In a dramatic reversal from the first round of voting, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil was re-elected on Sunday, besting his conservative rival and defying a right-wing wave that has swept through Latin America.

In just three weeks, Mr. Lula found more than 10 million new votes. He gained ground nearly everywhere, attracting vast new support in major cities like São Paulo and in his strongholds across the northeast, according to official results.

After a chaotic Election Day, Mr. Lula’s right-wing rival, Flávio Bolsonaro, said that he would not accept the results and called for the election to be annulled.

Mr. Bolsonaro led by two percent in the first round of voting, and few pollsters expected Mr. Lula to turn things around. Many candidates who were eliminated endorsed Mr. Bolsonaro, and analysts expected he would pick up most of their votes.

But Mr. Lula reversed what had been a conservative shift, the results show. He reestablished his dominance in small towns. He made gains in working-class suburbs around some of the country’s biggest cities. He appeared to be helped by a broad, unexpected increase in turnout.

Read it all.

Deu no @nyt!How Lula Came Back https://t.co/7Fib4h9Ez7 via @NYTimes

— Carlos Alberto Jr. (@cajr1569) October 26, 2026

For Christianity Today to publish such a speculative piece, boosting material that was initially made public with a clear political agenda, seems in tension with the magazine’s own editorial philosophy as of 1970 that it is wrong “to gossip about things of which we are not certain.” According to a new report from Ruth Graham at the New York Times, the erstwhile flagship journal of American evangelicalism has been declining in more ways than one. To its critics, “Elliotgate” is one more sign that the magazine has lost its way, against the chaotic backdrop of mass layoffs and a waning subscriber base. But former deputy editor Bonnie Kristian, who edited Austen’s piece, has defended it as important and conversation-driving. Whatever the article’s merits, the magazine handled the backlash unprofessionally, leaving Austen unaware of the temporary choice to pull it.

Some of that backlash has itself been less than helpful. In a column for WORLD, Denny Burk, president of the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, rightly noted how thin Austen’s evidence is. But he has treated her claim that same-sex attraction isn’t itself a sin as an endorsement of “Side B,” the view that gay Christians should embrace their orientation in various problematic ways while remaining celibate. The two ideas are not the same. One can grant that same-sex attraction is itself not a sin while holding that it is “objectively disordered”: something to be resisted, not adopted as a public “identity” in the manner of modern sexual politics. This conflation has been a persistent blind spot in the evangelical approach to the issue, missing areas of concern for evangelicals and Catholics alike.

Still, Burk’s instinct is not entirely misplaced. Austen says plainly that Elliot’s story “should inform the church’s treatment of Christians who experience same-sex attraction,” and Side B proponent Wesley Hill’s praise for the piece suggests how it is likely to be read. Austen’s remarks seem to gesture beyond simply separating temptation and sin, implying that double standards toward opposite-sex and same-sex attraction are automatically bigoted and normalizing a broader church culture of “coming out of the closet” beyond a close circle of friends and counselors. This is not an especially helpful word for evangelicals, who if anything could benefit from more discretion and less “tell-all” culture when it comes to sexual temptations of any variety.

Read it all.

In The Trouble with Elliotgate, Bethel McGrew examines the controversy surrounding claims about Elisabeth Elliot’s sexuality and Christianity Today’s handling of the resulting article.McGrew critiques the evidence behind the speculation, considers the broader tensions within evangelical debates over same-sex attraction and sexual identity, and questions whether publicizing such uncertain personal claims serves the Church or its readers.To read the piece, visit https://t.co/R5binXKe9Y

— First Things (@firstthingsmag) October 25, 2026

On July 5 the Northwest Chinese Baptist Church in Phoenix opened its weekly Mandarin service with a verse from the Old Testament. A pianist, a guitarist and a drummer prepared to lead the 100 congregants in song. The deacon read out the preamble to the Declaration of Independence — “We hold these truths to be self-evident” — and then invited the congregation to rise and sing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” It was a good moment to exalt American ideals. The prior night, fireworks marked America’s 250th anniversary of independence.

The next speaker was a guest, Timothy Cheng, the chief executive of a Christian media company. Flicking through a slide presentation, he spoke about the significance of semiconductors, noting that chips made in Taiwan are the lifeblood of the American economy. He clicked to the next slide. The faces of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Jensen Huang appeared on the screen.

