An Alabama pastor is emphasizing joy and community after his house went up in flames roughly a week ago. Eric Foxx of Home Church in Mobile says that he has felt the peace of God despite the fact that his home has been deemed a total loss. 

On Saturday, Oct. 12, Foxx received a call that his house was on fire. 

“I turned the corner and it was just like, there it is. All the hard work, all the time, all the blood and sweat and tears you’ve put into it, it is absolutely the saying: down in flames and up in smoke,” Foxx told WALA. “If the fire don’t get it, the smoke gets it. If the smoke don’t get it, the water does. So just absolutely everything is just toast.”

Following the fire, Foxx’s church has rallied to support him—something church members know that he would do for them. 

RELATED: Pastor Dies Following Fire Pit Explosion

In fact, according to Brandon Badon, who attends Home Church, Foxx has “been incredibly supportive and even supportive even through this tragedy.”

“He’s been to every event, every funeral, everything that’s been going on with other people. He’s still made it in spite of something as tragic as this,” said Badon.

In an email to ChurchLeaders, Foxx said that he planted the church to be a place in the community that people “to call home.”

“Home represents family, and we are called to be family to one another as a part of the body of Christ,” he said. “We are brothers and sisters meant to love, serve, encourage, and be there for one another in both good, and bad times.”

“I’ve had a peace in all of this,” Foxx told WALA. “And God was like, ‘People need to see what happens when the faith family—when things happen, when things are not perfect, when things go wrong in our lives—how people of faith respond.”

RELATED: ‘We Didn’t Hate Him’—SC Pastor Leads Man Suspected of Setting Church Vans on Fire to Christ

“I have joy, because happiness is something that is happenstance. It’s something that happened and now it makes me happy,” Foxx added. “But joy is constant.”

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Below the sparkling chandeliers of the Museum of the Bible‘s ballroom, the murmurs of fervent prayers for mental health healing rose above the sound of plucked guitar strings.

Those prayers, uttered by a national gathering of Latino evangelical pastors on Tuesday (Oct. 15), will be backed by a new mental health initiative launched by the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference’s Center for Ministerial Health.

“This is NHCLC 2.0,” the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, the organization’s president, told RNS. The Center for Ministerial Health is the first of three new centers that will form a new structure for the Hispanic network of thousands of evangelical congregations, many of them Pentecostal or charismatic.

At next year’s leadership summit, the organization plans to launch the Center for Public Policy, which will be based in Washington, D.C., and then a year later, it plans to debut the Center for Kingdom Collaboration, with a focus on uniting different Christian organizations.

Plans for the new centers emerged as NHCLC’s leaders gathered for prayer. “We heard this in our prayer time and in our conversations with Heaven about what’s the future for the movement,” Rodriguez said.

The focus on health was revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic. “COVID exposed vulnerabilities,” said Rodriguez, explaining that NHCLC had seen pastors leaving ministry and struggling with suicidal ideation. “It broke our hearts,” he said.

Pastor Reina Olmeda, who is directing the mental health initiative, told attendees she was hesitant to share vulnerably while doing her graduate work in psychology.

“Something inside me said, I want to do this, but my culture was speaking louder,” Olmeda said, later telling RNS that Latino communities face both cultural pressures not to disappoint their families and stigma based on ideas that mental health struggles are a sign of spiritual failure.

But the Holy Spirit was working on her, Olmeda said, and eventually she spoke about her emotions.

“That moment, I broke something for the next generation, for my daughters,” Olmeda thundered, switching to Spanish. “When I spoke, I said, my daughters will not have to battle to say how they feel.

“Embracing vulnerability allows the Holy Spirit to communicate with us, and it is through the work of the Holy Spirit that we find healing.” She said, “Jesus was a great example of vulnerability…If Jesus could do this, why can we not? Why do we have to hide?”

NHCLC is providing various trainings for pastors to learn about their own mental health and to provide preventative care for the stressors that their communities confront. They’re also preparing sermon outlines, group session guides, a webinar and a masterclass for Mental Health Awareness Month in May.

