Leonardo Blair

Latest

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  May 24, 2021

  SBC church membership suffers new historic 1-year decline of more than 400K

  A year after reporting the largest single-year membership decline in more than 100 years, churches in the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, lost more than 400,000 members in 2020 and set a new record for the single-year decline amid the coronavirus pandemic and a bitter culture war.

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  May 22, 2021

  George Floyd’s sister says she’s leaning on God as anniversary of killing approaches

  Just days away from the one year anniversary of her brother’s death which triggered a summer of protests for racial justice in 2020, George Floyd’s sister, Bridgett Floyd who started a foundation in his name, says her faith in God helped her survive his passing.

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  May 21, 2021

  Churches needed more than ever to treat COVID-19 ‘trauma’: TD Jakes

  As the nation slowly emerges from the deadly grip of the COVID-19 pandemic with vaccinations and declining case numbers, the Church will be needed more than ever to treat the “residue of trauma” left in the wake of the virus, according to megachurch leader and televangelist Bishop T.D. Jakes.

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  May 18, 2021

  Rock Church suspends indoor services after staffers test positive for COVID-19

  A month after Rock Church in San Diego, California, held their first indoor worship service since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the church has suspended indoor worship at all of their campuses for May 23, except at the Point Loma and microsite locations, after multiple staffers tested positive for COVID-19.

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  May 18, 2021

  More than 120 priests die in 2 weeks amid COVID-19 outbreak in India

  Father Victor David, parish priest of Our Lady of Happy Voyage in Howrah, India, died from COVID-19 last Thursday at the Mercy Hospital hours after Sister Pranita Rai, principal of St. Teresa’s School in Kidderpore, died from the disease too.

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  May 18, 2021

  Zachery Tims' ex-wife Riva weds ‘best friend’ and ‘heart-centered financier’

  More than a decade after divorcing her late troubled celebrity pastor husband Zachery Tims in 2009, whose affair with drugs and sex ultimately ended his life two years later, Riva Tims announced Sunday that she has found love again and is now remarried.

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  May 17, 2021

  Atlanta megachurch pastor Olu Brown announces retirement at 43

  More than 14 years after launching Impact Church in Atlanta, Georgia, with just 25 volunteers, Olu Brown announced Sunday that he plans to retire as lead pastor of one of the United Methodist Church’s fastest-growing congregations in June 2022.

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  May 17, 2021

  Warnock supports Israel’s right to ‘defend its innocent citizens’ as Gaza casualties mount

  Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who also pastors the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, said Israel has a right to “defend its innocent citizens” amid escalating violence with Hamas in the Gaza Strip that has already left scores of victims, including women and children dead.

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  May 14, 2021

  Megachurch Pastor Andy Stanley wants 500 bicycles for his birthday

  Megachurch Pastor Andy Stanley’s birthday is on Sunday, and he’s hoping his supporters will gift him 500 bicycles for a good cause.

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  May 14, 2021

  Church director, seminary student set to wed in November arrested for child pornography

  Andrew Shiira, once the director of worship planning at Lake Shore Church was getting ready to graduate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary on Saturday. A few months later in November, he was then expected to move on to wedded bliss with his fiancée, but his life was upended Thursday when he was arrested on 10 counts of child pornography.