Members of the Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, and Mormon churches all call themselves Christians—yet they also maintain significantly divergent theologies and practices. Ecumenical movements attempt to bridge those differences, although such efforts remain controversial. The World Council of Churches consists of more than 300 Protestant and Orthodox churches, but the Roman Catholic Church, the largest group of Christians globally, is not a member.... Read more about The Ecumenical Movement

After Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States, religious groups that supported abortion rights, like the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights, have faced opponents of abortion, notably Catholics supported by papal statements against abortion, in a highly-charged political and religious argument. Despite the polemics, some Americans on both sides have made efforts at open conversation.... Read more about The Ethics of Abortion

The changing political and social status of LGBTQ Americans has forced Christian churches to choose whether to recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples and whether to ordain openly gay or lesbian clergy. Many LGBTQ Christians embrace both their sexual and gender identities and their religious commitments, but other Christians, claiming to uphold biblical values of a Christian understanding of gender, have formed advocacy groups opposing LGBTQ civic and religious rights.... Read more about Homosexuality

The ever-increasing religious diversity of the United States necessitates that Christians in cities across the country relate to and interact with people of other faith backgrounds. Though some Christians maintain that evangelization is the only appropriate interaction with non-Christians, many others seek to find common ground across religious lines, creating organizations and spaces designed to facilitate open dialogue.... Read more about Interfaith Dialogue

The Christian churches in America are scarred by their violent legacies of settler colonialism and slavery yet are filled with remarkable diversity; across denominations, Christians create communities and traditions informed by their racial and ethnic identities, and many see their faith as an imperative to reckon with racism in the country today.... Read more about Race and Ethnicity

Protestant women across many denominations fought for, and slowly gained, a share of ministerial authority over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries; in Eastern Orthodox and, especially, in Roman Catholic churches, proponents of women’s ordination still fight official opposition.... Read more about Women’s Ministry in the Church

The Bible is used by Christians with different theological and political beliefs as textual support for their positions. Questions of interpretation have high stakes and include whether to take the Bible as literally true and eternally relevant, or as a text that is situated within a particular historical context and should be read allegorically.... Read more about Fighting for the Bible