In Madison, Mainline and Evangelicals Work Together to Help Their Churches Thrive

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March 9, 2022

awaken dane — Rcsprinter123, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

MADISON, Wis. (RNS) — When she first became pastor of Lakeview Moravian Community, the Rev. Staci Marrese-Wheeler got a bit of advice from the church’s former pastor.

“Get to know your neighbors,” she recalled him saying.

She took the advice to heart, for both pragmatic and spiritual reasons. As a small congregation, Lakeview needed to work with other churches to serve their community. And working together sent a message that God was bigger than a single denomination.

That approach to ministry led Lakeview to partner with Zion Faith Community, a nearby Lutheran congregation, on some ministry projects and then later to create a new congregation called Common Grace, where the two congregations became one.

While each church maintains its own legal status and denominational ties, they worship together and operate as one congregation.

“We really felt strongly that our community needs to see churches working together,” said Marrese-Wheeler.

That belief in working together led Marrese-Wheeler and the Rev. Pat Siegler, her co-pastor at Common Grace, to join the first cohort of Awaken Dane, which hopes to create “a movement of churches awakening to God’s call, forming life-giving friendships and partnerships, and growing in love for their home communities” in Dane County, home to Madison, the state’s capital.

Funded by a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Awaken Dane brings together mainline, evangelical and Black congregations in the city — a rare feat in a time when churches remain divided along denominational and political lines in much of the country. Pastors of those churches spend two years together, building friendships and learning how to help their congregations engage in ministry outside the walls of the church.

The idea is to “tell a better story,” said Jon Anderson, executive director of the Madison-based Collaboration Project, which has partnered with the Wisconsin Council of Churches, a campus ministry called Upper House and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary to lead Awaken Dane.

Anderson, a pastor and community leader who settled in Madison after first moving there as a college student at the University of Wisconsin, spent about 20 years on staff at two of the largest churches in the county, working mostly on community development.

Bruxy Cavey, Canadian Megachurch Pastor, Resigns After Sexual Misconduct Probe

By

Yonat Shimron

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March 9, 2022

(RNS) — The pastor of one of Canada’s largest churches was forced to resign after an independent investigation found evidence of his sexual misconduct.

Bruxy Cavey, who grew The Meeting House into a megachurch with some 5,000 people attending 19 campuses in the larger Toronto metropolitan area, was accused of sexual misconduct by a woman who reported it to the church’s Overseers Board, or board of directors, in December.

“Having carefully reviewed the investigator’s report, our Board unanimously decided to ask Bruxy to resign from his role at The Meeting House effective immediately,” Maggie John, chair of the Overseers Board, wrote in an email to church members Monday (March 7). “Bruxy then submitted his resignation on March 3rd which the Overseers accepted.”

Also on Monday, a teaching pastor at the church, Danielle Strickland, tweeted that she was resigning “in solidarity with the victim of abuse.”

The church plans to hold a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday and will provide members more information on the investigation and its results. Spokesperson Katie Double said a public statement would follow.

“It’s important for us to communicate with our church family first,” she said.

With his long hair and tattoos, Cavey is one of Canada’s most recognizable church leaders. He became the senior pastor of Upper Oaks Community Church in 1997, later changing its name to The Meeting House. The church grew exponentially as it sought to appeal to people alienated from Christianity and church traditions.

Cavey has taught widely at U.S. seminaries and universities, including Messiah University and Fresno Pacific University Biblical Seminary. He is the author of a popular book, “The End of Religion: Encountering the Subversive Spirituality of Jesus.”

In 2019, he became the subject of a book, “The Subversive Evangelical: The Ironic Charisma of an Irreligious Megachurch” by Peter J. Schuurman.

In the book, Schuurman writes that Cavey cultivates an identity as leading an “irreligious” megachurch and provides followers with “a more culturally acceptable way to practice their faith in a secular age.”

The church affiliates with Be In Christ, a small Anabaptist denomination, formerly known as Brethren in Christ Canada, which is committed to peace and nonviolence. The denomination is evangelical in its teachings.

This article originally appeared here.

Moscow Patriarch Stokes Orthodox Tensions With War Remarks

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AP News

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March 9, 2022

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, leader of Russia’s dominant religious group, has sent his strongest signal yet justifying his country’s invasion of Ukraine — describing the conflict as part of a struggle against sin and pressure from liberal foreigners to hold “gay parades” as the price of admission to their ranks.

Kirill, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had already refrained from criticizing the Russian invasion – alienating many in the Ukrainian Orthodox churches who had previously stayed loyal to the Moscow patriarch during a schism in their country. Several of these former loyalists are now snubbing Kirill in their public prayers, with some demanding independence from the Moscow church even as their country’s political independence is imperiled.

Kirill, in a sermon delivered Sunday before the start of Orthodox Lent, echoed Putin’s unfounded claims that Ukraine was engaged in the “extermination” of Russian loyalists in Donbas, the breakaway eastern region of Ukraine held since 2014 by two Russian-backed separatist groups. Kirill focused virtually all of his talk about the war on Donbas — with no mention of Russia’s widespread invasion and its bombardment of civilian targets.

Kirill on Sunday depicted the war in spiritual terms.

“We have entered into a struggle that has not a physical, but a metaphysical significance,” he said.

He contended that some of the Donbas separatists were suffering for their “fundamental rejection of the so-called values that are offered today by those who claim world power.”

He claimed that this unnamed world power is posing a “test for the loyalty” of countries by demanding they hold gay pride parades to join a global club of nations with its own ideas of freedom and “excess consumption.”

But many Orthodox Christians in Ukraine have been appalled by Kirill’s stance on the Ukraine war. The Moscow patriarch has for centuries claimed the ultimate loyalty of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, even though the latter retained ample autonomy. And many priests, monks and faithful had remained loyal to Kirill even with the formation of a more nationalist, Kyiv-based Orthodox Church of Ukraine, in 2018 and 2019.

The war is shattering that loyalty for some, however.

Numerous bishops in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have authorized their priests not to commemorate Patriarch Kirill in their prayers during public worship services — a symbolically important statement in Orthodox tradition, which puts a premium on the faithful being in communion with their divinely ordained hierarchy.

