Facing Possible Amputation, CU Coach Deion Sanders Says, ‘I Have Full Trust in Jesus!’

June 20, 2023

University of Colorado (CU) head football coach Deion Sanders recently revealed that he might need to have his left foot amputated. As ChurchLeaders has reported, the former pro athlete and outspoken Christian lost two toes during a health scare in 2021.

Last week, cameras from “Thee Pregame Show” filmed Sanders, known as Coach Prime, meeting with his medical team. The 55-year-old, who’s been walking with a limp since a 2021 ordeal with blood clots and compartment syndrome, described ongoing pain plus the loss of feeling in part of his left foot. A remaining toe is dislocated and sticks out.

‘Things Can Cascade,’ Doctor Tells Deion Sanders

“You just have to understand what the risks are,” vascular surgeon Dr. Donald Jacobs told Sanders. “Things can cascade” to the point where you “could lose the foot.” Dr. Max Wohlauer, another vascular surgeon, said the blood pressure near Sanders’ ankle is now two-thirds of that in his arm.

“I know what risks are,” replied Sanders. “I only have eight toes, so I’m pretty sure I understand.” He said if doctors recommend an amputation, he hopes to get it over with before the busy football season begins. “This is the best downtime I have,” the coach said of the summer months.

Sanders, who was hired at CU last December, is preparing for his first season leading the Buffaloes. During his time at Jackson State, he had to miss three games due to multiple surgeries on his leg and foot. Sanders later admitted he rushed his return to the sidelines because his QB son requested his presence. “God helped me through,” Sanders said of that health scare.

Deion Sanders: ‘I Have Full Trust in Jesus’

Sanders, who played both professional football and baseball, has been open about his medical challenges as well as how his faith helps him cope. He described praying and speaking in tongues during hospital stays in 2021.

In a June 15 Instagram post, the coach shared the video of his meeting with doctors. In the caption, he wrote: “As you know I’ve faced some medical challenges with my foot but I’ve never said ‘WHY ME’ – I keep moving forward, progressing . . . See you never know what a person may be going through while I sit in your seat of [judgment] but you can trust and believe that we are all going through something – just keep the faith and know that if He brought you to it, He will bring you through it.”

Sanders, who added that he’s “built for this,” wrote that he has “full trust in my medical team…and more importantly I have full trust in Jesus!”

Detroit Pastor Denied Access to His Church, Detained by Police During ‘Church Jacking’

Dale Chamberlain

June 20, 2023

Earlier this month, Detroit pastor Lorenzo Sewell was detained by police after being denied entry to the building of the church where he has served as pastor for nearly five years. He says that he was the victim of a “church jacking.”

The incident took place on June 7, when Sewell was alerted that someone had drilled into the locks at 180 Church, where he is senior pastor. After rushing to the church, Sewell was stopped by police, handcuffed, and placed in the back of a police vehicle.

“He’s trying to stop me from going into the building. He’s asking me who I am. I tell him my name is on the building,” Sewell recounted to FOX2 while playing back security footage. “He’s walking me off in handcuffs.”

When asked to describe how he felt in that moment, Sewell said, “Violation.”

“Not for me, but for people who look like me that don’t have Todd Perkins as their attorney,” Sewell continued, referring to a Detroit area attorney. “People that don’t have relationships.”

Sewell said that a group that was previously associated with the church somehow gained control of the church’s facility, bank account, and business entities.

When asked why he believes he and his church were targeted, Sewell, a Black man, said, “It’s just the power of privilege. I believe that when you are white and you have power, you feel like, ‘I own this.’ Instead of saying, ‘Wow, this guy’s been the pastor for five years.’”

Sewell has since been able to regain control of the church, but he expressed disappointment with how he was treated by police in the community in which he and they both serve.

“[It’s] painful,” Sewell said, “because we are an advocate for the cops. We do Faith & Blue, we do jazz concerts, we just played basketball with them a day before in the community.”

Sewell went on to say, “The first thing is that we need to deal with the culture of policing in the Blackest city in America—that’s number one. Number two, we need to be willing to say, ‘Listen, we need to build bridges of trust with our community instead of suspecting the worst out of our community.’”

Soft Complementarians: Holding to Headship and the Gifting of Women

Eric Geiger

June 20, 2023

soft complementarian — Lightstock #203724

The place of women serving, leading, and teaching in the Church is frequently a topic of discussion, seemingly heightened in 2023 as Christian denominations such as Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) and the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) have made national news over their discussions and decisions regarding the role of women in a local church. The CMA has adopted a “soft complementarian” position where women can be given the title of “pastor,” and the SBC has voted to disfellowship two churches for women serving in pastoral roles.

Churches making changes in how they have functioned and in what titles women hold has surely caused some of the debate, but the broader culture has also elevated the conversation by effectively linking discussions on race, women, and sexuality together. The culture essentially says, “If you advocate for one, you must advocate for all three. If you are for women and for minorities, then you must also be for affirming same-sex relationships.” Thus, some Christians who hold to a historical view of sexuality (that sex is God’s gift within the confines of a marriage between a man and woman) assume that if a Christian or a church has a view that women should exercise their spiritual gifts of leadership and teaching within the church, then the leader or church must be on a trajectory away from the Church’s historic position on sexuality.

The concern is not without merit, as denominations who have “gone affirming” moved to an egalitarian position first. Likewise, the “trajectory hermeneutic”—an approach to reading and studying the Bible that does not view the Scripture as having a final word but rather asks “where is the Bible going?” or “what is the trajectory of the Bible on this topic?”—is often applied to gender roles within a church before it is applied to sexuality.

While I am understanding and appreciative of the concern, it is inaccurate to say that all who believe women should lead and teach got there through a trajectory hermeneutic—as some hold tightly to the Word being complete and abhor the view that Scripture is not finished or authoritative. They also don’t adopt the culture’s view of race, women, and sexuality, but receive their conviction for all three from Scripture—that the Image of God is placed on every ethnicity and both genders and that the historic view of marriage must not be compromised because it is a beautiful metaphor of the gospel. Groups like the Wesleyans, denominations like the Church of God (Anderson), and many Pentecostal groups hold tightly to the historic position on sexuality and have women pastoring and preaching within their churches. They got to their position on “women in ministry” not because of the culture or because of a trajectory hermeneutic but because of passages like “your sons and daughters will prophesy” (Acts 2:17) and often their view of the Kingdom of God. One may disagree with their application of certain passages without accusing them of being on a slippery slope away from the counter-cultural convictions about sexuality that they faithfully hold. It is helpful to ask someone how they got where they are before assuming it was because of cultural compromise or a trajectory hermeneutic.

“How did you get there?” would also be a wise and gracious question to pose to the soft complementarian position.

“Soft complementarian,” as it is commonly called, is neither “complementarian” or “egalitarian”—the two views that are typically featured in the debates. Some prefer “broad, gift-based complementarian” to describe their position, and I use that term interchangeably with “soft complementarian.” I have pastored Mariners Church for the last five years, a church which has never been affiliated with a denomination and has held the same “soft complementarian” position for over three decades, a position deeply influenced by my predecessor’s mentor—none other than John Stott. (If these terms are new to you, the attached position paper could be helpful.)

