17 January 2024
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“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12]
Presbyterians Week Headlines
[2] A Guide to Navigating Burnout and Finding Healing in Your Ministry – Westminster John Knox Press
[3] Anthropological Societies Enter Fantasy World by Denying Biological Standard for Male and Female
Additional Articles of Interest
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This Friday at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court, a Christian preacher and campaigner faces potentially being sent to prison for six months for holding a sign with a verse from the Bible’s renowned Psalm 139 on it within a ‘buffer zone’ outside of a London abortion clinic.
Stephen Green, 72, from South Wales, was prosecuted by Ealing Council under section 67 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 for holding the sign outside of an MSI Reproductive Choices clinic in Mattock Lane, West London, on 6 February 2023.
The sign said: ‘Psalm 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.’
Psalm 139 is arguably one of the most famous and well-known pieces of scripture in the Bible.
During the incident, Mr Green, who is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre, was alleged to have broken a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), which, including prayer, criminalises “protesting, namely engaging in an act of approval/disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services”.
The PSPO, put in place by Ealing Council in April 2018, was the first ‘buffer zone’ surrounding an abortion clinic to be introduced in the UK.
PSPO legislation is usually reserved for anti-social behaviour such as dog fouling, littering and alcohol and drug misuse.
In evidence provided to the police, the clinic staff member who reported Mr Green said, ‘the incident lasted an hour’ and that one of the ‘suspects’ was ‘holding a bible in his hand which he appeared to be reading aloud from.’
The staff member added: ‘I received a text message from the police saying they were treating it as an emergency.’
Mr Green, who is director of campaign group Christian Voice, left the area before the police arrived.
Nonetheless, staff at the clinic relayed to the police what had happened and seven months after the event, Mr Green received a prosecution notice from Ealing Council.
The charge sheet provided to Mr Green, says:
‘On 6th February 2023, you did something you were prohibited from doing in an area which is within the Mattock Lane Safe Zone Public Spaces Protection Order outside the MSI Reproductive Choices Clinic in that you:
‘a) Protested by engaging in an act of disapproval or attempted act of act of disapproval with respect to issues related to abortion services, by written means in that you were holding a large sign displaying the text ‘Psalm 139:13 For thou hast possessed me (sic) reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb’
‘b) Had text displayed on a large sign namely ‘‘Psalm 139:13 For thou hast possessed me (sic) reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb’ relating directly or indirectly to the termination of pregnancy.
‘Contrary to Section 67 (1) (a) Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.’
If found guilty under section 67 at the hearing in Uxbridge this week, Mr Green could be sent to prison for six months and/or fined £1,000.
Government consultation
In January 2023, following an amendment to the Public Order Bill, ‘buffer zones’ around abortion clinics were brought in nationally.
Politicians and campaigners have decried the introduction of the zones as deeply draconian measures that criminalise free speech and prevent vulnerable women from access to alternatives to abortion.
This appears to have led the government to now publish and consult the public on its draft guidance for the zones where it says it is “seeking views and clarity”.
The government’s draft guidance acknowledges that buffer zones must be interpreted in line with human rights, including the right to manifest religious beliefs, the right to freedom of expression and the right to freedom of assembly and association:
“Silent prayer, being the engagement of the mind and thought in prayer towards God, is protected as an absolute right under the Human Rights Act 1998 and should not, on its own, be considered to be an offence under any circumstances.”
“Motionless, unintrusive conduct should not, on its own, be treated as an offence. The mere presence of someone in a Safe Access Zone with no indication they are going to engage with anyone accessing, providing or facilitating abortion services should never attract police action.”
“…it is important that police officers dealing with suspected incidents of breaching section 9 have the appropriate knowledge of human rights. Officers involved in suspected breaches of section 9 should have had appropriate training in balancing the rights protected under the European Convention in Human Rights.”
‘Attack on the Bible’
Ahead of the hearing, Mr Green, said: “I was deeply shocked to receive the summons from Ealing Council.
“I see this prosecution as an attack on the Bible and free speech. I am determined to defend myself and fight for justice.
“People are right to be concerned about the buffer zone legislation. To bar Christian witness and to control what people can say in an area is draconian and anti-Christian.
“There is a huge principle at stake here. If we are not free to hold a sign with a verse from Psalm 139 on it in a London street, then none of us is free.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “It is worrying that a man in his 70s holding a sign with a Bible verse on it is now being treated as an ‘emergency’ situation by the police.
“Buffer zones are an oppressive part of the current culture which force consent and silence dissent.
“The effect of the PSPO is to criminalise any act of disapproval of abortion and to create an area where no discussion or even prayer relating to abortion, is permitted.
