Latest news with #SundaySchool
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Hometown Heroes and Cross-Genre Icons: Seven Takeaways from Roots Picnic 2025
Another Roots Picnic is in the books. For two days, thousands of music lovers descended upon Philadelphia's Fairmount Park to check out a wide array of acts, from R&B and pop stars such as Maxwell, Miguel, and Tems to rappers like Meek Mill, GloRilla, Latto, and everything in between. Though the rain on May 31 threw a massive monkey wrench into the festivities, drawing an apology from Questlove to fans, things got better on June 1 (for the most part). Here are seven of the biggest takeaways from the weekend. It's no surprise that a festival with a lineup at least partially based on Questlove's taste reflects the wide spectrum of Black music. Lenny Kravitz, Kaytranada, and Meek Mill — three very different artists — were the three closing sets on Sunday, and it all made sense. There were in-demand rappers like GloRilla and Latto. Acts such as Cece Peniston and Crystal Waters (both hosted by Rich Medina) and Kaytranada demonstrated the long history of house music. Multi-instrumentalist Adam Blackstone was joined by Total and Jagged Edge, giving their early-'00s pop/R&B hits the live treatment. R&B was well accounted for throughout the weekend, with stellar sets from the likes of Maxwell, Tems, and Miguel. Concertgoers could even give praise at Kirk Franklin's Sunday School. There are many festivals that offer a particular vibe for a particular audience, but increasingly, the Roots Picnic is becoming one of the music world's better 'something for everyone' events. More from Rolling Stone Questlove Apologizes for Extreme Delays at Roots Picnic: 'Today Wasn't Ideal' Clipse Set Summer Release Date for New Album, 'Let God Sort Em Out' D'Angelo Cancels Roots Picnic Performance Over Medical Issue Maxwell headlined the Fairmount Park stage on Saturday night as a last-minute replacement for D'Angelo, who pulled out the week before the show because of health concerns. He wished his R&B brother a speedy recovery from the stage, but expressed gratitude for the opportunity to perform in front of thousands of concertgoers. Saturday's rain cleared up right in time for him to give an unimpeded showcase of his extensive catalog, including 'Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder),' 'This Woman's Work,' and 'Fortunate.' The fans who braved the unseasonable June chill got a reminder of Maxwell's greatness, though one fan spoke for many when she lamented, 'He didn't play 'Pretty Wings'!' Maxwell was joined onstage by comedian Dave Chappelle, who commended the singer and told the crowd that they first met years ago, when Maxwell was a bartender. Hometown hero Meek Mill closed out the festival on night two, running through an almost hourlong set of his hits. He came to the stage in dramatic fashion, with a video montage of himself and friends seemingly pulling onto festival grounds on bikes as Phil Collins' 'In the Air Tonight' played. Once he took the stage, he delved into the Collins-sampling intro to his heralded Championships album, and other hits such as 'Uptown Vibes' and 'All Eyes On You.' He also brought out a couple of up-and-coming rappers from the Philly area, Skrilla and Fridayy. Meek performed 'Proud of Me' with the latter artist, though backing vocals unfortunately distorted Meek's incredible verse. After almost every song, Meek offered motivational advice to the crowd, referencing his rags-to-riches come-up and imploring the crowd to remember that they're capable of the same, despite the naysayers. It's pretty well-known that Meek has a polarizing relationship with social media, and his annoyance with skeptics was apparent throughout the night, as the screen behind him showed several clips of adages such as 'Don't Believe Everything You See,' and an image of sheep with glowing eyes (a shot at the 'internet sheep') who spark his ire. Toward the end of the set, Meek was about to go into his 'Dreams And Nightmares' intro, but stopped twice when he felt the crowd wasn't giving him the necessary energy. There were definitely moments where the crowd felt disconnected from Meek. Sensing the malaise, he then asked for someone to come onstage to give a 'Philly speech.' Rapper Gillie and media personality Wallo (from podcast Million Dollaz Worth Of Game) walked centerstage to rouse the crowd. Wallo told Meek he should remind the crowd who he is by running through his early hits before closing out with the intro. The crowd rapped every word to early-2010s tracks such as 'Rosé Red' and 'Levels,' in a moment that matched his prior rendition of 'I'm a Boss,' which also turned the crowd up. That run of Philly classics primed the crowd for his festival-closing 'Intro.' GloRilla was the first big star to grace the Fairmount Park stage on Saturday. Boasting long teal hair and bedazzled jeans, she looked every bit the star she's become over the past several years. She went through her steadily growing catalog, with four dancers in tow augmenting renditions of 'Yeah Glo,' 'FNF,' and 'Hollon.' GloRilla and DJ Digital Dynasty frequently addressed the crowd, dropping the music so concertgoers could finish her lines. But unfortunately, she wasn't getting much reciprocation. Maybe the lack of call-and-response was about the number of older people in the crowd, or the dreary weather sapping everyone's energy. But the moment reminded me of seeing