Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, who spent nearly nine months imprisoned in China before being released to the United States in July, is set to receive a human rights award marking one year since his arrest. Jin said he intends to use the recognition to keep drawing attention to eight leaders of Beijing Zion Church who remain in detention.
A planned church in East Java Province in Indonesia is facing renewed opposition from Muslim residents who argue that an address discrepancy in permit documents should halt construction. Residents in the Dukuh Kukun area of Babat Jerawat Urban Village, Pakal District, Surabaya, say the address listed on the official permit does not match the church site in the CitraLand housing complex.
Algerian special forces raided a Christian worship gathering at a humanitarian shelter on Sept. 4, detaining all 12 people present on suspicion of holding an unauthorized non-Muslim religious service. Police entered the site and transferred the 12 detained Christians to the Bethioua police station.
Two United Nations experts have called on Iran to explain the confiscation of St. Peter’s Evangelical Church in Tehran and the eviction of Christian families from the property. Reports emerged in July that Iranian authorities had seized the church, described as the country’s oldest Protestant congregation, and removed Christian residents living on the site.
Fulani militia attacks in one county in Plateau state, Nigeria over the weekend killed at least eight Christians, including a Baptist pastor and a church employee on their way to church services on Sunday (Sept. 20), sources said.
Excavations beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem have revealed an ancient garden and burial landscape that archaeologists say is consistent with the description of Jesus’ burial site in the Gospel of John.
A performance of Handel’s “Messiah” blending Western and Eastern music took place Sept. 12 at Mukawir, the hilltop fortress in Jordan traditionally associated with the beheading of John the Baptist. The concert was held under the patronage of HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal.
President John Dramani Mahama has ruled out the use of taxpayers' money to finance Ghana's National Cathedral, saying the country's Christian community should raise the funds needed to complete the stalled project.
The leaders of France's two main Protestant umbrella organizations have agreed to create a standing forum for dialogue and cooperation, following a two-day meeting both described as unprecedented. Delegations from the executive boards of the Protestant Federation of France, known by its French initials FPF, and the National Council of Evangelicals in France, or CNEF, met Sept. 3-4 at the Domaine du Lazaret in Sète.
Evangelicals in the United Kingdom are “younger, more ethnically diverse, and more likely to be male than the wider population,” according to a new report from the Evangelical Alliance UK. “Adults under 35 are the age group most likely to identify as Evangelical and to hold Evangelical beliefs,” the report reads. “Approximately a third of the most committed Evangelicals come from ethnically diverse backgrounds, while an estimated 60% of Evangelicals are male.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury has withdrawn an interfaith award given to Pakistani Muslim cleric Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi after past remarks praising Osama bin Laden resurfaced, raising questions in Pakistan about why he was recommended for the honor by Church of Pakistan’s Moderator Bishop Azad Marshall.
A Maryland appeals court has rejected a challenge brought by 37 churches against the United Methodist Church’s Baltimore-Washington Conference over property and financial requirements connected to leaving the denomination. A three-judge panel of the Appellate Court of Maryland unanimously ruled in 'The Methodist Church of Cape St. Claire et al. v. The Baltimore Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, Inc., et al.'
U.S. Protestant pastors are delivering somewhat longer sermons than they did several years ago, while most churchgoers remain generally satisfied with the amount of time their pastors spend preaching, according to Lifeway Research. Four in five pastors, or 80%, said their typical sermon lasts less than 40 minutes. About half, or 52%, said they usually preach for under 30 minutes, while 28% reported messages lasting between 30 and 40 minutes.
Christian artists gathered at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena for the 57th annual GMA Dove Awards, held under the theme “Together For One,” drawn from Colossians 3:14. The event brought together artists from worship, gospel, contemporary Christian, country and other genres, celebrating both their musical achievements and the Christian faith at the heart of the ceremony.
Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, who spent nearly nine months imprisoned in China before being released to the United States in July, is set to receive a human rights award marking one year since his arrest. Jin said he intends to use the recognition to keep drawing attention to eight leaders of Beijing Zion Church who remain in detention.
A Canadian woman in her 70s received approval for assisted suicide after becoming unable to cook for her family and feeling that she no longer had value, according to two Toronto psychiatrists who say Canada’s MAiD system has expanded too far. University of Toronto psychiatry professors Madeline Li and Gary Rodin described the case in a New York Times op-ed published Monday while warning about the direction of Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying program.