“In earlier years, Western missionaries brought knowledge, education and English to the East,” Mr. Cheng said. “They brought the Gospels and Western medicine. Now that Taiwanese have become fortunate and strong, why should they not transfer knowledge to the United States to make it powerful?”…

The parents are more concerned. Not about food fights — though the idea perplexes them — but about the laxity of education. Arizona’s public schools rank among the lowest in the country for graduation rates and the third-lowest in spending per pupil.
Taiwanese families were enticed to the United States in substantial part by the promise of sending their children to American colleges. Now parents fret that the Arizona educational system won’t help their kids get there. They’re nonplussed that teachers sometimes wave off assigning homework to high school seniors; some schools allow seniors to take Friday afternoons off. The idea astonishes parents used to spending big sums on extracurricular prep.

Read it all.

I went to Phoenix to spend time with the Taiwanese community. TSMC will invest $265 billion and send thousands of engineers and their families, which marvel at their new lives in the SunbeltMy first feature as a contributing writer to the New York Times: https://t.co/n73RydKBiD

— Dan Wang (@danwwang) October 23, 2026

O Sovereign Lord, who didst bring thy servant Alfred to a troubled throne that he might establish peace in a ravaged land and revive learning and the arts among the people: Awake in us also, we beseech thee, a keen desire to increase our understanding while we are in this world, and an eager longing to reach that endless life where all will be made clear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

On this day in 899, Alfred the Great died in Winchester.Alfred was a scholar-king who believed that literacy was essential to the strength and freedom of his people. He personally translated (or closely supervised the translation of) major Latin works into Old English so that ordinary free men could read them.He is the only English monarch in history to be given the epithet "the Great".“I desired to live worthily as long as I lived, and to leave after my life, to the men who should come after me, the memory of me in good works.”

— Oldspeak Bookshop 📚 (@oldspeak_books) October 26, 2026

O God, who hast sent thy servants to prepare thy way; fill our hearts with love and strengthen our hands to work, that we may make ready the way of our King; for Jesus Christ’s sake.

–Robert W. Rodenmayer, ed., The Pastor’s Prayerbook: Selected and arranged for various occasions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1960)

Morning everyone I hope you are well. After an interesting weekend of weather and more rain due today, a bit of brightness to start the week with views along Loughrigg and an inversion over Windermere. Have a great day.#LakeDistrict https://t.co/TTm1tTmlAX

— Rod Hutchinson (@lakesrhino) October 26, 2026

But I am like a green olive tree
    in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
    for ever and ever.
 I will thank thee for ever,
    because thou hast done it.
I will proclaim thy name, for it is good,
    in the presence of the godly.

–Psalm 52:8-9

Red sky in the morning, all over very quickly then the rain arrived. View over Teddington Weir. 26.10.26 @TW11Harbour @Teddington_Town @SallyWeather @itvweather @Tidal_Thames95 @Visit_Richmond1 @LBRUT @Visit_Richmond1 @rnli_teddington @ThamesPathNT https://t.co/r16AM3EoVf

— Sue Lindenberg (@patlinberg) October 26, 2026

Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Guten Morgen ☕☕☕ Diese Zeit Umstellung macht mich fertig…. Einen erholsamen Sonntag euch allen 🍀👋 https://t.co/vBQ24GG7wu

— Die Kellner’s (@andreas_kellner) October 25, 2026

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

–Matthew 18:15-20

The old bridge at Piper’s Hole, Newfoundland.I photographed this a few years ago, when the trail was covered in leaves and the trees were showing off their colours. The old bridge has seen better days, but I think that’s part of what makes it interesting.It’s a simple spot, but the fall colours really bring it to life.

— Gord Follett Photography (@gord_follett) October 24, 2026

O God, our Father, we pray for all in thy Church, which is set today amid the perplexities of a changing order, and face to face with new tasks.  Baptize her afresh in the life-giving spirit of Jesus.  Bestow upon her a greater responsiveness to duty, a swifter compassion with suffering, and an utter loyalty to the will of God.  Help her to proclaim boldly the coming of the Kingdom of God.  Bid her cease from seeking her own life, lest she lose it.  Make her valiant to give up her life to humanity; that, like her crucified Master, she may mount by the path of the cross to a higher glory; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Robert W. Rodenmayer, ed., The Pastor’s Prayerbook: Selected and arranged for various occasions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1960)

Good morning from the Welsh Marches. All the pinks. And all the cider apples have been picked. 😊🍎 https://t.co/HGUOonBiIa

— Anne O’Brien (@anne_obrien) October 24, 2026

Therefore let every one who is godly
    offer prayer to thee;
at a time of distress, in the rush of great waters,
    they shall not reach him.
Thou art a hiding place for me,
    thou preservest me from trouble;
    thou dost encompass me with deliverance.Selah

I will instruct you and teach you
    the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
    which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
    else it will not keep with you.