Sexyy Red's performance at last year's Roots Picnic. Though Sexyy, like Glo, was an unconventional fit for a traditional bill at this festival, her set succeeded it part because it occurred in the park's TD Pavilion amphitheater, a closed-off environment in the far corner of the grounds. For Sexyy, that venue-within-the-venue served as a space strictly for young fans who wanted to get ratchet. Instead of getting the same placement, Glo played the mainstage, which, with the Saturday schedule being a mystery, was stocked with attendees who didn't seem to resonate with her high-octane sound. It's cool that Roots Picnic is widening their selection of artists, but perhaps the more younger-skewing acts should play the amphitheater. The walk toward its stage is steep — you'd only take it if you know exactly who you're coming to see. As someone who loves to hear MCs bar up, producer DJ annual Live Mixtape was my highlight of the weekend. Esteemed rap journalist Sway opened the set and introduced Black Thought, calling him 'bar-for-bar the illest MC on the planet.' The Roots MC delved into a couple of freestyles before Pusha T took the stage. He played singles like 'If You Know You Know' and 'Games We Play,' before inviting his brother Malice out, marking the Clipse's Roots Picnic debut. They performed hits like 'What Happened to That Boy,' and 'Cotdamn' (with their longtime Philly associate Ab-Liva), with Black Thought occasionally jumping in at the end of the beat to get off some bars. Clipse didn't play their just-released 'Ace Trumpets' single, but they gave the crowd a dose of nostalgia to prime them for their upcoming, long-awaited album Let God Sort Em Out. Next, Black Thought had rappers D West and Lena L, a pair of students from his School of Thought master classes, spit some bars over 'Grindin.' Then, things went to Atlanta as 2 Chainz came onstage and performed hits like 'No Lie,' 'Rich As Fuck,' and the eponymous track from his Life Is Beautiful album with Alchemist and Larry June. Black Thought, who stayed onstage the entire time (and had a full set with the Roots just an hour later), offered some bars to 2 Chainz' classics as well. 2 Chainz spoke for many when he called Black Thought a 'magician' and a 'rappin'-ass nigga,' but he deserves props as well. Seeing Philly's Thought and Atlanta's 2 Chainz trade bars over the beat from Camp Lo's quintessential uptown New York hit 'Luchini' (right after Virginia's Clipse tore down the stage) is the kind of thing that shatters any regional or aesthetic demarcations people place on rap. For if you can spit, you can jump onstage for the Live Mixtape. In 2000, Philly musician Musiq Soulchild released his debut album, Aijuswanaseing, on Def Jam. The project made waves, so much so that 25 years later he filled the amphitheater with fans looking to celebrate its silver anniversary with him. He started the hometown set by letting his band play, getting the crowd ready to two-step before he jumped into a top-to-bottom rendition of his debut. He also took a beat to humbly thank the crowd for 'supporting your own.' Later that day, Jeezy celebrated the 20th anniversary of his own major-label debut, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 — the rap classic that elevated him from a mixtape maestro into a bonafide rap star. He tore through hits such as 'Soul Survivor,' but he also gave a full reminder of the rest of his iconic catalog, performing his 'Dey Know' remix before closing out with 'Put On.' Kendrick Lamar, currently on his Grand National tour, wasn't at the Roots Picnic, but his presence was felt. Several DJs played GNX hits such as 'Squabble Up,' 'TV Off' — and yes, 'Not Like Us' — during their sets. The momentous Drake diss also garnered what may be a hip-hop first: Philly soul band SNACKTIME performed a cover of 'Not Like Us,' with lead singer Nico Bryant belting Kendrick's venomous first verse over their raucous live instrumentation. Aside from occasional bar and hook references, cover songs don't often make it to rap, so their choice to cover a diss song might have made history. The day before, Musiq Soulchild went viral for transitioning out of his 'Just Friends (Sunny)' hit into the chorus of Kendrick Lamar's 'TV Off.' An artist being covered by contemporaries is the true sign of an instant classic. On Saturday, Philly had to contend with Mother Nature, and thousands of attendees dealt with the unknown. After on-and-off rain for the previous 24 hours, festival organizers had to mulch parts of the festival's grassy area to make things more walkable. But they weren't very communicative about the process with attendees, many of whom took to social media to share their dismay with their lengthy wait. The festival opened its gates at 2 p.m. (instead of the previously announced noon opening), leaving some people waiting in line for as many as four hours with no indication of what was going on. Commenters on the Roots Picnic's IG recounted medics having to assist people who had been waiting for too long with no water (eventually the account closed its comments). All of the Saturday sets were pushed back, and no one knew when to expect which act. The festival issued an apology on its Instagram page on Sunday morning, noting 'today is a new day and we will do better'; Questlove later added a personal note of his own, thanking fans for their 'understanding and patience through this adversity.' I spoke to multiple people who said they had a smoother entry Sunday, but there was still an hour delay at the Mann Stage, which left it unclear which acts were playing at what time. SNACKTIME were set to play at 2 p.m., but didn't get into their set until after 3 p.m.; the Roots started near 7:30 instead of the scheduled 6:30. Going forward, the festival has to be more forthcoming with attendees, whether that's relaying messages to between-set DJs, hiring hosts who can keep attendees abreast in between acts, or simply offering change-of-plan notices on their Instagram page. Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Yahoo
