Displaying items by tag: Religion

Rural Mission Sunday is fun, according to Revd Doreen Sparey-Delacassa, Superintendent Minister of the Camelford and Week St Mary Methodist Circuit in Cornwall. Last year they held a Rural Mission Sunday celebration called Fun, Frogs and Bishops; a community outreach event with a bouncy castle and games, Open the Book displays and Messy Church crafts. This year rural churches are celebrating Rural Mission Sunday on 15 July. Last year over 300 churches from across the denominations registered to take part. They had pet services, Bar B Qs, treasure hunts, reaching out to a ‘hard-to-reach’ by the local Dementia Action Alliance; and lots more that brought in people from within and outside their communities.  Click the ‘More’ link for a free resource pack.

‘It is a miracle that there have been no reported injuries caused by the massive fire which has been tearing through Saddleworth moorland in Greater Manchester’, said Rev Chris Viney from St James Millbrook. ‘We could see the fire coming down the hillside, towards the top end of the village. It must have been very, very scary for the people who live in the houses near to where the fire was.’ He believes God has been protecting his community, even though dozens of people needed to be evacuated from their homes. (They have now returned home). The associate minister said that the church gathered together to pray through the night. ‘God was at work because it could have been so much worse than it was.’ Sleeping bags, roll mats, food and drink are stockpiled at the church in the event displaced families or emergency service members need them.

Puna Baptist Church put on a family fun day for families affected by the volcano. One church member wrote on facebook, ‘Puna Baptist Church held a Family Fun Day for the people of Puna. It was a day to just forget about the volcano and have some family fun. It certainly lived up to its name! We had close to 500 people. I was at the registration desk and loved seeing the children’s eyes light up as I told them about all of the things they could do! We were so busy! What a blessing to everyone! I love my church!’ Free hygiene kits were offered by the church and a doctor and a counsellor were also on site. The church members have also been providing a clothes washing service which they've asked members to pray for. Their website reads,’Pray for the Laundry Voucher Ministry to be an effective opportunity to share Jesus with the Puna community’.

Puna Baptist Church put on a family fun day for families affected by the volcano. One church member wrote on facebook, ‘Puna Baptist Church held a Family Fun Day for the people of Puna. It was a day to just forget about the volcano and have some family fun. It certainly lived up to its name! We had close to 500 people. I was at the registration desk and loved seeing the children’s eyes light up as I told them about all of the things they could do! We were so busy! What a blessing to everyone! I love my church!’ Free hygiene kits were offered by the church and a doctor and a counsellor were also on site. The church members have also been providing a clothes washing service which they've asked members to pray for. Their website reads,’Pray for the Laundry Voucher Ministry to be an effective opportunity to share Jesus with the Puna community’.

The next General Synod, from 6 to 10 July, will debate allowing Anglican congregations to share services and preachers with black-majority churches. It is called the ‘Michael Curry effect’ after the African-American bishop's barnstorming sermon at the Royal wedding. The change relaxes rules governing the links parishes make with other churches. Many of the liveliest congregations in England are black-led Pentecostal, in black majority churches. A Synod representative said that the framework would make it easier for parishes to welcome members of the fastest-growing expression of Christianity in England, work in partnership with them, and learn from them. Joe Aldred, a Pentecostal bishop in the Church of God of Prophecy, said, 'This is a great moment for relations between the Church of England and Pentecostal and charismatic denominations and congregations, including many black-led churches, as we share the task of building the Kingdom of God in this country’.

British evangelist Rico Tice spoke at GAFCON, warning that God would take His power, spirit and gospel outside the Anglican institution if Anglicans leaders do not submit to scripture and repent of sin. He said he could relate to Rev Behan when he said he wept and grieved over New Zealand’s church; adding, ‘To come here and see the largest collection of Anglicans for the last 50 years meet together and have a Nigerian bishop rebuke us about our sin was so refreshing.’ He said that the road to ruin in Britain is defined by tolerance and permissiveness, doing what you please, thinking what you please. ‘In a way I come to GAFCON partly grieving but also delighted to find a family that is Anglican, that I can trust, who submit to the Lord Jesus and to Scripture. There’s a loss of nerve in the Church because culture is intolerant of people holding onto the uniqueness of Jesus and his high and holy standards.’

Christians in Parliament, at their annual national prayer breakfast, gave 470 leaders time to stop and reflect, sing hymns, pray, and hear the American Presbyterian pastor Tim Keller. One of the themes was, ‘What role can Christianity play in contemporary public life?’ Theresa May said that Christianity had transformed the United Kingdom with its values and teachings, helping to shape the laws, customs and society of the country. She added, ‘Whether you are a Parliamentarian or a constituent, I encourage you to continue your engagement as Christians in public life for the common good of all.’  The Christians in Parliament ethos is for more Christians to respond to God's call and engage positively in party politics and government. Their mission is to make the biblical case for participating in party politics at high-quality events, and connect Christians and churches to people or organisations that can help them engage politically.

On 21 June the Archbishop of York Youth Trust hosted a regional conference, for primary head teachers in church schools across the Diocese of Manchester. It provided an opportunity for them to learn more about the Young Leaders Award delivered at Key Stage 2 and to share in the experiences of those completing the award. To date the Youth Trust has enrolled over 550 primary and secondary schools in these award schemes, empowering 63,000 young people to put leadership into action and make a difference in other people's lives through acts of service and community volunteering.

Algerian Christians cannot openly practise their faith. 99% of the population are Muslim, and intolerance from Muslim relatives and neighbours is a major source of persecution. The state restricts freedom of religion through stringent laws and bureaucracy. Many ethnic Berbers are coming to Christ and Arabs are persecuting them. Laws regulate non-Muslim worship, ban conversion, and prohibit blasphemy. In recent years, several Christian churches with Muslim-background congregations have been ordered to close. Slimane Bouhafs, imprisoned for insulting Islam, was violently harassed by fellow prisoners for his faith. On 16 May a judge denied Pastor Nouredine Belabed's appeal against a sentence of a 100,000-dinar fine and payment of court fees plus a suspended sentence. Pray for the young people, who make up a large percentage of the population as well as the majority of Christians.

(From a Prophecy Today blog) Today, if speech does not conform to secular social mores of ‘tolerance’, ‘diversity’ and ‘equality’, then it becomes ‘hate speech’. In today’s politically correct environment, what we can and can’t say is increasingly regulated - we even censor ourselves for fear of offending some ‘victim’ groups which are given a higher status, deserving special consideration, and placed beyond criticism. Designation of victim groups, undoubtedly well-meant to rid society of prejudice by positively discriminating in favour of ‘victims’, is turning genuine justice on its head. Women’s rights are championed. Men’s rights are unheard of. LGBT rights are promoted over and above those of heterosexuals. Many ‘virtuous’ causes promote immoral living, false religions and the destruction of the family - while Godly living and thinking is ostracised. Pray for a reversal of society’s revolt against Biblical truth, rebellion against God, and the shying away from declaring His truth in public.