United Methodist Church Postpones General Conference amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Tim Tune | ChristianHeadlines.com  | Thursday, March 19, 2020 The United Methodist Church, anticipating action on a proposal that could split the denomination, has postponed its quadrennial General Conference, which was scheduled for May 5-15 in Minneapolis. The Minneapolis Convention Center notified the Executive Committee of UMC’s Commission on the General Conference that the venue was not holding large events through May 10, a news release from the church’s press center said. The convention center’s restrictions, the release said, are based ...

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Pastor arrested in Kumasi for defying public ban amid coronavirus pandemic

KENNETH AWOTWE DARKO | WWW.MYJOYONLINE.COM |  18 MARCH 2020 12:33PM A pastor has been arrested in the Ashanti Region for defying the ban on public gatherings in the wake of the deadly COVID-19 virus. The head pastor of the Open Arms Ministry, Apostle Kofi Nkansah-Sarkodie was picked up at the church in Kumasi, Wednesday for holding a service despite the directive by President Akufo-Addo. On Sunday, the President placed an embargo on all ...

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China Raids Churches for ‘Illegal’ Bibles, Threatens Fines up to $1,400

Michael Foust | Christianheadlines.Com Contributor  | Thursday, Ebruary 13, 2020 Government officials within China have confiscated Bibles from churches in recent months and threatened fines as part of an intensified crackdown on Christianity and an effort to eradicate “illegal publications,” according to a new report.  The campaign has targeted illegal underground churches as well as legal Three-Self churches, which are registered with the government. “If our Bibles are taken away, we have no more,” a pastor ...

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Bishops’ Conference questions exclusion of night clubs, chop bars, etc from list of banned gatherings

JOYNEWS.COM | 17TH MARCH 2020 Ghana Charismatic Bishops’ Conference has described as “arbitrary” and “discriminatory”, the government’s four-week ban placed on churches and places of worship. According to the Christian body, the decision was taken and announced without an input from their members which it says, “smacks of a disregard of the importance of the church’s role in the country.” President Akufo-Addo in a televised address Sunday, announced wide-reaching decisions to curb the ...

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ISIS Instructs Its Terrorists Not to Travel to Europe to Wage Jihad Due to COVID-19

STEVE WARREN | CBN.COM | 03-16-2020 After telling its disciples to attack targets in European cities for more than two decades, the terrorist group the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, is advising its members to "stay away from the land of the epidemic" in case they become infected with the COVID-19 virus. The Sunday Times of London reports the group told any sick jihadists already in the European continent should stay ...

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French Megachurch Sees Salvations as Paris Is Hit by Coronavirus

CHUCK HOLTON |CBN.COM|03-09-2020 PARIS - Officials in France are taking drastic steps to curb the coronavirus outbreak that is disrupting businesses, tourism and even churches there. France reported 1,126 cases on Sunday, making it the second hardest-hit country in Europe after Italy. Retired medics and medical students are being recruited to help deal with growing numbers of infections. French Health Minister Olivier Veran announced Sunday they are taking stringent measures to try to ...

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YouVersion Founder, Megachurch Pastor Quarantined After Exposure to Coronavirus

Steve Warren | FAITHWIRE.COM | 03-06-2020 Two pastors of one of the largest churches in the country may have been exposed to the coronavirus at a leadership conference in Germany and have been quarantined in their homes by local health officials. Religion News Service reports Craig Groeschel, the senior pastor of Life.Church in Edmond, Okla., was one of the speakers at the Willow Creek Deutschland Leitungskongress 2020, which took place last week in Karlsruhe, Germany. ...

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Queen Esther as a hacker – an innovative feminist reading

ZEHAVIT GROSS | JPOST.COM | 03-05-2020.    MARCH 10, 2020 22:39 Queen Esther was a great feminist leader and one of the great saviors of the Jewish people, but above all she was creative and a virtuoso. A new contemporary feminist reading of the Book of Esther through the lens of the postmodern, neoliberal, digital world in which we live reveals that Queen Esther was actually a hacker. That’s why every year we sit fascinated as ...

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Taking the Gospel to Europe: ‘God’s Plan Is Like a Big Picture, but We Can See Only the Small Puzzle Piece’

DALE HURD | CBN.COM | 03-05-2020 LONDON and DUBLIN – Africa was once known as the "Dark Continent," but Europe may deserve that label now. A majority of African nations today are Christian. A majority of Europeans say they are now either atheist or have "no religion." In the past 20 years, church buildings have been shut down by the thousands and put up for sale. But Europe is being re-evangelized just early European missionaries ...

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UN ‘Religion Expert’ Wants World Religions to Bow to UN Ideology

Steve Warren |cbn.com | 03-09-2020 A United Nations "special expert on freedom of religion" says its time for the world's leading religions to submit to the authority of the UN and its human rights bodies, even though critics say those bodies are laced with fringe, leftist views. It's all about who should have the final say on issues of law and policy, and the  UN expert is saying the UN's ideas should override the ...

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