An administrative court in France has overturned a government ban on meetings in churches and other places of worship. The case underscored broader tensions in coronavirus-hit Europe over religious freedom amid an ongoing pandemic.
Evangelical leaders have asked Congress to grant religious organizations immunity from potential negligence suits arising from decisions to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Christian Post reports. Evangelicals joined some 300 interfaith leaders in signing a letter to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary last week, in which they suggested immunity granted could be similar to that given health-care workers.
Churches across the United States are planning to defy bans on indoor worship and will open for in-person services this Sunday, May 17, Worthy News learned. The move is part of the “Peaceably Gather Sunday” initiative in which congregations seek a balance between safety against the coronavirus and worshipping without restrictions.
Christian leaders have sued the governor of the U.S. State of North Carolina for banning extensive indoor church services to limit the new coronavirus outbreak. Their lawsuit asked a court to throw out Governor Roy Cooper’s restrictions on person-to-person services in North Carolina during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A number of churches in Illinois held in-person services on Sunday, against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 orders limiting worship services to 10 people, Fox News reported. Several churches have filed suit claiming the Governor’s coronavirus orders are unconstitutional.
Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias has been battling a rare form of bone cancer since March and was recently informed by doctors that his cancer has spread and there’s nothing more they can do medically.
US Christian streaming services have seen a substantial increase in viewers and membership as families have stayed home in COVID-19 lockdowns, the Christian Post reports.
Ben Hoekendijk, the Dutch evangelist who became the face of the Netherlands’ post-war Pentecostal movement, has died. He was 81, friends confirmed to Worthy News. Hoekendijk, who was in frail health after suffering a stroke, died last week in his hometown of Harderwijk.
Today, May 7th is the National Day of Prayer in the United States, a tradition that began as early as 1775. In 2019, President Donald Trump proclaimed “Our Nation’s honored tradition of prayer has sustained us and strengthened our trust that God will continue to watch over and accompany us through the best of times and the darkest hours. May we as Americans never forget the power of prayer and the greatness of our Creator. On this National Day of Prayer, let each of us, according to our own faiths, call upon God for His guidance and express our gratitude for the love and grace He bestows on us and our country.”
California Gov. Newsom’s executive order banning in-person church services during the COVID-19 pandemic has been upheld by a federal judge, the Washington Examiner reports. The Cross Culture Christian Center near Sacramento had filed a lawsuit stating the governor’s lockdown order violated their First Amendment right to free assembly.
Having been asked to come to New York City to help with the COVID-19 crisis, disaster relief organization Samaritan’s Purse (SP) has been told it must pay state taxes for the time it spent running its free-of-charge field hospital in Central Park.
Israel’s government has threatened to close down an evangelical television channel broadcasting in Hebrew if it violates laws on proselytizing and missionary activities. Tuesday’s announcement came after global network GOD TV launched Shelanu (“Ours”) to spread “the gospel of Jesus Christ into the homes and lives and hearts of the Jewish people.”
After weeks of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, churches across America were encouraged to hold in-person services again on May 3, Fox News reports. This date was the first Sunday since the US government launched its reopening plan and allowed congregants to attend church in person.
Organizers of the April 24 “Secret Church” online event reported that a cyberattack may have blocked many participants from logging on in real-time. Focused on God, government, and the Gospel, the event is simulcast to around 50,000 people worldwide and is centered on Bible study and prayer for persecuted Christians.
The revival that was taking place in hundreds of churches in Tennessee before the pandemic is now moving online in anticipation of spreading the gospel around the world.
More than 130,000 people from across the world, many in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, have decided to follow Jesus Christ after an online evangelism event, organizers said. “We are living through a Great Quarantine Revival, and I think God is just getting started,” explained evangelist Nick Hall, whose Pulse movement organized the virtual program.
The Governor of Tennessee expressed full support for holding drive-in church services during the COVID-19 pandemic by attending such a service himself, Christian Headlines reports. At a time when state and local leaders have grappled with whether to allow drive-in services, Gov. Bill Lee attended a multi-church ‘Beyond Our Walls’ worship service on Sunday evening.
Wycliffe Associates, an international organization working with national translators with close to 1,200 languages in progress, is expanding its Bible translation technological reach with V-MAST, a video conferencing version of the MAST (Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation) methodology.
After weeks of having online services due to the COVID-19 pandemic, about half of US churches are expected to resume holding in-person services in May, the Christian Post reported. Churches that reopen are expected to do so while still observing safety measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
A Baptist pastor in the U.S. state of Michigan has died shortly after celebrating his recovery from the new coronavirus and preaching about the resurrection of Christ. David Ford, a pastor at Friendship House of Prayer Baptist Church in the state capital Lansing, had been hospitalized with the virus disease COVID-19, friends said.