Since the war began, as many as 15 dioceses of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine had authorized the omission of the patriarch’s name, according to the Union of Orthodox Journalists, a news site with generally positive news about the Moscow-leaning church.

The Rev. Mykola Danilevich, who has served as a spokesman for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, confirmed on his Telegram account that “many of our priests have stopped commemorating the Moscow Patriarch for worship services.”

“And the reason is obvious,” Danilech wrote March 1, before Kirill’s most recent Sunday sermon. “The treacherous open invasion of Ukraine is a huge mistake of Russia. … People did not hear from the patriarch a clear assessment of this war and his call to stop this madness.”

Christian Camp, Big Tech on Watchdog List of Top Sex Abuse Enablers

By

Diana Chandler

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March 9, 2022

Sex Abuse Enablers — Screengrab via YouTube @National Center on Sexual Exploitation

WASHINGTON (BP) – Children’s sports ministry Kanakuk Kamps is alongside tech giants Meta, Twitter, Google Search, and Netflix on a sex abuse watchdog’s 2022 list of the most egregious enablers and promoters of sexual exploitation.

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) named Missouri-based Kanakuk Kamps to the 2022 Dirty Dozen List of the top offenders in a web conference March 8, accusing the nondenominational camp of hiding years of sexual abuse.

“Thousands of families have entrusted their children to Kanakuk Kamps – one of the largest Christian sports camps. Tragically, that trust was broken as years of child sexual abuse a

Kanakuk Kamps have been swept under the rug,” NCOSE said in a press statement. “Responsibility, accountability, and transparency must be required of institutions like Kanakuk Kamps if we wish to stamp out child sexual abuse.”

NCOSE cites Meta-owned Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp as “primary places for grooming, sextortion, child sexual abuse materials, sex trafficking, and a host of other crimes;” accuses Twitter of attracting pedophiles and other predators who “trade in criminal content such as child sexual abuse and nonconsensual pornography;” and says Google Search “buttresses the pornography industry by facilitating access to graphic images and videos of sexual abuse – depicted and real – including sex trafficking, child sexual abuse, and rape.” Netflix, NCOSE said, has mixed in with its entertainment “rampant sexual objectification and glamorization of abuse.”

Others accused of such acts are communications platform Discord, global marketplace Etsy, the free messaging app Kik, the subscription-based platform OnlyFans, Reddit, Verisign and Visa.

Kanakuk Kamps, in a statement on its website, acknowledges that former staff member Pete Newman was accused and convicted of abusing children, apologizes for any harm the ministry perpetuated in communications, and includes an open letter to victims written by Kanakuk Chief Executive Officer Joe White.

“I am sorry; so deeply, profoundly sorry for the pain you have endured as a victim of abuse during Pete Newman’s association with Kanakuk Kamps,” White’s statement reads. “In hindsight, I wish I would have understood what I was truly dealing with, and I am devastated by your pain and suffering under my watch.”

Several lawsuits have been filed by alleged victims of sexual abuse at Kanakuk, most recently leading to a $29.6 million judgment for plaintiffs. In addition to Newman, former Kanakuk employees NCOSE identified are Lee Bradberry, sentenced in 2012 to 10 years in prison for sodomy and other crimes he committed while on Kanakuk summer staff; former Kanakuk counselor Paul Kerr, who pleaded guilty to child abuse in Missouri in 2012; and Ed Ringheim, a former counselor, bus chaperone and volunteer for K-Life who was sentenced to 15 years in a Florida state prison in 2011 for the sexual abuse of children.

NCOSE encourages the public to speak against those accused, especially tech giants, offering links to each company site here.

“Big Tech holds incredible influence over society, so it’s especially egregious when tech companies normalize, enable, and even profit from sexually exploitative practices, policies, and products. There is no other industry that has the capacity to help billions of people by prioritizing user protection and safety like Big Tech,” Lina Nealon, NCOSE director of corporate and strategic initiatives, said in releasing the list. “Tech companies on our Dirty Dozen List have enabled child sexual abuse to thrive on their platforms, and for predators to gain easy access to children. Those same companies frequently ignore survivors of sex trafficking and abuse who are seeking justice.”

NCOSE promotes itself as a nonprofit, nonpartisan and nonsectarian group working to end sexual exploitation while focusing on, among many problems, child sexual abuse, sex trafficking, prostitution, porn, child-on-child harmful sexual behavior, compulsive sexual behaviors and men’s violence against women, as well as the intersection of these issues with technology.

The full list of accusations and victories NCOSE cites from previous campaigns is available at endsexualexploitation.org.

This article originally appeared the Baptist Press.

German Church Urges Quick Decision on Divisive Archbishop

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AP News

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March 9, 2022

BERLIN (AP) — The head of the German Bishops’ Conference on Monday pressed for a quick decision from Pope Francis on the future of a prominent archbishop who faces strong criticism for his handling of the church’s sexual abuse scandal.

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, the archbishop of Cologne, said that he had offered his resignation to the pontiff after returning from a months-long “spiritual timeout” last week.

The conservative Woelki has become a deeply divisive figure in the German church after triggering a public furor over his handling of reports on how church officials in his archdiocese dealt with abuse cases. In September, the Vatican said that Francis had decided to give him the timeout after he made what it termed “major errors” of communication.

Woelki last week asked for the faithful to “give me — no, us — another chance.”

The head of the German Bishops’ Conference, Limburg Bishop Georg Baetzing, said Woelki sent a “strong signal” with his offer of resignation but noted that the atmosphere in Cologne remains very tense.

Francis and the Vatican “now bear responsibility for this situation,” Baetzing told reporters at the beginning of a regular meeting of German bishops. “And I think they won’t be able to watch for long.”

Baetzing said he hopes Woelki and the faithful in Cologne will be able to reconcile, but “otherwise the pope must act.”

This article originally appeared here.