(RNS) — When a Detroit pastor asked Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday (Oct. 15) about her alleged “lack of engagement” with Black church leaders, the Democratic presidential contender looked visibly taken aback. Harris rejected the accusation, calling it “misinformation” that originated with former President Donald Trump’s campaign. But the moment, coming during a town hall in Detroit organized by radio host Charlamagne tha God, showed her perceived vulnerability with Black voters.

“They are trying to disconnect me from the people I have worked with—that I am from,” said Harris, who has a connection to Hinduism through her mother but was also raised in the Black church and is a member of Third Baptist Church of San Francisco. She has “been actively engaged” with Black church leaders “throughout my career and as vice president,” including, she said pointedly, “recently.”

Indeed, Harris, who called her pastor, the Rev. Amos Brown, shortly before announcing her presidential campaign in July, made a blitz of campaign appearances meant to shore up support among Black churchgoers. It’s a familiar strategy for Democratic politicians, who have long visited Black churches near Election Day, hoping to maximize turnout among a critical segment of the party’s base.

But experts say Harris’ recent appearances in faith settings don’t measure the full scope of her outreach to Black Christians. While some analysts have raised concerns about lagging support for the vice president among Black men especially, others told RNS she has been quietly courting African American support in multiple ways for some time.

Harris recently launched a “Souls to the Polls” initiative to magnify the voter participation efforts Black churches have organized for decades, and her campaign has established a faith advisory board that features Brown and nine other faith leaders tasked with connecting with Black churches in swing states.

Her appearance with Charlamagne tha God came on the heels of a visit Sunday to Koinonia Christian Center, a church in Greenville, North Carolina, where a packed congregation clapped and shouted boisterously throughout her address. Harris told the congregation that she learned at an early age to think of faith as “a verb” and that believers “show up in action and in service.” While lamenting the damage wrought across the state last month by Hurricane Helene, the vice president repeatedly referred to Scripture.

Citing the New Testament’s Epistle to the Galatians, Harris said the Apostle Paul “reminded them and us, that God calls us not to become weary of doing good. Because we each have the power, God tells us this, the power, each one of us, to make a difference.”

She concluded by quoting from the Book of Psalms: “Let us always remember that while weeping may endure for a night, joy cometh in the morning.”

Anthea Butler, a historian of African American and American religion at the University of Pennsylvania, said Harris has touched Black Christians in less obvious ways, pointing to Harris’ decision not to attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress in July. The move, Butler argued, likely resonated with Black church leaders who have been vocally critical of the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip.

Equally as telling, Butler said, was the event Harris chose to attend instead of the Netanyahu speech: An event for the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, one of the “Divine 9” Black sororities and fraternities that are seen as cultural powerhouses in the African American community.

Celebrations of Christmas often feature traditional performances with soft music, choirs, and Bible costumes. But Peter and Jennifer Emerson have revolutionized this concept with their groundbreaking production, “He Rules the World,” a rock-pop experience that masterfully tells the nativity story while delivering an energetic, family-friendly show.

“He Rules the World” blends high-energy rock guitars, classically-trained vocals, and even the sound of a pop synth keytar with the Christian message of Jesus’ birth.

Peter was inspired to write “He Rules the World” after attending a Trans-Siberian Orchestra performance. Impressed by the spectacular lights, lasers, pyrotechnics, and the sheer energy of the show, he felt the call to create something similar—but with one key difference: a focus on Christ.

RELATED: Anne Wilson Praises God for Opening Doors for Her To Take the ‘Gospel to Country Music’

“Their Christmas show was Christmas adjacent, but it wasn’t really about Christ. I wanted to do something that was both a spectacle and God-centered,” Peter said.

Peter told ChurchLeaders that his inspiration led to a six-month creative period in 2019, during which he wrote the music for the show. “God just pushed it through me,” Peter shared, crediting divine inspiration for the seamless and powerful composition of the show’s 17 songs. This rock opera, in its entirety, tells the nativity story in a way that’s vibrant and modern, yet faithful to the biblical narrative.

Those who attend “He Rules the World” will be immersed in an experience that combines Christmas music with stunning visuals, intricate lighting, and animated narrations by famous “Hercules” actor Kevin Sorbo. “I’m a very visual person,” Peter said. “I wanted something that was as interesting to watch as it was to listen to.”

