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[Religion News Service] In a “State of the Force” address on Sept. 30, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the creation of an Office of Religious Affairs that would elevate “spiritual health at the same level as physical health.” The office, and its director, would report directly to him, Hegseth said, to ensure soldiers have “religious support” in the form of chaplains with religious expertise rather than “secular careerists” and “lawyers.” “Our department is, you might say, putting on the full armor of God, because while we wage physical war, we all know the real battle is spiritual. God is good; evil is not, and America’s military must understand the difference,” Hegseth said during an hour-long talk at a base in Virginia. A memo announcing the establishment of the Office of Religious Affairs said it would “obtain sufficient funding and resources for religious affairs,” and “oversee research, technology, and analytical tools to support and assess spiritual fitness, spiritual readiness, and spiritual resilience” of soldiers. The memo said the creation of the office should not be “construed to compel religious participation or to diminish the free exercise rights of any Service member, civilian employee, or family member of any faith or no faith.” But prominent declarations of Christian faith have been central to Hegseth’s speeches and in his vision of the military. He is a member of a conservative denomination, the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, that explicitly advocates for Christians to exert their faith’s influence over the government. Pastor Doug Wilson, one of the founders of the denomination and Hegseth’s pastor, told RNS that while he knows “next to nothing about the scope of the new office,” he has hope it will be a good thing, “considering the source of it.” Hegseth also spearheaded an initiative to bring prayer services to the Pentagon. Shortly after the start of the Iran War, he prayed for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.” And he regularly quotes from the Bible, including multiple times on Sept. 30. He cited Psalm 33:12, “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,” in addition to the passage from Ephesians that calls for believers to “put on the whole armor of God” and Isaiah 6, when the prophet says to God, “Here am I; send me!” Hegseth also claimed that “less than 5% of our force identifies as non-religious.” A 2019 Congressional Research paper on military demographics reported that 2.3% of military troops identified as “atheist or agnostic”; however, an additional 24.4% of the military troops were religiously identified as “other, unclassified or unknown.” According to the Rt. Rev. Ann Ritonia, who serves as the eighth bishop suffragan of Armed Forces and Federal Ministries of the Episcopal Church, the announcement of the new Office of Religious Affairs was met with confusion. “My first reaction is: What is going on? Because this is completely out of the ordinary,” she said. “Nothing like this has been seen before in the military in regards to the Chaplain Corps.” Ritonia said that upon reading the memo describing the new office, she found “really good things,” such as the possibility of helping underfunded chaplaincy programs. She noted concerns about the Armed Forces Chaplain Board being “understaffed” and “not adequately funded,” and celebrated the prospect of efforts to change that. But Ritonia said she also has concerns about the structure of the new office. “My initial assessment is that it violates the chain of command,” she said. “Chaplains have direct access to the Religious Affairs office, is how this reads, rather than going through their chain of command. That can undermine good order and discipline, particularly if a particular religious group has the ear of the director of the Office of Religious Affairs.” “I think it could be very confusing, unless there’s real clarification about the role of the chiefs of chaplains,” she said. The bishop also noted that some of the military chaplains she works with are wary of the new office in part because it is being created under Hegseth. She described the Defense Secretary’s rhetoric as “definitely Christocentric” and argued that at least some of his efforts amount to a “push of fundamentalist Christianity into the military.” “It feels like the free exercise of faith for chaplains has become more important than protecting the free exercise of those they serve,” she said. Franklin Graham, who sits on the Department of Justice’s Religious Liberty Commission, said he thought the new office was “a great idea.” “Unfortunately, not all administrations have treated military chaplains as necessary — but they are some of the most necessary because they are entrusted with caring for the spiritual well-being of our men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line to protect our nation,” Graham told RNS. Americans United for Separation of Church and State denounced the new office. “It’s yet another example of Hegseth abusing the power of his government position to impose his beliefs on others — and worse, it puts the needs of America’s service members second to this administration’s Christian Nationalist agenda,” the organization said in a statement. Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation was more blunt. ‘This is the latest example of a pervasive and pernicious pattern and practice of the elevation of unconstitutional Christian nationalism to a position of total control of technologically the most lethal organization ever created by our species,” said Weinstein, whose nonprofit organization includes 100,000 active-duty military and veterans seeking legal help to resolve religious freedom cases. In June, the Department of Defense announced it was reducing the number of religions it officially recognizes from 211 to 31, the vast majority being various Christian denominations. Excluded were atheists, pagans, humanists and New Age faiths. The U.S. Air Force recently announced that atheists have until Oct. 16 to reclassify their religious affiliations in accordance with the Department of Defense’s new “Religious Affiliation Codes” or risk being automatically reclassified. In its […]

Young Anglicans aged 16 to 25 are invited to apply to the new National Youth Council and help shape the life of the church. Applications close on October 16.