–Psalm 32:6-9

The larch trees adding some color to a rainy day scene at Lake Alva https://t.co/qm8Y9Xpe6l

— Leon Kauffman (@LeonKauffman) October 24, 2026

America is full of religious schools—Catholic elementary schools and Jewish day schools, Lutheran high schools and evangelical pre-schools. The Supreme Court has made clear that these schools are free to employ teachers who align with their missions, even if that involves hiring decisions that would otherwise fall foul of the law.

Teaching students in accordance with its faith is also integral to a school’s religious mission. But Colorado excludes from a state funding program religious schools that refuse to admit students who reject, or whose parents reject, the school’s religious mission.

On the Supreme Court’s docket is St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, with oral arguments scheduled for Nov. 3. Every religious community should pay attention, for the case implicates the liberty of schools, houses of worship, and other faith institutions.

The case centers on funding for Colorado’s universal pre-K program. Private religious schools like St. Mary, a Catholic parish school in Littleton, are eligible to participate, but only if they accept all students regardless of religious values and practice. Colorado’s condition would force schools to choose between participating in the subsidized preschool program and compromising their religious identity.

Read it all.

Government Money, Secular Strings by @NDiament https://t.co/smFC8yRz0r via @WSJopinion

— REGGIE B. QADAR (@SCOURING15) October 23, 2026

Christian charities and campaigners have condemned the Government’s approval of the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea. Tearfund and the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) have called for the decision to be reversed.

They emphasised the consequences for communities already suffering from climate change, and urged government ministers to refuse permission for the much larger Rosebank oilfield.

The Government announced on Wednesday that the Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, had agreed that the regulator could grant consent for gas to be produced at the Jackdaw field. The Labour Party promised in its election manifesto not to issue any licences to explore new oilfields and gas fields, but Jackdaw already held a licence.

Ms Fahnbulleh said on Wednesday: “This decision will support the country’s energy security with home-grown gas this winter and help minimise the UK’s use of imported higher-emission fuels as we continue our transition to renewables and nuclear. The decision is compatible with our legally binding climate commitments, and we remain resolute in ending new licences for oil and gas and achieving net zero by 2050.”

Read it all.

Christian charities and campaigners have condemned the Government’s approval of the Jackdaw gas field 🌊 in the North Sea #ChurchTimes #ChurchNews https://t.co/mcw9bY1Jnn

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) October 23, 2026

Frequent AI use, defined as daily or weekly use, is not yet the norm across the U.S. workforce, though its adoption has increased sharply in the past three years. In the AJQS data collected January-March 2026, 28% of employees reported using AI at least weekly, while 54% said they had not used AI in their role. Differences in use reflect, in part, the nature of people’s jobs: Not all roles involve regular access to digital devices or have obvious opportunities for employees to use AI directly.

Roughly half of employees in the professional and business services, financial activities and information/media industries regularly use AI. Meanwhile, healthcare support, manufacturing production and retail sales employees have low levels of usage, with 70% to more than 80% never using AI in their role.

Regular AI use is more common among employees with higher levels of education and those in management positions. College graduates are more than twice as likely as those without a college degree to say they use AI on a daily or weekly basis (40% vs. 17%, respectively). In addition, 37% of managers versus 25% of individual contributors are regular AI users.

Younger workers, who have grown up with the latest technologies, are not among the most frequent users of AI at work (about one in five use it weekly or more). Yet among AI users, employees aged 18 to 24 are the most likely to say AI has led their employer to ask them to take on more responsibility, at 38%, compared with 31% or less in every other age group.

Read it all.

🗞️ IN THE NEWS 🗞️ American employees who use #AI at work mostly report gains in speed and creativity, but new @Gallup research finds that the benefits are not evenly shared across the workforce. More details in this @Inc article: https://t.co/RwHotsFpGO #artificialintelligence

— Inc. Arabia (@inc_arabia) October 20, 2026

As the economy strains the U.S. public, pastors report increasing pressures and giving lagging behind inflation.

