20 January 2021
“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
[1] REPORT: Number of Christians Murdered for Faith Rose Sixty Percent in 2020
[2] Bethel Church Breaks away from United Church of Christ, Citing Left-Leaning Activism
[3] Three New Puritan Reprints from Reformation Heritage Books
[5] RP Global Alliance Lists Worldwide Streamed Church Service Schedule
[6] Charges Dropped against Deacon Arrested for Singing Hymns Outdoors
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[1] REPORT: Number of Christians Murdered for Faith Rose Sixty Percent in 2020
COVID-19 and Technology Drive Rise in Anti-Religious Bigotry, According to Leading Watchdog Group
NEWS PROVIDED BY
Open Doors USA
Jan. 13, 2021
SANTA ANA, Calif., Jan. 13, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ — Levels of Christian persecution are at a record high globally, according to watchdog organization Open Doors, who announced the 2021 World Watch List today via press conference. A comprehensive research-based report, the annual World Watch List ranks the top fifty countries where it is most dangerous to be Christian – and exposes startling shifts in the landscape of global religious persecution.
This year’s report reveals that more than 340 million Christians now suffer high levels of persecution for their faith, representing 1-in-8 Christians worldwide.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has turned a bad situation into an unbearable one,” said David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA. “This public health crisis created an opportunity to expand faith-based discrimination and violence in regions where religious persecution had already reached alarming rates.”
Due to ongoing and increasing surveillance and censorship of religious minorities, China re-entered the top twenty for the first time in a decade. New data show China’s surveillance state is used to persecute Christians and other religious minorities, such as Uighur Muslims. The Chinese Communist Party is not only normalizing these technologies within their borders, but exporting them to authoritarian regimes around the world.
“This goes beyond where you’re going to church or where you’re going to temple, to what it is you’re writing about on your phone,” said Dr. Chris Meserole, Director of Research and Policy of the Brookings Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative. “There’s no country that can match the sheer scale of surveillance technologies that China has developed and also deployed.”
For the first time in the twenty-nine-year history of the World Watch List, every country in the top fifty is ranked as experiencing very high or extreme levels of persecution.
In 2020, extremist attacks spread further throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, from Nigeria and Cameroon to Burkina Faso, Mali, and beyond. In Nigeria alone, ten Christians a day are murdered on average due to their religious beliefs. As the total number of Christians killed for their faith rose 60 percent for the year—from 2,983 registered cases (WWL 2020) to 4,761 (WWL 2021)—ninety-one percent of the violent killings for religious reasons occurred in Africa. The report reveals that one-in-six Christians in Africa endure faith-based discrimination and violence.
2021 World Watch List Top Ten
- North Korea
- Afghanistan
- Somalia
- Libya
- Pakistan
- Eritrea
- Yemen
- Iran
- Nigeria
- India
To view the complete 2021 World Watch List report, visit ODUSA.org/WWL.
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
+ Open Doors USA, Post Office Box 27001, Santa Ana, California 92799, 949-752-6600, Fax: 949-752-6442, usa@opendoors.org
[2] Bethel Church Breaks away from United Church of Christ, Citing Left-Leaning Activism
NEBRASKA CITY – Political division across the United States is making its mark on a local Nebraska City church that has voted to end its nearly 60-year affiliation with its national congregation citing concern over the political activism of the United Church of Christ…
+ News Channel Nebraska – River CountryB103 and Otoe County Country911 Central Avenue 2nd Floor, Nebraska City, Nebraska 68410, 402-873-3348, Fax: 402-873-7882
+ United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, 216-736-2100, ogm@ucc.org
[3] Three New Puritan Reprints from Reformation Heritage Books
On 15 January 2021, Reformation Heritage Books released three new Puritan reprints—all great classics that aim for one’s growth in grace in different areas of the Christian life:
“Heaven Opened: The Riches of God’s Covenant” by Richard Alleine
https://www.heritagebooks.org/…/heaven-opened-the…
“The Pleasantness of a Religious Life” by Matthew Henry”
https://www.heritagebooks.org/…/the-pleasantness-of-a…
“The Duty of Self-Denial and Ten Other Sermons” by Thomas Watson.”
https://www.heritagebooks.org/…/the-duty-of-self-denial…
+ Facebook, 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, California 94025, 650-308-7300, zuck@fb.com
+ Reformation Heritage Books, 2965 Leonard Street Northeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49525, 616-977-0599, orders@heritagebooks.org
A group of church leaders in Scotland has sent a pre-action letter to the Scottish government calling on measures, which have seen churches closed during the current lockdown, to be urgently reversed.
