Emily McFarlan Miller

Emily McFarlan Miller is a national reporter for RNS based in Chicago. She covers evangelical and mainline Protestant Christianity.

All Stories by Emily McFarlan Miller

Hearts and ashes: 10 ways to celebrate Ash Wednesday on Valentine’s Day

By Roxanne Stone and Emily McFarlan Miller — February 13, 2024
(RNS) — It’s a marriage of holidays most sorrowful and saccharine.

ELCA hears from Indigenous boarding school survivor ahead of National Day of Remembrance

By Emily McFarlan Miller — September 20, 2023
(RNS) — The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is one of several mainline denominations reckoning with the role they played in the federal boarding school system.

UCC elects first woman — and first woman of African descent — to lead denomination

By Emily McFarlan Miller — July 3, 2023
(RNS) — That Thompson is the first woman to lead the denomination may be surprising given the denomination’s progressive stances on women’s rights and many other issues.

Four ways to leave your denomination: How churches are disaffiliating from the UMC

By Emily McFarlan Miller and BeLynn Hollers — June 14, 2023
(RNS) — To date, 5,550 of the United Methodist Church’s approximately 30,000 US churches have disaffiliated from the country’s second-largest Protestant denomination since 2019.

Seattle’s Quest Church leaves ECC as church affirms LGBTQ Christians

By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 5, 2023
(RNS) — The Seattle megachurch’s move to disaffiliate from the denomination comes as the ECC was prepared to vote this summer on expelling Quest and Awaken Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, over the churches' support for LGBTQ Christians.

Women of Welcome looks to evangelical women to change the conversation on immigration

By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 30, 2023
(RNS) — Research has shown evangelical women are more supportive than their male counterparts of policies impacting immigrants and refugees.

New asylum policies after Title 42 ‘don’t address root cause,’ say faith-based groups

By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 23, 2023
(RNS) — New policies that took effect last week are exacerbating the strain on many shelters on the southern side of the United States-Mexico border.

Judge clears way for disaffiliations from United Methodist Church in north Georgia

By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 18, 2023
(RNS) — The North Georgia Conference had barred churches wishing to leave the UMC from disaffiliating before the 2024 General Conference.

‘The Way,’ Emilio Estevez’s film about the Camino, returns to theaters

By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 15, 2023
(RNS) — The movie returns to theaters for one night Tuesday (May 16) and features a conversation between Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen and travel guru Rick Steves.

Lutheran, Presbyterian schools moving to Chicago campus of Catholic Theological Union

By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 11, 2023
CHICAGO (RNS) — Each of the three schools will remain independent with its own identity, mission and governance.

New books celebrate faith and motherhood in time for Mother’s Day

By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 10, 2023
(RNS) — Yes, that’s this weekend. Call your mom — or maybe gift her one of these books.

Breakaway Texas UMC megachurch reveals plans for new Methodist denomination

By BeLynn Hollers and Emily McFarlan Miller — May 9, 2023
SOUTHLAKE, Texas (RNS) — White’s Chapel plans to invite others to join the Methodist Collegiate Church once its disaffiliation is approved by Central Texas United Methodists next month. 

UMC bishops request 2026 General Conference as hundreds more churches disaffiliate

By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 8, 2023
CHICAGO (RNS) — To date, at least 2,804 churches have left the United Methodist Church since 2019, according to United Methodist News Service.

Their church is leaving the UMC fold. They found refuge in a nearby ‘Lighthouse.’

By Yonat Shimron and Emily McFarlan Miller — May 4, 2023
(RNS) — The United Methodist Church is turning its attention to taking care of those who want to remain and rebuilding and fortifying its ranks.

New books spotlight women’s leadership in New Testament

By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 4, 2023
(RNS) — ‘It’s not that we’re trying to rewrite history. It’s simply that women have been obscured,’ said Beth Allison Barr.
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