Leaders urge intercession for nation, President-elect
After Joe Biden was projected as the winner of the 2020 presidential election, Southern Baptist leaders called for prayer amid deep divides in the U.S. “Southern Baptists are a praying people, and I call for everyone to obey the sufficient Scripture’s command to pray for our government leaders every day,” said Ronnie Floyd, president of the SBC Executive Committee. “Only God can heal the deep division in America and this is why we must pray.”
On Twitter, SBC President J.D. Greear called for prayer for Biden and the nation. “Pray for wisdom, justice, and truth,” he posted. “I pray for success in where he leads in what is righteous and right.”
Religious voters line up with 2016 tallies
White evangelicals and Catholics voted largely the same as in the last presidential election, according to data from exit polls. More than three-quarters of white evangelicals voted for President Donald Trump, while Catholic voters were almost evenly split between Trump and Joe Biden. The numbers mirror exit polling from the 2016 election between Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Pro-life women win House seats
Christianity Today reports 13 new pro-life women will be added to the U.S. House of Representatives in the new year. “Bringing in more pro-life women will give encouragement and support to the leaders who have been speaking up for years,” said Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Foundation. The 2020 elections saw 107 women elected to the House, besting the previous record of 102 in 2019.
Supreme Court considers foster care case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 4 heard oral arguments in Fulton v. Philadelphia, a case concerning whether the city of Philadelphia violated the First Amendment by excluding Catholic Social Services from the foster care system, based on the agency’s beliefs about marriage. An explainer on the case from the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission noted that Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh said no same-sex couple has come to Catholic Social Services to participate in foster care. Kavanaugh also noted that if two constitutional rights are at odds—religious exercise and same-sex marriage in this case—the government should try to accommodate both sides. The City of Philadelphia has not sought reasonable accommodations, he said.
Online worship: Barna measures ‘watching’ and ‘attending’
As some churches return to online worship amid surges in COVID-19 cases, Barna found about one in five adults who would normally be defined as churchgoers say they have never attended a service—in person or online—during the pandemic. But half of those say they have watched a service online. There may be a disconnect between what people consider “watching” and “attending,” Barna said, giving churches an opportunity to develop a broader strategy of online ministry that goes beyond the weekly worship service.
Sources: Baptist Press, Religion News Service, Christianity Today, ERLC, Barna Research