The Emersons shared how they approached Sorbo. After a one-hour Zoom call with the couple sharing their vision for “He Rules the World,” Peter said that the “Hercules” actor was instantly on board, telling them, “Yeah, I’m in. What’s next?”

Jennifer emphasized the importance of creating a show that parents can feel good about sharing with their children. “I’m always looking for high-quality, fun, engaging activities that are family-friendly but also meaningful,” she explained. “He Rules the World” delivers the perfect balance between entertainment and spiritual depth.

“The older generations are going to enjoy a lot of the influences of music they grew up listening to—Styx, Steely Dan, and Tom Petty—while the younger kids are going to find themselves humming along to familiar Christmas melodies that they know,” Jennifer added.

RELATED: ‘God Perfectly Orchestrated My Career’—Forrest Frank Shares How He Balances Faith and Success

Jennifer recalled how a 12-year-old boy who attended 2022’s show said, “Man, this is the best concert I’ve ever been to! People need to come see this. The keytar is amazing!”

Officials are investigating a “suspicious” fire at Tabernacle of Faith Church in North Las Vegas. The fire occurred around 2:20 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17. No one in the building or among the fire crew was injured. 

“We are growing in faith through the Word of God & teaching others to do the same,” says the church on its Facebook page, which adds that Tabernacle of Faith was founded in 1993 “under the leadership [of] Bishop Corine W Claiborne.” It is now led by Rev. Dr. Fredrick Johnson.

North Las Vegas Church Fire Under Investigation

According to reports, the fire took place in an exterior wall of the North Las Vegas church. When fire crews arrived on scene, they saw smoke coming out of the building’s gable vents. Upon entering the church building, they saw the fire was burning in the exterior wall and successfully contained it before it spread elsewhere. 

The North Las Vegas fire and police departments are working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate the fire’s cause. 

In a June 2024 interview on CTNVegas, Tabernacle of Faith’s pastor, Fredrick Johnson, discussed his spiritual journey, his ministry, and how he came to lead the church. Johnson shared that he was Claiborne’s assistant pastor at first and has been Tabernacle of Faith’s lead pastor since 2017. 

The pastor, who grew up in a “Baptist environment” and did not learn about the Holy Spirit until moving to Las Vegas, said that he did not always know God but perceives that God has always had his hand on Johnson’s life.

RELATED: ‘Wow, Look at God!’—Police Return Thousands of Dollars of Stolen Items to KS Congregation After Receiving a Tip

Johnson said he went to seminary because God told him to; while there, he met the CTNVegas interviewer, Dauda Presley.

Citing 1 Corinthians 13, Johnson said that when people visit his church, “I want you to feel the love of God.” Following God, he said, is not a “task” but a “privilege.”

After his 10th-inning walk-off home run in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) Thursday night (Oct. 17), David Fry praised God and admitted he had relied on help from above. “All glory to God,” the 28-year-old Cleveland Guardians catcher told a reporter, following the 7-5 game-three victory over the New York Yankees.

“I had a really bad first at-bat and strikeout,” Fry said. “And I just told God, I said, ‘Take it, man. Just take the at-bat.’” Later, during his post-game press conference, the night’s hero reiterated those comments. “I just told God, ‘Hey man, take this. It’s a tough matchup. Just try to have fun and you take the at-bat.’”

.@laurenjbara catches up with David Fry of @CleGuardians following his massive walk-off HR in Game 3 of the #ALCS ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/eySu0wGOS5

— TNT Sports U.S. PR (@TNTSportsUS) October 18, 2024

Fry, a Christian who partners with Jesus Won Apparel, spoke about the role his faith plays in high-stakes sports moments. “I try to give it to God, and I’m just trying to have the slowest heartbeat I can,” he said. “It’s tough in those situations to try to stay within yourself.”

The Guardians, who now trail the Yankees 2-1 in the best-of-seven ALCS, will try to even the series tonight at home. Cleveland hasn’t won a World Series since 1948, the longest current title drought in Major League Baseball.

RELATED: Faith on the Field: Celebrating Christian Baseball Players

Cleveland Guardians Pitcher: God Writes the Script

During five innings Thursday, Guardians starting pitcher Matt Boyd allowed one run and two hits. The 33-year-old, who signed with the team in June, walked three batters and struck out four.