Broad, Gifted-Based Complementarian

In the debates between complementarians and egalitarians, the position of “soft complementarian” has often been misrepresented. I am not expecting to convince anyone to hold a soft complementarian position, as if I am going to introduce some new way of thinking or passage that has been overlooked. In times of debate, most of our views only get crystalized. I have read the thoughtful counterpoints to each point I will make by scholars I respect and can articulate them fairly and graciously. Instead of trying to convince you, I hope to help you understand and be able to articulate the soft complementarian position. Before you dismiss soft complementarianism as a middle-way attempt to appease both sides, please consider that John Stott and J.I. Packer might be called soft complementarians today. You may not agree with them, but it would be kind and generous to try and understand the viewpoint. I have joked that the only people who believe there is such a thing as a soft complementarian position are soft complementarians, since stronger complementarians view us as egalitarians who have gone too far, and egalitarians view us as complementarians who have not gone far enough.

What Makes Us Complementarian?

In theology, the order of things matters so much. For example, someone who is reformed in their view of salvation believes regeneration comes before conversion and someone who is not reformed believes conversion happens before regeneration. When it comes to being a complementarian, a lot comes down to when male headship entered our world. An egalitarian believes male headship happened after the Fall or is even a product of the Fall. A complementarian believes male headship happened before the Fall: Eve coming from Adam’s side, Adam naming Eve, and the Apostle Paul rooting male headship in Genesis 2. We are complementarian because we believe in biblical headship—both in the home and the Church.

What Makes Us Broad and Gift-Based?

Why put a qualifier in front of complementarian? We believe the spiritual gifts were given by God to His people to serve His body, the Church. When we read the lists of spiritual gifts in the Scripture, we don’t see any mention of gender. Women were given gifts of teaching, leadership, and exhortation to bless His people. And this is where soft complementarians diverge from other complementarians: we believe pastoring is a spiritual gift. When we read Ephesians 4:11-13 and see “pastors/teachers,” we believe women are able to use those gifts as we don’t see gender in that passage. We are broad, gift-based complementarians because we believe all spiritual gifts are given to both men and women.

New Christians Hospitalized After Relatives Beat Them

Morning Star News

June 20, 2023

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Relatives of two brothers who accepted Christ in May beat them for leaving Islam earlier this month in eastern Uganda, sources said.

Janati Tisuubira, 22, and his 33-year-old brother Ibrahim Musa Kakembo, received hospital care for nearly week after family members attacked them on June 3 following a burial service for their sister in Bunya, Mayuge District, Kakembo said.

The two brothers had moved to Mbale, about 135 kilometers (84 miles) away, for work reasons and heard a gospel broadcast there that led them to visit the radio preacher’s church in Mbale on May 22, he said.

“At the end of the service, my brother and I remained behind,” Kakembo told Morning Star News. “There we talked to the pastor and asked several questions relating to the gospel message that he had preached over the radio. After that we believed in Issa [Jesus].”

On June 2 they learned that their sister had died in Bunya, and the next day they returned there for the burial. At about 10 p.m., they were listening to the pastor on the radio in their room.

“Before ending the preaching, he asked the listeners to join him in prayers,” Kakembo said. “We then joined him in prayers and began praying. One of our elder brothers saw us praying in the room and went and informed other members of the family, who came to see what was going on. They found us seriously praying, following the pastor on the radio.”

The family members made mobile phone video recordings of the brothers praying, then called them into the sitting room to question them about why they were praying in the name of Christ rather than Muhammad, he said. The brothers remained silent.

“They accused us that we are no longer Muslims,” Kakembo said. “Our elder brother, Shaban, a teacher by profession at Ibun Bazi Islamic Center, got angry with us and started beating us with a blunt object which he had with him as the rest of the members also joined in and started beating us badly.”

He said their father came in and began shouting, “Stop, don’t kill them in my house, just send them away from my home – from today on, I am no longer their father, and they are no longer my children.”

“My brothers obeyed our dad and sent us away in the night,” Kakembo said. “I was bleeding from a deep cut near the right eye and the forehead, while my brother suffered a deep cut on his forehead, an eye injury and a swollen neck.”

After walking about 200 meters, they telephoned the pastor in Mbale, who arranged for Christians in Bulamogi, Kaliro District 124 kilometers (77 miles) away to rescue them. They took the brothers in the middle of the night to a medical clinic in Kaliro, and they were discharged on June 10.

The Christians have taken refuge in an undisclosed location.

“We are ostracized and disowned – we need prayers so that God may comfort us as we feel rejected,” Kakembo said.

The attack was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.

Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.

This article originally appeared here.

William Barber Departs Pulpit of Greenleaf Church With an Ode to the Power of Disability

Yonat Shimron

June 20, 2023

RALEIGH (RNS) — For his final sermon as pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina, on Sunday (June 18), the Rev. William Barber spoke of “the testimony of the cripple.”

The sermon, which capped his 30-year tenure as pastor of the Disciples of Christ church in the mostly Black town about 50 miles southeast of Raleigh, the state capital, was unusually personal.

Barber, who some consider a successor to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., for his anti-poverty activism, will devote his time to training future pastors. Late last year, he was appointed founding director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School.

In completing his tenure at Greenleaf, Barber, 59, spoke of the struggle that nearly ended his career before it began.

In 1993, the year he was called to lead the church, he was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis. Though he didn’t name the condition, which causes the vertebrae of the spine to fuse together and has resulted in a hunched back and a halting gait, he spoke candidly of the depression and near loss of faith that came with his diagnosis and the ways it forced him to lean more heavily on God.

“I had an officer in the Christian church, the national church, call me and said, ‘Bobby, you probably gonna need to figure out another thing to do besides pastoring, because the church ain’t gonna want a cripple to be a pastor,’” he recounted.

At a time when muscular Christianity, a militant, almost warrior-like faith appears ascendant in many Christian and political spaces, Barber, who walks with a cane, has staked his life on speaking for the weak and lowly.

“We work so hard to present how strong we are, and we think that’s faith,” Barber said.
But, he added, “God’s grace and God’s glory is most evident when we are weak.”

“So if you’re going to boast about your faith, ” he intoned, “don’t tell everybody how good you are. Tell them how you’ve fallen.”

Using the biblical prophet Isaiah’s image of a bruised reed and the story of a lame man named Mephibosheth from the Book of Samuel, Barber spoke for 45 minutes about his own struggle and about those of other biblical figures such as Job, the prophet Jeremiah and the apostle Paul and many others were either physically or psychologically afflicted.

Sitting behind him was Terri Hord Owens, general minister and president of the Disciples of Christ as well as Sharon Watkins, her predecessor and the first woman to lead a mainline denomination in 2005.

Barber, who also served as president of the North Carolina state conference of the NAACP from 2005 until 2017, is best known in the state for organizing the Moral Monday movement as a protest against cuts to unemployment benefits, health care funding, voting rights and environment regulations. The movement was credited with helping defeat former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory in 2016.