Lifeway Research’s annual tracking survey reveals most U.S. Protestant pastors (54%) report the economy is negatively impacting their congregation. Slightly more than a third (36%) say it’s having no impact, while 8% see a positive economic effect.

“Pastors hear the needs and problems of people in their congregations every week, so it is not surprising that they feel their pain from economic factors,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Even seemingly positive financial changes such as a member getting a promotion or more overtime could negatively impact a church if those people attend less.”

Read it all.

Most U.S. Protestant pastors (54%) report the economy is negatively impacting their church. Slightly more than a third (36%) say it’s having no impact, while 8% see a positive economic effect. https://t.co/hsvFuUnhXW https://t.co/ZzjPpDZklk

— Lifeway Research (@LifewayResearch) October 22, 2026

Grant, we beseech thee, O God, that after the example of thy servant James the Just, brother of our Lord, thy Church may give itself continually to prayer and to the reconciliation of all who are at variance and enmity; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever.

St. James, Brother of the LordThe first Bishop of Jerusalem was thrown from the Temple for proclaiming Christ.He survived the fall and prayed for his attackers before being stoned and killed.His martyrdom occurred around A.D. 63.October 23#OrthodoxSaints https://t.co/a3I6gIL5Lw

— Orthodox Calendar Co (@orthodoxcalco) October 23, 2026

God, the giver of life,
whose Holy Spirit wells up within your Church:
by the Spirit’s gifts equip us to live the gospel of Christ
and make us eager to do your will,
that we may share with the whole creation
the joys of eternal life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Divine geometry. Peterborough cathedral all lit up yesterday. https://t.co/o2i6Du5rZP

— Andy Marshall 📸 (@fotofacade) October 23, 2026

Blessed be the Lord,
    for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
    when I was beset as in a besieged city.
I had said in my alarm,
    “I am driven far from thy sight.”
But thou didst hear my supplications,
    when I cried to thee for help.

Love the Lord, all you his saints!
    The Lord preserves the faithful,
    but abundantly requites him who acts haughtily.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the Lord!

–Psalm 31:23-24

Der Tag beginnt magisch 🧚🏻‍♂️🔮 Guten Morgen ☕️✨ https://t.co/PSA8wci2gb

— Fusseltroll (@fusseltroll) October 23, 2026

The Bishop of Leicester is seeking to ban election materials containing a picture of a religious building that “suggests a close connection” between a candidate and the place of worship or the religion associated with it. 

Rt Rev Martyn Snow has tabled the amendment to the Representation of the People Bill, which refers to the use of churches or other religious buildings to imply endorsement. The proposals and briefing documents do not single out a particular party.

On the Faith in the Public Square Substack, the bishop and social policy advisor Florence Gildea said in recent years there had been “more leaflets – of all colours: red, yellow, blue and turquoise – with candidates posing in front of church buildings”.

They set out concerns about compliance with charity law, of churches being seen to endorse parties or candidates, as well as how church leaders or congregations will often only know images had been used “when a leaflet drops on the floor, leaving no means of recourse”.

The article highlighted the principle of elected politicians representing all their constituents, akin to the parish priest having a duty of spiritual care to all parishioners; not giving “the impression that they are aligned with a particular religion and that followers of that faith could expect to receive preferential treatment if the candidate were elected”.

Read it all.

An amendment banning the publication of election material containing a picture of a religious building that “suggests a close connection” between the candidate and the building — or the religion associated with it — has been tabled by Bishop of Leicesterhttps://t.co/KXQlWrGsRP

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) October 19, 2026

Of all the predictions Alexis de Tocqueville made while surveying the youthful United States, one of the boldest concerned religion. Notwithstanding Protestantism’s apparent American dominance, the Frenchman prophesied that Roman Catholicism would be the long-term victor in a democratic age. “Our posterity will tend more and more to a single division into two parts,” he wrote in Democracy in America, with “some relinquishing Christianity entirely, and others returning to the bosom of the Church of Rome.”

The last few years have given that prediction new life. From the spate of traditionalist-inclined college converts to the heretofore secular humanists who have thrilled to Pope Leo XIV’s critique of artificial intelligence, it often feels like Catholicism is the strongest religious alternative to post-Christian tribalism, nihilism, and transhumanism. Writing for the Catholic magazine Commonweal, Wesleyan University’s Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins, himself a non-Catholic, envisions “a Catholic century,” in which the church’s thought becomes a “default option” for people seeking the common good amid liberalism’s crisis and AI-driven dehumanization.

