Bishop Jonathan, who is a United Methodist Church minister, said: “I am thankful for pastors and church leaders who are making the difficult decision regarding whether to hold Sunday services, and I trust you all to make the best decision you can to balance the safety of worshipers with the desire to gather in prayer.”

“If you are unable to gather with your church family on Sunday, I urge you to gather with your family – in a shelter, a hotel or wherever you may be – to pray for the people impacted by this storm, for the first responders and early responders who work tirelessly to see to the needs of others, and for the many community and church agencies who will be working with people in the months ahead.

Before Holston current role, he worked as a conference disaster relief coordinator and served on the United Methodist Committee on Relief, on the Catastrophic Disaster Response Team and as the Church World Service disaster consultant in Georgia.

In this statement addressed to South Carolina United Methodists he ended: “Finally, as people of faith, we trust that God’s love will triumph in the midst of anxiety, fear, loss and destruction. We trust that God will lead us to respond faithfully to the needs of our communities in the aftermath of the storm. We give thanks for our shared ministry.”

Other churches have also prepared to help the community:

Missouri…

94 year old Harry Read completed his first high level skydive since he parachuted into Normandy on 6th June 1944, D-Day, on Friday. He jumped from 10,000 feet to raise money for The Salvation Army’s Anti Trafficking and Modern Slavery work.

He describes on his giving page how his faith motivated him: “You might well be asking where God comes in on this and I take the question seriously. This started out as a very modest desire for a low-level parachute jump which has, seemingly, been elevated to a high-profile event with the Red Devils team. However, every aspect of this proposal has been bathed in prayer and, when my normal common-sense has asked its questions, I still have the quiet, over-ruling assurance that, our heavenly Father is approving to the degree of being in charge. I don’t know where, or how, this will glorify him but he is telling me to trust him, and I will.”

As a 20-year-old Wireless Operator in World War Two, Harry was part of the Parachute Brigade landing in France on D-Day.

He described how the two jumps were different: “On that morning at 00.50 hours I parachuted into Normandy and 30 seconds later I was on the ground. It was a very different experience to the one I just had. This was my first high level skydive and whilst I was a little nervous I have always enjoyed the thrill of parachuting.

“It was amazing to experience the…

Bishop Jonathan, who is a United Methodist Church minister, said: “I am thankful for pastors and church leaders who are making the difficult decision regarding whether to hold Sunday services, and I trust you all to make the best decision you can to balance the safety of worshipers with the desire to gather in prayer.”

“If you are unable to gather with your church family on Sunday, I urge you to gather with your family – in a shelter, a hotel or wherever you may be – to pray for the people impacted by this storm, for the first responders and early responders who work tirelessly to see to the needs of others, and for the many community and church agencies who will be working with people in the months ahead.

Before Holston current role, he worked as a conference disaster relief coordinator and served on the United Methodist Committee on Relief, on the Catastrophic Disaster Response Team and as the Church World Service disaster consultant in Georgia.

In this statement addressed to South Carolina United Methodists he ended: “Finally, as people of faith, we trust that God’s love will triumph in the midst of anxiety, fear, loss and destruction. We trust that God will lead us to respond faithfully to the needs of our communities in the aftermath of the storm. We give thanks for our shared ministry.”

Other churches have also prepared to help the community:

Missouri…

Two women have died in a landslide and torrential rain continues. The typhoon made landfall before dawn in the coastal town of Baggao in Cagayan province on the northern tip of Luzon Island. 

More than five million people were at risk from the storm, which the Hawaii-based Joint Typhoon Warning Centre downgraded from a super typhoon but said was still punching powerful winds and gusts equivalent to a category four Atlantic hurricane.

Mark Bulpitt, Head of Fragile States & Emergency Response at Christian charity World Vision told Premier: “We’re taking this as a very serious typhoon. It’s expected to hit at 200 kilomentres an hour and you compare that to Typhooon Haiyan…which was the strongest ever typhoon to hit the Philippines.”

Mark explained how several people are there, ready to offer aid as soon as it’s safe: “World Vision is in the Philippines and we have been there for 60 years – we have a lot of dedicated staff that have expertise in responding to crises like this. They have worked in 16 crises in the last 5 years alone.

“We’ve already pre-positioned supplies for 4000 families, ready so they can be moved quickly so we can respond immediately to help anyone that needs life-saving equipment.”

“The equipment we have includes things like hygiene kits, blankets mosquito nets so we don’t get secondary issues arising, such as from malaria.”

“Once the typhoon hits, we have assessment teams that are already near the suspected locations…they can move…

The need for couples to separate or allege “fault” would be taken away under a proposed change unveiled by David Gauke.

Spouses would also be stripped of any right to contest a divorce application made by their partner, a consultation launched on Saturday has proposed.

Mr Gauke, who had previously publicly called for a “less antagonistic” system said: “Marriage will always be one of our most sacred institutions, but when a relationship ends it cannot be right for the law to create or increase conflict between divorcing couples.

“That is why we will remove the archaic requirements to allege fault or show evidence of separation, making the process less acrimonious and helping families look to the future.”

Under the current law in England and Wales, unless people can prove there was adultery, unreasonable behaviour or desertion, the only way to obtain a divorce without their spouse’s agreement is to live apart for five years.

The proposed changes include:

– Making “the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage” the sole grounds for a divorce

– Removing the need to live apart or provide evidence of a partner’s misconduct

– A new court notification process that can be triggered by one or both parties

– Removing the opportunity for the other spouse to contest the divorce application

Pressure for reform intensified after Tini Owens lost a legal battle to divorce Hugh, her her…