His dedication to low-income Americans and their concerns raised his profile nationally and led to speeches at the Democratic National Convention and later a MacArthur “genius” grant. Most recently, Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones, who was expelled by the overwhelmingly white, Republican-controlled state Legislature and then reinstated, credited Barber as a sort of “godfather” to him.

In a phone call with RNS after the service, Barber said he was especially proud to hand over leadership of his church to a woman, the Rev. G. Shyrl Hinnant-Uzzell, who was named his successor at Greenleaf.

Hinnant-Uzzell has served as assistant pastor at the church for several years. Barber has also handed the leadership of another organization he founded, Repairers of the Breach, to a woman, the Rev. A. Kazimir Brown. Barber will retain the title of president and senior lecturer.

Immediately after his last service, Barber headed to Washington for a three-day Poor People’s Campaign event to raise awareness of poverty, which he said is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States. As part of that event, he is scheduled to have a meeting in the White House on Wednesday.

Barber said he will always keep a home in the South, even as he intends to spend most of his time at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, beginning this fall.

He felt it was important to leave Greenleaf with a message that hardship can be a source of strength, or as he put it: “your crippleness doesn’t disqualify you.”

“Your crippleness gives God a place to show God’s strength and it also enables you to be in community, because you cannot do it on your own.”

This article originally appeared here.

3 Traits of Great Pastors

Dale Chamberlain

June 20, 2023

When I was younger, I used to be impressed by pastors and preachers who could command a crowd, develop and implement dynamic strategies, cast a big vision, and grow a church rapidly. To a certain extent, I still am.

But as I have matured, what I have come to realize is that the pastors who have given me the most vibrant glimpses of Jesus and the type of life into which he calls his people are rarely the ones who dazzle and amaze. (In fact, the ones who dazzle and amaze, if they are not shepherded well, have the tendency to blow up their church—and their own life along with it.)

The greatest pastors aren’t necessarily the ones leading the largest churches or getting featured at the leadership conferences or in Christian publications. They may or may not be great preachers or revolutionary organizational leaders.

More often than not, they are actually quite unassuming. But they possess traits that only characterize people who have spent a lot of time with Jesus.

Here are three traits of great pastors.

1. Great Pastors Practice What They Preach.

Great pastors aren’t the ones who preach the best sermons but the ones who are the best at carrying out the content and commands of their sermons.

Of course, no pastor will ever be as righteous as the biblical ideals about which he preaches, but great pastors have the reputation of never asking something of their people that they aren’t willing to strive for themselves.

These pastors are the first to serve. They spend time in prayer and Bible study. They take proper rest. They confess when they’ve fallen short. They are active in their personal efforts to tell their friends and neighbors about Jesus and invite them to church. They remain plugged into their small group.

They reliably, even if not perfectly, do all the things that they are constantly telling you to lead to a healthy, impactful, and faithful walk with Jesus.

Any gifted communicator can tell you what you should be doing. A great pastor journeys alongside you as you seek to do it together.

2. Great Pastors Are Unflappably Kind.

I recently was watching a denominational leader speak to a room full of reporters. As intra-denominational drama surrounded recent decisions within the denomination, that leader was given an opportunity to publicly respond to negative reports about another denominational leader who had previously maligned him.

In response, this denominational leader, this pastor, did not merely deflect the comment or speak in generalities—he went out of his way to defend his fellow pastor, offering an empathetic explanation for his actions and painting him in the best possible light. Not only did he display an absence of rancor, but the active presence of kindness.

This is what makes great pastors.

Your Church Service Should Start Doing Less To Accomplish More

Gavin Adams

June 20, 2023

I remember being so excited to hear our church band perform the song “Beautiful Day” by U2 at the beginning of our church service. They rehearsed midweek to prepare thoroughly. Nailing the song was important. The lighting was programmed. The haze machines filled to the brim. The sound was mixed to make an impact.

That Sunday morning, I arrived at the church bright and early, brimming with anticipation for that opening song. It was going to be epic.

And it was. Our attendees erupted with singing and applause—what a way to begin a service.

That Was 15 Years Ago.

That model—leveraging culture to connect with our community—worked beautifully at that time. Worked, as in past tense.

I fear it doesn’t work any longer. For one, high-quality music is available at our fingertips. I can hear or watch U2 perform every version of “Beautiful Day” on any platform, any time I want. I can see cover bands perform the song. I can watch other famous bands perform the song. And I didn’t even leave my phone.

But it’s more than that. Much, much more.

Church Services as an Alternative to Culture

I led a church during this season of ministry. Entertainment was a successful pathway to attracting people—especially the unchurched within our community. Most perceived church as dull, so leveraging culturally relevant connections like music to connect with the community worked. And it worked well!

But again, that was 15 years ago.

The world has changed dramatically. Culture has changed. And your community has changed, too. Fifteen years is a long time. Add our two-year pandemic accelerator, and 15 years feels like a lifetime ago.

Here’s what I’ve come to believe about people today:

In our overwhelmed, over-informed, and over-entertained lives, the last thing people crave from their church is more entertainment.

In the past, churches mimicked culture to engage the community.

Today, people need an alternative to culture. They desire something different. In a world full of distractions, what people need is space.

I recently heard that 15 minutes of Instagram scrolling exposes us to the amount of information our grandparents encountered in an entire month. Think about that. Our minds are not made for this much information. We are overwhelmed, but we’ve so normalized information overload that we can’t see another way forward.

Enter the church. Enter your church—specifically, your church service.

The New Opportunity in Your Church Service

Why does the band playing culturally relevant music to open church services no longer move the needle? Perhaps because we just can’t take any more noise and distraction.

Today’s in-person church gatherings need to be more counter to the culture, not comparable to the culture. We need to design church services that give God space in the hearts and lives of our attendees. Space to reflect. To process. To consider. To sit.

When’s the last time you sat quietly? I suspect it’s not a regular part of your daily life. Even if you’re better than most, I bet that you spend more time taking in than reflecting on. How long were you on Instagram today?

We are like Elijah standing at the mouth of the cave, trying to hear the voice of God. The wind, fire, and storms passed by, but God wasn’t to be found or heard in the noise. God spoke in the still, quiet whisper.

God still speaks in this fashion. Replace wind, fire, and storms with Instagram, Netflix, and billboards.

This is where your church can intervene as an alternative to the noise of culture.

How to Use ChMS Without Turning it Into BigBrother Software

Jonathan Smith

June 20, 2023

Church Management Software (ChMS) is often a hot button topic around churches and ministries. There seems to be a lot of passion regarding what software is chosen and why. Ministries often waste a lot of time and money bouncing between different software platforms to satisfy the perceived needs of specific staff members. More often than not any issues with a ChMS system can be resolved through proper training on the software and its features. Too often, however, ministries become software schizophrenic, bouncing from software package to software package, expending stewardship and missing ministry opportunities trying to find the perfect solution, and perhaps violating privacy, like a bigbrother software. Then a new staffer is hired who wants to use a solution they are more comfortable with and the whole process repeats itself over—and over, and over.

