Joel Edwards to challenge Labour Party on poverty
A special church service with a focus on poverty will be taking place at the start of the Labour Party's annual conference. Joel Edwards, leader of the Micah Challenge anti-poverty movement, will challenge Labour MPs and conference delegates to commit to ending poverty. The Christian movement is mobilising the church worldwide to hold governments accountable to the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty by 2015. Edwards will tell the Labour Conference delegates about The Jesus Agenda, which examines Jesus' mission statement and calls upon Christians to become advocates of the poor and vulnerable. The service takes place at St Ann's Church, Manchester, on 30 September and is being organised by the Christian Socialist Movement. It is a traditional and well-attended gathering point for Christians from all around the country to be a prophetic voice and pray for the Labour Party.
Pray: that the message that Joel will bring will be heard and accepted widely by the delegates. (1Cor.1:18)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/joel.edwards.to.challenge.labour.party.on.poverty/30669.htm
Hope and Fusion help churches build on Olympics success
Share Jesus International, Hope and Fusion will be touring the UK this autumn to help churches stay at the heart of their communities. The Time of Our Lives tour is heading to Weymouth Prayer-house and New Covenant Church on 17 October, with more dates to be announced. It has been a bumper summer for the UK, with the Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics and Paralympics. The events saw thousands of Christians get stuck in to serve their local communities with free family events, festivals and live screenings. The tour will give churches advice on how they can create a 'rhythm of mission' throughout the year using key seasons in the church calendar. The organisations will share simple steps for engagement with some of the big national events on the horizon, including the Commonwealth Games in 2014, Hope 2014, Pentecost Festivals 2013 and 2014, and the Rugby World Cup in 2015.
Pray: that the Hope and Fusion tour will encourage the Church to link mission and community activities to large national events. (Gen.28:3)
German Catholics lose church rights for unpaid tax
Germany's Roman Catholics are to be denied the right to Holy Communion or religious burial if they stop paying a special church tax. A German bishops' decree which has just come into force says anyone failing to pay 8% of their annual income tax will no longer be considered a Catholic. The bishops have been alarmed by the increasing number of German Catholics leaving the Church in recent years. They say such a step should be seen as a serious act against the community. All Germans who are officially registered as Catholics, Protestants or Jews pay a religious tax of 8-9% of their annual income tax. The levy was introduced in the 19th Century in compensation for the nationalisation of religious property. Catholics make up around 30% of Germany's population but the number of congregants leaving the church swelled to 181,000 in 2010, with the increase blamed on revelations of sexual abuse by German priests.
Pray: for the Catholic Church that it will not deny rights to those who cannot afford these taxes.
German Catholics lose church rights for unpaid tax
Germany's Roman Catholics are to be denied the right to Holy Communion or religious burial if they stop paying a special church tax. A German bishops' decree which has just come into force says anyone failing to pay 8% of their annual income tax will no longer be considered a Catholic. The bishops have been alarmed by the increasing number of German Catholics leaving the Church in recent years. They say such a step should be seen as a serious act against the community. All Germans who are officially registered as Catholics, Protestants or Jews pay a religious tax of 8-9% of their annual income tax. The levy was introduced in the 19th Century in compensation for the nationalisation of religious property. Catholics make up around 30% of Germany's population but the number of congregants leaving the church swelled to 181,000 in 2010, with the increase blamed on revelations of sexual abuse by German priests.
Pray: for the Catholic Church that it will not deny rights to those who cannot afford these taxes.
Bulgaria: Radical Islam spreads tentacles
Belgian police have cuffed members of a radical Islamist group connected with Al Qaeda, local media reported. One of the arrested is of Algerian origin. This spring he visited Bulgaria, police said. The detainees are members of Ash Shabaab, a Somali Islamist group responsible for terrorist attacks in Somalia and kidnapping of foreigners. Their task was to recruit new members for Ash Shabaab and send them to Somalia for organizing new terror strikes. Investigating officers said that one of the arrested travelled from Belgium, where he had asylum, to Bulgaria this spring. In Bulgaria he met with one of his fellow members from Ash Shabaab. The media do not specify whether this person was a Bulgarian or came to the country from abroad. There is no information about terrorist acts being prepared on the territory of Bulgaria. The group numbering seven terrorists was busted in Brussels and Paris during the last week.
