(1) Are Pastors Discarding the ‘Evangelical’ Label? We Surveyed Hundreds |Christianity Today
Has this year’s election caused a tidal wave of evangelical leaders to opt out of the term, or is this one more conversation resulting in little change to widespread usage of the E-word?
To find out, we surveyed CTPastors.com readers (38% Senior/Solo pastors, 17% other pastors, 25% lay leaders, 20% business admin/other) regarding their comfort with the term. We limited our sample population to those who agreed or strongly agreed with LifeWay Research / NAE’s definition of evangelical (resulting in a sample size of 440). Then we asked these respondents four questions…
(2) Couple file appeal over North Carolina gay-marriage law |AP
Three couples have asked an appeals court to revive their challenge to a North Carolina law allowing magistrates with religious objections to refuse to perform same-sex marriages.
…The couples argue that they have standing as taxpayers to challenge a law that requires spending of public money to accommodate magistrates’ religious views. They say the law authorizes a magistrate to travel between jurisdictions to perform marriages — at taxpayer expense — if counterparts in another area all recuse themselves.
“It is the spending of tax dollars to elevate religion above the constitution, solely authorized by and occurring because of a legislative act, that gives Plaintiffs-Appellants standing to challenge” the law as unconstitutional, the lawsuit states.
(3) Evangelical support for Trump strains relationships among believers |Waco Tribune
“Listening to what some of what he has said publicly, and the people he’s aligned himself with, it leaves room for the question whether he can truly be the president for all people,” Foreman said of Trump. “Some of the things he has said have made people question whether he respects the rights of women, minorities and others.
“I believe this is the worst presidential campaign in the history of campaigning. There’s been nothing positive about it. At the same time I never lost sight of the fact that even for those that I’m in total disagreement with, I’m not going to fall out with them… . We cannot allow the election to make us forget that we’re the family of God, that we’re connected.”
Callahan, the Antioch member, said he will do his part to seek reconciliation. He has appreciated fellow believers who have reached out to him after the election. In any case, he said no election will cause him to turn his back on his evangelical faith.
“Jesus is all we have,” he said. “You strip away my law degree, my undergrad degree, my marriage, my family, my skin color, make me like Job, and all I have is Jesus. Jesus is the hope of the world.”
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