"What we were looking for is an organ that sings, an organ that has a warm, mellow sound that accompanies singing,” says Rev. William Bradley Roberts, professor of church music and director of chapel music at Virginia Theological Seminary.

As it wrapped up its current term this week, the US Supreme Court handed down a number of decisions important to religious communities on issues including immigration, abortion, and affirmative action.

Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia describes the rituals and spiritual significance of Eid al-Fitr, the three-day festival marking the end of the month-long Ramadan fast.

“This is nearly 10 years after the tragedy,” says Terri Roberts, the mother of Charlie Roberts, who murdered five Amish school girls in 2006, “and here I am. I’m alive and I am able to move forward because of the response of the Amish, because of forgiveness. I believe that so much light has been brought into such a dark place.”

Some mosques use the month of Ramadan as an opportunity to educate friends and neighbors about Islam. The Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia encourages members of its congregation to bring non-Muslim friends to their iftar dinners, the meal that breaks the fast during Ramadan. Imam Johari Abdul-Malik describes how the program ties the community together.

“I was looking for a place where I could practice empathy,” says Randall Smith. “I’m looking for a place to practice tolerance. I’m looking for a place to practice compassion, love, truth. What I found in the Friends community is a place to do that that is safe, that is a very large tent. The great part of that is I ended up joining the most unorganized organized religion I could find.”

“The idea of caring for those who are in need we consider to be a scriptural mandate,” says Steve Peterson, managing director of the Mormon Church’s welfare system. “And that’s grown into a wonderful program worldwide that focuses on caring for those in need, to relieve suffering, and to foster self-reliance and give opportunities for service both for those that receive things and for those that are helping out.”

While the presumptive Republican nominee for president told evangelicals he is “a tremendous believer,” interfaith protests, vigils, and press conferences questioned the candidate’s religious claims and assertions.

“It’s not just evangelicals,” says John Green, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron. “There are other pieces of the Republican Party that are in disarray as well. But because evangelicals play just a central role at the ballot box, that has to be a top priority for Republicans who want to be successful,”

Muslim leaders spoke out this week after the massacre in Orlando. “We condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “It violates our principles as Americans and as Muslims.” And Sayyid Syeed, national director of the Islamic Society of North America, observed that “whatever they say about the practice of homosexuality is irrelevant to the fact we are committed to respect the other.”