Conviction Holds as Culture and Crisis Collide

With a Subtitle: SBC bars women pastors and condemns assisted suicide; Sudan's churches burn; AI idolatry rises.

A brief Excerpt: This week: Southern Baptists advance an amendment limiting the pastorate to men and condemn assisted suicide, 160 churches fall in Sudan's war, an emergency summit confronts antisemitism, and Americans weigh AI's place in faith.

The Author is: Jeff Hilles

CBN News — US Church Attendance Ticks Up, Stabilizing After COVID — A Hartford Institute for Religion Research study of more than 7,000 congregations finds in-person worship attendance rising for the first time in over two decades. Median weekly attendance, which fell from 137 in 2000 to 45 in 2021, reached 70 in 2025. Volunteering and finances also improved.

Baptist Press — ‘Truth and Unity Amendment’ Clears First SBC Vote — Messengers at the 2026 Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando gave initial two-thirds approval to Albert Mohler’s “Truth and Unity Amendment,” limiting the office and function of pastor to men. The measure passed 6,028 to 2,026 (76.66%) and faces a required second vote in Indianapolis in 2027.

The Washington Stand — Campaign Targets 568 Firms Funding Trans Procedures for Kids — The 1792 Exchange launched a nationwide campaign pressing 568 companies to stop funding gender-transition procedures for employees’ children. To earn a top score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, those firms agreed to cover such procedures. CEO Douglas Napier urged executives to reverse policies he says harm minors.

Crosswalk — Moral Acceptance of Birth Control, Gambling Drops in Gallup Poll — Gallup’s 2026 Values and Beliefs survey found Americans’ moral acceptance of several behaviors falling sharply. Approval of birth control dropped from 90% to a record-low 83%, while gambling fell to 57%. Acceptance also declined for births outside marriage, teen sex, and animal cloning, suggesting a possible conservative shift.

CBN News — ‘I Left Islam in Mecca’: Ex-Muslim on Why Many Turn to Christ — A former Muslim who says he left Islam during a pilgrimage to Mecca describes why growing numbers of Muslims are turning to Christ, often after dreams and visions of Jesus that prompt them to question lifelong beliefs. CBN reports such conversions are increasing across the Islamic world.

Denison Forum — AI-Worshiping Churches, Spiralism, and the Zizians — Jim Denison examines “Spiralism,” an informal movement whose followers treat AI-generated messages as revelation, and AI-worshiping groups like Way of the Future and Theta Noir. A violent offshoot, the Zizians, is linked to six deaths. Denison frames such technological idolatry as evidence of humanity’s God-given hunger for meaning.

Just the News — Whistleblower Vindicated on Title IX Gender-Identity Loophole — The Department of Education concluded that Biden-era officials engineered a loophole to keep enforcing a gender-identity reading of Title IX despite a court injunction, vindicating a whistleblower. Investigators found leaders “actively engaged” in efforts to thwart at least one regional office from following the injunction’s plain meaning.

Graphs About Religion — Gen Z Doesn’t Trust Anyone — Ryan Burge’s analysis finds Generation Z on track to become the least-trusting generation in modern American history, with only 13% saying others can be trusted. Among non-churchgoing Gen Z, 88% say “you can’t be too careful,” versus 50% of regular attenders—the widest trust gap of any cohort.

CBN News — 60,000 Rally for Jesus in One of the World’s Most Secular Nations — Roughly 60,000 Christians gathered for the four-day Opwekking (“Awakening”) Pentecost conference in the Netherlands, one of the world’s most secular nations. CBN reports the event drew worshippers for prayer, teaching, and celebration of the Holy Spirit, signaling continued spiritual hunger amid widespread European secularism.

The Washington Stand — Pentagon Declines to ‘Adjudicate Theological Debates’ — After streamlining servicemembers’ religious-affiliation categories from about 200 to 31, the Pentagon faced backlash when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was listed without a “Christian” prefix. Rather than rule on whether Mormonism is Christian, the Defense Department removed all such prefixes and alphabetized the list.