Pray: that the authorities will continue to succeed in arresting radicals and stopping Ash Shabaab from increasing its influence. (Job.6:23)
More: http://paper.standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2012-09-23&article=40094
Bulgaria: Radical Islam spreads tentacles
Belgian police have cuffed members of a radical Islamist group connected with Al Qaeda, local media reported. One of the arrested is of Algerian origin. This spring he visited Bulgaria, police said. The detainees are members of Ash Shabaab, a Somali Islamist group responsible for terrorist attacks in Somalia and kidnapping of foreigners. Their task was to recruit new members for Ash Shabaab and send them to Somalia for organizing new terror strikes. Investigating officers said that one of the arrested travelled from Belgium, where he had asylum, to Bulgaria this spring. In Bulgaria he met with one of his fellow members from Ash Shabaab. The media do not specify whether this person was a Bulgarian or came to the country from abroad. There is no information about terrorist acts being prepared on the territory of Bulgaria. The group numbering seven terrorists was busted in Brussels and Paris during the last week.
Pray: that the authorities will continue to succeed in arresting radicals and stopping Ash Shabaab from increasing its influence. (Job.6:23)
More: http://paper.standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2012-09-23&article=40094
Pakistan: Appeal for prayers after church stormed
The Bishop of Peshawar in Pakistan is asking Christians to pray after a church was destroyed. According to Anglican Alliance, thousands of people stormed the compound in Mardan, near Peshawar last week. They burnt down the church and destroyed the homes of two priests and the head teacher of the church school. The attackers also looted newly installed computers from the school before setting it on fire. No one was harmed in the attack but Bishop Humphrey Peters said the damage had been ‘very severe’. ‘We will need to rebuild. We are asking for people around the world to keep us in their prayers,’ he said. ‘The government and faith leaders in Pakistan have a role to play in educating people that they have the right to protest, but to damage property and terrify people in this way is completely wrong. The government and faith leaders should provide the lead in preventing attacks,’ he said.
Pray: that God will come alongside the believers and protect them from those that persecute them. (Ps.119:157)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/appeal.for.prayers.after.pakistan.church.stormed/30693.htm
Honduras: Rights lawyer killed at wedding
A human rights' group in Honduras says a prominent lawyer who represented peasants in disputes with large land owners has been killed. Antonio Trejo was shot dead by unknown gunmen after walking outside the church, where he was attending a wedding, to answer a phone call. Mr Trejo represented lands rights groups in the Bajo Aguan, a fertile palm-oil-producing region. Dozens of people have been killed in land conflicts there in recent years. A statement by the Peasants Movement of the Valley of Bajo Aguan, known by its Spanish acronym, Marca, says he was shot five times outside a church in Tocontin, in the outskirts of the capital, Tegucigalpa. He was taken to a nearby hospital but died of his wounds. Human rights' groups have called on the Central American government to investigate the deaths of dozens of peasants and campaigners in the Bajo Aguan area, in Honduras' northern Colon department.
Pray: for all those who offer their services to the peasants in their fight against greed and corruption. (1Jn.3:12)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19695587
Pakistan: Anti-Islam film: US condemns polititions bounty
The US State Department has condemned a Pakistani minister's offer of $100,000 (£61,600) for the death of the American maker of an anti-Islam film. It said the step was 'inflammatory and inappropriate’. Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour made the offer after a wave of protests against the film across Pakistan and the wider Muslim world. Sunday saw a fresh round of protests over the film in Pakistan, Nigeria, Greece and Turkey. A State Department official told the BBC: ‘The President and Secretary of tate have both said the video at the core of this is offensive, disgusting, and reprehensible - but that is no justification for violence, and it is important for responsible leaders to stand up and speak out against violence.
Therefore we find Mr Bilour's announcement is inflammatory and inappropriate. We note that the Prime Minister's office has disassociated itself from his comments.’
Pray: against inflammatory offers and remarks such as Mr Bilour’s that they would fall on deaf ears and not lead to more violence. (Ps.7:9)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19692971
Nigeria: Church bombed in Bauchi
A suicide bomber has attacked a church in Bauchi, northern Nigeria, killing a woman and a child and injuring 48, according to the Red Cross. Police said the bomber's car was stopped at the gates of St John's Church where he detonated explosives packed inside the vehicle. Bauchi has often been targeted by the Islamist Boko Haram group, which wants to impose Sharia law across Nigeria. Sunday attacks on churches took place regularly earlier this year. Doctors in Bauchi warned that many of the injuries were serious and the death toll could rise. Speaking at a nearby hospital, Bauchi Deputy Police Commissioner T. Stevens told journalists: ‘The situation has been brought under control. We have our men minding all areas.’ Attacks in central and northern Nigeria blamed Boko Haram of haveing killed some 1,400 people since 2010.
Pray: for a spiritual breakthrough in Nigeria that would lead to a ceasing of terrorist activities. (Ps.7:9)