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, 30 church leaders from a range of Christian denominations, including the Church of Scotland, the Free Church of Scotland, the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) and a number of independent churches, have written that if their request is rejected, they will face no alternative but to pursue a judicial review.
Restrictions outlined by First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, on Friday 8 January, without debate, have made it a criminal offence for churches to hold services in-person and, for example, to conduct baptisms in the highest tiers.
The closure of churches in Scotland is unprecedented, with no attempt to close them since the Stuart kings made it a capital offence to meet for worship and listen to preaching other than that of the established church, in the 17th century.
Disproportionate step
The pre-action letter states that the church leaders wish to emphasise that they ‘fully understand the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic and they appreciate that the Scottish Government is required to make difficult decisions as it seeks to take steps to decrease the spread of the virus.’
However, the leaders say that they believe the Scottish Ministers’ have ‘failed to appreciate that the closure of places of worship is a disproportionate step, and one which has serious implications for freedom of religion.’
The letter contends that the regulations that came into force on 8 January 2021 are in violation of Article 9, read with Article 11, of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The letter identifies that with suitable restrictions in place, public transport, essential shops, professional sport, and the court system continue to function. Yet, places of worship are closed.
It states that this closure is: ‘arbitrary, inconsistent and disproportionate when looked at in light of the Convention. The closure of places of worship and the criminalisation of collective manifestation of religion which takes place under carefully and responsibly controlled conditions goes too far.’
Violates Scottish constitution
Outlining the position of the church leaders on how the separation of church and state is a fundamental feature of the constitution of Scotland, the letter argues that the current restrictions on church activity violates the Act of 1592.
This Act, which gave authority to the church over all matters ecclesiastical, also gave the elders of each church a specific legal responsibility to ensure that regular worship continued.
The freedom of the church from any government interference was also confirmed in the 1921 Church of Scotland Act, which current restrictions also violates.
In November 2020, Chancellor Angela Merkel refused to close churches in Germany due to ‘constitutional issues’. In this regard, the pre-action letter identifies that: ‘Scotland is the only nation in the United Kingdom that has closed places of worship at this present time and that action is also out of step with the restrictions that have been put in place in other countries (for example Germany and the United States).’
Furthermore, the letter asks the Scottish government to note ‘that the majority of churches in Scotland hold to theology which believes that interference in matters sacred by the secular authority, is a direct threat to their independence.’
A number of the signatories to this pre-action letter, along with over 500 other church leaders, have also written to the Scottish government this week, outlining their concerns and arguing that there is no evidence that church services contribute to the spread of covid-19.
The church leaders have given the Scottish Ministers’ until 5.00 pm on Thursday 21 January 2021 to respond.
‘Dangerous precedent’
The Scottish pre-action letter comes as leaders in England and Wales continue to pursue a judicial review over their respective government’s decision to close churches during the November 2020 Lockdown.
An oral permission hearing is set for Monday 25 January at the Cardiff Civil Justice Centre, which will decide whether the case will go to full judicial review.
During a parliamentary debate ahead of the November 2020 lockdown in England, former prime minister, Theresa May, said of the English government’s decision to close places of worship:
“My concern is the government today making it illegal to conduct an act of public worship for the best of intentions, sets a precedent that could be misused for a government in the future with the worst of intentions. It has unintended consequences.”
When asked in November 2020 how the English government had justified closing places of worship, chief scientific advisors, Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, said: “We haven’t got good evidence”, “this is not a very exact science at all” and “we don’t have good data to answer that with any degree of certainty.”
Similarly, the Scottish government has failed to present any scientific evidence to justify church closures.
The church leaders respond
Rev. Dr William Philip, leader of the Tron church in Glasgow City Centre, which has over 500 members of all ages and backgrounds, said: “The severe restrictions upon gatherings of churches throughout recent months, and in particular the enforced complete closure to public worship, has brought significant distress, suffering, and ill-health to many in our congregation.
“Many of these are vulnerable people, and the church community serves as a life support for many at this time. We urge the government to reverse these measures urgently.”
Rev. James McInnes, leader at Lochalsh and Strath Free Church of Scotland, said: “Present legislation permits me to conduct a funeral service after someone has died, but it obstructs me in caring for the living.
“I am very concerned about the negative impact of the present action of the Scottish Government in making it a criminal offence for a person residing in a ‘Tier Four area’ to leave their home in order to worship at a church. I am also concerned that this action by civil government represents a disregard for the legitimate and lawful authority of the church as distinct and separate from the state.”