‘Lent’s Eat’ Videos Bring Levity — and Leaven — to Solemn Season

By

Emily McFarlan Miller

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March 9, 2022

The intro graphic for the 2021 "Lent's Eat" video series by the Rev. Jennie Williams, left, and Brooke Hobbs. Video screen grab

(RNS) — The Rev. Jennie Williams may not not care much for the kitchen, but she didn’t start cooking her way through the solemn season of Lent as penance.

She did it to get to know her new congregation at Elm Springs United Methodist Church in Springdale, Arkansas.

Williams will resume that Lenten practice this week in a new installment of her Facebook video series “Lent’s Eat,” in which she makes a recipe or two from congregants each week of Lent, the season of prayer and penitence many Christians observe in preparation for Easter.

“It ended up being a tool for ministry for me in ways that I did not expect,” she said.

Williams started the video series last year during her first Lent at Elm Springs, after coming to the church in July 2020. A few months into the COVID-19 pandemic was “an incredibly wild time to start a new appointment,” she said, and it was challenging for her to get to know her new congregation.

The church was cautious in how it met at the time to protect its many elderly members who were among the most endangered by the disease. There were services each Sunday in the church parking lot, but no potlucks or home visits.

Then the pastor stumbled across a cookbook published by Elm Springs United Methodist Women in 2014 called “Let’s Eat.” The compilation included recipes from many members who still attended Elm Springs — and it gave the pastor an idea.

“Why don’t I film myself cooking these recipes and then try to get to know the person either through their recipe or talking to them?” she said.

It might be funny to film and put online, she thought.

She started with a hot artichoke dip and something called Mexican casserole. The oven broke. The recipes turned out delicious anyway.

Members of the congregation shared the video with friends beyond Springdale.

Food often plays a role in Lenten observances, though the season usually is associated with fasting instead of feasting.

Many Christians observe food-related traditions on the day before Lent begins — like making Shrove Tuesday pancakes and eating jelly- or custard-filled pastries on Paczki Day — intended to use up stores of alcohol, butter and other indulgent ingredients.

For the next 40 days, some choose to give up their favorite treats to remind them of Jesus’ suffering and death in the days leading up to Easter. Catholics in particular abstain from meat on Fridays as part of their Lenten practice.

“I think one of the things that we forget about Lent is that early Christians did fast and abstain from things, but they would also take on new practices,” Williams said.

“I’ve mentioned cooking can be a chore for me, but these things have been a joy for me as well. It’s expanded my emotional and spiritual awareness and capacity, and so I think it’s appropriate to share the joy that I get from it with others.”

Jesus’ I Am Statements: 7 Life Changing Truths

By

Stephen Altrogge

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March 9, 2022

I love Jesus’ I am statements in the book of John.

When someone says, “I am…,” it reveals something about their identity. About the core of their being. About what is most important to them and about them.

For example, when I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m making a big, bold statement that my identity in Christ is what’s most important to me.

So when Jesus says I am statements, we should pay close attention. He’s pulling back the curtain on his glorious character. He’s telling us something profoundly important – something we don’t want to miss.

With that in mind, let’s spend some time savoring Jesus’ I am statements.

1. I Am The Bread of Life

I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst (John 6:35).

The original hearers of this one of Jesus’ I am statements would have had two things in mind:

They had just seen Jesus miraculously feed a massive, teeming, ravenous crowd using nothing but a few loaves and fishes.
God had miraculously provided bread in the desert for the people of Israel.

You could say that had bread on the brain.

But here’s the thing:

Both the feeding of the crowd and the manna in the wilderness were intended to point to a greater reality.

Jesus tells them not to long for physical bread, even if that bread is provided by God himself. Rather, they are to long for and live for the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

What is this bread of life? It’s Jesus himself.

Just like physical bread satisfies our deepest hunger cravings, so Jesus satisfies the longings of our hearts. He is the one who “fills us,” our deepest joy and most satisfying pleasure.

Without Jesus, even the most sumptuous pleasures of the world are empty and unsatisfying. With Jesus, we can be content even in the midst of poverty.

Charles Spurgeon said:

I have heard of some good old woman in a cottage, who had nothing but a piece of bread and a little water. Lifting up her hands, she said as a blessing, “What! All this, and Christ too?”

Do You Have ‘Full-Brained’ Small Groups?

By

Small Group Network

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March 9, 2022

In our previous article, we introduced the concepts of right and left-brain associations with one’s pursuit of relational development, as described by authors Jim Wilder and Michel Hendricks in their book The Other Half of Church. As we journey through this series of articles, we will continue to study the principles from this insightful text while applying them to our respective small group ministries.

Today, we will unpack what Wilder and Hendricks label as “full-brained Christianity,” a practice of pursuing one’s faith where both sides of the brain are healthily engaged within the process of an individual’s relational development.

Full-Brained Christianity Within Small Groups

Although their book encourages us to view ministry from a vantage point that intentionally engages the right-brain more often, Wilder and Hendricks are quick to uphold the importance of discipleship programs and left-brain activities. It is here in this balance where “full-brained Christianity” can thrive within a church’s small group ministry. But do we nest right-brained activities within a left-brained discipleship structure of small groups? Or do we nest left-brained activities within a right-brained relational structure of small groups? Wilder and Hendricks opt for the latter. To them, forcing character change without first engaging the right-brain is like putting the cart before the horse since “our preconscious right brain is the driver of character change, not our conscious thoughts and willpower.”

So if relational growth is strengthened through activities that promote right-brained engagement, then is opening the Bible and reading Scripture together a worthwhile activity for a group that wants to grow? Before answering, perhaps it might be better to reframe the question: Rather, does the group have a level of relational connectivity established so that they can explore the text and also feel safe in their vulnerability with one another? I confess that I’ve been on both ends of this spectrum. In one group that I had attended, we opened the Bible to read the Word and would typically end up pointing out a few items that we liked within the passage; Yet I’ve also been a part of a group where the text was opened and we poured out our souls over the living Word of God, allowing the Holy Spirit to saturate our conversation with revelatory insights. The difference between the two groups that I experienced was the level of relational connectivity that we had established before we engaged in studying the Word.