The post Call for applications: National Youth Council appeared first on Anglican Church of Canada.

The 2026 Right Livelihood Award is honoring women and women-led organisations confronting the world’s most entrenched power structures: authoritarian rule, patriarchal violence, and unchecked AI development. 

Economist Nava Ashraf explores the implications of the concept of work as service for living a meaningful life.

[Episcopal News Service] Washington Bishop Mariann Budde, one of The Episcopal Church’s most prominent bishops because of her role leading the diocese based in the nation’s capital, announced Oct. 1 that she is calling for the election of her successor in 2028. “I have not come to this decision lightly or alone, and it will not be easy to say goodbye to the diocese I love,” Budde said in a message to her diocese, which includes 86 congregations in Washington, D.C., and parts of Maryland. “Alongside the diocesan staff and leadership bodies, I will do everything in my power to ensure that the diocese is as strong and healthy as possible for this leadership transition. I am praying for all involved, and especially for the one God is preparing to serve as the tenth bishop of the Diocese of Washington.” Budde’s diocese includes Washington National Cathedral, which also serves as the seat of The Episcopal Church’s presiding bishop. In January 2025, Budde generated national headlines and intense scrutiny, both positive and negative, for addressing President Donald Trump directly in her sermon at the cathedral during a service held after his inauguration. Budde, in her sermon, had asked Trump to show mercy to “the people in our country who are scared now,” and she specifically held up the fears felt by many LGBTQ+ people and immigrants at the start of his second term. In her 15 years as Washington bishop, she has regularly been at the forefront of the church’s engagement on political issues that intersect with the faith, though she also has focused on a more pastoral approach to challenges facing the diocese’s congregations, from navigating the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to nurturing the diocese’s growing number of Spanish-speaking congregations. Budde told Episcopal News Service in a 2021 interview that, since her consecration as Washington bishop in 2011, she has tried to focus on her primary role as chief pastor to the diocese’s Episcopalians and, when engaging in advocacy, to “take a moral position and not a partisan position, to start somewhere we have authority.” In her Oct. 1 message, she said: “Next month marks the fifteenth anniversary of our shared ministry. I hope that you know that serving as your bishop is one of the great blessings of my life.” The election of her successor, she said, would take place at the diocesan convention in January 2028, with the new bishop’s consecration expected in June 2028. “It takes time and considerable effort to elect a bishop in our church,” Budde said. “The responsibility for shepherding that process rests with the Standing Committee, the elected body that provides counsel to the bishop and oversees important diocesan matters.” – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at [email protected].

“Troy woman lights up about laundry outreach” is the title of a Dayton Daily News article about a laundry ministry of Troy (Ohio) Church of the Brethren. Beverly Johnston, a 75-year-old retired nurse, in July was named as a “Dayton Daily News Community Gem” for founding her church’s laundry ministry.

“Una mujer de Troy se entusiasma con su labor de ayuda con la lavandería” es el título de un artículo del Dayton Daily News sobre el ministerio de lavandería de la Iglesia de los Hermanos de Troy (Ohio) . Beverly Johnston, una enfermera jubilada de 75 años, fue nombrada en julio como una “Joya Comunitaria

“Yon fanm nan Troy klere lespri li sou ministè lesiv” se tit yon atik nan Dayton Daily News ki pale sou yon ministè lesiv nan Legliz Frè yo nan Troy (Ohio) . Beverly Johnston, yon enfimyè retrete ki gen 75 an, te nonmen an Jiyè kòm yon “Bijou Kominotè Dayton Daily News” paske li te

“Let the Children Come to Me: Protecting Children from Militarized Violence” (Mark 9:36-37) is the theme for the next Christian Citizenship Seminar (CCS) sponsored by the Church of the Brethren’s Youth and Young Adult Ministry. The 2027 CCS is planned for April 17-21 in Washington, D.C.

“Dejen que los niños vengan a mí: Protegiendo a los niños de la violencia militarizada” (Marcos 9:36-37) es el tema del próximo Seminario de Ciudadanía Cristiana (CCS), patrocinado por el Ministerio de Jóvenes y Adultos Jóvenes de la Iglesia de los Hermanos . El CCS 2027 se llevará a cabo del 17 al 21 de