Australian churches, Christian organisations launch campaign to resettle 20,000 Afghans
Sydney, Australia Mainstream Australian churches and Christian organisations have launched a campaign for the “just and compassionate commitment” to resettle 20,000 refugees fleeing from the Taliban in Afghanistan. In a significant sign of unity, the denominations and organisations have joined together in support of the ‘Christians United for Afghanistan‘ campaign, which is lobbying the Federal […]
Essay: What is charismatic Catholicism?
As questions continue to swirl around the faith of US President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, US-based professor of religious studies MATHEW SCHMALZ takes a look at – in an article first published on The Conversation – what charismatic Catholics believe…
‘High-Church Pentecostal’ leader J Delano Ellis dies at 75
RNS Bishop J Delano Ellis II, a Black church official who started Pentecostal organisations in the US and emphasised ecumenism, died over the weekend. He was 75 and died after a recent hospitalisation. Bishop J Delano Ellis. PICTURE: Courtesy of Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops “While you share your love, concern and prayers with […]
Differing views: Denialism grows among Christians in Brazil despite climbing coronavirus cases
EDUARDO CAMPOS LIMA reports from Brazil on how church leaders are responding to the coronavirus pandemic…
Dutch Pentecostal preacher Ben Hoekendijk dies at age 81
Harderwijk, The NetherlandsBosNewsLife Ben Hoekendijk, the Dutch evangelist who became the face of the Netherlands’ post-war Pentecostal movement, has died. He was 81, friends confirmed to BosNewsLife. Hoekendijk, who was in frail health after suffering a stroke, died last week in his hometown of Harderwijk. Dutch evangelist Ben Hoekendijk “He will be remembered as a […]
Tajik pastor freed after three years in prison for “singing extremist songs in church”
World Watch Monitor A Protestant pastor sentenced to three years in prison for “singing extremist songs in church and so inciting religious hatred” has been freed three months early (he was due to be freed in March, 2020). Bakhrom Kholmatov, 42, was sentenced in July, 2017, and has served his term in a prison in […]
Indian Christian forum demands withdrawal of ‘bogus’ charges of forced conversions
World Watch Monitor The Christian Forum of Chhattisgarh state in India called on its political parties to commit to ensuring freedom of religion, as elections for the state’s legislative house took place on Monday, Catholic news agency UCAN reported. Meanwhile, several attacks on Christians were reported in the first week of this month, across a number […]
In Kenya, a pastor’s refusal to marry an HIV-positive bride stirs debate over AIDS stigma
RNS A Pentecostal pastor in the western Kenyan town of Bahati triggered outrage over the past week by refusing to marry a young couple until they complied with his demand that they be tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. On 3rd November, Pastor Jesse Karanja, the leader of Mizpah House of Prayer Church, […]
INDONESIA: PENTECOSTALS PREACH CHRIST DESPITE THE COST
STEFAN J BOS, of BosNewsLife, speaks with Johannis ‘John’ Hus Lumenta, the head of Indonesia’s main Pentecostal denomination…
Raids on ‘illegal’ worship meetings in rebel-held Ukraine
World Watch Monitor A Pentecostal church in the rebel-held Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine was raided by armed men on 6th August, the latest in a series of raids on religious communities, reports Oslo-based news service Forum 18. The raid took place during a worship meeting at the Grace Church of God Pentecostal church in Alchevsk. […]