Piers Morgan leads backlash to celebrity event ‘disrespectful’ to Catholics

The Good Morning Britain host claimed the event, which this year had a religious theme, was “disrespectful” and wouldn’t dare target different faiths.

 

Writing in his column on the Mail Online, he said: “Christianity, it would seem, is fair game for a mocking fashion parade.”

Ian West/PA Wire

 

Stars from the world of music and movies turned out in the event in New York dressed in costumes inspired by Catholicism.

Titled ‘Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination’, guests were seen dressed as nuns and popes.

 Ian West/PA Wire

 

Declaring his outrage, Morgan, who identifies as Catholic, said: “I know many people don’t believe in any God or religion, let alone Catholicism, and I respect that.

“All I ask in return is for my beliefs not to be rudely disrespected.

“Just as I always respect other religions even if I don’t believe in what they represent.

“To me, this year’s Met Gala crossed a line and was openly, brazenly disrespectful.

Ian West/PA Wire

 

It’s reported the Vatican gave permission for the theme and also provided clothes for an exhibition at the event.

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.

… Read More

—

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

قالب وردپرس

Southern Baptist Women Sign Petition against Paige Patterson

Southern Baptist Women Sign Petition against Paige Patterson



More than 2,000 Southern Baptist women have signed a letter asking the trustees of a Fort Worth, Texas, seminary to take action against its embattled president after audio and video clips emerged in which he counseled physically abused women to quietly pray and described a 16-year-old’s body as “built.”


The letter does not explicitly demand a resignation, retirement or reprimand for Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and one of the key leaders of the conservative resurgence in the denomination, the nation’s largest Protestant group.


But it does suggest Patterson cannot be allowed to continue to lead — a stunning development for a revered leader in the denomination and an indication of just how pervasive the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault has become.

… Read More

Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

قالب وردپرس

Franklin Graham, Matt Chandler Sound Warnings as Study Reveals ‘Epidemic’ Levels of Loneliness in US

Pexels

A number of American pastors have spoken out as a major study released by a global insurance company last week found that U.S. citizens face “epidemic” levels of loneliness.

Cigna said in a press release last week that a survey of more than 20,000 U.S. adults, carried out by Ipsos between Feb. 21 and March 6, with a credibility interval of plus or minus 0.8 percentage points, discovered that nearly half said that they sometimes or always feel alone.

What is more, Generation Z, or adults aged 18–22, were found to be the loneliest of all.

Matt Chandler, megachurch pastor of the Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas, tweeted on Saturday in responce to the survey: “The data around this social experiment is coming in and it’s not pretty.”

Chandler referred to another tweet written by Matt McCauley, family minister at Village Church, who suggested that social media might be playing a big role in people suffering from loneliness.

“Parents, limit screen time and push your kids outside into the real world of face-to-face interaction. 10,000 followers doesn’t cure loneliness,” McCauley wrote.

… Read More

—-

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

قالب وردپرس

Study finds black people read the Bible more than white people

The Pew Research Centre also found they were the group most likely to view the Bible as the word of God.

More than half of black people – both Christian and non-Christian – said they read the Bible or other holy scripture at least once a week outside of church services, compared with 32 per cent of whites and 38 per cent of Hispanics, according to data from the Religious Landscape Study.

 

Only 24 per cent of black people said they “seldom or never” read the Bible, compared with 50 per cent of whites and 40 per cent of Hispanics.

David Masci, a senior writer at Pew Research Center, explained where the root of black people’s devotion to the Bible may have come from.

“Religion, particularly Christianity, has played an outsize role in African American history. While most Africans brought to the New World to be slaves were not Christians when they arrived, many of them and their descendants embraced Christianity, finding comfort in the Biblical message of spiritual equality and deliverance,” he wrote in an article.

The study also found African Americans participate in prayer and scripture study groups more than both whites and Hispanics.

While 39 per cent of black people asked said they did on a weekly basis, 22 per cent of white people and 27 per cent of Hispanic people said they did.

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to…

… Read More

—

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

قالب وردپرس

United Methodist Bishops Want to Let Pastors, Conferences Decide on LGBT Clergy

United Methodist Bishops Want to Let Pastors, Conferences Decide on LGBT Clergy



The bishops of the United Methodist Church have endorsed a plan  that would allow individual pastors and regional bodies to make their own decisions on whether to perform same-sex weddings and ordain LGBT people as clergy.


The Council of Bishops recommended the One Church Plan, on Friday (May 4), after nearly a week of meetings in Chicago, according to a council press release.


“The Council’s prayerful deliberation reflected the diversity of the global denomination on the matter of homosexuality and many other matters,” Bishop Ken Carter, president of the Council of Bishops, said in the release.


“The Council affirms the strength of this diversity and our commitment to maintain the unity of the church.”

… Read More

Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

قالب وردپرس

Quakers to rewrite rule book for first time in 23 years

The book, Quaker faith and practice, provides spiritual wisdom, guidance, and advice for the Quaker Church.