In his nine years in the majors, Boyd, an outspoken Christian, has faced injuries, surgeries, and many team changes. After having Tommy John surgery in June 2023, he went more than a year without a big-league start. Boyd also faced the uncertainty of being a free agent after last season.

Before his Oct. 12 game-five start in the American League Divisional Series (ALDS) against the Detroit Tigers, his most recent team, Boyd spoke about the turn of events. “I don’t write the script,” he said. “But the One who does writes it a lot better than me, as I’ve said many times.”

After Cleveland advanced to the ALCS, the veteran pitcher expressed appreciation for getting another chance to play baseball. Boyd said while he recovered from surgery, his daughter repeatedly asked when he’d be part of a new team. “When God shows us who to sign with, we’ll do that,” he told her.

RELATED: Pittsburgh Pirates Outfielder Andrew McCutchen: ‘God Is More Important’ Than Baseball

Pitcher Matt Boyd Says He Is God’s ‘Handiwork’

On social media, Boyd proclaims that he is “playing for an audience of one.” The pitcher and his wife, Ashley, founded Kingdom Home in 2018 to fight sex slavery. The organization rescues children from the sex trade in Uganda and also works to prevent human trafficking.

A North Carolina pastor has been arrested and charged with sexual exploitation of a minor following a two-month investigation. Timothy Charles Rupard, 44, believed that he was communicating online with a 16-year-old girl. 

Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of child sex abuse that some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.

Rupard is pastor of Temple Baptist Church, an independent KJV-only Baptist congregation in Newland, North Carolina.

According to WCYB, an investigator received a message in August from Rupard on an undercover social media account. In the message, Rupard, who reportedly utilized the fake username “David Eller,” allegedly solicited sex from a 16-year-old girl. 

RELATED: Florida Pastor, Previously Convicted in Sex Abuse Case, Under Investigation as Authorities Seek To Identify Other Victims

The account received more messages of a similar nature through September. In October, the investigator obtained a search warrant and determined that the account belonged to Rupard. 

“Rupard had been in consistent communication with what he believed to be a sixteen-year-old female,” the Elizabethton Police Department in Elizabethton, Tennessee, said in a release. “Throughout these conversations, Rupard had repeatedly expressed his desire to engage in sexual acts with the minor female.”

When Rupard expressed his desire to see the girl, adding that he was willing to drive to her home, police set up an operation to arrest him. The “girl” told Rupard that she was on fall break from school and that her mother would be working during the day. 

In addition to expressing his desire to engage in sex acts with the minor, Rupard also said that he would bring THC vape pens so that the two could get high together. 

RELATED: Kenosha Pastor Re-Arrested at Hearing for Another Allegation of Stealing an ‘Intimate’ Photo

On Oct. 11, Rupard messaged the girl saying that he was en route to the her location at an apartment complex in Elizabethton, sending pictures of a road accident that resulted in him being stuck in traffic. He also spoke with someone he believed was the girl twice on the phone via the David Eller social media account. 

(RNS) — Bishop David D. Daniels III, a scholar and ecumenist who sought to build understanding of historical African and Black Pentecostal contributions to Christianity, has died at age 70.

Daniels, a professor of world Christianity and church history at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, died on Oct. 10 after a “courageous battle with cancer,” said the Rev. Eric Lewis Williams, director of the Office of Black Church Studies at Duke Divinity School, who was Daniels’ colleague and former student.

The Rev. Maisha Handy, McCormick’s president, said her institution was “deeply enriched” by Daniels’ work and legacy. “His contributions to theological education are significant and timeless,” she said in a statement. “He will be missed by our village.”

Bishop J. Drew Sheard, the presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ, said in a statement that Daniels was “not only a tremendous individual in the Church of God in Christ but also an influential figure in the body of Christ.”

Sheard said Daniels’ “wisdom, scholarship, and unwavering dedication to the ministry made him one of the most astute and respected leaders among us. As a profound historian of the Church Of God In Christ, Bishop Daniels’ contributions to the preservation of our rich legacy are unparalleled.”