Did you know there is more to ChMS? While it is important a ministry selects the proper platform, receives the necessary training, and then holds staff accountable for using the solution selected there is another side to all of this, the human side. Another way to look at this is the ministry side of ChMS, where the software actually helps the ministry accomplish its mission of impacting souls for Christ.

Far too often this side is lost in the drama created through the selection process and then the fussing about the selection process and its result. What if we put the ministry side first and focused on using the tool to impact the Kingdom as opposed to all the drama surrounding the ChMS system itself? What might that look like?

How to Use ChMS Without Turning it Into BigBrother Software

Consider a family in your church who is plugged in and actively serving. They attend small group meetings, are faithful to Sunday services, give generously, and if there is a need for servants they show up. At one of their small group meetings they share a prayer request that a member of their family is ill and will require full time care. They tell the group their family member is going to move in with them.

Influential Teenagers: Let Kids Know That They Are World-Changers

Rachel Blom

June 19, 2023

Do you know some influential teenagers who make an impact on their peers? on their classmates? at their churches? in their communities? Today’s teens don’t need to wait for their turn (or for permission) to change the world. Teenagers are making a difference right now—in big ways!

As a youth leader, you can probably list a bunch of influential teenagers by name. And you probably know them and their leadership abilities quite well. Plus, you have the opportunity to continue shaping these amazing teenagers. You can encourage their efforts, steer them in the right direction, and remind them to glorify God in all they do and say.

Influential Teenagers Throughout History

In the April 2015 edition of The Atlantic, editors asked several well-known people this question. “Who is the most influential teenager of all time?”

Here are some of their responses:

Emmett Till: a 14-year old African-American boy who was murdered in 1955 for whistling at a white woman. His death inspired others to fight racism and protect civil rights.

Joan of Arc: the legendary French girl who led an army against the English in the Middle Ages.

Anne Frank: the Jewish girl who hid in a secret room in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) in WWII. She was betrayed and died in Bergen-Belsen, leaving behind a diary that inspired millions.

Elvis Presley: the king of rock ‘n’ roll.

Nero: the cruel Roman emperor who rose to power at age 16.

David: the teen shepherd boy who slayed the giant Goliath, thus changing the course of history for Israel.

Mark Zuckerberg: the tech wizard who started Facebook when he was still a teen.

Who is the most influential teenager of all time? It’s an interesting question, for sure. I would have mentioned the disciples perhaps, some of whom may still have been in their teens when Jesus started his ministry.

Children’s Ministry Hazards: 10 Things That Can Ruin a KidMin Program

ChildrensMinistry.com

June 19, 2023

Children’s ministry is a vital part of any church. So make sure you avoid these 10 obstacles that can spell trouble for any kidmin program.

“Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?” Ever wondered why Mary is so contrary? Maybe it’s because she battles threatening weeds and pests so her silver bells, cockle shells, and pretty maids will grow in a row.

Like Mary, you need to cut down “weeds” and terminate “pests” if you want your children’s ministry to grow. But unlike contrary Mary, weeding out these 10 threats to your program will yield joy.

10 Ways to Ruin a Children’s Ministry Program

1. Lack of communication

If people don’t know what’s happening in your ministry, they assume nothing of consequence is happening. Refuse to communicate, and your children’s ministry will never be a priority to the church and community. People vital to your ministry need to know what’s going on in order to support the work. If they don’t know about it, they can’t support it.

Talk about your ministry with your pastor, other staff members, volunteers, parents, the community, and children. Promote kidmin in church publications, community advertising, and best yet, word of mouth from satisfied participants.

2. Not valuing children

Don’t be guilty of loving your ministry but not loving your children. If you don’t value children, neither will your church. And if your church treats children as second-class citizens, then your children’s ministry will suffer. Your ministry won’t receive the space, staffing, and budgeting other groups receive.

Validate children as individuals of worth, just as Jesus did. Let your children and church know how much you value kids. For example, do you get at eye level to talk to kids, or do you tower over them? Do you call children “rug rats” or other subtly degrading terms?

3. A run-down children’s space

Art Murphy, a children’s minister in Florida, says that cluttered, run-down children’s facilities communicate that little is happening there for children. “A clean, bright, roomy facility cleared of old materials or unused furniture communicates that children are loved, wanted, and expected,” he says.

Walk through your children’s space twice. Evaluate it from an adult’s viewpoint, then from a child’s perspective. List needs and make changes!

4. Lone-ranger mentality

If you do it all your way and all by yourself, you not only risk ruining your children’s ministry. You may also ruin yourself as a kidmin leader.

In Ephesians 4:12, Paul tells leaders “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” When you’ve trained and staffed your ministry, it’ll go on reaching children for Christ even when you’re gone.

Multiply your ministry by recruiting willing volunteers to shoulder the work with you.

5. No family ministry

The primary shapers of a child’s development are parents and immediate family. Teaching or caring for children one or two hours a week at church is helpful. But the greatest good happens when you take ministry directly to the whole family. You may be surprised at the needs you’ll see when you look at a family through a child’s eyes.

Develop ministries to reach the entire family. Examples include home visitation, parent-training courses, and family-crisis counseling.

Christian University Cancels Promise Keepers Event Over Pride Month Statement

Jessica Mouser

June 19, 2023

Updated June 20, 2023, with statements from Ken Harrison and Belmont University.

Belmont University, a private Christian college in Nashville, Tennessee, has canceled an event with Promise Keepers (PK), citing a a statement PK issued about Pride Month. Promise Keepers CEO Ken Harrison also told ChurchLeaders that the cancellation was because of that statement.

“We will not stand on the sidelines and remain quiet. As fathers, husbands, grandfathers, and young men—we see the dangers of gender ideology and the harm it causes,” said Promise Keepers in its statement. “At Promise Keepers, we believe it is more important than ever to stand up boldly for what we believe as Christians. God’s Word is very clear on this topic—and we also see the way gender ideology has damaged lives, mutilated bodies, and torn apart families in our own communities.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Promise Keepers (@promise_keepers)

Belmont University Cancels Promise Keepers Event

Promise Keepers is a ministry based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that aims to help men live with integrity. It was founded in 1990 by football coach Bill McCartney and grew significantly, holding yearly national conferences. It peaked in 1997 when over a million men gathered at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. While PK declined in subsequent years, nearly fading away, it recently relaunched. PK held a virtual conference in 2020 that was viewed by over 1.2 million users worldwide, and in July 2021, the ministry held its first in-person national conference in 20 years.

Harrison told ChurchLeaders that PK might return to holding large conferences in the future, but for now is focusing on its “Daring Faith” gatherings, smaller events scheduled throughout the U.S. Harrison said that part of the purpose of the Daring Faith events is to bring awareness to the Promise Keepers app, a resource to help men connect men with one another. “The isolation is really hurting men in a lot of ways,” Harrison said.

PK had planned to hold a Daring Faith event on Sept. 29 at the Fisher Center at Belmont University before the college canceled it.