Relational Brain Skills and Covid-19

While the pandemic certainly inflicted collateral damage upon various areas of our lives, our willingness to pursue relationships may have been one of the more impacted areas of them all. Wilder and Hendricks note that when we possess a lack of social interaction, it can lead to a church system that leans more towards left-brained Christianity. From here, this type of framework begets a loss of relational and emotional skills, which further compounds and inevitably results in ineffective discipleship. In other words, without a relationally-focused recalibration of the direction of our small group ministries, the pandemic may likely be causing our discipleship programs to become less effective.

On the other hand, Wilder and Hendricks note that when we increase our “relational brain skills,” we build up a joy capacity that can help us navigate through the larger emotional events that occur within our lives. Indeed, “when our identity is not well developed, our personality will change in different settings. With a well-formed brain, our identity will not change in different circumstances.” If an individual’s identity—or even their church’s identity—still feels “off” after returning from lockdowns, it might be worth considering a season that focuses intently on the pursuit of developing the community’s relational skills.

The Road Ahead

To help encourage healthy character transformation within the church, Wilder and Hendricks present four essential ingredients: relational joy, hesed love, group identity, and healthy correction. In the articles ahead, we will explore further what these ingredients mean within the context of our small groups, and what we can do as leaders to stimulate organic growth. Let us forge a community with a foundation that will not be easily shaken by the tumultuous seasons that may lie ahead. Let us pause for a moment and truly ask one another how the other person is doing. Let us strive for the type of Spirit-filled whole-brained community that we read about through the book of Acts, where both the temple courts and the house-to-house meetings actively took place (Acts 2:46).

This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.

Spring Break Ideas: 5 Youth Ministry Activities You Can Try

By

Heather Schnese

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March 8, 2022

Do you need suggestions to keep teens connected and active during spring vacation? Then check out these five awesome spring break ideas. We’ve assembled one activity for each weekday of break.

These activities are ideal for the young people in your community who won’t be going on vacation during spring break. Use the time to connect with teens, serve together, and have fun!

5 Spring Break Ideas for Teens

1. Monday: Broomball Tournament

Head to the ice indoors or outdoors (depending on where you live). Take brooms and a ball, and set some wacky rules. End with a pizza party and a group devotion.

2. Tuesday: Service Day

Contact your local homeless shelter, food pantry, or nursing home. The options for youth service projects are endless! Ask how you can best serve. Depending on how large your group is, send different teams to various locations. Then come back together and share stories from the day while enjoying snacks.

3. Wednesday: Scavenger Hunt

Hit a local mall for an afternoon scavenger hunt. Then grab dinner together as a group. Be sure to call the mall beforehand to let them know what you’re planning.

4. Thursday: Fundraise and Babysit

Offer babysitting for an afternoon. Parents can drop off their younger children for a few hours. Teens can play games with the children, do crafts, sing songs, etc. Be sure to have plenty of adult volunteers who have had background checks. Optional: Take donations for upcoming mission trips or youth ministry activities.

Former Miss America Says She Is ‘Nothing’ Without God After Successful ‘American Idol’ Audition

By

Jessica Lea

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March 8, 2022

Former Miss America Betty Maxwell, née Cantrell, made it to Hollywood after her audition on the 20th season of “American Idol” was met with unanimous approval from all three judges. Maxwell says that she is thankful to God and does not feel she deserves all of the blessings that she has received in life.

“For the past 5 or 6 years I’ve dealt with imposter syndrome,” said Maxwell, who was crowned Miss America 2016, in a post on Instagram. “I feel that I don’t deserve the blessings and success in my life. I feel like I’m unworthy of the praise and the talents God gave me. I don’t know why…maybe part of it is just the pressure to always have something bigger and better on the horizon. Part of it is that I know deep down I’m just a normal girl from a farm in Ga and I just feel like I’m not worthy of it all….that’s why I’m always so thankful because I don’t feel like I deserve it.”

Betty Maxwell Gives ‘All the Glory to God’

Betty Maxwell, 27, is from Warner Robins, Ga., and counts being an author, motivational speaker, singer, actress and model among her many accomplishments. The episode of her audition on “American Idol” aired Sunday, March 6.

Maxwell did not expect to win the title of Miss America 2016 and had “a lot of mishaps” during the competition. One was that she had a sinus infection, a serious detriment since her talent was singing classical opera. Maxwell says she has been singing since she was about three years old and called singing one of her “deepest passions.”

For her “American Idol” audition, Maxwell sang “A Moment Like This” by Kelly Clarkson. Judge Katy Perry then asked Maxwell to sing part of a country song. The former Miss America chose Carrie Underwood‘s “Jesus, Take the Wheel.”

Judge Luke Bryan told Maxwell, “You don’t sing like a pageant girl. You sing like a real singer.”

“There is a lot to work with,” Perry agreed. Judge Lionel Ritchie encouraged Maxwell to find her own style, which Perry said could be country music. The judges then voted unanimously to send Maxwell to Hollywood for the next step of the competition.

“I was honestly so nervous about my audition airing,” said Maxwell in her post, which continued:

You just never know how they’re going to edit it all together or how they’ll portray your story. I just knew if the focus [was] all about me being Miss America, people would think I wanted it that way or I’m egotistical and they’d judge and stereotype me immediately.

‘Unbreakable’ Christian Activist Strives to Share Gospel With China’s President Xi

By

Stephanie Martin

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March 8, 2022

Zhou Jinxia, a Christian woman in northeast China, has been arrested—again—for proselytizing. That comes as no surprise to family and friends, who call her “unbreakable” and “irrepressible.”

More than 50 times, Zhou has attempted to share the Gospel message with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan. The result? Repeated arrests and detentions—and now a growing notoriety that some people fear could result in longer imprisonment.

Christian Woman Says President Xi Needs God

Using placards filled with Gospel messages, Zhou regularly stands outside a gated area in Beijing where top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials reside. Last month, she did so to greet President Xi when he returned from the Winter Olympics, leading to her arrest for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Authorities ordered Zhou to return to her hometown of Dalian, where her beef with the government began.