“There have now been over 10 million abortions in the UK since abortion was legalised in 1967. That is a staggering number. That is almost twice the population of Scotland and more than the entire population of London. Millions of people would be alive today if abortion had not been legalised.
“Instead of lamenting this loss of life we are industrialising it, making it ever easier to obtain abortion effectively on demand, and now we are criminalising dissent.
“We will stand with Mr Green as he seeks justice in this case.”
+ Christian Concern, 70 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8AX, England, 020 7935 1488, Contact Page
[2] A Guide to Navigating Burnout and Finding Healing in Your Ministry – Westminster John Knox Press
Westminster John Knox Press publishes Wounded Pastors by Carol Howard and James Fenimore
You’re not alone in your ministry. And you don’t have to suffer in silence.
Ministry is a stressful vocation, with unspoken expectations, projected anxieties, and conflicting demands. After the pandemic caused a sudden shift to online worship and factions fighting over when and how to return to in-person worship, pastors have been leaving congregational ministry at even higher rates than usual. The emotional fallout of burnout and abuse at the hands of parishioners is something pastors carry for years, whether they stay or leave the congregation.
In this new book, seasoned pastor Carol Howard and psychotherapist and former pastor James Fenimore join their expertise to offer validation, support, and guidance for pastors who have been hurt by the church. With wisdom that can come only from experience, they describe and define aspects of struggle and pain readers may have difficulty articulating or claiming for themselves, and they offer compassionate, informed guidance on how to find healing. A systems approach to conflict sheds light on the dynamics of church conflict and how clergy can tend their own well-being amid leadership challenges. The final chapter helps readers consider their overall vocational path based on what they’ve experienced and decide whether they can remain in congregational ministry or need to pursue a different line of work.
Free downloadable resources for pastors and church members are available. Visit www.wjkbooks.com/WoundedPastors to download a personal inventory for pastors that can be printed out or used as an interactive, digital journal; a list of seven ways that church members can support pastors; and social media images that can be shared.
+ Religion News Service, 1930 18th Street Northwest, Suite B2, Washington DC 20009, 202-463-8777, Fax: 202-463-0033, info@religionnews.com
+ Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 800-523-1631, Fax: 800-541-5113, Customer_service@wjkbooks.com
[3] Anthropological Societies Enter Fantasy World by Denying Biological Standard for Male and Female
January 12, 2024, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143 – The following is excerpted from “Conference cancels panel,” Fox News, Sept. 29, 2023 : “Anthropologists from the largest associations of anthropologists in the world canceled an event discussing the importance of biological sex in the context of studying the human skeleton while citing ‘transphobia’ as the reason for the panel being cut. The American Anthropological Association (AAA) and the Canadian Anthropology Society (CASCA) were skewered for walking back their approval for a panel event at its 2023 conference discussing biological sex. The AAA and CASCA said that it was now tightening its review process to ensure such an event wouldn’t recur in the future. The event in question discussed ‘Sex identification whether an individual was male or female–using the skeleton is one of the most fundamental components in bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology.’ One of the speakers who was slated to attend, Elizabeth Weiss, an anthropology professor at San José State University, said in an interview with FOX News Digital that the field has been nose-diving into an ‘off the rails’ agenda, with activists pushing for some facts to be replaced with feelings. As anthropologists have developed more precise metrics to determine the sex of the human skeleton they study in the field, the more they get attacked for knowing and being able to determine those differences, she said. ‘So just as we are getting better and better at identifying what is male and what is a female and the skeletal record, we are getting more and more attacked for knowing how to do this,’ she said. ‘Truth is not necessarily considered an objective goal and the victims’ narrative is more important than facts. Who tells the story is more important than the data, which we obviously know is not true.’”
+ Way of Life Literature, Post Office Box 610368, Port Huron, Michigan 48061, 519-652-2619, fbns@wayoflife.org
Additional Articles of Interest
– 65,464,760 Babies Have Been Killed in Abortions in the US Since Roe v. Wade in 1973
– Vatican Official Says St. Peter’s Basilica Will Bless Homosexual ‘Couples’
– Nearly 100 Canadian Churches Have Been Vandalized or Burned Down since 2021
– Brand-New Virus Made in China Has 100 Percent Kill Rate
– Scottish Parents Face SEVEN YEARS in Prison for Refusing to Affirm Children’s “Gender Identity”
– The Danger of Critical Race Theory
– The US Government’s Plan to Criminalize Your Thoughts
– Bryan, Ohio Prosecuting Church Pastor for Helping Homeless
– Seven Wars Are Happening Right Now, and America Is Behind Them All
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