Rev. Geoffrey de Bruin, leader at Christian Revival Church Edinburgh, said: “Since the lockdown began, the need for us to provide spiritual and mental support to the many needs in our community has been essential.
“We as a church cannot help or minister to these individuals from an online platform. We would need to have the restrictions lifted as a matter of urgency in order to provide the much-needed support our society and community needs during this lockdown.”
Pastor Daniel Mihet, leader at Bethany Evangelical Church in Dumfries, who growing up under a communist dictatorship in Romania experienced the permanent closure of churches across the country, said: “This experience, to me personally, brings back memories from my living in the former Communist block where churches lost their autonomy and became subject to the state. What is now happening in each UK country I believe is beginning to resemble how churches have been treated in communist countries.”
William Macleod, minister of Knightswood Free Church (Continuing) in Glasgow, said: “The Scottish Government is asking me to break my promises to God and man by closing my church at this time.
“I believe strongly in the independence of the church from the state and that the church should be free to run its own affairs subject only to Christ and the Word of God. Our Covenanting forefathers fought for this and died as martyrs for this cause in the seventeenth century.”
List of signatories:
Andrew Baldock , Minister, Kilwinning Evangelical Church
Rev Nathan Owens. Maxwell Church,
John-William Noble, Pastor, Grace Baptist Church Aberdeen
Garry Brotherston, Minister, Bishopbriggs Free Church of Scotland
Angus R. Cameron, Pastor, Cumnock Baptist Church,
Rev. William Macleod BSc, ThM, Knightswood Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
Geoffrey de Bruin, Senior Pastor, CRC Edinburgh
Rev. Dr Rupert Hunt-Taylor MRCVS
Rev Greg MacDonald, Minister of the Cross congregation, Isle of Lewis
William Philip, Senior Minister, The Tron Church, Glasgow
Paul Harkess, Assistant Minister, Maxwell Church
James MacKenzie, Elder, Edinburgh North Church
Arthur O’Malley, Pastor, East Gate Church, Eldersile
Rev Graeme Craig, Ayr Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
Andrew R Allan, Minister, Partick Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), Glasgow
John MacKenzie, congregation of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) and Clerk of the Northern Presbytery
Daniel Titus, Pastor, Bethany Evangelical Church Dumfries
Rev James S. Haram, Shettleston Free Church of Scotland, Glasgow
Maurice Roberts, Minister (Retired), Inverness
Colin Wilson, Editor, Christians Together, Inverness
Tom Malone, Pastor, Foundation Church, Peterhead
Rev Kenneth Macdonald, Stornoway Free Church
Tom Budgen, Minister, Kilmuir and Stenscholl Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), Isle of Skye
Rev Alexander James MacInnes, Lochalsh & Strath Free Church of Scotland (Continuing),
Alisdair S Smith, Elder, Knox Church Perth
Edith Forrest, Elder, St Columba Church (Church of Scotland) Kilmacolm
Yerik Kellet-Smith, Elder, Ruchill Parish Church
Rev Alasdair Macleod, Knock & Point Free Church (Continuing), Isle of Lewis.
+ Christian Concern, 70 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8AX, England, 020 7935 1488, Contact Page
+ Scottish National Party, Gordon Lamb House, 3 Jackson’s Entry, Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Scotland, 0131 525 8900, snp.hq@snp.org
[5] RP Global Alliance Lists Worldwide Streamed Church Service Schedule
https://rpglobalalliance.org/2021/01/16/church-services-live-streamed-9/
+ Reformed Presbyterian Global Alliance, c/o Ottawa Reformed Presbyterian Church, PO Box 23139 Ottawa, Ontario K2A 4E2, Canada
[6] Charges Dropped against Deacon Arrested for Singing Hymns Outdoors
A court has dismissed all charges against a church deacon who was one of the three arrested last September for singing while not wearing a mask at a “psalm sing” outdoor worship service held in Moscow City, Idaho.
The Idaho District Court dropped charges against Gabriel Rench in the case State of Idaho v. Gabriel Rench. The deacon was arrested at an event hosted by Christ Church and held outside City Hall in response to the extension of a COVID-19-prompted mask mandate imposed by Moscow’s mayor at the time, the law firm Thomas More Society, which represented the church, said…
+ The Christian Post, National Press Building, 529 14th Street Northwest, Suite 420, Washington DC 20045, 202-347-7734, info@christianpost.com
+ Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, PO Box 8741, Moscow, Idaho 83843, 208-882-2034, presidingminister@crechurches.org
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