In his work, Daniels drew attention to individuals, such as the late Mother Mary P. Patterson, who preserved a sense of COGIC’s place in the United States. Patterson helped erect historical markers in the South that chronicle the denomination’s history. Daniels also highlighted the work of Sherry Sherrod DuPree, a former president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies whose Library of Congress collection includes 1930s issues of COGIC’s The Whole Truth newspaper.

Daniels, also a former SPS president, is himself known for fostering greater understanding of the denomination and other Pentecostal traditions in wider Christian circles.

“Daniels was very interested in getting Pentecostals engaged, especially Black Pentecostals, … in a number of the ecumenical dialogues,” said Williams, reached as he arrived in Switzerland for a joint consultation with leaders of the global Pentecostal movement and the World Council of Churches. “But the work was so much that he would begin to get others from the tradition engaged.”

The Chicago seminary noted that Daniels’ contributions included lecturing widely, while remaining committed to his colleagues and students in academia.

“Devastated to hear of the passing of someone who was a scholar, teacher, and mentor for so many: Bishop Dr. David D. Daniels, III,” said the Rev. Yolanda Pierce, dean of Vanderbilt University Divinity School, on the social media platform X. “A loss for (the Church of God in Christ), McCormick, and so many other institutions.”

In a 2017 column published in the (Memphis) Commercial Appeal, Daniels critiqued celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation that year that often occurred “without any reference to African Christians.” In that essay, Daniels wrote about reformer Martin Luther’s interest in the Christians of Ethiopia.

(RNS) — This past Sunday, worshippers returned to Biltmore Church, a megachurch in Asheville, North Carolina, for the first time in person after Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina. It was bittersweet, said Bruce Frank, the church’s pastor. People were glad to be together, even as many are still grieving. “There is a lot of loss,” Frank said simply in his sermon.

Among the lost were Nora and Michael Drye, lay leaders at Biltmore, and their 7-year-old grandson, Micah, who became trapped on their roof and drowned in Helene’s flooding. Others in the church had lost loved ones, homes and their livelihoods.

Church members have rallied to support those affected, offering their parking lot to disaster relief groups and state workers and organizing drive-by centers where people can pick up water, ice, diapers and food for those affected by the disaster, said Frank.

The coming months, he said, will be like a “stay-at-home mission trip” for church members, as they’ll be helping others near home.

With the one-two punch of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton within two weeks of one another, faith-based disaster groups are getting ready for a long, slow recovery that may take years. “It’s going to take a long time,” said Frank, whose church is working closely with North Carolina Baptist Disaster Relief. Volunteers have already cooked more than 100,000 meals in the church parking lot.

Two hours away, in Boone, North Carolina, staff and volunteers from Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical humanitarian group led by the evangelist Franklin Graham, have been working to clear debris, set up water filtration systems and deliver food and other supplies by helicopter to communities cut off by the storm.

In rural communities the group has set up some 50 Starlink kits to restore internet service and has furnished generators to supply power. “We’ve also set up oxygen shelters,” said Graham, for patients unable to receive their usual supplies, “and refilled more than 1,000 oxygen tanks.”

So far, said Graham, more than 16,000 volunteers have shown up to help, with more expected. The group is working at sites from Georgia to Florida in Helene recovery, as well as close to home in North Carolina. More help will be needed in the months to come, said Graham.

But Graham said plans are already underway for long-term rebuilding, primarily recruiting leaders for that work and arranging with suppliers for rebuilding materials. Meanwhile, volunteers already on the scene are installing culverts to drain water and helping to temporarily restore gravel roads washed out by the storm.

Graham, a supporter of Donald Trump, nonetheless expressed relief the election has taken a back seat to disaster relief. “Nobody’s talking about Democrats or Republicans,” he said. “It’s kind of refreshing. Politics is not an issue. It’s about getting people back up and running again.”

The nondenominational Christian volunteer group Eight Days of Hope has been working on rapid response to both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, setting up mobile feeding sites as well as trailers with laundry and shower equipment.

“So if you need a warm shower or you need your laundry done, you could come and do that and get a warm meal while you were there,” said Hannah Fletcher, a spokesperson for the group. Having just wrapped up its Milton response, Eight Days of Hope planned to continue responding for much of October in areas affected by Helene, while making plans to return for rebuilding work once communities have a long-term plan in place.