In 2009, local authorities seized and demolished Zhou’s house in Dalian without her consent, later turning it into a city square. According to the group China Aid, Zhou and her family members have spent years seeking justice, only to be detained and lose their jobs. In 2014, when Zhou led her church in worship on the site where her house had been located, police reportedly interfered.

Religious liberty magazine Bitter Winter explains that Zhou “took seriously [President] Xi’s statements he would fight corruption.” So after his 2013 inauguration, she repeatedly wrote to him about her unjust eviction. Because Xi never replied, Zhou “concluded that no solution to China’s problem would be possible unless [the president and his wife] would receive God in their hearts.”

CCP Cracks Down Harder Every March

Several of Zhou’s arrests have coincided with China’s annual “Two Sessions” political event. Every March, government leaders gather in Beijing for what International Christian Concern (ICC) labels “essentially a political theatrical showcase highlighting upcoming policy direction.” ICC, on its persecution.org website, notes that ahead of this event, “The Chinese government usually intensifies its crackdown against civil society to ensure everything goes on smoothly without accident.”

In March 2015, Zhou’s evangelism attempts landed her in detention for 10 days. Arrests for similar charges (“disturbing social order”) led to detentions again in March 2016 and March 2018. On her placard, Zhou writes about God’s love and the need to repent. “God loves the people of the world and is calling out to Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan,” read one sign. Its message continued, “Atheism nurtures sin and brings down the people. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; you should repent.”

John MacArthur to Headline Conservative Baptist Network Event Ahead of SBC 2022 Annual Meeting

By

Dale Chamberlain

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March 8, 2022

John MacArthur CBN — Screengrab from YouTube.

The second full week of June is shaping up to be an eventful one for Southern Baptists who will be present in sunny Southern California.

The Southern Baptist Convention is set for its annual meeting in Anaheim, which will take place June 14-15. During that meeting, the Convention will see a new president elected, as Ed Litton has announced that he will not seek a second term. SBC messengers will also be updated regarding the independent investigation into whether the SBC Executive Committee mishandled allegations of sexual abuse.

During that same week, the Anaheim Convention Center will also be host to an SBC pastor’s conference.

Further, on the Sunday leading up to the annual meeting and pastor’s conference, a Conservative Baptist Network (CBN) hosted “evening of fellowship & preaching” is scheduled to be held nearby. The featured speaker will be none other than John MacArthur, author and pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Calif.

The CBN tweeted an announcement of the event, which will apparently be something of a rallying moment for right-wing members of the SBC ahead of the annual meeting.

While not himself a Southern Baptist, MacArthur nevertheless has a considerable measure of theological and ideological alignment with the CBN, and a number of Twitter users responded positively to the announcement.

“@johnmacarthur saw the bat signal for Voddie! It is about to be the Justice League of Conservative Christian leaders,” one said. “I guess JMac is Superman.”

Late last week, a number of SBC leaders tweeted an image of Voddie Baucham’s silhouette superimposed over a Bat-Signal as an expression of their desire to see him accept a nomination for SBC president. Baucham later indicated that he didn’t feel he was eligible for the role.

“Major W,” responded another person to the event announcement, with someone else saying, “The SBC dropped the ball not getting MacArthur to preach at our pastor’s conference. Thankful for @BaptistNetwork getting this together! Signing up now.”

While MacArthur has been influential and quite popular among large groups of evangelicals for some time, he is not an uncontroversial figure. For example, in 2020, Grace Community Church found itself locked in a public legal battle with the county of Los Angeles for flouting COVID-19 safety guidelines, a battle that was lauded by some evangelicals but sharply criticized by others.

Missionary Plane Crashed in Alaska Over the Weekend

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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March 8, 2022

SEND North Plane Crash — In this aerial photo provided by Alaska State Troopers, an Alaska Air National Guard helicopter arrives at a frozen lake that was the scene of a small plane crash on Saturday, March 5, 2022, near Iliamna, Alaska. Authorities say the five people on board the plane were injured. (Trooper Travis Lons/Alaska State Troopers via AP)

This past Saturday, a missionary plane owned and operated by Christian organization SEND International’s SEND North crashed around 12:35 PM on the frozen waters of Lake Iliamna, Alaska.

The plane, a Cessna 206, was being flown by a SEND North pilot during the time the of crash. According to a statement released to the Associated Press from SEND North area director Jim Stamberg, the pilot and its four passengers were taken to Anchorage area hospitals.

Alaska State Troopers said one was in serious condition, another was in fair condition, and the other three were listed in stable condition.

The single-engine propellor plane left the community of Levelock and was on route to the small community of Port Alsworth. However, for not-yet-known reasons, it crashed on the frozen Lake Iliamna.

The Associated Press reported that poor weather conditions made it difficult for the U.S. Coast Guard and Alaska Air National Guard to safely reach the crash site as soon as it happened.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers were able to reach them by helicopter and snowmobiles to care for those who were injured until the other rescue teams were able to fly them to the nearest hospital.

SEND North is an interdenominational missionary organization that conducts remote ministry activities throughout Alaska, including the Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories in Canada.

“Our vision is to see every community of the 60/70 Window filled with local disciple-makers who meet together regularly and have established regional leadership,” their website reads. “Basically, we want to make northern disciple-makers,” Stamberg says.

On Monday, SEND International posted a message on their Facebook page, saying, “We praise God for His protection and mercy.”

“The SEND North team wants to thank the Alaska Department of Public Safety, Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, Alaska Air National Guard, United States Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak, LifeMed, Iliamna Clinic, Lake and Peninsula Airlines, Iliamna Air Taxi, and the volunteer search and rescue members of Iliamna,” the missionary organization wrote.

SEND International asked people to praying for those injured in the crash, saying, “Please join us in praying for the pilot and passengers, their families, and our SEND North team.”

The crash is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board to determine the reasoning for the crash. An aircraft maintenance company is also working on the repairs.