The university, whose vision statement says it “exists to inspire and equip students for faithful participation in God’s mission in the world,” has wrestled with its denominational identity and stance on sexuality throughout the past few decades.

The college reports an enrollment of 7,460 undergraduates and 1,540 graduate students from every state and more than 33 countries. It counts among its alumni Corrina Grant Gill, daughter of Christian pop singer Amy Grant and country music singer Vince Gill.

In 2007, Belmont broke ties with the Tennessee Baptist Convention, settling a lawsuit that ended a 56-year relationship, after which the college moved forward as “an independent, ecumenical Christian university with no denominational ties.”

In December 2010, Belmont made national headlines when women’s soccer coach Lisa Howe parted ways with the university shortly after Howe shared with players that she and her partner, Wendy Holleman, were going to have a baby. While neither Howe nor the university gave a reason for her leaving, many perceived that the university was taking action against the soccer coach for being in a lesbian relationship.

Shout out to our alumna Corrina Grant Gill (Commercial Voice ’23) who just released her new single “Too Much” and was featured in @Southern_Living! 🤩 #ThatsOurBruin Check out the article here 👇 https://t.co/mrysNgUKcC

— Belmont University (@BelmontUniv) June 15, 2023

‘I Wanted To Drink’—Pastor Perry Noble Is Transparent About Battle With Alcoholism

Janna Firestone

June 19, 2023

Perry Noble, pastor of Second Chance Church in Anderson, South Carolina, continues to battle alcoholism. The senior pastor opened up recently about how he continues to fight the temptation, not just to drink, but to drink himself “into oblivion” as an escape.

“I’m so thankful for the amazing people the Lord has put into my life,” Noble wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday (June 18). As he continues to rely on Jesus’ power and grace on his recovery journey, Noble often reflects on the importance of a support system—family, friends, and his church community—to provide love, encouragement, and accountability.

Perry Noble Resists the Temptation of Alcohol—’We Can’t Do Life Alone’

After years of battling alcoholism, Noble continues to be transparent in his recovery journey. As a pastor and a friend, he has thousands of followers. Recently, Noble shared more of his struggle—even on an ordinary Sunday afternoon. He shared, “Something happened yesterday that caused my mind to spiral!!”

The professed alcoholic said, “And—I wanted to drink!!”

Knowing the range of interpretations that could be made from the brief statement, Noble wanted to clarify. He interjected, “Pause—not ‘have a drink,’ or ‘enjoy a cold one,’ but break open a bottle and drink until I literally passed out so that I did not have to deal with the emotions that hit me like a tsunami!!”

Celebrating a brief—and large—personal victory, he exclaimed, “But—I didn’t!!”

Noble continued, “And not because I am just ‘so dang strong!'”

The pastor, husband, and father of one went on to explain. “Two main reasons…
1—My wife (@repokis) was with me, listened to [me], held my hand and just kept telling me that she loves me!” Noble didn’t stop there. He also credited Second Chance Church, adding, “I had to be at church to preach the 5pm service—and I KNEW once I got around my people that I would be ok!!”

After rehab and counseling, Noble does not shy away from expressing a high level of self-awareness. “If I had been alone—there is no doubt I would have drank myself into oblivion!!!” he mentioned.

“But I didn’t—because of the power of Jesus through other people!!” Noble continued. “The statement ‘we can’t do life alone‘ is true!!! I’m so thankful for the amazing people the Lord has put into my life!”

Thousands have reacted to Noble’s post, and hundreds commented about their own stories.

“Stay strong, Pastor P. When everything came out about you no longer being at the church, my family also just found out that my dad was drinking again,” shared one person. “He had been in rehab a couple years before that. It was hard time for so many reasons. He still has not given up drinking. You can’t do [life] alone. We all need support from our loved ones.”

Another commenter, who attends Second Chance Church, wrote, “Praying over you, Pastor P…The Holy Spirit is doing great things in and through you and our Church.”

She continued, “By speaking truth, being transparent and vulnerable, and inviting others in, you are helping many with Christ win battles! Grateful that you were victorious yesterday, but even if you hadn’t been, we would love you and keep fighting alongside of you.”

‘God Is Greater Than the Southern Baptist Convention,’ Says Pastor Whose Church Was Ousted

Stephanie Martin

June 19, 2023

After the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) disfellowshipped her Kentucky church for having a female pastor, Linda Barnes Popham has been doubling down on her disagreement with the denomination’s interpretation of Scripture. At last week’s SBC annual meeting in New Orleans, almost 92% of messengers (or local church delegates) voted to expel Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, which Popham has officially pastored for 30 years.

Fern Creek and Saddleback, the California megachurch founded by Rick Warren, had both appealed their February expulsions from the SBC, and last week both were officially voted out of the denomination.

Also at the Annual Meeting, messengers voted to amend the SBC constitution to clarify that “only men” can serve as “any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.” That will need to be approved next year to take effect. The SBC Executive Committee has voiced opposition to the amendment, noting that similar language already appears in the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.

Fern Creek Pastor Linda Barnes Popham Asks, ‘Why Now?’

On Sunday (June 18), Rev. Popham appeared on CNN, answering questions from host Jim Acosta about her reaction to the church’s ouster. She admitted being “shocked” that it came 23 years after the adoption of the Baptist Faith & Message 2000. Another reaction the pastor mentioned is “anger, how this was handled, the hypocrisy of so many.”

But since last week’s meeting, Popham said, she also has felt “overwhelmingly loved” and has received “support from all over the world.” A woman in England contacted her with a reminder that “what really matters is that we are in the family of God,” Popham said. “So it doesn’t really matter about the Southern Baptist Convention so much.”

Moving forward, Popham said Fern Creek senses excitement and a spirit of revival, that “God’s gonna do a new thing,” as he promised in Isaiah. That is already happening, she added, noting that her church celebrated the baptisms of three children yesterday.

Acosta read a statement from newly re-elected SBC President Bart Barber: “We believe that every believer is a priest…it’s just the Scriptures say the office of pastor is limited to men.” The CNN host then said, “I wanna be respectful to folks and their faith, but it is the year 2023, for goodness sakes.”

In response, Popham said her church believes the Bible as much as other Southern Baptists do. But “we believe that we interpret differently because we believe that the Spirit can give illumination to our minds.”

Some of the uproar is “kind of amusing,” Popham told Acosta, “because some of the [Bible] verses they read out to us [to justify men-only pastors], if you just read, like, the verse before, it says women should not have braids or adorn themselves with jewelry, etc. etc. Well, I didn’t see too many women there without jewelry at the Southern Baptist Convention.” The pastor added, “So how they differentiate between those two verses in the same chapter, two verses apart, I’ll never understand that.”

Popham, a graduate of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS), concluded by saying, “We look at these [Bible] verses in the context in which they were written, as well.” Notably, SBTS president Dr. Albert Mohler was the person who rebutted Popham’s appeal after she made it.