As a Catholic I have a similar reading of the intellectual situation. But it’s also essential to look beyond the intelligentsia to assess the health and future of religion. And in the wider culture, the form of Christianity that’s most adapted to late-modern America is clearly not the Church of Rome. It’s evangelical Protestantism. The vibes of a Catholic moment are real enough, but evangelicalism’s resilience is our era’s more fundamental fact.

You can see that resilience across almost every means of measurement: conversion rates, retention rates, identification rates, church attendance, intensity of belief. A recent overview from Ryan Burge, the religion data analyst, showed that evangelicals have maintained a roughly steady share of the U.S. population since the 1970s, while both Catholicism and the so-called “mainline” denominations (Congregationalist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and so on) that once dominated American Christianity have seen marked decline. In the 2020s, evangelicals are more than twice as likely to attend church weekly as Catholics. They are also twice as likely to describe religious faith as “very important” in their lives.

Read it all.

For all the buzz around a ‘Catholic century,’ evangelicalism is the denomination best placed to thrive in contemporary America. https://t.co/e3hTYPNEmb

— The Free Press (@TheFP) October 22, 2026

Two spectres talk financial markets. One is the fear that surging bond yields will make the rich world’s shaky public finances unsustainable, triggering a nasty fiscal crisis. The other is the worry that the revenues from artificial intelligence needed to keep the data-centre boom going will fail to arrive. As we report, that would devastate credit markets and cause a big fall in stocks, too.

The good news is that only an Ichabod Crane would think that both these scenarios could strike at once. Instead, investors must decide which story is scarier. For now, The Economist is more worried about sovereign debt.

For most of the year, concerns about governments have dominated. Between the end of February and the start of October, the yield on 30-year US Treasuries rose by a full percentage point. The Iran war has sent inflation up and forced central banks to raise interest rates. Strong economic growth and the rush to build data centres have caused a scramble for capital in which governments have had to compete with the private sector. In Japan, Britain and especially France, investors have fretted about the ability of governments to service their debts.

In recent weeks, though, the prospect of an end to the AI boom has scared the markets more. The five-year bonds of CoreWeave, a “neocloud” that rents out data centres, trade at a 15% yield, up from 10% in July. The company’s share price has fallen by about a third in the past month. The slowing revenue growth of Anthropic, an AI-model provider, has investors worried that the cash CoreWeave and its peers need may not arrive, or at least not quickly enough to pay their creditors. Interlinked financing means that pain could spread quickly, through both the ai supply chain and the private-credit and insurance firms that hold a lot of data-centre debt.

Read it all.

For most of the year, worries about governments’ sovereign debt have dominated. Yet in recent weeks the prospect of an end to the AI boom has scared the markets more. Only in a big crash akin to the global financial crisis of 2007-09 would the two collide https://t.co/80gVNhvOZ9

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) October 22, 2026

Last year, leaders of the evangelical publication Christianity Today summoned the entire staff to a hotel ballroom in the Chicago suburbs for a meeting about their future.

The publication’s chief operating officer, Nicole Massie Martin, opened her presentation with a Bible verse from the Old Testament about rejoicing even in dark times, “though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food.” Then Thomas Addington, the interim president, delivered a blunt message: Christianity Today’s reputation as a staid voice of intellectual centrist evangelicalism — embodied by its proximity to Wheaton College in Illinois — had to change.

Christianity Today needed to be less like Wheaton and more like TikTok, Mr. Addington told his staff, according to several people who attended the meeting. Warning that layoffs were coming, he ended his presentation with a prayer. A senior editor left the room in tears.

Fourteen months later, more than half of the 79 employees at that time have either been laid off or resigned, including an editor in chief and four of the company’s longest-tenured journalists.

Read it all.

Christianity Today has seen about half its staff quit or laid off in the last 14 mos. Former employees told me that new business leaders have intervened in editorial decisions & are effectively abandoning the outlet’s commitment to independent journalism. https://t.co/Q4Iy7v5mQB

— Ruth Graham (@publicroad) October 21, 2026

O God, who adorned Saint Acca with a love for sacred liturgy, noble chant, and the deep study of your Word, grant that by your Holy Spirit we may follow his example and be your faithful followers in the path you call us to to walk in, through Jesus Christ our Lord who with you and the Holy Spirit ever livest and reigneth forever and ever, Amen (moved from yesterday;KSH).