Church van driver accused of sexually abusing a disabled woman
Lackawanna County detectives charged a Scranton man Thursday with engaging in sexual activity with a mentally disabled woman while transporting her in a church van. In April, the Lackawanna County district attorney's office launched an investigation based on cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited children alleging Tara Glan had sex with a mentally disabled woman for about two years beginning when she was 16. Glan was a van driver for the Ray of Hope Church in Taylor at the time of the alleged illegal sexual activity. He also ran church youth groups there, according to a criminal complaint. The detectives say the woman was not capable of giving consent. The alleged abuse took place between July 2021 and July 2023, according to the criminal complaint. Glan, 22, of 844 Madison Ave., is facing felony charges of rape of a disabled person, forcing a disabled person to perform oral sex and aggravated assault. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on May 21 before District Judge Paul Ware. According to the criminal complaint: Investigators obtained a copy of the woman's Independent Education Program plan, also known as an 'IEP,' which indicated she had an intellectual disability rendering her incapable of consenting to sexual activity. At 19, the woman still receives daily assistance and is under the supervision of others, officers said. When interviewed, the woman said that, when she was 16, Glan was giving her a ride home in the church van when he pulled the vehicle over and told her to get in the backseat, and she complied. When asked if she wanted to have sex, the victim told Glan 'no,' according to the complaint. The woman said Glan forced her to have sex even after she told him to stop. She also recalled Glan forcing her to perform oral sex on him. The woman told police Glan had also assaulted her on New Year's Eve at church, making her pull her pants down and forcing himself on her. When the woman told Glan he was hurting her, he stopped. She said she had been alone with Glan at that event only because he had asked for her help in cleaning up the Sunday School classroom. The woman estimated Glan had assaulted her about eight times. She said she had stopped wanting to go to youth group but her mother forced her to go. She told investigators Glan would give her a ride home from church in the van, dropping off all of the other riders before her and then sexually assaulting her. On May 8, investigators interviewed Glan at Lackawanna County Prison. He admitted to having sex with the disabled woman at the church and in the church van. When asked why, he said, 'Because that's the only girl I ever met with that would actually do something sexually wise with me.'
BBC News
14-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Hull school helps Romanian children connect with roots
A Sunday school is helping Romanian children reconnect with their heritage, as many have grown up speaking only English and have never visited than 30 children attend the weekly classes in Hull where they learn about Romanian language, history and classroom, at the Lonsdale Community Centre, is decorated with Romanian flags and Andreea Salvage said the school gave the children "a sense of belonging". "We are now at the second generation of migrant children," she said. "I think it's important to teach them to understand what Romania is because, for them, it is something totally foreign."According to the 2021 Census, Hull's Romanian population was 3,602. Ms Salvage, who moved to the UK from Romania in 2007, said she thinks the number has increased significantly since then. She said each school session focussed on a topic such as Romanian history or national holidays."We try to do themes for each week," she said."For example, last week we had an election. We had an election here in the UK, and we had an election for the Romanian presidential election."If it's something that we celebrate at home, we'll try to give that as a main activity, as the main theme. If not, we look at geography, history, language, tradition and so on." Nine-year-old Angelina is among the children who attend the sessions. "We do some fun activities and we do learn some new stuff in Romanian," she said. "Me and my mum play this game where she has to say in English and I have to say in Romanian." Mirela Popesceo moved to the UK in 2018 and takes her two children to the school including four-year-old Emma-Maria."She barely speaks Romanian to be honest," she said. "We are trying to speak with her at home, but she has been at nursery since she was one, so her language is more English than our native language."We would like her to learn Romanian because, when we are going on holiday to see the relatives and the grandparents, it would be nice for her to understand a little bit."