The Church made the decision to edit the book at its annual gathering on Sunday.

 

Paul Parker, recording clerk for Quakers in Britain said: “Once in a generation, Quakers decide to take a long hard look at our faith, what it means to us, and what we can say about it.

“Today’s bold decision to revise Quaker faith and practice means it’s time for us to do that again. It’s exciting. We want to hear the insights of younger and more diverse people, and set out how we are a faith fit for the 21st century. I’m looking forward to it.”

Quakers in Britain said some of the children and young people taking part in the gathering pushed for recognition of diversity.

The last revision took around ten years to complete.

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.

… Read More

—

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

قالب وردپرس

Seven Time Eaters for Pastors and Staff

Podcast Episode #430

SUBSCRIBE: iTunes • RSS • Stitcher • TuneIn Radio • Google Play • iHeart Radio

Pastors have busy schedules, so time management is critical. Today we look at seven items on a pastor’s schedule and how you can best manage the time they take.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

  • Weddings are hard for pastors to say “no” to, but they can be very time consuming if you don’t.
  • Counseling is not something most senior pastors do well. It’s critical to have a referral list.
  • If you spend a lot of time on the road for hospital visits, redeem the time with audio books or podcasts.
  • Most church staffs meet too much. Many meetings could be emails or a quick hallway conversation.
  • Digital study tools like MyWSB can save hours of sermon prep time every year.

The seven time consumers we cover on this episode are:

  1. Weddings
  2. Counseling
  3. Hospital visits
  4. Meetings
  5. Sermon preparation
  6. Social events
  7. Office interruptions

Episode Sponsors

Our friends at Vanderbloemen Search Group help churches and ministries build great teams by finding their key staff, but did you know they have a ton of resources around team building? Their newest addition is The Culture Tool, a free comprehensive staff engagement survey to help you build, run, and keep a great team. It’s brand new and still in beta, so check out TheCultureTool.com to be on the cutting edge of this new tool that will help you improve your church staff culture.

Visit TheCultureTool.com to learn more.


The ministry…

… Read More

—

Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Thom Rainer.

قالب وردپرس

Celebrating VE Day and winning the spiritual war

Today is VE Day, short for “Victory in Europe.” On this day in 1945, Great Britain and the United States celebrated their victory over Nazi Germany and its allies.

German troops throughout Europe laid down their arms. Surrender documents were signed in Berlin and eastern Germany.

But there was much more fighting still to come.

Six hundred Soviet soldiers died the next day in Silesia, a region now in southwest Poland, before the Germans fighting there finally surrendered. The war would continue in the Pacific until Imperial Japan surrendered on August 15 (now known as VJ Day).

Hundreds of battles preceded VE Day as well. We owe the men and women who fought this horrendous war an undying debt of gratitude. They won the victory, not in a single day or in a single battle, but in stages.

It is the same with our war against “the spiritual forces of evil” today (Ephesians 6:12).

No war is won in a day

For people who try to live by Scripture, these are frustrating days.

According to a new survey from Public Religion Research Institute, 65 percent of young people in America agree that abortion should be legal in most or all cases. This compares to 51 percent of seniors who agree. Nearly seven in ten young people believe that at least some health care professionals in their community should provide legal abortions; this compares to 46 percent of seniors.

Seventy-three percent of Americans support euthanasia, the highest level since 2005. Support for euthanasia is nearly double what it was when Gallup first polled on the question in 1947.

According to Pew Research Center, acceptance of gay marriage continues to rise in our culture, growing from 35 percent in 2001 to 62 percent today. Only 31 percent of American adults think homosexuality should be discouraged.

Here the difference between evangelical Christians and those without religious affiliation is especially striking: only 36 percent of evangelicals believe homosexuality should be accepted, while…

… Read More

—

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Denison Forum.

قالب وردپرس

Risk to cathedral schools ‘as bad as 100 years ago’

Speaking at the association’s centenary conference, Paul Smith, headmaster of Hereford Cathedral School, will highlight the risks he believes are faced by schools that educate the UK’s cathedral and collegiate choristers.

Mr Smith will say: “I wish I could add that today proper forethought, planning and insight would never allow a repeat of such concerns amongst our membership, and that the values and principles upon which our schools are based are much better understood and appreciated by legislators and politicians.

“I wish I could say that, but I suspect that the risks to our CSA schools today, are as great, if not greater, than they were in 1918.”

 

One of the concerns he will raise is about the Government’s attitude towards independent schools, which include the majority of choir schools.

In his address at the conference in St Paul’s Cathedral, Mr Smith is expected to say: “For those of us in the independent sector, there can be little doubt that we have few friends at the moment.

“Politicians, of all shades, seem hell bent on issuing ill-informed edicts, based upon lazy stereotypes, which purportedly seek to ensure the independent sector does its bit to justify charitable status.

“The independent sector is an embarrassment to governments, because their schools have the audacity to invest and nurture in a broad holistic education, not a narrow results driven…

… Read More

—

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

قالب وردپرس