Today is the feast day for Saint Acca of Hexham: https://t.co/7mcrniO1ms https://t.co/R8Zj2TY3dA

— Rob Colley (@Welshracer) October 20, 2026

O Heavenly Father, who hast taught us to show forth thy praise in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs: So fill us, we pray thee, with thy Spirit that we may make melody to thee both in our hearts and with our lives, evermore giving thee thanks for all things, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Good morning! #SunsetBeach @EdPiotrowski @medwick @DylanHudlerWXII @jamiearnoldWMBF @LeeHaywoodWX @dogwoodblooms @marioncaldwx @JustinMcKeeWx @StarboardRail @ThePhotoHour @CMorganWX @Christina4casts @AndrewWMBF @ScottyPowellWX @jgreenhillwx @TimBuckleyWX @clairefrywx @matt_wx https://t.co/5MESFTckay

— Mark Moore (@MMoore_hoops) October 22, 2026

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
so you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.

–Psalm 37:3-5

Pretty Autumn Vibes are in the air! 🍂🍂🍂 https://t.co/VX4o53OLN6

— Cloudymamma (@cloudymamma) October 22, 2026

“Ruthless” action to make the Church of England fit for the 21st century should include a reduction in the number of dioceses and diocesan bishops to 30, cuts to diocesan staff, and giving deaneries control of budgets and clergy-deployment decisions.

The recommendations are set out in a new report, Wasted Money in a Diminishing Church, which says that “radical thinking” is necessary to interrupt a cycle of decline which has left many parishioners and clergy “deeply dispirited”.

“We want to break this silence because we are convinced that the Church of England is heading for financial disaster,” write the authors, Canon Robin Gill and Professor John Craven. “More and more of its funds are being spent on administration in every diocese while churchgoing continues to decline, and less and less is spent on supporting parish clergy.

“As clergy are spread ever more thinly in urban and rural areas, services are less frequent, congregations are getting smaller, and less money can be raised in church collections from people who wonder what they are getting for their money.”

Read it all.

📉💷 ‘Ruthless’ action to make the C of E fit for the 21st century should include a reduction in the number of dioceses and diocesan bishops to 30, cuts to diocesan staff, and giving deaneries control of budgets and clergy-deployment decisions. #ChurchNews https://t.co/TRh52PAPhq

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) October 21, 2026

A new anthology of essays, After DEI? A Theological Exploration, has just appeared. It is a slim volume comprising a dozen readable chapters. Contributors include Erik Varden and Mark Lilla. Our goal in this essay is simply to pique readers’ interest in the collection. 

For a few years, the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) were a source of explicit partisan division in the United States. Then, the DEI label fell out of favor in light of concerns about the fairness of programs and policies being advanced under it. Some institutions gutted DEI programs and personnel. Others rebranded DEI programs without changing their substance. But most institutions are navigating a middle course, seeking to replace DEI—and what it represents—with a fairer, less divisive, and more effective set of values. 

That is where this volume comes in. Instead of merely defending or attacking DEI, the volume pursues the more difficult, but ultimately more fruitful, tasks of reconciliation and moral reconstruction. Siding with neither “camp,” it asks why DEI proved divisive and what a better framework might look like. Along the way, it engages irenically with DEI supporters and critics, presenting their views fairly and addressing them substantively.  

The volume’s most important and unique feature is its Christian theological lens. The book assumes little, save that truth is real and coherent, and that the Christian intellectual tradition offers underutilized resources for thinking about diversity, equality, inclusion, belonging, and related values such as justice, charity, and friendship. Its goal is not to argue for Christianity or belief in God, but to show how religious perspectives can provide valuable insights, point toward shared commitments and common objectives, and help to break the partisan impasse that burdens American politics.  

Read it all.

After DEI: A Theological Exploration(Grows out of the "Beyond the Impasse" conference of the Aquinas Institute at Princeton in October 2024) https://t.co/ciP2G63Osz

— Josh Hochschild (@JoshHochschild) October 3, 2026

Meanwhile, the publication itself sent out a news release earlier this month headlined “Christianity Today Announces New Editorial Leadership Team as the Ministry Celebrates Its 70th Year.