Samaritan’s Purse, Israelis Will Treat Wounded Ukrainians in Lviv Field Hospitals

By

Yonat Shimron

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March 8, 2022

medical aid — A Samaritan's Purse emergency field hospital is assembled in an underground parking garage in Lviv, western Ukraine. Photo courtesy of Samaritan's Purse

(RNS) — Samaritan’s Purse, the Christian humanitarian relief organization, is setting up an emergency field hospital in an underground parking garage in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv to provide medical aid to those besieged in escalating Russian attacks.

The Rev. Franklin Graham, who leads the organization based in Boone, North Carolina, said he already has close to 100 medical and logistical workers in Ukraine, Poland, Romania and Moldova, with more on the way.

Medical personnel will begin treating wounded Ukrainians at a triage clinic outside Lviv’s train station on Tuesday (March 8), Graham said. The underground field hospital is expected to begin accepting patients on Wednesday.

Israel on Saturday (March 5) announced that it, too, had dispatched an emergency field hospital in Ukraine. It will also be built in Lviv. Graham said the two would work cooperatively.

Lviv, just 44 miles from the Poland border, is about 340 miles west of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Russian troops have been moving toward Kyiv from the east in an effort to encircle and capture the city. Thousands of women and children have been catching trains west out of the city, according to The New York Times.

“It’s chaos,” said Graham. “When you have that many people, mostly women and children, it breaks your heart when you see what they’re going through.”

Samaritan’s Purse has also distributed food, drinking water, hygiene kits and winter clothing to thousands of refugees crossing the border.

Graham said another cargo plane and a 747 Boeing airline will take off from North Carolina to Ukraine this week, packed with personnel, medical supplies and blue plastic tarp, which the organization distributes to people to cover windows that have been blown out.

The humanitarian response comes as Russia is intensifying assaults on civilian targets and infrastructure. On Monday, the World Health Organization confirmed at least 14 attacks on Ukraine’s health care facilities and classified two more attacks as “possible,” The Washington Post reported.

The Samaritan’s Purse hospital will be equipped with 58 beds and two operating rooms and will be able to perform as many as 14 surgeries a day.

Graham, a conservative evangelical, who met with President Vladimir Putin in 2015 and has praised the Russian president for, among other things, “protecting Russian young people against homosexual propaganda,” said he opposed the war.

Vote Delayed Again, Some United Methodists Say They Quit. Now What?

By

Emily McFarlan Miller

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March 8, 2022

The Cross and Flame is the official logo of The United Methodist Church. Image courtesy of The United Methodist Church

(RNS) — Last week, when the United Methodist Church postponed — for the third time in as many years — a vote on an orderly plan to split the mainline Protestant denomination long riven by disagreement over the full inclusion of its LGBTQ members, some conservative United Methodists announced they were finally done: They would launch a new denomination in May, orderly plan or no.

And United Methodists across the theological spectrum were left asking a number of questions, not only about the logistics of congregations leaving one Methodist denomination to join another, but also about the meeting where delegates are expected to discuss those plans to split.

“There are more unknowns than there are knowns around delegations,” said Jan Lawrence, head of the Reconciling Ministries Network, a progressive group that advocates for LGBTQ inclusion.

For decades, debate over ordaining and marrying LGBTQ United Methodists has roiled the United Methodist Church, one of the largest Protestant denominations in the United States.

At a 2019 special session of the denomination’s General Conference, the denomination’s global decision-making body, delegates approved what’s known as the Traditional Plan. Backed by conservative United Methodists, the Traditional Plan strengthened the denomination’s standing bans on the ordination of LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage.

Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey announces the results of the Traditional Plan votes late on Feb. 26, 2019. RNS photo by Kit Doyle

But after progressives and moderates rebelled against the Traditional Plan, leaders across theological divides negotiated a proposal to split the denomination called the Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation. Delegates were expected to vote on that proposal at the 2020 General Conference meeting, to be held in Minneapolis.

Then COVID-19 happened. The meeting was postponed to 2021, then 2022.

Last week, the Commission on General Conference announced it was postponing the meeting again — this time to 2024. Though COVID-19 numbers have dropped in the United States, the commission said, delegates living outside the country are having trouble getting visas to travel to the in-person gathering.

For all this time, United Methodist leaders — right, left and center — have held their collective breath. Leaders of the theologically diverse groups that negotiated the protocol urged their members to remain in the denomination. Conservatives agreed to suspend trials against clergy who are LGBTQ or who perform same-sex weddings.

For those conservatives, last week’s postponement was too much.

“We’re encouraging those who can find a pathway that is appropriate for them to go ahead and exit the denomination,” said the Rev. Keith Boyette, who leads the Transitional Leadership Council that is guiding the creation of the Global Methodist Church, the new conservative denomination.

The Rev. Keith Boyette, president of the Wesleyan Covenant Assoc., responds to questions from Judicial Council members during an oral hearing on May 22, 2018 in Evanston, Ill. Photo by Kathleen Barry, UMNS

The Rev. Keith Boyette responds to questions from Judicial Council members during an oral hearing on May 22, 2018 in Evanston, Ill. Photo by Kathleen Barry/UMNS

Last year, the Transitional Leadership Council announced it planned to launch the denomination after the General Conference voted on the protocol. The postponement pushed up that timeline.

“The delay is what the problem is,” Boyette said.

Some conservative groups have questioned the reasoning for a third delay of the General Conference. Other groups are holding meetings this year — even other groups with international membership, according to lay delegate John Lomperis, blogging for the conservative Institute for Religion and Democracy.

There also are questions about how churches and conferences can leave the United Methodist Church to join the new denomination. The Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation would have allowed them to leave with their buildings and other assets. A “traditionalist” Methodist denomination was slated to receive $25 million over the next four years.

“Every theologically conservative local congregation and annual conference should have the right to join the Global Methodist Church with all of their property and assets intact,” the new denomination’s organizers said in the statement announcing its plans to launch this year.

Pope Francis Deploys Top Vatican Officials to Ukraine to Help Migrants, Seek Peace

By

Claire Giangrave

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March 8, 2022

Pope Francis Ukraine — Ukrainian soldiers and militiamen carry a woman in a wheelchair as artillery echoes nearby, while people flee Irpin on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 7, 2022. Russia announced yet another cease-fire and a handful of humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to flee Ukraine. Previous such measures have fallen apart and Moscow's armed forces continued to pummel some Ukrainian cities with rockets Monday. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Stepping up his already concerted efforts to secure peace in Ukraine, Pope Francis will deploy two of his most trusted Vatican officials, both cardinals, to go to Ukraine to seek an end to the conflict and to advocate for immigrants and refugees and foster relations with local churches.

