The Synod Secretary of the Diocese confirmed the incident to local media and described the event as “shocking”.

The kidnappers broke into the bishop’s residence around 7pm on Tuesday.

The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon, said that he was “distraught” to hear about the kidnapping.

He added: “This is absolutely terrible news. My heart goes out to his wife Edna, the rest of his family and everyone in his diocese.

“I would urge the whole Anglican Communion to join me in praying for his safe release.”

While no suspects have been named, the state’s 2019 governorship candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC) party, Tonye Cole, linked the abduction to the bishop’s relationship with himself.

A statement released by Cole’s campaign organisation stated: “The gentle and respectable priest, whose whereabouts are still unknown, was the clergyman who received and prayed with Cole when he visited the area.

“Since the APC flag bearer’s visit, the priest has received threats from persons at large.

“We are disturbed that kidnapping has degenerated so low that a man of God who has dedicated his life to the service of mankind can be so brutally assaulted by thugs acting on the orders of their godfathers.”

Deputy Superintendent Nnamdi Omoni of Rivers State Police said an investigation is ongoing.

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MSNBC presenter Rachael Maddow said in a podcast interview with colleague Chris Hayes: “This anti-intellectual, anti-elite line of argument we’ve seen from right-wing populists since the beginning of time.

“We’ve got a new Justice Department spokesperson who’s from Liberty University, and Liberty University was founded by a televangelist so that your Christian child wouldn’t be corrupted by actual higher education.

“And now that’s the spokesperson for the Justice Department.”

They were referring to Kerri Kupec, the Justice Department’s new director of its Office of Public Affairs. Kupec received a Doctor of Law degree from Liberty in 2011.

The son of Billy Graham acknowledged in a tweet that “no university is perfect” but described it as a “great institution”.

In a series of three tweets on Maddow’s criticism, he added: “@LibertyU has enrolment exceeding 100K students – 15.5K on campus & 94k+ online. Less than 50-yrs-old, LU has $1.3 billion in endowment & beautiful, new, cutting-edge campus.

“Ranked as one of the top universities in the country, they have 17 schools including medicine & law.

.@MSNBC’s Rachel @Maddow is in the news for being critical of @LibertyU. No university is perfect, but this great institution is an academic powerhouse. Dr. Falwell stayed true to the vision God gave him to build “Champions for Christ.” 1/3 https://t.co/u9tDGrJpMg

—…

Ignoring official guidance, Adrien Locatelli used the first eleven chapters of Genesis when creating unknown proteins which he then injected into his legs.

DNA consists of chemicals represented by the letters ACGT. Different combinations of these letters form the coding of all genes.

Mr Locatelli, who comes from Grenoble in eastern France, assigned one of the four letters to every character in the Hebrew Alphabet, in the order of GACT.

He translated Genesis 1:1 to 11:9 but omitted certain verses he felt were “controversial”, such as the first five verses of chapter seven when God instructs Noah to build an ark.

Dear biohackers etc. Please stop. You are idiots. https://t.co/5AGqdoY8oF

— Isaac Stoner (@isaacbstoner) December 14, 2018

In a study posted online, Mr Locatelli said: “Recent studies have reported that it is possible to convert any type of information into DNA for the purpose of storage.

“Since it is possible to convert digital information into DNA, I wondered whether it would be possible to convert a religious text into DNA and to inject it in a living being.’

“It is the first time that someone injects himself [with] macromolecules developed from a text.

“It is very symbolic even if it does not have much interest.”

It is understood Mr Locatelli experienced no side-effects other than temporary swelling in his…

That’s according to the veteran British evangelist Jackie Pullinger.

The author of Chasing the Dragon has spent most of her life serving the poor in Hong Kong. But speaking during an exclusive interview with Premier Christianity, Pullinger explained when she first arrived in the city, she believed preaching the gospel meant “explaining how Jesus came to die for your sins,” adding, “of course, that’s not preaching the gospel”.

When asked why, the 74-year-old replied: “Because that’s not necessarily good news to anyone who doesn’t know love, who doesn’t understand your language, who doesn’t follow your logic…The people there were not listening anyway, they were watching to see how I acted, whether I really did love them. And if I really did love them, maybe God really did love them.”

Pullinger also spoke of the need for the UK Church to get on with “the job” of mission: “We’d better get equipped to do it, instead of living this life as if this life is it. It’s not, this is a very short life. And eternal life is forever.”

“We’re going to feel stupid for eternity if we wasted this life”.

Our January 2019 issue features Jackie Pullinger, @crowdermusic, @julieetchitv and more! Get a free copy here >> https://t.co/3PQ5I1p2T7 pic.twitter.com/Mi9yjVdWS6

— Premier Christianity…

In a list that includes an Old Lifeboat House in Essex and a cattle drinking trough from 1916 in Hampstead, a church in Cornwall has made it onto the ‘Remarkable Places’ list for this year. 

St John the Baptist Church in Pendeen, along with its walls, vicarage and school has been listed as a Grade II building. 

It was once described by poet John Betjeman as being “like a toy fort” and has been recognised because of it architectural interest; using local rock, representing the 19th Century Christian faith in it’s ‘Cruciform plan’ (floor plan shaped like a cross) and for its historic significance to the Christian history of the region as the original church leader tried to bring Anglicanism to a non-conformist community. 

The parish of Pendeen was established in 1846 and its first vicar, Rev Robert Aitken was known for his evangelistic and revivalist preaching style – something that was deemed well-suited at the time to pull people away from the dominance of Methodism in the county’s mining communities.

Aitken designed the church, the neighbouring vicarage and school using local materials made by local craftspeople.

From 1850-52, the predominantly-mining community worked to quarry stone from Carn Earnes, the hill above the church, in order to build the church and its boundary walls.

Further fittings were added to the…

All Anglican churches are being encouraged to become ‘star churches’ by displaying stars to inspire people to follow in the footsteps of the wise men by finding a church near them.

The Archbishop of York said: “Christmas is a wonderful time in the church’s calendar where we share the Good News of the birth of Jesus.

“Like the wise men who followed the star in search of the new-born king, we too are invited on the journey to encounter not only the baby in the stable, but the risen Lord Jesus who died for us so that we might experience life in all its fullness.

“At the first Christmas God came to earth in Jesus – fantastic! I would encourage everyone to follow the star to their local church and hear again the greatest story ever told.”

From carol services to midnight mass, nativities to Christingles, the #FollowTheStar website campaign shares events and services taking place across 16,500 Church of England buildings.

Dr John Sentamu, clergy and church members from the Deanery of York have also shared beer mats in pubs, bars, cafés and church halls across the City, inscribed with the message ‘Why not make my local your local this Christmas? Follow the Star to your local church to encounter Jesus Christ, God’s Son: my Friend and Lord’.”

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