself as a food distribution network, delivering boxes of produce to people struggling to get by in a state where more than 1 million people have filed for unemployment benefits.

in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Baptists on Mission, an auxiliary of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, is remaking itself as a food distribution network, delivering boxes of produce to people struggling to get by in a state where more than 1 million people have filed for unemployment benefits.Earlier this month, Baptists on Mission won a reimbursable $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to deliver fruits and vegetables, milk, cheese and meat as part of its Farmers to Families Food Box Program.

The vast majority of that grant — about $1.4 million — will be spent on purchasing food. The remainder will go toward buying or leasing seven refrigerated trucks, paying for gas and other expenses.

The organization is working with volunteers at 185 churches and community centers across the state to help distribute the food — about 8,000 boxes a week.

“We’ve…

The answer to America’s current divisions lies in the nation’s churches, with followers of Christ modeling the “qualities of the One we claim to follow,” former NFL coach and current television commentator Tony Dungy says. 

Dungy made the comments on Twitter Friday, saying he had been thinking and praying “about how I should respond” as he “watched the events in Minneapolis unfold.” 

“Today we are a divided country,” Dungy wrote. “We’re divided racially, politically, and socio-economically. And Satan is laughing at us because that is exactly what he wants. Dysfunction, mistrust, and hatred help his kingdom flourish. 

“Well, what is the answer then?” Dungy asked. “I believe it has to start with those of us who claim to be Christians. We have to come to the forefront and demonstrate the qualities of the One we claim to follow, Jesus Christ. We can’t be silent. As Dr. King said many years ago, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere!’ But we can’t go forward with judgmental, bitter, spirits. We need to be proactive, but do it in the spirit of trying to help make things better. And it can’t be just the African American churches. It has to be ALL churches taking a stand and saying ‘We are going to be on the forefront of meaningful dialogue and meaningful change.’ We have to be…

June 1, 2020 (Morning Star News) – The COVID-19 crisis in Iran has resulted in freedom for several Christians among the roughly 85,000 people released from prison, but convictions have continued in spite of a short-lived lull in actions against converts to Christianity, sources said.

The release of imprisoned Christians as part of the regime’s efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus was pragmatic and not an indication of a change of policy by the Iranian government, rights advocates said.

“For a time it looked like the authorities were too busy with coronavirus to bother with the Christians,” a researcher at Middle East Concern (MEC) told Morning Star News. “Now we know they have really turned their attention again to targeting Christian converts.”

On April 21 Christian convert Mary (Fatemeh) Mohammadi, 21, was sentenced to flogging and three months plus one day in prison for taking part in a January protest in Tehran over the downing of Ukranian Airlines Flight 752 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran. Though the case is unrelated to her faith, since previously serving a six-month prison sentence for charges due to Christian activity, Mohammadi has been harassed and denied education, according to MEC.

In the hearing, the judged asked Mohammadi about her Christian faith, although it had no bearing on the charges of “disturbing public order” that she…

(RNS) — Faith leaders in Minneapolis, Minnesota, are offering aid to demonstrators who have taken to the streets to decry racism and police brutality, working to balance religious calls for justice with an aversion to violence and a desire to prevent the spread of infection during the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.

The city has been rocked by unrest this week following the death of George Floyd on Monday (May 25). His final moments were recorded in a widely shared video: Floyd, a black man, is seen writhing underneath Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, begging the official to remove his knee from his neck while gasping: “I can’t breathe.”

Three other officers are seen standing nearby keeping the crowd at bay until Floyd eventually falls silent.

The video sparked demonstrations decrying racism and police brutality, which have rocked the city, drawing out faith leaders hoping to muster a religious response.

Billy G. Russell, the pastor of Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, a predominately African American congregation situated roughly a mile from where Floyd died, has attended several protests in an effort to offer a ministerial presence and “keep the peace.”

His message was amplified on Thursday when the Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke at Missionary Baptist. Russell said the famed civil rights activist called for “protest and peace” while addressing…

A wrongly incarcerated man is now enjoying his newfound freedom as he wowed judges with a soulful performance on America’s Got Talent.

Archie Williams, 59, had been convicted of rape 37 years ago even though forensic evidence against him was lacking, The Christian Post reports.

At merely 22 years of age, he was sentenced to life imprisonment at Angola state penitentiary in Louisiana, which is one of America’s deadliest prisons. 

“Freedom is of the mind, I went to prison, but I never let my mind go to prison,” Williams told show host Terry Crews on Tuesday’s AGT broadcast.

As “a poor black” kid, Williams lacked the financial capacity to defend himself against the State of Louisiana.

Nevertheless, he asserted that music and his faith allowed him to persist through life’s storms.

“When you’re faced with dark times, what I would do is I would pray and sing; this is how I got peace,” he said.

The singer was finally able to taste freedom in 2019 with the help from the Innocence Project, a non-profit legal organization that specializes in exonerating falsely convicted individuals.

In taking on Williams’ case, the Innocence Project was able to exonerate him after finding DNA evidence through fingerprint analysis.

The results showed that Stephen Forbes was the true culprit. Forbes had multiple counts of sexual assault.

Following his story, Williams…

A Connecticut statewide policy that allows biological boys who identify as girls to compete in girls-only sports violates Title IX, the Trump Department of Education has ruled. 

At issue is a policy by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) – the state’s governing body for interscholastic athletic – permitting transgender girls to compete in girls-only events without taking testosterone-suppressing hormones as required on the NCAA and international levels. As a result, two biological boys have won more than a dozen Connecticut girls’ state titles.

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), in a May 15 letter that became public Thursday, ruled that the policy violates Title IX, a 1972 law prohibiting discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities. OCR was responding to a complaint filed by three female track athletes.

Female athletes are treated differently under the Connecticut policy than are male athletes, OCR ruled. 

“Female student-athletes were denied the opportunity to compete in events that were exclusively female, whereas male student-athletes were able to compete in events that were exclusively male,” the letter says.

By enforcing the policy and allowing biological males to win female-only events, CIAC “denied female student-athletes athletic benefits and opportunities, including advancing to…