news in brief
Evangelical Presbyterians thankful for Oxford growth
It has been standing room only at times for Oxford Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) as it returned to in-person Sunday morning services after 83 weeks online.
The church, which has held its 5pm services in person through most of the pandemic, has given thanks for the many new people, including couples, students and families, it has seen. Last November, the church held its first ever Thanksgiving celebration since its initial planting four years ago.
news in brief
From Russia with love
From Siberia to Greater Manchester, Russell Phillips has taken over as pastor of Radcliffe Road Baptist Church, Bury.
While studying Russian at Cambridge, Russell went to Novosibirsk, Russia with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES). He met his wife Oxana there and they married in Scotland in 1999.
news in brief
Virgin closure
Fundraising platform Virgin Money Giving,
relied on by many churches, will no longer
take online donations as of 1 December.
Leading Christian philanthropy charity
Stewardship has urged church and charity
treasurers to take necessary action to ensure
online donations continue.
The platform – a subsidiary of Virgin
Money – will
close
completely by 22
February 2022. Church treasurers needing
more information can call Stewardship on
020 8502 5600, or visit stewardship.org.uk/
fundraising-churches-charities
news in brief
Honduras: evangelicals
now in majority
The Roman Catholic Church was
the
majority
religion
in Honduras, central
America, and is officially recognised by the
government. But it has now been overtaken
by evangelicals.
A new survey shows that 43.2% of the
population identify themselves as evangelical
Christians while just 38.2% call themselves
Catholics. 13% of Hondurans say they do
not belong to any religious denomination.
news in brief
Eternal Wall prayer drive
Inspired by Nehemiah’s rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall, ‘Eternal Wall: 52 Days of Prayer, Fasting and Worship’ is underway.
It began on 3 September in support of a crowdfunding campaign for the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer, a Christian landmark planned for the West Midlands, UK in 2023. It is to include 75,000 ‘heritage bricks’ celebrating answered prayer as far back as 600 AD. The 52 days of prayer is a flexible prayer schedule that can be followed daily – either individually or in a small group, or in a church or organisation. For more information visit eternalwall.org
news in brief
Argentina: Evangelical Churches Day
The Argentinian province of Neuquén has enshrined in law a new Provincial Day of Evangelical Churches. The date – 31 October, Reformation Day – was chosen as it marks the anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 1517.
‘We believe it was important to give public recognition and support to the evangelical churches that are doing essential work in our province and our country’, said provincial deputy Darío Peralta (see photo). He stressed that the Congress was ‘happy to highlight their work and make it visible by recognising them and declaring 31 October as the day of the evangelical churches in our province’.
news in brief
USA: two pastors arrested over Capitol riots
James Varnell Cusick Jr., 72, and his son Casey Cusick, 35, both pastors at the Global Outreach Ministries church at Melbourne, Florida have been arrested in connection with the Capitol riots on 6 January.
They face charges including: disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. David Lesperance, a 68-year-old congregant of their church, faces similar charges. Bodycam footage and CCTV images showing the three men inside the Capitol have been presented as evidence.
news in brief
Newham call to prayer
victory
It has been revealed that Newham Council
assured residents in April that a decision
allowing mosques to broadcast the Muslim
call to prayer during Ramadan last year
would not be repeated this year.
In May 2020,
the
sound of
‘There
is
no God but Allah and Muhammad is his
messenger,’
followed by
the command
to
pray, could be heard. Residents complained,
but after an unsatisfactory
response one
resident
challenged Newham’s mayor,
a
Muslim, on a Zoom drop-in, but was met
with ‘excuses’. A legal letter was sent, arguing
that the decision was unlawful on various
grounds. It is not known whether the council
acknowledged any unlawfulness, but it said
it would not authorise broadcasts during Ramadan 2021.
news in brief
PM quotes Psalm 14
Boris Johnson has quoted Psalm 14 when asked by a reporter whether he believed in God.
Asked by ITV’s Robert Peston, the Prime Minister initially said: ‘I don’t discuss these deep issues, certainly not with you.’ But he then added: ‘The foolish man has said in his heart there is no God.’
news in brief
Abortion law change?
The Severe Foetal Impairment Abortion
(Amendment) Bill has passed
its second
stage at the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Disability
rights
campaigner, Heidi
Crowter, who has Down’s syndrome, had
told the Health Committee of the assembly:
‘The law … tells me and other people with
Down’s syndrome that we are worth
less
than those without disabilities. That is why I
want … the laws to be fairer.’
news in brief
Franklin Graham
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
(BGEA)
is suing venues
in Manchester,
Birmingham, Sheffield and Wales for breach
of contract, it was reported on 1 November.
Franklin Graham told the Guardian that
he was ‘being denied [a platform] because of
religious beliefs’. Some people have regarded
his views as homophobic or Islamophobic.
Others have welcomed the opportunity to
have him speak in the UK. The events were
cancelled amid protests made by LGBT rights campaigners.
news in brief
Sex ed man returns
The creator of the sexually-explicit Warwickshire sex ed curriculum removed from use in the county earlier in 2020, has made a comeback with a new curriculum on his Going Off the Rails website.
