(SRN NEWS)  In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, some of his supporters are expressing hope that the tragedy will galvanize many people — especially young conservatives — to become more engaged in church.  There have already been widespread reports of attendance surging at some Evangelical houses of worship.  Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas says “The short-term impact of Kirk’s murder is astounding.  Whether this translates into long-term change is yet to be determined, but I pray that it does.”  Kirk always made his Christian testimony a part of his political activism.

(  )  A federal appeals court says a Vermont Christian school can participate in the state’s sports league.  The decision overturns a previous one that upheld a ban on the school after it forfeited a high school girls basketball game against a team with a male athlete.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has granted Mid Vermont Christian School a preliminary injunction to rejoin the league as the legal battle continues in court.  In its decision the court wrote that “We conclude that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing that the expulsion of Mid Vermont was not neutral because it displayed hostility toward the school’s religious beliefs.”

(  )  Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has delivered a wide-ranging speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in which he applauded the United States’ constitutional system of checks and balances.  But he also warned against excluding faith from the public square, citing George Washington’s statement that “religion and morality are indispensable” to good government. Bartholomew, who has been visiting the U.S. this month, is considered first among equals among Orthodox patriarchs, but he lacks the power of a Catholic pope. Each Orthodox jurisdiction, organized largely along national lines, governs itself while sharing such things as creeds and sacraments.

(  )  A friend of President Trump who represents a broad swath of Wisconsin’s rural north woods in Congress has entered the governor’s race in the battleground state, shaking up the Republican primary.  Congressman Tom Tiffany becomes the front-runner over the two other announced GOP candidates who have less name recognition and support from key conservative donors.  Tiffany is a strong pro-life advocate and is promising to freeze property taxes, lower income taxes, improve schools, bolster job creation, overhaul the state Department of Natural Resources and protect farmland from foreign ownership.