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Missouri lawmakers should reject fake ‘chaplains' in schools bill
A chaplain is not just a pastor or a Sunday School teacher or a street preacher shouting through a bullhorn. This is a unique role, often in a secular setting that requires a chaplain to assist with a variety of religious traditions and oversee a number of administrative tasks (). As the 2025 legislative session of the Missouri General Assembly nears the finish line, one bill moving closer to Gov. Mike Kehoe's desk purports to allow public schools to hire spiritual chaplains. However, if one reads the text of the legislation, it's actually just pushing chaplains in name only. The bill already cleared the Senate and House committees, thus just needing support from the full House. As a Baptist minister and the father of a public school child, I hope lawmakers will recognize the bill remains fundamentally flawed. A chaplain is not just a pastor or a Sunday School teacher or a street preacher shouting through a bullhorn. This is a unique role, often in a secular setting that requires a chaplain to assist with a variety of religious traditions and oversee a number of administrative tasks. That's why the U.S. military, Missouri Department of Corrections, and many other institutions include standards for chaplains like meeting educational requirements, having past experience, and receiving an endorsement from a religious denominational body. In contrast, the legislation on school 'chaplains' originally sponsored by Republican Sens. Rusty Black and Mike Moon includes no requirements for who can be chosen as a paid or volunteer school 'chaplain.' Someone chosen to serve must pass a background check and cannot be a registered sex offender, but those are baseline expectations for anyone serving in our schools. While a good start, simply passing a background check does mean one is qualified to serve as a chaplain. The only other stipulation in the bill governing who can serve as a school 'chaplain' is that they must be a member of a religious group that is eligible to endorse chaplains for the military. Senators added this amendment to prevent atheists or members of the Satanic Temple from qualifying as a school 'chaplain.' Members of the Satanic Temple testified in a Senate Education Committee hearing that they opposed the bill but would seek to fill the positions if created, which apparently spooked lawmakers. That discriminatory amendment, however, does nothing to ensure a chosen 'chaplain' is actually qualified. For instance, the Episcopal Church is on the military's list of endorsing organizations. Just because some Episcopalians meet the military's requirements for chaplains and can serve does not mean all Episcopalians should be considered for a chaplaincy position. While rejecting this unnecessary bill is the best option, if lawmakers really want to create a school chaplaincy program, they must significantly alter the bill to create real chaplain standards. Lawmakers could look to other states for inspiration on how to fix it. For instance, Arizona lawmakers a few weeks ago passed a similar bill — except their legislation includes numerous requirements to limit who can serve as a chaplain. Among the various standards in the Arizona bill is that individuals chosen to serve as a school chaplain must hold a Bachelor's degree, have at least two years of experience as a chaplain, have a graduate degree in counseling or theology or have at least seven years of chaplaincy experience and have official standing in a local religious group. Rather than passing a pseudo-chaplaincy bill, Missouri lawmakers should add similar provisions. The Arizona bill also includes other important guardrails missing in Missouri's bill that will help protect the rights of students and their parents. Arizona lawmakers created provisions to require written parental consent for students to participate in programs provided by a chaplain. Especially given the lack of standards for who can serve as a school 'chaplain,' the absence of parental consent forms remains especially troubling. Additionally, Missouri's school 'chaplain' bill includes no prohibition against proselytization. This is particularly concerning since the conservative Christian group who helped craft the bill in Missouri and other states — and who sent a representative to Jefferson City to testify for the bill in a committee hearing — has clearly stated their goal is to bring unconstitutional government prayer back into public schools. To be clear, the U.S. Supreme Court did not kick prayer out of schools. As long as there are math tests, there will be prayer in schools. What the justices did was block the government from writing a prayer and requiring students to listen to it each day. Such government coercion violated the religious liberty rights of students, parents, and houses of worship, so the justices rightly prohibited it. Using 'chaplains' to return to such coercion is wrong and should be opposed. There are many proposals and initiatives lawmakers could focus on in these waning weeks of the session if they really want to improve public education. There are numerous ways they could work to better support our teachers and assist our students. Attempting to turn public schools into Sunday Schools is not the answer.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Protestant denominations cutting staff, trying new ideas amid declines in members and money
