covenantchurchsd 07.26.2026

 

 We call this SoNoGo - South Park-North Park-Golden Hill & Our Mission: to see the baptized who live in SoNoGo worship in SoNoGo

Covenant Presbyterian Church

What is the Evangelical Presbyterian Church?

Covenant Church at 30th & Howard  is a Christian church in the tradition of the Protestant Reformation and allied with the EPC [The Evangelical Presbyterian Church] We believe the Scriptures to be the infallible Word of God and our final authority in faith and practice, and we find the historic creeds of the early church (the Apostles’ Creed and Nicene Creed) to be vital expressions of the most important tenets of the global church universal. When the EPC started in 1981, we determined that we would not disagree on the basic essentials of the Christian faith, but on anything that was not essential—such as the issue of ordaining women as officers or practicing charismatic gifts—we would give each other liberty. Above all, we committed ourselves to loving each other and not engaging in quarrels and strife. The result is that when we get together in our regional and national meetings, we spend most of our time in worship and fellowship and almost none in arguing with each other.

We Went Looking for Britain's Lost Christian Soul

 

Jul 21, 2026

In this documentary, we travel across Britain in search of the Christian vision that once shaped our world — a land where the lives of the saints pointed beyond themselves, where creation spoke of its Creator, and where the ordinary was alive with the presence of God. We visit places like Iona, Lindisfarne, Whitby and Walsingham to see if that way of seeing can still be recovered today. Or has modernity left us as tourists amongst the ruins of a world long gone? Back into Enchantment is part travel documentary, part pilgrimage, and part personal exploration of faith. Along the way we visit the landscapes of St Cuthbert, St Aidan, St Hilda, St Columba and the Shrines of Our Lady of Walsingham, asking what they might still have to teach us about following Christ in the twenty-first century. Whether you’re a Christian, or fascinated by history, symbolism, pilgrimage, and the spiritual heritage of Britain, I hope this film gives you something to think about.

‘The Chosen’ unveils emotional Season 6 trailer depicting Christ’s passion

‘The Chosen’ unveils emotional Season 6 trailer depicting Christ’s passion

Season 6 of “The Chosen” will be released on Prime Video beginning Nov. 15.

U.S. moves to revoke citizenship of Mexican friar convicted of child abuse

In 2018 when the allegations first came to light, Friar Urbano Vázquez was removed from ministry by the Archdiocese of Washington. He was convicted of child sexual abuse in 2019.

Macron commemorates French priest killed by Islamic extremists 10 years ago

“His memory places a duty upon us. It compels us to tirelessly defend the freedom of conscience that the Republic guarantees and protects,” the French president said.

Miami archbishop calls for ‘compassionate’ protections for Haitians ahead of TPS deadline

Catholic Health Services, one of the Archdiocese of Miami’s largest ministries, faces losing an estimated 40 to 50 employees, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski said.

Forget optimism — choose hope By Norman Wirzba

Building hope over time By Mycal X. Brickhouse

‘Looking Up: A Birder’s Guide to Hope Through Grief’ By Courtney Ellis

Belonging could remake the world By Erin Weber-Johnson

Inside the parish-led fight against a $123M ICE facility in Texas

Inside the parish-led fight against a $123M ICE facility in Texas
Religion News Service: The parishes that won Socorro, Texas, running water in the 1980s are now fighting ICE’s plan to convert warehouses into a mega detention center. And the town’s water system is at issue again.

 

This historic divinity school is offering the first doctoral degree in ‘AI and Moral Agency’
Religion News Service: Shaw University Divinity School hopes to be the first theological school accredited by the Association of Theological Schools to offer a doctoral degree in AI. Its first cohort begins in January.

 

Booted from evangelicalism, a progressive, ‘post-evangelical’ church blooms in Texas
Religion News Service: Led by Zach Lambert, Restore church is part of a small but growing countertrend.

 

Justice Gorsuch calls out conservatives for pushing myth of white, Christian founding
HuffPost: “It’s demonstrably not true that we came from the same religion,” Gorsuch said.

 

Religion isn’t just for the right: Five ways progressives are invoking ‘religious freedom’ laws
The Guardian: Progressive faith communities are increasingly leveraging religious freedom laws to protect civil liberties across the US.

Jesus feeds the 5,000 in Matthew 14

 The feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew is much briefer than in the other gospels. But he draws extensively on images from the Old Testament, and focuses on Jesus, the one who invites us, provides for us, and invites us to follow him.

The Sunday lectionary reading for the Trinity 9 in Year A is Matt 14.13–21.

The epistle is the fascinating and pivotal passage in Paul, Romans 9.1–5 (though you need to read on to the next couple of verses). The video discussion of that passage can be found here, and is also linked at the end of this article.

We have now moved beyond the third section of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew, on the kingdom of heaven in chapter 13, and are immersed once more in Jesus’ ministry and engagement with those around him, which extends to the end of chapter 17, before we reach the fourth section of teaching in chapter 18.

Peter Thiel and the New Antichrist

 

Written by Paul Chu

Over the past years, the billionaire Peter Thiel has written and spoken widely – at a four-lecture series in San Francisco in 2025; in an interview with Ross Douthat in the New York Times; perhaps most prominently at an invitation-only conference in Rome, mere blocks from the Vatican, and most recently through a co-written article in First Things – about his concerns regarding the advent of the Antichrist in the world. Thiel warns against transnational entities exercising quasi-statelike power worldwide, especially those proposing to regulate technological development; he views with the utmost suspicion proposals and promises of peace and harmony; he sees in all these trends the harbinger of a figure who achieves world domination through promises of peace and safety will initiate the end times.