‘They’re Losing,’ Pastor Says of the SBC

Popham also has described her church’s expulsion as a betrayal, especially since the SBC viewed the congregation so favorably for so long. An evaluation of Fern Creek was triggered by an anonymous complaint submitted last year.

Juneteenth and the Great Commission

Sherelle Ducksworth

June 19, 2023

Editor’s note from Ed Stetzer: A few years ago, I had the privilege of hosting this article at my old Christianity Today blog. With Dr. Ducksworth’s permission, I am sharing it again.

Holidays and missions are two things Christians and churches celebrate. We stand proudly on Memorial Day as we remember the sacrifice of soldiers. We listen to sermons on gratitude and praise God for his blessings on Thanksgiving. We watch videos about the legacy and impact of Lottie Moon and praise God for the fruitfulness of those on the mission field.

By now, many of us have heard of the holiday Juneteenth, though many Christians still don’t celebrate the day or recognize the fruitful mission work birthed out of the freedom of African American slaves. Though the liberation of the enslaved people is the only reason we need to celebrate Juneteenth, there is much to commemorate. I propose that we should also commemorate this day to recognize the missional fervor displayed by freed African Americans and the way they stewarded their freedom to continue a Christian legacy of fulfilling the Church’s mission.

What is Juneteenth?

In the midst of the Civil War, President Lincoln enacted the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, which declared enslaved people in the Confederate states as free. Tragically, cities like Galveston, Texas, utilized legal barriers to withhold the news of freedom from enslaved people. However, on June 19, 1865, the day is known today as Juneteenth, two months after the ending of the Civil War on April 9th, General Gordon Grainger brought the news of freedom to the enslaved people in Galveston. For years, freed Black men and women and black enslaved people fought vigorously for the liberation of Black people, and finally, they were free. To be clear, many social, economic, and legal barriers would come during Reconstruction and eventually Jim Crow that suppressed the full freedom of African Americans but to the slave on Juneteenth, freedom seemed promising.

Nevertheless, one of the most remarkable things about Juneteenth is the missional zeal displayed by African Americans after they were liberated. Thus, Juneteenth demonstrates how important physical freedom is for missions.

Juneteenth, Missions, and Church Growth

A revisionist history tends to speak of the growth of African American church and missions between the 1700’s to the 1900’s as a product of the Great Awakenings, Quakers, and the evangelism by slave masters. However, the liberation of enslaved people brought a significant growth in conversions, church planting and domestic and international missions among African Americans.

Missions

It is undeniable that African Americans were involved on the mission field prior to Juneteenth. Missionaries such as Lott Carey, who helped establish the Richmond African Baptist Missionary Society in 1815 and Daniel Coker who organized the first AME church in Sierra Leone in 1820 were prominent black missionaries before Juneteenth. However, Juneteenth enabled African Americans to act on their convictions to serve God by carrying out the Great Commission both domestically and internationally.¹ To enslaved people, Juneteenth removed barriers to the mission field and as a result they moved with fervor to proclaim the gospel of the God of liberation and justice.

The international mission work among black Americans increased dramatically after the Civil War, which ended two months before Juneteenth, with the number of free Blacks between the ages 24 and 35 increasing from 86,000 to 665,000.² Many newly freed slaves were mobilized to take the Gospel to Africa and to black people throughout America, particularly in the South. Among those missionaries were black Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Pentecostals.

Between 1880 to 1883 the Baptist Foreign Mission Convention laid the foundations for future missionary endeavors and the movement for African missions gained momentum.³ From 1892 and 1900, the AME church planted a number of churches in South Africa. Similarly, “by the beginning of the 20th century, the AMEZ church had developed within its church a widespread interest in missionary expansion in Africa.⁴

African American missionaries also traveled to places such as Canada and the Caribbean islands.⁵ For example, the women’s missionary organizations such as the Woman’s Parent Mite Missionary Society in South Bend, Indiana began their mission work in places such as Haiti, Jamaica, and Sierra Leone in 1898.⁶ Missionaries like the reverend George Liele, a freed slave and missionary to Jamaica, and reverend Prince Williams, a freed slave from South Carolina and missionary to the Bahama Islands, both seized the opportunity to take the Gospel to the islands.

1 Vaughn J. Watson and Robert J. Stevens, eds., “African American Experience: In World Mission: A Call Beyond Community” (California: William Carey Library, 2002), 31.
2 Vaughn J. Watson and Robert J. Stevens, eds., “African American Experience: In World Mission: A Call Beyond Community” (California: William Carey Library, 2002), 56.
3 Ibid., 40.
4 Ibid., 35.
5 Ibid., 48.
6 Ibid., 32

Lawsuit Against David Platt’s McLean Bible Church Revived by Appellate Judge

Dale Chamberlain

June 19, 2023

David Platt McLean Bible Church — Pictured: David Platt preaching at McLean Bible Church (screengrab via YouTube / @McLean Bible Church)

A previously dismissed lawsuit against McLean Bible Church in Tysons Corner, Virginia, which is led by pastor and author David Platt, has been revived by an appellate judge who said in an opinion that “factual disputes” remain between the church’s current leadership and a group of disgruntled former members who allege that Platt and other church leaders violated the church’s constitution when appointing new elders.

The legal dispute began back in June 2021, shortly after a highly contested elder election, which needed to be conducted a second time after a failed attempt to confirm three new elders to the board.

According to Platt, an alleged whisper campaign conducted by a group of members within the congregation caused a number of church members to believe that Platt intended to sell the church’s property so that a Muslim mosque could be built in its place, among other allegations.

As a result, the three prospective elders that were set to be appointed by the church were voted down by the congregation for the first time in the church’s nearly 60-year history. Per the church’s constitution, three new prospective elders needed to be proposed to the church and a subsequent vote cast.

Between the two votes, Platt criticized the group allegedly spreading misinformation about him. Church leadership also became aware that inactive members of McLean Bible Church had allegedly been called upon to travel to the congregational meeting to scuttle the elder election. Thus, church leaders sought to restrict the subsequent vote to only active members, as defined by regular attendance.

After the second set of proposed elders was confirmed, a group of former members filed suit, alleging that Platt and the other elders had manipulated the vote to go in the church leaders’ favor by disallowing votes that would have otherwise been legitimately cast. The former members’ argument centered on the fact that active membership as defined by regular attendance was impossible to determine in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In May 2022, McLean Bible Church held another elder election that adhered to the demands of the lawsuit against them. As a result, the case was dismissed a month later.

However, in an opinion filed earlier this month, Judge Frank K. Friedman argued that even though the church amended its election processes, dismissing the case was an error as issues remain “regarding alleged ongoing member disenfranchisement.”

Friedman wrote, “We reverse the circuit court’s ruling that the entire case is moot. MBC bore the burden of establishing that appellants’ claims were moot. On this record, MBC’s evidence was insufficient to establish that the alleged ‘ongoing’ violations of MBC’s constitution failed to present a justiciable controversy.”

“We remand the case to permit the circuit court to address ongoing claims relating to disenfranchisement of members, transparency and notice, and the secret ballot dispute,” Friedman ruled.