Jonny Hunt claims his new work closely follows the government Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) ‘curriculum’. A training session must be attended before the materials can be purchased. The self-styled ‘sex ed’ consultant’s biography still includes no academic qualifications in the field of education or RSE (en January 2020).
news in brief
China: Rev. 22.19
A Communist textbook used in Chinese schools falsifies the Biblical account of John 8:3-11 and claims that Jesus murdered the woman who was found in adultery and writes that Jesus says He Himself is a sinner.
One Christian, distressed about the distortion of the Biblical account, reportedly wrote on a social media post: ‘I want everyone to know that the Chinese Communist Party has always tried to distort the history of the church, to slander our church, and to make people hate our church.’
news in brief
Passing the online plate
UK local churches are being offered a vital online-giving platform to help reverse the decline of income due to coronavirus.
Whilst some churches are starting to re-open their doors, the lack of collection-plate offerings is causing financial challenges for many churches. However, Stewardship is offering every church in the UK an online webpage and portal, which they can then customise for their church, thus creating a dedicated fundraising page to maximise
news in brief
Azerbaijan: fired
On 10 June, Baku Appeal Court rejected arguments that letters given to a Christian fired from his workplace were illegal.
Former parliamentary staffer Rahim Akhundov said he was fired in December 2018 on secret police orders because he is a Christian. Courts said he could not appeal earlier as Parliament sent the letter nine months late. He will appeal to the Supreme Court when he receives the written appeal rejection.
news in brief
Australia: mission again
Christian Witness to Israel will restart its mission work in Australia, it was reported in March, nearly 50 years after its first missionaries shared Jesus with Jewish people in that country.
Mark and Rahel Landrum are based in Sydney in New South Wales, where there is a thriving Jewish community of around 50,000 people. In total, Australia’s Jewish population numbers around 120,000, and includes many Holocaust survivors who arrived during and after the Second World War.
news in brief
Australia: fostering bias
A Christian couple launched a legal action after they were banned from becoming foster carers due to their biblical views on LGBT issues, it was reported in February.
Byron and Keira Hordyk said they would love a child who identifies as LGBT as their own, but would help them to overcome their sin. Despite an initially favourable report, their application was refused on the grounds that their views would not ensure ‘a safe living environment’. The Equality Opportunity Commission refused to hear their case, and it has been referred to the State Administrative Tribunal.
news in brief
New pastor in the Cwm
5 October saw
the
induction of Pastor
Steve Dyer to the pastorate of the Mission
Cwmtwrch, a village 15 miles north of
Swansea in the South Wales valleys.
Pastor Dyer’s
relationship with
the
Mission has grown steadily for several years.
In Spring 2019, he felt led to accept a call
from the Mission – a church that has its
origins in the 1904 Welsh Revival. Pastor
Dyer continues to work with Oasis Church,
now based in Gorseinon, which he planted
in early 2008.
news in brief
Albania: earthquake
A Christian charity has offered ‘practical, emotional and spiritual support’ to the thousands of families left homeless by the devastating earthquake in late November.
More than 50 people were killed and a further 13,000 were left homeless, with 26 schools also damaged – affecting 10,500 children. Some being helped noted that their faith in the Lord was not shaken despite the devastation surrounding them now.
news in brief
Shaping up UK’s response
The Bishop of Truro’s final report published
on
8
July
on worldwide Christian
persecution, made recommendations
for
religious literacy training in the UK Foreign
Office. It also said mechanisms are needed
to facilitate immediate responses to atrocity
crimes, including genocide.
Jeremy Hunt said he would adopt all 22
recommendations
from
the report noting
that Christians are
the most persecuted group in the world.
news in brief
Algeria: ‘God is sovereign’
Authorities closed another church building and its Bible school on 22 May.
Citing a law that requires authorisation for non-Muslim places of worship, gen-darmes locked the doors of the evangelical church building in Boudjima. Pastor Youcef Ourahmane said that the permit has been applied for, but the government commit-tee that approves them has never met. Ourahmane said they are praying for the authorities whilst recognising that ‘God is sovereign and is in control of this situation and all circumstances’.
news in brief
Algeria: tent ban
Christians in Algeria were forced out of a tent they were worshipping in by police on 28 January after their church building was sealed by authorities.
The tent, set up in the grounds of Azaghar Church, enabled the 300-strong congregation to continue worshipping following the forced closure of their church building for spurious ‘health and safety’ reasons. The church lost the use of its building in October 2018, despite the congregation responding to requests to install fire exits and fire extinguishers.
news in brief
One a day
The UK Deed Poll Service reported a sharp rise in the number of parents paying £35 to alter their child’s title from ‘Miss to Master’ or ‘Master to Miss’ in the past five years, with about one under-16-year-old making the change every day, it was reported in January.
‘We used to issue a couple of these deed polls every couple of months, but now it’s seven to ten a week,’ said Louise Bowers, a senior deed poll officer. The majority are teenagers, but some are as young as ten.
news in brief
Algeria: closure
The official notice that a village pastor in Algeria received on 30 December confirmed that his church had been ordered to close.
Pastor Rabah Messaoudi had won a legal battle in 2017 after local officials in the Muslim country tried to close his church. Those acting for the pastor have said they will appeal again, as the church is affiliated to an organisation of 45 churches through which the national commission confirms their authenticity.