Rugged pioneers settled a desolate landscape in the plains of north Texas nearly two centuries ago. So, it seems fitting for a group of Christians who fled an arid spiritual landscape more than a decade ago to gather here and survey their progress after pulling up stakes to build something new.

BRIDGEWATER, Mass.—Over 51 awful days in 1999, 10-month-old Samuel Robidoux slowly starved to death. His parents, part of an aberrational cult that began as a Bible study and home church, withheld food from him so as to obey a “prophecy” from a fellow cult member, the boy’s aunt.

China last year was home to 440 million pigs, 57 percent of the world’s porcine total. As African swine fever—fatal for pigs, not transferable to humans—spread in early June, millions died. Farmers slaughtered millions more, hoping for sales before the highly contagious disease hit. Some say half of all pigs will die, and that’s particularly bad news in China, where more than half of all meat consumed is pork. The government even maintains a strategic pork reserve.  

When Pastor Zach Keele stood in the pulpit on the Sunday morning after Easter, his opening words spoke of death rather than resurrection. “This is an evil day,” he told the congregation. “A child of our church has gone forth and committed a horrible, wicked act.”

That member of Escondido Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) is 19-year-old John Earnest, who is also the son of an elder in the congregation.

The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) suspended the membership of Chicago-area megachurch Harvest Bible Chapel after blogger Julie Roys reported lavish spending by fired Pastor James MacDonald. “Given the emergence of new information, we have concerns the church may be in serious violation of ECFA Standards,” the organization said in a statement Friday.

Independent investigators found that the accusations of inappropriate conduct by Willow Creek Community Church founder and pastor Bill Hybels were credible and would have warranted discipline had he not resigned last year, according to a report released Thursday by the church.

When Malcolm Yarnell read the Houston Chronicle’s devastating investigation into sexual abuse in Southern Baptist churches in mid-February, he grieved for the survivors and received an unexpected phone call from his mother: “I need to talk to you.”

Yarnell, a professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, has also been a Southern Baptist minister for decades. Shortly after his ordination, his mother left the Baptist church and became a Roman Catholic.