When the Episcopal Church recently announced cuts to its national staff, it was the latest in a long-running cycle among historic U.S. Protestant denominations — declines in members leading to declines in funding and thus in staff. And it wasn't alone. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) also announced recent cuts to staff at its headquarters and in its global missions program. The United Methodist Church, after undergoing a major schism, has settled into a historically low budget, having cut its numbers of bishops and other positions. While the circumstances vary from one denomination to another, there are some common threads. Several Protestant denominations are losing members, particularly the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist and other historic mainline groups that have not only been aging and shrinking but have suffered schisms as they moved in more progressive directions. At the same time, the number of nondenominational churches has grown over the past decade, as have the ranks of the religiously unaffiliated. As a result, denominations have had to do less with less — not only cutting budgets to balance the bottom line, but making strategic changes and trying out new ideas. Widespread skepticism of institutions Despite their different structures, 'every one of these national bodies really have to deal with changing social contexts and ethos,' said Scott Thumma, co-director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. 'A lot of that has to do with the skepticism around national organizations and institutions.' In their heyday, denominational offices oversaw mission organizations that sent large numbers of church workers to far corners of the world. They put out officially sanctioned hymnals, devotional guides, magazines and Sunday School materials. They organized big national conventions that set — and fiercely debated — policy and doctrine. They set standards for how ministers were trained, credentialed and disciplined. They ran historical societies and pension funds for ministers. The Southern Baptist Convention 's Cooperative Program, marking its 100th anniversary this year, is a testament to the traditional idea that it's more efficient to pool everyone's money and trust leaders to allocate it wisely. The convention still runs a large missions program. But its churches aren't sending as much as they used to. The SBC has also declined in membership. and it faces unique challenges such as litigation following a report on sexual misconduct. Its Executive Committee, which trimmed its staff in 2023, is putting its Nashville office up for sale. Nowadays, not only has trust in centralized leadership faded, but there often are fewer church members to support programs and activities. Many denominational churches are acting more like nondenominational ones — downloading music or Sunday School lessons from independent rather than official sources. Episcopal Church cuts Last month, the Episcopal Church announced the layoff of 14 workers, with another 16 retiring this year under an incentive program. Another 13 vacant positions are being eliminated. Other staffers are being trained to take on new roles, and the denomination projects it will have a net total of about 110 full-time workers by next year. 'Our goal was to meet the emerging financial reality but also to determine how we can continue to serve the church as it's becoming something different than it was,' Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe said in an interview. 'It's creating networks on the ground," he said. "It's paying attention to what is new and working, and lifting that up.' Some of the shift in strategy will involve looking at ways to support local dioceses and parishes, which are 'better equipped to know what their needs are," Rowe said. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) cuts The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) cut 12 positions from its central offices late last year. It also enacted a major change in its approach to global missions earlier this year, eliminating the position of mission co-worker, or those who worked directly in other countries in schools, churches or other ministries. The church will retain workers who will maintain regular contacts with Presbyterian and other churches overseas, as well as interfaith contacts, while also working with diaspora communities in the United States. The world mission staff reduced from 79 to 44, according to a church announcement last month. The changes are difficult, acknowledged the Rev. Jihyun Oh, executive director of the PC (U.S.A.)'s Interim Unified Agency, a recently consolidated office overseeing a range of denominational work. The denomination is roughly a third of its size when it took its current form in the 1980s, following a reunification of northern and southern branches. And while many members had increased their giving to missions over the past two decades, the net effect of fewer members was a decline in funds. It was important, Oh said, to reorganize now, before a financial crisis required a more drastic cut. Meanwhile, some of the countries where mission workers once were assigned now have well-established Presbyterian churches, she said. 'The church's witness and ministry is not coming to an end,' she said. 'There can be resurrection and renewal in a different sort of way." That renewal might be measured not so much by numbers but "in terms of impact, in terms of partnerships, in terms of other ways that we will actually be called to live out faith in this time.' She hopes church members understand that 'God's not done with us." United Methodist Church cuts In the United Methodist Church, giving to denomination-wide ministries fell by about 13% to $91 million in 2024, according to its General Council on Finance and Administration. That didn't cause an immediate shock because the denomination has been preparing for such declines in recent years. It underwent a years-long schism in which a quarter of its churches left by the end of 2023. Many joined a more conservative denomination before the UMC's General Convention in 2024 removed its longstanding bans on ordaining and marrying LGBTQ people, while continuing to allow church conferences in other countries to set their own rules. United Methodist denominational agencies currently have 503 full-time employees, down 36% since 2016, according to the council. Thumma said that even though 'organized religion' gets a bad name these days, that's not the full story. 'You have people who are still interested in spirituality, some sort of gathering around something higher than themselves, but not in these particular forms,' he said. 'There are a lot of religious and denominational leaders who realize that, but the question is what forms or structures are going to resonate with those folks.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
