For the Boy Scouts of America — recently renamed Scouting America — the past 12 years have been challenging. Opening its programs to gay people and later to girls sparked dismay in some quarters. Its 2020 bankruptcy declaration led to prolonged wrangling over compensation for thousands of men claiming they were sexually abused as scouts. The 115-year-old organization is serving far fewer youths than at its peak decades ago. But it seems to be stabilizing, with a slight uptick in membership last year. A key factor is the abiding loyalty of major religious denominations that still view scouting’s mission as uniquely in tune with their own.

For the Boy Scouts of America — renamed Scouting America — recent years have been challenging. Opening its programs to gay people and later to girls angered some critics. Its 2020 bankruptcy declaration triggered disputes over compensation for thousands of men claiming they were sexually abused as scouts. The 115-year-old organization now serves far fewer youths than at its peak decades ago. But it seems to be stabilizing, with a slight uptick in membership last year. One key reason: the loyalty of major religious denominations that still view scouting’s mission as uniquely valuable and welcome its continued commitment to reverence and prayer.

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, who died last month at age 89, was long celebrated as a champion of family values and parental discipline. But Dobson has also faced pushback for his emphasis on corporal punishment, and for parental advice seen as prioritizing obedience over connection. Now, some former “Focus on the Family” kids say the parenting methods that promised stability instead fragmented the very relationships they were intended to uplift. “There was an expectation that was put on us, because of who my father was and the reputation that we had in the community, that we were supposed to behave a certain way,” said Amber Cantorna-Wylde, whose father, Dave Arnold, was the executive producer of the smash hit children’s Christian radio program “Adventures in Odyssey.”

Aid workers saved thousands of priceless archaeological artifacts in Gaza from destruction last week after Israel targeted the warehouse building in a strike. Israeli military said Hamas used the building for intelligence. It contained items from over 25 years of excavations, including from a 4th-century Byzantine monastery. International aid groups negotiated with the Israeli military for a delay to move the artifacts. Workers rushed to pack the items in trucks, but some were broken or left behind. The artifacts are now in a safer location but remain in danger, housed outside, as the Israeli offensive widens.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians, is making his first visit in four years to the United States. One of his first events is a meeting Monday with President Donald Trump. He is also scheduled to make other appearances in the Washington and New York areas through September 25. That includes receiving the prestigious Templeton Prize in honor of his environmental advocacy. Bartholomew is considered first among equals among Orthodox patriarchs. That role gives him prominence, but not the power of a pope, because the church has various self-governing jurisdictions. Bartholomew oversees the small Orthodox population in mostly Muslim Turkey. He also oversees the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

There are more than 1,000 whitewashed stone chapels on the Greek island of Tinos owned and cared for by private families as they have in some cases for centuries. These room-sized structures, mostly Orthodox and a couple of hundred Catholic, are up the rocky hillsides among the goat herds and down by the beach bars, recognizable mostly by their cross-topped miniature bell towers. Their owners range from octogenarians to Generation Z, sheep farmers to business owners, and devout to de facto atheists. But they share the unwavering dedication to keeping their little chapels going and open to anyone who wants to pray or just find a moment of quiet.

Pope Leo XIV has honored hundreds of Christians who have been killed for their faith in the 21st century. Leo presided over a Holy Year evening prayer service to honor them alongside Orthodox patriarchs and Christian ministers from over 30 Christian denominations. The Vatican has been documenting these Christian martyrs, not as part of its saint-making process but to merely collect and remember their stories. Their numbers include cases of Christians being killed by Islamic militants, mafia groups or Amazonian ranchers upset at their defense of the rain forest and poor.

A New York federal indictment has charged the longtime head of a Mexican megachurch with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. Authorities announced Wednesday that Naasón Joaquín García and five others were charged in a newly unsealed indictment. García is already serving more than 16 years in a California prison for sexually abusing young followers. The indictment alleges that García victimized members of the church for decades. It said that he and his father, who died in 2014, carried out the abuse of children and women. Lawyers for García did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

After 800 years of silence, a pipe organ that researchers say is the oldest in the Christian world has roared back to life at a monastery in Jerusalem’s Old City. Composed of original pipes from the 11th century, the instrument emitted a full, hearty sound as musician David Catalunya played a liturgical chant called Benedicamus Domino Flos Filius. Catalunya, who led the project to restore the organ, told a news conference Monday that attendees were witnessing a grand development in the history of music. “This organ was buried with the hope that one day it would play again,” he says. “And the day has arrived, nearly eight centuries later.”

In each “Knives Out” movie, Johnson has assembled some of his favorite actors and managed to give nearly all of them a moment to shine. “Wake Up, Dead Man” is no different. But one of the standout performances, most definitely, is Glenn Close’s. In “Wake Up, Dead Man,” Johnson shifts to an upstate New York church. A young priest named has been sent to aid a flagging church led by Josh Brolin’s charismatic but tyrannical monsignor. Much of the cast make up his loyal flock, with Close’s Martha Delacroix as his most devout follower. The film's religious backdrop runs deep for Close.