Candace Cameron Bure and her brother, Kirk Cameron, teamed up to host the Hope Rising COVID-19 Benefit Concert on Sunday.

“Our circumstances have pulled us all together as families across the nation,” Kirk Cameron said during the concert. “Right now we are treasuring the people who have the center of our hearts.”

The concert featured Casting Crowns, Mercy Me, Natalie Grant, Matthew West, the Newsboys and others. The speaker lineup included Bishop T.D. Jakes, Kristen Chenoweth, Franklin Graham and Lysa TerKeurst.

“Hope Rising will uplift and inspire by uniting the audience through music and inspirational messages,” Bure said in an interview before the concert. “Plus, despite the challenge of each artist recording this from home, the end result is mind-blowing. There is an amazing energy behind it, and it needs to be seen everywhere.”

The concert will also benefit Samaritan’s Purse, the organization that most recently set up a field hospital in New York City to help with the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“They are on the front lines helping those affected by COVID-19 but also doing it in Jesus’ name,” she said. “That was important to us as people of faith, to know the good work they are doing also has a purpose to share God’s love.”

Bure says she has been spending the quarantine with her family.

“My husband Val and I had…

Christianity is treated differently than those of other faiths are in the U.S., President Trump said Saturday in criticizing political leaders for not handling all religions equally.

Trump made the comments during the Coronavirus Task Force briefing.

“I am somebody that believes in faith,” Trump said. “And it matters not what your faith is, but our politicians seem to treat different faiths very differently. … I don’t know what happened with our country, but the Christian faith is treated much differently than it was. And I think it’s treated very unfairly.”

Trump’s remarks came after he was asked about his retweet of a post on Twitter from author Paul Sperry, who wrote, “Let’s see if authorities enforce the social-distancing orders for mosques during Ramadan (April 23-May 23) like they did churches during Easter.”

Let’s see if authorities enforce the social-distancing orders for mosques during Ramadan (April 23-May 23) like they did churches during Easter

— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) April 15, 2020

Trump said his retweet was directed at politicians, not imams.

“I just spoke with leaders and people that love mosques; they love mosques,” he said, referencing a phone call he had with imams, rabbis and ministers. “But I would say that there could be a difference. And we’ll have to see what will happen, because I’ve seen a great disparity in this country….

JOS, Nigeria, April 17, 2020 (Morning Star News) – A Christian student was killed in an attack by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Kaduna state on Thursday night (April 16), a week after a pastor was slain at his church building residence in southern Nigeria, sources said.

After his college in northwest Nigeria was closed due to the new coronavirus, Sebastine Stephen was visiting his home in Kaduna state’s Gbagyi Villa, a suburb of the city of Kaduna, when armed Fulani attacked at about 11:30 p.m., according to area residents’ text messages to Morning Star News.

“Sebastine Stephen was shot when the armed Fulani herdsmen attacked Gbagyi Villa area in Chikun Local Government Area in the southern end of the city of Kaduna,” area resident Hosea Yusuf told Morning Star News. “Stephen raised alarm, warning residents about the invasion of our community as he was still outside at the time the herdsmen came to attack the community. The herdsmen instantly shot him and then proceeded to enter one of the houses close to them, where they kidnapped a couple.”

Stephen was a Christian attending classes at Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda, in Zamfara state, Gbyagyi Villa resident Titus Patrick told Morning Star News.

Kidnapped were Jack Nweke and his wife, also Christians, area residents said.

“The Fulani herdsmen were over 50 carrying sophisticated guns and shooting sporadically,”…

(RNS) — Willow Creek Community Church announced Wednesday (April 15) that David Dummitt, a megachurch pastor from Michigan, will be the church’s new senior pastor.

The announcement comes just over two years after Willow Creek’s founding pastor resigned after being accused of abusing power and sexual misconduct.

Dummitt, 46, is the founding pastor of 2|42 Community Church, a Michigan megachurch with seven campuses. According to a statement from the Vanderbloemen Search Group, which assisted with the search, the 2|42 Community Church was founded 15 years ago by Dummitt and some friends and now draws more than 10,000 people a week to services.

Willow Creek has eight campuses in and around Chicago and in the past has reported more than 25,000 attenders. Before in-person service stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic, the church averaged 18,000 in attendance. The church now draws about 18,000 livestream views each weekend along with an additional 15,000 on-demand views, said a Willow spokesperson

It has long been one of the most influential Protestant churches in America.

A graduate of Wheaton College who attended Asbury Seminary, Dummitt said in a statement he has long admired the work of Willow Creek. He called himself a “church kid who played in the handbell choir” while growing up and that Willow Creek taught him church could be different.

“As a freshman at Wheaton College, I’d…

Faith leaders around the world are virtually joining together to pray for healing from the coronavirus pandemic.

According to FaithWire, Christian pastors, preachers and other leaders are uploading videos of themselves praying for both wisdom for world leaders as they combat the virus and for healing as millions around the world face the pandemic.

Leaders are using the hashtag #GlobalPastorPrayer and #HealOurLand to post their prayers.

“With God’s help, we’ll rebound from this torrential display of terror!” Bishop T.D. Jakes said on Twitter. “While medical professionals do what they do, as elected officials lockstep with manufacturers and corporations, the rest of us must use discipline and constraint.

With God’s help, we’ll rebound from this torrential display of terror! While medical professionals do what they do, as elected officials lockstep with manufacturers and corporations, the rest of us must use discipline and constraint.

Let’s pray for God to #HealOurLand! pic.twitter.com/WA3uuNEiP9

— T.D. Jakes (@BishopJakes) April 6, 2020

The prayers also included asking God for protection over medical staff and others who are caring for the sick.

“Heavenly Father, we ask for Your provision, Your power, Your protection for those who are on the front lines fighting against COVID-19,” Craig Groeschel, senior pastor at Life.Church, said. “God, for the first responders, for the doctors, for the…