Today

A conviction in Sheffield, a new Pentagon office, and a case bound for the Supreme Court

By The FaithDaily Desk

Good morning. The most consequential item came from Sheffield. Anglican Ink, carrying a statement from the Bishop of Sheffield, reported that Chris Brain was found guilty on all remaining charges after a retrial. The retrial concerned the five charges on which the jury could not agree during his original trial in 2025.

That earlier trial is part of the record Anglican Ink set out. Brain was convicted in August 2025 of 17 counts of indecent assault against nine women. The outlet published the bishop's statement as the verdict landed.

In the United States, attention turned to the military. Charisma News reported that War Secretary Pete Hegseth has established a Pentagon Office of Religious Affairs, announced earlier in the week, framing it as a direct line between service members and the department's leadership and noting that a large majority of American troops identify as religious. Religion News Service covered the same office from a different angle, reporting that the founding memo describes a remit to oversee research and analytical tools meant to support and assess the spiritual fitness, readiness and resilience of soldiers. Two outlets, one office, two readings of what it is for.

The courts featured too. Religion News Service, carrying a piece from The Conversation, previewed St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, a Colorado dispute over a preschool that is heading to the Supreme Court. By that account it is the fourth time in a decade that Colorado will defend its antidiscrimination laws before the justices, with the boundaries of LGBTQ rights and religious freedom again at issue.

Denominational life supplied the rest. Anglican Ink published a statement from the Rev. Canon Dr. Kris McDaniel of C4SO addressing 2015 comments on Eucharistic discipline, ahead of a diocesan convention vote on his election as suffragan bishop. United Methodist News invited reflection on its denomination's future, drawing on two participants in a coming Leadership Gathering who raise questions about structure, leadership and evangelism.

Religion News Service also ran two profiles of individual lives: a column on how the LDS Church responds to perceived criticism, and the story of a former SSPX priest, Palmquist, who has come out as gay and now works as a tattoo artist.

Away from the headlines, Christianity Today marked seventy years since its first issue, founded by Billy Graham to help Christians think biblically about a changing world. Elsewhere the day's quieter reading included Christianity Today's review of William Paul Young's Return to the Shack and its reader-response feature, and a Gospel Coalition podcast on turning to God in suffering.

Zoom out: Across the day's reporting, the churches' news ran from a courtroom in England to the Pentagon to the steps of the US Supreme Court.

What we're following

Christianity Today: Week of Giving Read it
Anglican Ink: Statement from Bishop of Sheffield following the retrial of Chris Brain Read it
Charisma News: Critics Melt Down Over Pentagon’s New Religious Affairs Office Read it
Religion News Service: Shields up! Evasive maneuvers! How the LDS Church responds to perceived criticism Read it

Sources

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