October 13, 2015:
From Antichrist to Brother in Christ: How Protestant Pastors View the Pope
LifeWay Research finds Pope Francis has improved opinions of Catholic Church.
Lisa Cannon Green
Posted 9/25/2015 06:00AM
More than half of evangelical pastors say Pope Francis is their brother in Christ.
More than one-third say they value the pope's view on theology, and 3 in 10 say he has improved their view of the Catholic Church.
Those are among the findings of a new study of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors, released this week from Nashville-based LifeWay Research.
Overall, the survey found that many Protestant pastors have taken a liking to Pope Francis.
Nearly 4 in 10 say the pope, known for his humility and concern for the poor, has had a positive impact on their opinions of the Catholic Church. Almost two-thirds view Pope Francis as a genuine Christian and “brother in Christ.”
However, half of Protestant pastors say they do not value Pope Francis’ opinion on matters of theology.
LifeWay asked 1,000 Protestant pastors in America about their views in a phone survey from September 8–21, 2015, shortly before the pontiff’s visit to the United States this week.
Pope Francis, who in March 2013 became the first non-European and first Jesuit priest to be named pope, has been outspoken on such issues as welcoming immigrants, shunning materialism, and protecting the environment.
For 43 percent of Protestant pastors, Pope Francis has not changed their views of the Catholic Church. However, half say the current pope has affected their opinions—and almost three times as many cite a positive impact (37%) as a negative one (14%).
“Our sample itself—Protestant pastors—is named after the Protestant Reformation, so they are particularly interesting to survey,” said Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay Research. “And the survey says that this pope does, indeed, have a ‘Francis effect,’ even on a group of people named for protesting the very faith the pope leads.”
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http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2015/september/antichrist-brother-christ-protestant-pastors-pope-francis.html
Is Gay Marriage Destroying the United Methodist Church?
(UPDATED) Progressives violate ban on same-sex unions, sparking fresh talk of schism.
Timothy C. Morgan
posted 6/11/2014 - 08:33AM
"Irreconcilable" disagreement over same-sex unions is once again prompting debate over splitting the historic United Methodist Church (UMC), one of America's largest denominations.
"If we are one church, we cannot act as if we are two. If, in reality, we are two churches, it may not be wise to pretend any longer that we are one," concludes a statement last month from 80 traditionalists from across the UMC, which has 7.7 million U.S. members. (An additional 4.4 million members are overseas.)
The statement says the UMC is facing a crisis in four areas because:
* Pastors have violated or said they are willing to violate the Book of Discipline ban on same-sex marriages. (The Book of Discipline is the church's most authoritative guide.)
* Pastors and other leaders realize that there are no "meaningful consequences" for violating the Book of Discipline by officiating at a same-sex union. (In one instance, two clergy were given a "24-hour suspension without pay" for marrying gay couples.)
* More church leaders believe "significant parts of the Scriptures do not provide an accurate understanding of God's heart and mind and may be discarded as uninspired and in error."
* Among top leaders, "there are dramatic differences in how personal and social holiness is lived out and taught."
"We can no longer talk about schism as something that might happen in the future. Schism has already taken place in our connection," said Maxie Dunnam, chancellor of Asbury Seminary and leader in the Good News movement for evangelical Methodists, in comments to Good News magazine .
"There are conscience-bound persons who find it impossible to live in the United Methodist Church as we presently define ourselves in relation to human sexuality," said Dunnam. "Forty years of wrestling with the issue is enough." The first disagreements among United Methodists over homosexuality began four decades ago. Back in 2004, traditionalist leaders tried, but failed, to move forward a proposal for an amicable breakup of the denomination that traces its heritage to John and Charles Wesley.
Click on Link:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2014/june/is-gay-marriage-destroying-united-methodist-church.html
China Sees Red: Christian Protest Puts Hundreds of Crosses Back in Public
Protestants and Catholics unite for 'safe and legal non-violent disobedience.'
Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra
Posted 8/3/2015 - 10:32AM
Several churches held a prayer service outside a government office yesterday, holding up crosses and banners that read, "Can't remove the cross in our hearts," reports the Union of Catholic Asian News.
The cross dispute is "destined to become one of the 'pain points' in the history of the [Chinese] church’s development," wrote Lude Wang in a Pushi Institute for Social Science analysis highlighted by ChinaSource.
"At its core, the Zhejiang Cross Dispute has revealed that in light of the backdrop of a new society, neither the church nor the state has sufficiently prepared to enter into a mature and constructive dialogue; nor have they shown a readiness to settle their differences and conflicts on the basis if the rule of law," she wrote. "How the church will coexist within a community holding different values to itself is an urgent question."
The government of "China's Jerusalem" has torn down hundreds of giant red crosses from church buildings over the past two years. Now Chinese Protestants and Catholics are joining together to put red crosses—albeit much smaller ones—back in the public eye.
In an online campaign , church leaders in the eastern province of Zhejiang have called on Christians to craft hundreds of small wooden crosses, paint them red, and display them at home or on their cars.
“Each time they take a cross down, we will put more up,” one church leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Guardian. “We are even considering making flags and clothes with cross patterns. We will make the cross flourish throughout China.”
Click on Link:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2015/august/china-sees-red-christian-protest-hundreds-crosses-wenzhou.html
Violence, Persecution Spread in Eastern Ukraine
Pro-Russian forces condemned for ongoing aggression. Orthodox Church criticized.
Timothy C. Morgan
Posted 5/6/2015 03:49PM
Last June, pro-Russian separatists raided a Pentecostal church service in eastern Ukraine and kidnapped four Christian leaders. Some 35 days later, authorities discovered the bodies of the four, who had been tortured, in a mass grave.
The killings in Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine, galvanized Christian outrage. Nearly a year later, pro-Russian separatists still dominate the eastern region and non-Russian Orthodox religious groups face many hardships, according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF ). Forum 18 , a religious liberty news service, also reports new concerns about religious freedom in Crimea, the former Ukrainian autonomous republic, annexed by Russia in March 2014.
Last week, top Christian leaders, mostly Ukrainian, gathered in London and signed a resolution, condemning the ongoing violence and aggression and remembering the four men who were murdered.
“The armed conflict in the eastern part of Ukraine has led to a humanitarian catastrophe. Whole towns and villages have been destroyed and several thousand civilians and soldiers have been killed. The conflict has created more than 1.5 million refugees,” the resolution said.
It notes:
- Protestants and Catholics experience “violent persecution” at the hands of pro-Russian separatists.
- Any religious group not associated with the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church “suffers disproportionately.” This would include Ukrainian Orthodox churches, Kiev patriarchate.
- Pro-Russian groups have seized church buildings and educational facilities of Baptists and Pentecostals, using them for military barracks or other purposes.