That release noted:

CT president and chief executive officer Nicole Martin announced the appointment of Erik Petrik as chief content officer and incoming editor in chief. Petrik, who previously served as chief creative officer at CT since 2020, is the founder of CT Media, where he executive produced CT’s acclaimed podcast series The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. Petrik’s stint at CT has also included developing other popular podcast programs, including The Bulletin, Be Afraid, Wonderology, Being Human, and more; leading CT’s award-winning visual rebrand; and expanding the organization’s work across print, digital, audio, and video.

Petrik’s background spans journalism, film, pastoral ministry, and entrepreneurship. Study at Dallas Theological Seminary under evangelical stalwarts like Howard Hendricks and Darrell Bock informed his time as an ordained clergyman. Later at DTS, he helped pioneer spiritual formation as a field of study. Petrik has written, produced, and directed thousands of creative projects and is one of the founders of bulb Digital Portfolios, providing multimedia digital portfolios for the education market. He and his wife, Kelli, live in Colorado and have five adult children.

“With a media landscape dramatically changed over the last decade and promising more changes ahead, it was hard to imagine that we could find a leader with expertise in print, film, podcasts, church engagement, and art direction. But that’s what God has given us in Erik Petrik,” Martin said.

This transition follows the leadership of Marvin Olasky as editor in chief. Olasky, who stepped out of a previous retirement to serve the ministry at a crucial season of transition, will retire from CT in mid-October.

“When we asked Marvin to help as editor in chief last year, I was hoping he would give us at least six months of his one-of-a-kind expertise,” Martin said. “I was overjoyed that he instead gave us eighteen and that he accomplished so much in that time.”

While the release touted a “new editorial leadership team,” Petrik was the only person mentioned by name. The magazine’s positive spin on the changes failed to mention the layoffs of key journalists such as Olsen and the talented Harvest Prude, Christianity Today’s national political correspondent for the past three years.

Daniel Silliman, Christianity Today’s former senior news editor, left the magazine late last year, publicly voicing “both practical and philosophical” disagreements with its leadership. 

Read it all.

(Weekend Plug-in/@bobbyross) 🗒️ Does Old-Fashioned Reporting Matter To Christianity Today? Some Say No 🔌 https://t.co/Q4EOF2Og50

— Religion Unplugged (@ReligionMag) October 16, 2026

The actress Christina Applegate, who received a multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2021, said on Tuesday that she had been unexpectedly plunged back into uncertainty after a doctor told her she didn’t have multiple sclerosis after all.

“This may come as great news, but to me it comes as like I’m back at square one,” Ms. Applegate said on “MeSsy,” a podcast she hosts with the actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler. She broke into tears as she described the doctor’s words: “She came into my room and she said, ‘Congratulations, you don’t have M.S.’”

“Well, I was not happy at all,” she said, explaining that her symptoms did not go away when the diagnosis did. “Everybody else was so happy.”

“You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of a sudden I’m better,” she added.

The about-face, Ms. Applegate said, doesn’t mean she’s not sick anymore. It means she’s still sick but doesn’t know why — a common experience for people with complex chronic illnesses, and one Ms. Applegate already went through for years before receiving her M.S. diagnosis.

Read it all.

Misdiagnosed: Christina Applegate said she learned she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis five years ago. She tells how she’s “back at square one." https://t.co/kNKf8xbrBd

— NBC4 Washington (@nbcwashington) October 20, 2026

O God of the nations, who didst give to thy faithful servant Henry Martyn a brilliant mind, a loving heart, and a gift for languages, that he might translate the Scriptures and other holy writings for the peoples of India and Persia: Inspire in us, we beseech thee, a love like his, eager to commit both life and talents to thee who gavest them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever (moved from yesterday; KSH).

Henry Martyn, 1781 – 1812. Priest and Missionary to India and Persia. One of the founders of the Christian church in India and Iran. While in India he translated the NT into Hindustani, Persian, and Arabic, the Psalms into Persian, and the BCP into Hindustani. https://t.co/C69app75TG

— Saint Barnabas Anglican Church (@Barnabas_FW) October 19, 2024

O Blessed Jesus, who hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, and hast consecrated us in baptism to be temples of the Holy Ghost: Make us, we beseech thee, both in body and soul, meet for thy dwelling place; that our hearts may be houses of prayer and praise, of pure desires and holy thoughts of thee, whose we are and whom we serve, and to whom be glory, now and for evermore.

"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water."~ Loren EiseleyRiver Lee, Cork. #WaterWednesday #Reflections #October https://t.co/blkeuHWGlm

— Margaret O’Connell🌻 (@MargaretOC6) October 21, 2026