In what the Vatican called “an extraordinary gesture,” Cardinal Konrad Krajewski and Cardinal Michael Czerny will go to the war zone. Czerny is the ad interim prefect of the Vatican Department for Promoting Integral Human Development. Krajewski holds the title of papal almoner, officially charged with performing acts of mercy on behalf of the pope.

“The Holy See has put itself at the service of achieving peace in Ukraine,” the Vatican said in a statement issued on Monday (March 7), adding that the two cardinals “are directed to Ukraine and depending on the situation they intend to reach the country in the coming days.”

Cardinal Michael Czerny on Thursday, May 6, 2021. RNS photo by Claire Giangravé

Czerny will go to Hungary on Tuesday (March 8) to assist migrants entering the country from neighboring Ukraine. According to the Vatican statement, the cardinal will raise awareness for other conflicts currently taking place around the world and “raise concern that African and Asian residents in Ukraine, also suffering fear and displacement, be allowed to seek refuge without discrimination.”

Recent media reports showed that some African and South Asian citizens seeking to flee Ukraine were met with hostility by Ukrainian officers at the border and were not allowed to board the trains, which gave priority to white refugees.

“There are also worrisome reports of increasing activities of human trafficking and smuggling of migrants at the borders and in the neighboring countries,” the statement read, adding that since many refugees are Christians, Czerny “will affirm that religious assistance should be offered to everyone, with sensitivity to ecumenical and interfaith differences.”

Krajewski will go to Poland, where he will focus on helping migrants and volunteers at the border until he can find safe passage into Ukraine itself. The objective is “to reach people who are suffering,” Krajewski told Vatican news outlets, in the name of the pope, and to “tell them that he loves them, (and) pray with them, because prayer is even capable of stopping war,” Krajewski told Vatican news outlets.

The pope’s decision to send two high-ranking Vatican officials so closely tied to Francis can be interpreted as a definitive commitment by the Holy See to help mediate the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which every day risks drifting further away from a peaceful resolution.

“The Holy See is ready to do everything, to put itself at the service of this peace,” Francis said during his weekly prayer service on Sunday (March 6). “The presence of the two cardinals there is the presence not only of the pope, but of all the Christian people who want to get closer and say: ‘War is madness! Stop, please! Look at this cruelty!’”

The pope lamented that “rivers of blood and tears are flowing in Ukraine” and said that the current conflict is “not merely a military operation, but a war, which sows death, destruction and misery.”

California Russian, Ukrainian Southern Baptists Pray, Grieve, Send Aid

By

Diana Chandler

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March 8, 2022

Ukrainian Southern Baptists — A woman holding a child cries after fleeing from the Ukraine and arriving at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, Monday, March 7, 2022. Russia announced yet another cease-fire and a handful of humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to flee Ukraine. Previous such measures have fallen apart and Moscow’s armed forces continued to pummel some Ukrainian cities with rockets Monday. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP) – Rocked by Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine, Southern Baptist Slavic churches in California confess a love among Russian, Ukrainian and other Slavic peoples cemented in a shared language, culture and Gospel conviction.

Russian Baptist Church in West Sacramento, a congregation of Russians and Ukrainians that drew about 2,700 Sunday worshipers before the COVID-19 pandemic, is particularly challenged by the tragedy. Before the Russian invasion, the church mostly steered clear of politics, senior pastor Mikhail Avramenko told Baptist Press.

“We condemn the invasion. We condemn the war and we condemn the pressure which is now from Russian side toward the Ukrainian government,” Avramenko said. “We believe that Ukraine is independent, free country. But before this happened, we never speak out or speak loudly about this issue, because we stay away from political points, (because) we’re preaching the Christ. … It’s definitely a touchy subject now.

“We have here in California many, many Slavic churches,” he said. “When I say Slavic, I want to stress this, that they are both mixed by nationality, Russian and Ukrainian, Moldavian or Belarus. So basically, common denominator is language, definitely, and culture.”

About 30 or 40 percent of the members of Russian Baptist Church, one of many Southern Baptist Slavic congregations in California, are Ukrainian, and many of the families include both nationalities, Associate Pastor Igor Dronov said. Members are grieving in various ways, both quietly and vocally.

“So we are allowing grieving process to go its way,” Dronov said. “We are there to support, to help and of course we do God’s work trying to mediate through the grief, so that people will respond biblically the way Christ told us.”

In cooperation with Baptist Slavic churches in California, Russian Baptist Church is participating in a cooperative schedule of prayer and fasting. The churches are collecting freewill offerings and wiring money to pastors in Ukraine to help both those who remain in the country and those who have fled. Clothing and toys donated by children were shipped to Ukrainian schools Feb. 28. Church members are communicating with family members in Europe.

“The first level of communication or support is prayer,” Avramenko said. “So definitely, as soon as we knew the war is start, we established our prayer meetings. Even last Sunday, all day in the church we pray with prayer chain meetings, like after service, every hour we have different groups coming and praying for peace in Ukraine, for stop the war, for stop the invasion.”

The church membership is challenged by the war, Avramenko said.

“We definitely feel tensions between some Russians and Ukrainians because some of the people (are) very, very hurt,” he said. “Their families there (are) struggling. They’re refugees now in different countries. And they’re very hurt about what Russian government did. So definitely, they’re in grieving process and they’re very irritated by that.”

Russian Baptist Church is ready to help any refugees of the war who are able to flee to California.

Instituting a New Normal of Compassion and Care for Church Staff

By

Dwayne Bond

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March 8, 2022

I still remember the feeling—I was a shell of myself, not connecting with Jesus, my wife, or those close to me. I hadn’t had a break from preaching for nearly four months and I was toast—tired mentally, emotionally, and physically. Somewhere along the way I had believed the lie that more is better and that I was a superhero.

