Tuesday's Briefing: A Televangelist's Death, a Recovered Icon, and Pets at the Altar
The churches marked a death, a homecoming and a feast on Tuesday, in reporting that ranged from scandal and memory to the blessing of animals.
Daily Briefing
Today
Tuesday's Briefing: A Televangelist's Death, a Recovered Icon, and Pets at the Altar
Good morning. The most consequential item came from Christianity Today, which reported the death of Jim Bakker. Bakker, a pioneering televangelist later caught in scandal and financial crimes, died Oct. 5 at the age of 86, according to a statement from his second wife, Lori Bakker. She did not share his cause of death. Christianity Today noted that Bakker rose to fame in the 1970s and 1980s as the host of a popular television programme.
Two reports turned on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, which falls on Oct. 4. Religion News Service, in its Photos of the Week selection, marked the 800th anniversary of the saint's death. Religion News Service, carrying an Associated Press report from Manila, described a Philippine church where priests bless pets for the feast, remembering Francis for his humility, compassion and love for all living things.
From the Orthodox tradition, Charisma News reported that an icon missing from a Florida church for over a century has surfaced abroad. The outlet said Mayor John Koulianos of Tarpon Springs, Florida, encountered the lost icon of St. Nicholas while on vacation on the Greek island of Aegina, where it hung on a back wall of another church.
Charisma News also reported that more than 1,000 Christian leaders, community leaders and influencers from 117 countries were arriving in Israel for the Friends of Zion Ambassador Summit, to stand with survivors of Oct. 7, visit massacre sites and carry their testimonies home. The outlet attributed the account to Israel365 News.
In other reporting, Charisma News covered new data, drawn from a CBN interview with Billy Hallowell, indicating that 58% of practicing Christians say they have experienced spiritual attacks. Religion News Service reported that the Unitarian Universalist Association had released a statement on faithful dissent, noncompliance and civil disobedience. And Religion News Service highlighted a new documentary, "The Gospel According To…," featuring Black queer Christians speaking about faith, homophobia and life in the Black Church.
The day also brought reflection. Religion News Service published Tomer Persico on what it means to be made in God's image, and, via The Conversation, a history of the golden roses popes have bestowed over a thousand years. The Gospel Coalition offered a podcast with Jonathan Cheng on North Korea and a review of Jen Wilkin's children's book on Genesis 2.
Zoom out: The day's dispatches ran from the death of a disgraced televangelist to pet blessings, a recovered icon and a gathering in Israel, touching several Christian traditions at once.
What we're following
- Religion News Service: Photos of the Week: Pet blessings for St. Francis feast day Read it
- Charisma News: Icon Missing from Florida Church for 100 Years Turns Up on a Back Wall in Another Country Read it
- Christianity Today: Died: Jim Bakker, Pioneering Televangelist Later Caught in Crimes Read it
- The Gospel Coalition: How North Korea Became the Most Religious Place on Earth with Jonathan Cheng Read it
Sources
- Photos of the Week: Pet blessings for St. Francis feast day Religion News Service
- Icon Missing from Florida Church for 100 Years Turns Up on a Back Wall in Another Country Charisma News
- Died: Jim Bakker, Pioneering Televangelist Later Caught in Crimes Christianity Today
- How North Korea Became the Most Religious Place on Earth with Jonathan Cheng The Gospel Coalition
- 1,000 Christian Leaders Gather in Israel to Honor Oct 7 Victims, Stand With Survivors Charisma News
- Is the Church Ready for Battle? 58% of Practicing Christians Report Spiritual Attacks Charisma News
- What does it mean to be made in God’s image? Religion News Service
- What 1,000 years of golden roses tell us about popes’ authority and influence, from Leo IX to Leo XIV Religion News Service
- Wagging tails fill a Philippine church where priests bless pets for St. Francis feast Religion News Service
- Unitarian Universalist Association releases historic statement on religious practice of faithful dissent, noncompliance, and civil disobedience Religion News Service
- Why Jen Wilkin Wants Kids to Understand Genesis 2 The Gospel Coalition
- New documentary highlights experiences of Black LGBTQ+ Christians Religion News Service
Share this issue
Facebook · X · Reddit · LinkedIn · WhatsApp · Email · Bluesky
Summarized from the linked reports by the FaithDaily desk. Verify against the original sources before citing.
Previous briefings
All briefings →- 7 Oct 2026Wednesday's churches: a St. Louis archbishop sues over detainee access, a Natal suspension, and questions over a New York cathedral's booksA Catholic archbishop's lawsuit over access to immigrant detainees led a day that also brought safeguarding and financial-oversight news on both sides of the Atlantic, alongside dispatches from Tanzania, Cuba and the wider culture.
- 5 Oct 2026Monday's churches: a fatal bus crash, election appeals, and a Vatican reviewA deadly school bus crash in Florida led a day in which churches weighed elections, courts, worship and the limits of new technology.
- 2 Oct 2026A conviction in Sheffield, a new Pentagon office, and a case bound for the Supreme CourtFriday brought a criminal verdict against a former church leader, fresh scrutiny of the US military's approach to faith, and signs of a term ahead for religious-freedom law.
- 1 Oct 2026A new Pentagon office for soldiers' faith, and a bishop's farewellThe day's news turned on institutions reshaping themselves: a military office created to tend soldiers' spiritual health, a bishop preparing to step down, and a cluster of Anglican governance news.
- 30 Sept 2026Briefing for Wednesday, 30 September: church doorsteps, courtrooms and a name under reviewThe day's news turned repeatedly on where faith meets the state — from immigration enforcement at churches to a disputed cross in Los Angeles — alongside quieter questions of identity and renewal within the churches themselves.