Christian Post — The Death of Christian Colleges: Why Campuses Are Closing — Writing for CP Voices, the author mourns the closure of Trinity Christian College and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, part of decades of Christian colleges and seminaries closing, merging, or drifting from biblical convictions. He argues the answer lies in discipleship and biblical-worldview training to pass truth to the next generation.

Baptist Press — SBC Resolutions Address Assisted Suicide, Immigration, More — Messengers at the 2026 Southern Baptist Convention adopted eight resolutions in Orlando addressing disability ministry, assisted suicide, immigration, political violence, antisemitism, and America’s 250th anniversary. The assisted-suicide resolution reaffirmed opposition to euthanasia “in all its forms,” warning against rebranding it as medical care and citing Canada’s expanding eligibility.

CBN News — Christian Embassy Holds Emergency Summit on Antisemitism — The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem convened an emergency three-day summit to confront surging antisemitism since October 7 and awaken silent churches. President Jürgen Bühler cited dramatic spikes in anti-Jewish incidents worldwide. The gathering also addressed Replacement Theology and equipped pastors to teach the Jewish roots of Christianity.

Denison Forum — Was Fidelity Month Created to Counter Pride Month? — Jim Denison considers whether “Fidelity Month,” launched in 2023 to promote commitment to God, family, and country, was created as a counter to Pride Month, with which it shares June. Denison uses the question to point readers toward a deeper truth about ordering one’s loves and loyalties.

Just the News — Decades of Pediatric Transgender Research Riddled With Errors — A critical review found decades of research underpinning pediatric transgender procedures riddled with errors. Just the News reports the Biden administration again politicized gender-identity science, with emails showing it leaned on a speculative “family rejection” theory to justify an affirmation mandate in foster-care regulation despite scientific objections.

Crosswalk — What Are the New Heavens and New Earth in Isaiah and Revelation? — Clarence Haynes explains the biblical teaching on the new heavens and new earth promised in Isaiah 65 and 66, 2 Peter 3, and Revelation 21. He describes God’s future restoration of creation—free from sin, death, and tears—where the redeemed dwell with Him forever as He makes all things new.

The Washington Stand — SBC Votes to Condemn Physician-Assisted Suicide as Unbiblical — Opening with a physically healthy Canadian woman seeking assisted death for mental illness, this report covers the Southern Baptist Convention’s vote condemning physician-assisted suicide as unbiblical. It situates the resolution within a global expansion of “medical aid in dying” across Europe, Canada, and parts of the United States.

Christian Today — Christian Officer Settles After Questioning Islam in Training — Luke Salmons, a former North Yorkshire police community support officer, reached a confidential settlement after alleging religious discrimination. He was suspended and later barred from policing after questioning Islam during mandatory diversity training that repeatedly chanted “Islam is a religion of peace.” The Christian Legal Centre backed his case.

CBN News — Christians Caught in Sudan’s War; 160 Churches Damaged or Destroyed — CBN reports more than 160 churches have been damaged or destroyed in Sudan’s civil war, some looted or turned into military barracks. Open Doors ranks Sudan the fourth-worst nation for Christian persecution. Aid groups describe famine and sexual violence, yet many pastors refuse to abandon their congregations.

Prophecy News Watch — Can a Judge Prevent a Child From Attending Church? — Prophecy News Watch highlights a custody case in which a judge barred a child from attending church during a parent’s visitation, amid religious differences between separated parents. Religious-liberty advocates warn the precedent could threaten millions of shared-custody families’ freedom to raise children in the faith.

State of the Bible — Informational or Formational? What People Think About AI and the Bible — American Bible Society’s State of the Bible finds Americans evenly split among optimism, pessimism, and uncertainty about AI. Only 14% believe AI can help them understand Scripture, and unease over AI-assisted sermons persists, though unfavorable views softened. Notably, non-Christians view AI-assisted preaching most unfavorably.