POSTCARDS: IN NIGERIA, THURSDAYS IN BLACK ARE FLOURISHING
An article first published on the World Council of Churches website reports on how Rev Ikechukwu Anaga has taken the concept of ‘Thursdays in Black’ to the streets of Nigeria…
Updated: Frank Page, Southern Baptist leader, retires due to ‘inappropriate relationship’
RNS Rev Frank Page, right, president of the Southern Baptist Convention executive committee, leads a panel discussion at the Southern Baptists’ annual meeting in Houston, in June, 2013. PICTURE: Adam Covington/Baptist Press Frank Page, the Southern Baptist Convention’s top executive, is retiring as president and CEO of its executive committee following what he called a […]
China’s Communist Party increases control over religious affairs
World Watch Monitor China’s Communist Party has disbanded its Religious Affairs Bureau to bring religion under the control of the party’s Central Committee, in what some observers see as a further tightening of the belt. The State Administration of Religious Affairs (SARA) is to be absorbed by the United Front Work Department, an organ of […]
Uzbek Christians report continued state pressure, despite recent UN criticism
World Watch Monitor State harassment against Baptists in Uzbekistan has continued despite the UN’s recent criticism of the country’s religious rights records. UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom or Religion or Belief, Ahmed Shaheed, said: “Law changes and a strong political will are needed if Uzbeks are to freely practise their faith” when he presented his report on […]
Land degradation drives mass migration, climate change, say experts
Thomson Reuters Foundation Billions of people live on farmland that is deteriorating and producing less food, and this situation could force hundreds of millions of people to migrate over the next three decades, a major report said on Monday. The study, which is backed by the United Nations, said climate change and worsening land quality […]
Some 70 per cent of young adults in UK say they have no religion, study finds
Some 70 per cent of young adults in Britain don’t identify with a religion, according to a new study of young people’s religious attitudes in more than 20 countries. Launched last week, the report – which examined levels of religious affiliation and practice among 16 to 29-year-olds in 21 European countries as well as Israel – […]
FIJI: FOR UPROOTED SURVIVORS OF A DEADLY CYCLONE, MENTAL SCARS LINGER
LAURIE GOERING, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on who Fijians are coping in the aftermath of Cyclone Winston – the first Category 5 storm to hit the South Pacific – which devastated parts of the island nation in 2016…
Palm Sunday celebrations mark revival of life in Qaraqosh
World Watch Monitor Palm Sunday celebrations saw thousands of Christians take to the streets of Qaraqosh. PICTURE: World Watch Monitor. For many Christian families in Qaraqosh, this Easter is particularly special, as they will be celebrating it at home for the first time since fleeing the city in 2014. The city, located in northern Iraq’s […]
ESSAY: GLASTONBURY – HOW ARCHAEOLOGY IS REVEALING NEW TRUTHS ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF BRITISH CHRISTIANITY
In an article first published on The Conversation, ROBERTA GILCHRIST, professor of archaeology at the University of Reading in the UK, explores how recent archaeological finds at Glastonbury are providing new insights into Christianity’s beginnings in the UK…
SACRIFICE
Many have criticised Christianity over the years for its atonement theory – that Jesus died a bloody mess on the cross. It’s not very civilised. PICTURE: Thuong Do/Unsplash All it really shows is that the critics have not understood what is going on for, as poets have penned and painters have portrayed, this is perhaps the […]