Rick Boyer, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the case, celebrated the decision, telling WUSA9, “God through the Holy Spirit ought to be able to lead his people to vote their consciences and choose the direction of the church that way.”

Dwight McKissic and Rod Martin Are an Example of How Christians Can Strongly Disagree and Still Genuinely Love Each Other

Jesse T. Jackson

June 19, 2023

Dwight McKissic Rod Martin — L: Photo courtesy of Rod Martin; R: Screengrab via X (formerly Twitter) / @pastordmack

Social media, especially Twitter, can be a toxic place for conversations, specifically when it comes to people who have disagreements. Even pastors and church leaders often fall prey to this tendency.

Those who follow pastors on Twitter, especially Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) pastors, more than likely have seen the names Dwight McKissic and Rod Martin infiltrate their feeds in what would appear to be contentious disagreements—leading many to believe that these two dislike each other.

McKissic is the senior pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, and Martin is a former SBC Executive Committee officer and a co-founder of the Conservative Baptist Network.

Twitter disagreements between McKissic and Martin have have ranged from sexual abuse reform measures in the SBC to race-related issues. In the months leading up to this year’s SBC annual meeting, which took place last week (June 13-14), the two have sparred on the issue of women serving as pastors in the SBC.

In a tweet that has since gone viral, McKissic uploaded a photo while he was at the annual meeting.

“Recognizing this would be last time attending an SBC annual gathering,” he wrote, “my executive staff members who attended this meeting as messengers, thought we’d take a photo together, as we were departing the conversation floor after the vote to place [unbiblical] restrictions on women.

Martin expressed his sorrow toward McKissic’s announcement, writing, “Dwight, I’m very sorry to hear this. Christians don’t have to agree on every point to be brothers.”

“But you are correct that sometimes we have to agree on more than we do to be able to work together in certain ways,” Martin continued. “My prayers are with you, I wish you nothing but Gospel-centered success, and I will always be available to be helpful to you on the many, many things on which we do agree.”

Martin expressed his regrets for not being able to attend the SBC annual meeting, saying, “Very sorry to have missed you this year. But I’m recovering well from the surgery. Thank you for your prayers.”

Although McKissic and Martin don’t see eye to eye on every issue, especially when it comes to conversations on Twitter, McKissic made it clear that the he “genuinely” loves his brother in Christ.

“Often we saw things differently,” McKissic told Martin, “but I always believed you were sincere. You’re a warrior. But, you are also willing to reason and talk things out, whether agreement is reached or not.”

Bishops Begin Process That Could Ban Gender-Affirming Care in Catholic Hospitals

Jack Jenkins

June 19, 2023

ORLANDO, Florida (RNS) — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted on Friday (June 16) to amend its directives for U.S. Catholic health care organizations, setting in motion a process that could bar Catholic hospitals and other church-affiliated institutions from providing gender-affirming treatment to transgender people.

The vote occurred during the USCCB’s spring meeting in Orlando. It passed via voice vote, with no audible dissenters or abstentions.

Technically, the procedural vote doesn’t specifically bar gender-affirming care but allows the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine to begin the process of amending the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services—the “authoritative guidance on certain moral issues” for Catholic health care institutions.

Bishop Daniel Ernesto Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville, who chairs the USCCB’s doctrine committee, made the goal of the vote clear, however: In introducing the resolution, he said the doctrine committee desired to “incorporate” into health care directives arguments from a statement issued in March by the Committee on Doctrine discouraging Catholic health care groups from performing various gender-affirming medical procedures. Such procedures, it suggested, are “injurious” and do not respect the “intrinsic unity of body and soul.”

The statement, known as a doctrinal note, argued that while medical science should be used to “repair a defect in the body,” procedures that fall under the category of gender-affirming care are “not morally justified.”

During discussion before the vote on Friday, Cardinal Joseph Tobin of the Archdiocese of Newark urged fellow bishops to consult with transgender people in developing any new guidelines. Other prelates reminded their colleagues that Catholic hospitals serve a broad swath of populations, with Archbishop Paul Etienne of the Archdiocese of Seattle noting that 1 in 7 patients in the U.S. is served by Catholic hospitals.

At one point, Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, who also sits on the doctrine committee, said that “gender ideology” was “preying upon” transgender people.

Catholics for Choice, an activist group, was quick to condemn the vote.

“Amending the ERDs and rejecting gender-affirming healthcare, which nearly every mainstream medical and mental health organization recognizes as medically necessary, attacks the basic human rights of some of the most vulnerable and marginalized people in society—the very same people whose needs Jesus teaches us to put first,” Catholics for Choice President Jamie Manson said in a statement.

Manson also criticized the bishops’ earlier doctrinal note, calling it “outrageously transphobic.”

Christian Reformed Synod Orders Church to Rescind Deacon in Same-Sex Marriage

Grace Buller

June 19, 2023

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (RNS) — The governing assembly of the Christian Reformed Church of North America, meeting in Grand Rapids this week, voted not to sustain the appeal of a church that petitioned to retain a deacon who is married to a person of the same sex, against the denomination’s doctrine.

The synod ordered the Neland Ave. Christian Reformed Church, which stands a few blocks from where church leaders are meeting, to immediately rescind the appointment of “any and all” officeholders in same-sex relationships.

The synod also voted to instruct all classes, as the CRCNA’s regional jurisdictions are called, to bring pastors, elders and deacons who publicly disagree with its stance on human sexuality into compliance.

The CRCNA, one of the oldest but smallest denominations in the Americas, with about 200,000 members across the United States and Canada, has navigated tensions over questions of sexuality since last year’s Synod 2022, when delegates voted to affirm the confessional status of its position that “homosexual sex” is sin.

Confessional status means that a position is considered part of the core beliefs of the CRCNA and that anyone holding office in the church is expected to uphold it.

Synod 2022 also ordered Neland Avenue to rescind its 2020 appointment of a deacon in a same-sex marriage. CRCNA General Secretary Zachary King was ordered to create an in loco committee to ensure Neland complied with the order.

It remains unclear from synodical proceedings, however, how the denomination will enforce this year’s decisions. In addition, the synod’s order is largely symbolic as Neland Avenue’s deacon has completed her three-year term and is no longer in office.

People attend the annual synod of the Christian Reformed Church at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Tuesday, June 13, 2023. Photo by Grace Buller

This year’s synod voted against the creation of a similar committee to ensure today’s decision is upheld. During discussion prior to the vote, Paul DeVries, chair of the previous committee, said that he recommended against creating a new one and that creating another committee would result in the removal of Neland.

“The previous in loco committee failed. We were not able to do what synod asked us to do,” said DeVries. “Another in loco committee will have no better success.”

The synod also voted to defer voting until Synod 2024 on decisions regarding the denomination’s gravamen process for expressing difficulties with an aspect of the church’s confessions.

‘Still Alive’: Pope Francis Leaves Hospital With Few Signs of Slowing Down

Claire Giangrave

June 19, 2023

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — “Still alive,” Pope Francis reassured the world as he returned to the Vatican on Friday after a 10-day stay at the hospital following surgery to repair a hernia.

