A controversial pastor in the U.S. state of Louisiana held services in his evangelical church Sunday despite house arrest orders for violating social distancing measures linked to the coronavirus pandemic.
Facebook has removed four videos of military chaplains encouraging prayer and referring to God during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fox News reported on Thursday. The posts were taken down after the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRRF) complained the videos constituted ‘illicit proselytizing’ of Christianity.
The Liberty Counsel (LC) Christian non-profit organization has launched the ReOpen Church Sunday campaign, calling on US churches to resume congregating in person on May 3, the Christian Post reports. As the campaign follows weeks of on-line worship services due to the coronavirus pandemic, LC advises that congregations should continue to observe social-distancing and sanitation measures at in-person services. However, LC says: ‘Now is the time to act.’
A church in Harlem has lost 11 members to the coronavirus pandemic in 30 days. Rev. Johnnie Green of the 1200-member Mount Neboh Baptist Church told the Christian Post: ‘It is simply unfathomable and unfortunate that so many people in our congregation [have died].’
A new Danish Bible omits the word ‘Israel’ from its pages, publishers claiming the modern nation of Israel and the ancient kingdom of Israel have nothing to do with each other.
The Babylon Bee, a self-described “Christian News Satire” website that often pokes fun at political figures, didn’t stop delivering the popular humor amid the coronavirus pandemic and its CEO is offering help.
Orthodox believers in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia held church services, despite warnings that they complicated efforts to halt the new coronavirus pandemic. Worldwide, millions of Orthodox Christians celebrated Easter – the most important festival in their calendar, amid a series of restrictions and bans to prevent more infections.
Christian songs reverberated throughout the Dutch town of Urk as residents took to the streets to celebrate Easter outside closed churches in one of Europe’s most God-fearing communities. They gathered Sunday after the 57-year-old housewife Jannie Molenaar expressed concern that locals would no longer be able to sing in churches due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Major Christian publishing companies have reported increased sales of the Bible during the coronavirus pandemic. The increase is reportedly similar to that observed after the September 11 terror attacks in 2001.
Roughly 9 in 10 pastors in the United States view current events as signs that Jesus Christ will return soon to Earth, according to a new survey by a significant church research group.
Christians across America drove to hospitals last week to pray for medical staff and coronavirus patients. States involved in the “park and pray” initiative included Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, and Florida. Those who attended the prayer gatherings were instructed to practice social distancing so as not to risk spreading the virus.
In an amendment to his March 19 executive order on limiting the spread of coronavirus, the Governor of Texas has decreed that attending “religious services conducted in churches, congregations, and houses of worship” is as important as shopping for food or going to medical appointments. The executive amendment came into effect on April 2.
Wycliffe Associates, an international organization that empowers mother-tongue Bible translators and partners with local churches in the advancement of Bible translation, is using technology to protect and empower Bible translators working in regions of intense persecution for Christians.
Pastors refusing to comply with coronavirus regulations effectively shuttering churches are facing increased harassment from state authorities, with New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio even threatening to permanently close churches and synagogues that defy social distancing orders.
The pastor of a Louisiana church was charged Tuesday with defying state efforts to curtail the coronavirus outbreak. Tony Spell of the Life Tabernacle Church near Baton Rouge faces six counts of misdemeanor for holding services in violation of state-wide orders to stay home and to limit essential gatherings to 10 persons. Spell has said the government is infringing on the right to religion and that he will continue to hold services.
Authorities in Africa and Europe are evacuating churches and detaining pastors as governments say they prohibit worship services to halt the spread of the new coronavirus COVID 19. Video footage obtained by Worthy News showed the head pastor of the Open Arms Ministries congregation in Ghana’s city of Kumasi taken into custody during a recent worship service. The pastor, Kofi Nkrumah Sarkodie, was rushed to a police pickup truck. Several worshippers protested the move and applauded the pastor.
Wycliffe Associates, an international organization that empowers mother-tongue Bible translators and partners with local churches in the advancement of Bible translation, aims to launch Bible translations for 600 new language groups in places of oppression and persecution for Christians.
Wycliffe Associates held a dedication service for its newly published Symbolic Universal Notation (SUN) New Testament on February 20, 2020, at its worldwide headquarters in Orlando, Florida.
They suggest their faith in Christ spreads as fast as the new coronavirus. Pentecostal pastors of several Muslim dominated jungle villages in Indonesia’s South Sumatra province report church growth. That’s despite local protests, poverty, and occultism. ‘I even received one hundred boxes of tiles from the village chief to complete our church building,’ explains Pastor Frani Pondaag.
President Donald Trump declared Sunday, March 15, as a National Day of Prayer.