The secular response has been divided between amusement and alarm at the outré notions and outsized leverage of an unimaginably wealthy eccentric; the ecclesial response, specifically the article in Le Grand Continent from Fr. Paolo Benanti, advisor to the Holy See on AI ethics, was in many ways incisive, particularly in its explanation of Thiel’s theories of business and culture and their relation to elements in the thought of the billionaire’s former professor and philosophical inspiration, the French-American sociologist René Girard. An (excellent) article in Wired expands the circle of Thiel’s known intellectual influences and dialogue partners, making it clear that, whatever Thiel is thinking or doing regarding the Antichrist, it is neither a new nor a superficial fascination. To my knowledge, however, no mainstream media sources have precisely explained a burning question here: From whence does all this come? Where did this preoccupation begin? Why the Antichrist?

Franciscans Ask Marco Rubio for Help in the Face of Persecution by Jewish Settlers Affecting Christians

A religious congregation dedicated to supporting survivors of abuse: the inspiring project launched by two American nuns

ZENIT Staff

If their community eventually receives full recognition as a religious institute, it would represent something highly unusual in Catholic history: a congregation whose specific charism is the accompaniment of those harmed by abuse and the recovery of a Church’s capacity to listen to them

German priests loyal to the Pope respond to their own bishop (and cardinal), who is pressuring them to bless same-sex couples in a major diocese

Joachin Meisner Hertz

Twenty-six priests have written to Cardinal Reinhard Marx challenging his recommendation that Germany’s national guidelines for blessing couples in irregular situations, including same-sex couples, be implemented in the archdiocese. If the cardinal’s response does not resolve their concerns, the priests say they may ask the Holy See for an official clarification

Franciscans Ask Marco Rubio for Help in the Face of Persecution by Jewish Settlers Affecting Christians (and Others) in the Holy Land

Joachin Meisner Hertz

The Franciscan concern is not isolated. Church leaders in Jerusalem have repeatedly denounced vandalism, desecration, spitting at clergy and verbal and physical attacks attributed to extremist ultra-Orthodox Jewish elements

Interest surges in U.S. beatification of Georgia Martyrs who died defending marriage

ZENIT Staff

“The martyrs stood up for the sanctity of marriage,” Bishop Stephen D. Parkes of Savannah, Georgia, told OSV News of the five Franciscan friars from Spain who died in present-day Georgia in the 16th century. “It gives us an opportunity really to … reinforce the Church’s teaching on marriage.”

An App for Spiritual Direction with Real Priests and Other Inspiring Prayer Projects

Alma Recinas

A defining characteristic of AMEN is its firm commitment to the human element. Unlike other current technological tools, AMEN always provides responses from people in consecrated life rather than from Artificial Intelligence. Although the organization is considering implementing AI in the future as an optional feature for users, they maintain that the lack of instant response is actually a virtue: it allows the consecrated person to pray for the specific situation and reflect on the answer before sending it.

Against the Unity Pope Leo XIV Seeks: Gestures and Words from Bishops That Fuel Polarization and Cause Confusion

Rafael Llanes

Why is there so much controversy regarding key aspects of the Church’s internal life? Is the Church divided and in conflict, or is there more noise than peace? Does the Pope lean toward one tendency while alienating another? Answering these questions requires three clarifications to understand what is happening in the Church today.

Hidden for 200 years, vast Baroque murals rediscovered

Hidden for 200 years, vast Baroque murals rediscovered in Vilnius’ St. John’s Church

Researchers confirmed more than 2,000 square meters — around half an acre — of original 18th-century murals survive beneath later paint in the church at the heart of Vilnius University.

Major restoration in Minneapolis aims to renew ‘every square inch’ of country’s oldest basilica

The massive church was dedicated in 1915 and became the first basilica in the United States when it was designated as such by Pope Pius XI in 1926.

Pope Leo XIV urges halt to Mideast attacks, return to diplomacy

The pontiff also reflected on the kingdom of God as a treasure that enlarges life and unites people of different backgrounds in Christ.

Detained pastor couple had religious worker visas

Detained pastor couple had religious worker visas, Assemblies of God leaders say
Religion News Service: Pastor Nepthali Zozaya Saucedo, 36, said he and his wife, who came to the U.S. legally, were repeatedly pressured to sign voluntary departure papers but that they had refused.

 

‘Sacred Liberty’ exhibition explores faith and freedom in America*
The Washington Post: The exhibit, which opened July 3, walks the line the Museum of the Bible has since its start — trying to use its vast collection and dramatic building to tell a complex story, while also keeping to the mission of its evangelical founders.

 

How classical education can be an antidote to AI 
Religion News Service: AI is more likely to harm education than help it. Classical education will become ever more relevant.

 

For these young men in the Bay Area, religion is gaining ground
KQED: Many Catholic dioceses are reporting more people joining the church, but experts say it’s not a religious revival.

 

He pleaded guilty to murder. As he awaits execution, Catholic supporters say he’s changed.
National Catholic Reporter: Briley Piper, the only prisoner on South Dakota’s death row, could be executed by the end of 2026.