The pope will now resume his public schedule, beginning with his Sunday Angelus prayer overlooking St. Peter’s Square. The traditional Wednesday audience in the square next week, however, was cancelled “to safeguard the Holy Father’s post-surgery recovery,” the Vatican said in a statement.

Francis went to Il Gemelli Hospital in Rome on June 6 after doctors found a hernia related to an earlier abdominal surgery that had caused him severe recurring pain.

As many Catholics spent the days of the pope’s recovery concerned about the 86-year-old pontiff’s physical health, Francis continued to put the pieces in place for his succession.

While in the hospital, Francis named Bishop Josè Cobo to head the Archdiocese of Madrid in Spain, an important post that Spanish-speaking prelates around the world look to as a point of reference. Cobo is considered a supporter of Francis’ vision, and Vatican experts believe it won’t be long before he is made cardinal.

Francis has been intentional in his cardinal appointments, giving red hats to prelates who hail from a more diverse range of cultures and nationalities but who also reflect his plans for the future of the church. Francis has selected 63% of the cardinal electors who will vote at the next conclave. His successor will need 67% of the conclave’s votes to be named pope.

While actively shoring up his legacy, Francis has shown no signs that his health problems, which range from a balky knee to his recent abdominal pain, are slowing him down. He still plans to visit Portugal for World Youth Day in early August. September will find him visiting the Catholic community in Mongolia.

“The pope has confirmed all the trips,” said Dr. Sergio Alfrieri, who performed the pope’s surgery on June 7. “It will be easier for him to make them because he will no longer have the discomfort from the previous ailments. He will be a stronger pope,” he added.

In October, bishops from around the world, joined by first-time lay Catholics, will arrive at the Vatican for the opening of the Synod on Synodality. The Vatican summit is the culmination of a three-year global consultation of Catholics on issues ranging from how decisions are made to inclusivity in the church.

Francis has told journalists in interviews that he is open to the possibility of retiring if his health were to impair his ability to perform his papal ministry. But he has noted that he would not spend his retirement inside the Vatican as his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, has done. He would also choose the title of emeritus bishop instead of emeritus pope.

As he left the hospital, Francis passed a large white statue of Pope John Paul II, whose extended stays there during his long struggle with Parkinson’s disease earned Gemelli the sobriquet “Vatican II.” It was a reminder of the strains a pope’s health can put on the last years of his pontificate.

This article originally appeared here.

After Calendar Change, Many in Ukraine Are Looking Forward to a New Christmas

David I. Klein

June 19, 2023

Christmas in Ukraine — Snow covers the city center and a Christmas tree with St. Sophia Cathedral, foreground, and St. Michael Cathedral, background, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

(RNS) — Nearly five years after the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was recognized as independent from the Russian Orthodox Church by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the OCU has further cemented its split from the Russian counterpart by adopting a new liturgical calendar.

“This is a decision that the majority of the faithful of our Church and the majority of Ukrainian society are waiting for from us,” the OCU said on its official Facebook page in late May, after its assembled bishops voted for the change. The decision still needs to be approved by the church’s ruling council in July, but it is expected to pass. The calendar shift is then slated to go into effect on Sept. 1 of this year.

The most palpable impact will be that millions of Ukrainians will celebrate Christmas with the Western world on Dec. 25, instead of the day two weeks later when Russian and other Eastern Orthodox churches, following the Julian calendar, mark Christ’s birth.

Westerners adopted the Gregorian calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XII in the 16th century.

Metropolitan Epiphanius, center right, and priests deliver an Orthodox Christmas service inside the nearly 1,000-year-old Pechersk Lavra Cathedral of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. Hundreds of Ukrainians heard the Orthodox Christmas service in the Ukrainian language for the first time at Kyiv’s 1,000-year-old Lavra Cathedral on Orthodox Christmas Day, a demonstration of independence from the Russian Orthodox Church. (AP Photo/Roman Hrytsyna)

It’s not the first time an Orthodox church has shifted calendars; in fact, it’s almost exactly a century after a synod in Istanbul, known as the Council of Constantinople, voted for a similar change, which was adopted in 1924 by churches across Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Romania and elsewhere in the Balkans.

This time, however, the shift has a distinctly political character.

In its statement, the church described its decision to shift to using “the living Ukrainian language in worship instead of the traditional Slavic one” as a desire for the newly independent church to replace “centuries-old subordination.”

The “centuries-old subordination” refers to the 16th-century move to put Orthodox faithful in what is modern Ukraine under the purview of the Patriarchate of Moscow.

The church officially split from the Russian patriarch’s jurisdiction in 2019, when Bartholomew I, the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople — styled “the first amongst equals” among all Eastern church patriarchs and therefore the closest thing the Orthodox world has to a universally recognized authority — granted the church a “Tomos of Autocephaly,” or a decree of independence.

The decision was one of the most controversial in recent Orthodox history, and it put the Russian church, the largest in the Orthodox world, at odds with Constantinople, the church’s historical capital.

“In general Orthodoxy is divided in two big parts, represented by two leaders,” Metropolitan Yevstratiy, of the central Ukrainian city of Bila Tserkva, told Religion News Service in a recent interview. “One part, which is represented by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, is a contemporary type of Orthodoxy, which is open to the contemporary world and contemporary people, and has answers to real contemporary questions.”

Metropolitan Yevstratiy in Istanbul. Photo by David Ian Klein

Metropolitan Yevstratiy of Bila Tserkva, Ukraine, photographed in Istanbul. Photo by David Ian Klein

By contrast, said Yevstratiy, “Russia and specifically (Moscow Patriarch) Kiril Gundayev represent an attempt to reconstruct a medieval type of Orthodoxy, an Orthodoxy not contemporary but turned to the past, a part of Russia’s neo-Imperial project.”

‘Things Can Cascade,’ Doctor Tells Deion Sanders

Deion Sanders: ‘I Have Full Trust in Jesus’

Broad, Gifted-Based Complementarian

What Makes Us Complementarian?

What Makes Us Broad and Gift-Based?

1. Great Pastors Practice What They Preach.

2. Great Pastors Are Unflappably Kind.

That Was 15 Years Ago.

Church Services as an Alternative to Culture

In our overwhelmed, over-informed, and over-entertained lives, the last thing people crave from their church is more entertainment.

The New Opportunity in Your Church Service

How to Use ChMS Without Turning it Into BigBrother Software

Influential Teenagers Throughout History

10 Ways to Ruin a Children’s Ministry Program

1. Lack of communication

2. Not valuing children

3. A run-down children’s space

4. Lone-ranger mentality

5. No family ministry

Belmont University Cancels Promise Keepers Event

Perry Noble Resists the Temptation of Alcohol—’We Can’t Do Life Alone’

Fern Creek Pastor Linda Barnes Popham Asks, ‘Why Now?’

‘They’re Losing,’ Pastor Says of the SBC

What is Juneteenth?

Juneteenth, Missions, and Church Growth

Missions

New Articles

New Podcasts