And I am not alone.

COVID-19 has changed the landscape of our churches and our leaders in ways that are nearly unrecognizable compared to just three years ago. We have seen pastors burning out at higher rates, church buildings closed from prolonged financial crisis, and nearly everyone questioning the future of the church—Is it in person? Online? Home-based?

And church leaders have primarily been at the center of the burnout discussion as they have tried to lead well through the crisis.

But there are other victims of COVID-19 as well: our church staff. For many, the pandemic simply highlighted and put in accelerated motion an undercurrent of fear and burnout that was already at work in a setting where the stakes were so high. Working in a church isn’t like working in the business or marketplace sector. The weightiness of the call to care and provide for those in the church spiritually and socially can make the lines of vocation and avocation blur quickly.

As we look at new ways of doing and being the Church today, we cannot gloss over the problems that plague the people who keep our churches running. Jesus knew it well. He both modeled what health looked like to his weary disciples, and He encouraged them to rest when needed. Luke 6:12 even lays out the model of retreat for those of us committed to the growth of the kingdom of God: “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”

Since the pandemic began two years ago, I have seen more pastors and leaders take either planned or forced sabbaticals than at any time in my ministry.

And if we need to take action to care for ourselves, how much more do those under our care?

Let me suggest four ways we can better care for our church staff who have, are, or will be suffering the effects of COVID-19.

First, model self-care.

As leaders, we cannot properly encourage our staff towards boundaries and self-care unless we understand and have experienced the value of it ourselves. There is a reason that we are told to put our oxygen masks on first if an emergency arises on an airplane. We must be healthy in order to lead healthy.

This can look like a break from work—this is the shabbat rest we see God model after creating the world and all that’s in it (Gen. 2:2-3). He ceased from his work. But it must also include the idea of nuakh, the other main Hebrew word for “rest,” which means something like “to dwell.” God does this in Genesis 2:15 after creating humans. He settles with them.

Wonky Worship: 3 Worrisome Woes

By

Clint Archer

-

March 8, 2022

Some time ago my kids and I listened to the audiobook of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and Chocolate Factory. I had never read this book as a child and was quite taken aback by some of the sinister plot twists.

Charlie Bucket and four other kids win golden tickets to tour Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, where he invents new types of exciting candies. As the story progresses you realize that the novel candies can have a lethal side to them. If the kids don’t obey Mr. Wonka and stray from the designated route, they disappear from the scene. The reader is not sure what has become of them.

Each of the children in turn gives in to temptation and disobeys Wonka, and pays the price. Miss Verruca Salt goes near to the squirrels after being told not to—and she ends up in the incinerator as a “bad nut.” Violet Beauregard chews the gum she is not supposed to eat and morphs into a giant, inflated blueberry. Augustus Gloop gets sucked into a pipe after falling into the river of chocolate, and Mike Teavee gets shrunk down to the size of a chocolate bar after disobeying Wonka. I had not realized quite how macabre this children’s story is.

But the same can be said for inventing your own religion. If we don’t stick to the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints—the results can be lethal. This is the message of the Book of Jude. Both Dahl and Jude teach us that if we stray from the path set before us —destruction is swift.

Jude uses three Old Testament characters to teach his readers about the consequences of wonky worship of God.

3 Worrisome Woes of Wonky Worship

1. Personalized Religion

Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain … (Jude 11)

Personalizing is our way of taking something is that is generic or one-size-fits-all and changing it to what suits us.

We tailor our suits, renovate our kitchens, monogram our shirts, customize our motorcycles, and personalize our iPhones. We want to make them our own, not exactly like everyone else’s. This isn’t harmful in the field of interior decorating, but it gets dangerous when you apply it to the theology and the practice of the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

Jude is warning against teachers who try to tweak the way God wants to be worshipped to suit us more than to suit God. This is what Jude calls the way of Cain.

You remember the story of Cain’s customized sacrifice in Genesis 4:2-5. His brother Abel brought a lamb, but Cain brought crops he had grown – and God rejected Cain’s sacrifice.

God’s rejection of Cain’s vegetarian offering presupposes that God had revealed to them that they should bring a blood sacrifice. The point of sacrifices was to symbolize that the wages of sin is death and that an innocent animal was dying in your place so you could be forgiven.

But Cain was a farmer of plants. So, instead of trading potatoes for a lamb, he just offered what he had on hand. He tweaked what God had revealed to suit him, to be more convenient, to be personalized to his own style of religion. “I’m a tiller of the ground, not a raiser of livestock, so God will understand when I offer something that suits my lifestyle better.”

Volunteer Handbook: A Free Resource You Can Customize

By

Daniel So

-

March 7, 2022

Volunteers are essential for running any type of ministry or program. That’s especially true when it comes to youth ministry. That’s why we’re providing this free volunteer handbook. Download it today! Then customize it to fit your needs and your ministry.

From Stuff You Can Use: “We review the year’s handbook in depth (usually over some Starbucks) with every new volunteer that we add to our team. We also refer to it in many of our training meetings throughout the year. It’s been a super helpful and valuable resource for us. It helps us organize our own vision and priorities. Plus, it helps us communicate them to our volunteers.”

Download the Volunteer Handbook Now

Resource provided by StuffYouCanUse.org

Download Instructions: To begin your automatic download, click on the gray “Download This Free Resource” button. It’s located near the top of the post.

With that in mind, let’s spend some time savoring Jesus’ I am statements.

1. I Am The Bread of Life

Full-Brained Christianity Within Small Groups

Relational Brain Skills and Covid-19

The Road Ahead

5 Spring Break Ideas for Teens

1. Monday: Broomball Tournament

2. Tuesday: Service Day

3. Wednesday: Scavenger Hunt

4. Thursday: Fundraise and Babysit

Betty Maxwell Gives ‘All the Glory to God’

Christian Woman Says President Xi Needs God

CCP Cracks Down Harder Every March

First, model self-care.

3 Worrisome Woes of Wonky Worship

1. Personalized Religion

Download the Volunteer Handbook Now

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