Frederick Mayet told Premier: “The message of Jesus I think it’s so important still today. They’re still relevant in our world and I think that’s why people keep coming back.

“And it’s different to if you go to the church every Sunday or reading the Gospels.

“If you bring the words on stage and if you tell the story live on stage for the people, you do it with theatrical means, you have nice stage design, you have costumes where people can think that perhaps look like this 2000 years ago, I think people want to see, it want to feel it, want to hear it.

“I think it’s a nice way to learn about the message and story.”

Rehearsals have begun for the historical play performed every ten years in the small village of Oberammergau, Bavaria.

More than two thousand actors will take part in 104 open-air performances of the five hour play between May and October next year.

The cast is only made up by people who have lived, or are living in the village of Oberammergau.

Mayet said although he’s honoured to have the role of Jesus, it’s quite daunting because he’s not a professional actor.

He works an artistic director and public relations manager in a theatre in Munich.

“I’m a little scared of the workload everyone has because we are all amateurs.” he said. 

“Everyone goes to their regular job during the day and we have rehearsals in the evening and on the…

Houston said he wasn’t aware of plans for an invite from Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the first place. 

“Hillsong Church received no inquiry from any party as to my details or availability. As far as I’m concerned this is baseless rumour and totally false news,” he said in a statement.

“It is extremely disappointing that media outlets spread these unfounded rumours, and attempts to link this untrue story to the royal commission are unconscionable.”

His statement comes after the Wall Street Journal reported that Mr Morrison asked the White House if the pastor could be a guest at the state dinner, which happened on Friday night.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the White House declined the prime minister’s request.

According to The Guardian, when Mr Morrison was asked by travelling reporters if he tried to get Houston a seat at the dinner he dismissed the claim as “gossip”.

“I don’t comment on gossip. It’s all gossip.”

The Wall Street Journal linked the alleged denial of the Houston at the dinner to a royal commission into child sex abuse claims.

The 2014 investigation found that Hillsong Church, then led by Houston, failed to report to police about accusations that Frank Houston, Brian’s father, had sexually abused children.

It was revealed that Frank Houston abused up to nine boys in the 1970s and 1980s in Australia and New Zealand….

According to The Times, 65-year-old Fr Vincenzo De Mario came up with the idea as a way to boost church attendance.

“Church attendance is in decline and we are looking for a way to bring people back,” he said.

He said parking is scarce in the town of Avezzano so the church’s 200 parking spots are coveted.

The Times reports it costs ten Hail Marys for an hour parking, 20 for two hours and 50 for five hours.

If a driver only needs to park for 15 minutes, they’re asked to recite one Hail Mary, the Lord’s Prayer and another short prayer.

Fr De Mario said it takes praying for parking to a new level.

“People often pray for a parking spot, and here you really do, literally, pray for parking.

“Everyone loves it and what’s important is that it makes people smile,” he told The Times.  

He added that he isn’t completely serious about the system and won’t be checking if people are praying after parking.

“If motorists say at least one prayer, or even glance at the heavens, that will make me happy,” he said.

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They’ve written an open letter asking for a ban on the sale of pointed kitchen knives. The letter was also signed by leading crime experts, as well as MPs, and community leaders.

It comes after a conference called The Point in Chatham last week raised awareness of the issue, as statistics show that there has been an 80 per cent rise in knife crime in the UK since 2014.

The signatories have urged Government to “take urgent measures to promote the sale of safe kitchen knife designs and restrict those designs which have been used in so many acts of violence.”

The letter endorses research, highlighted at the conference, which explains that points on domestic knives are historic and no-longer necessary.

“Historically we needed a point on the end of our knife to pick up food because forks weren’t invented. Now we only need the point to open packets when we can’t be bothered to find the scissors,” the letter reads.

It continues: “A five-year study in Edinburgh found that of the sharp instruments used in homicides, 94 per cent were kitchen knives. Research demonstrates kitchen knives are used in a large percentage of homicides due to their availability and lethal nature.

“Criminologists have demonstrated that reducing availability in turn reduces crime.

“The UK has worked for the public good by restricting handguns, paracetamol, smoking in public and plastic bags –…

It was part of International Justice Mission’s (IJM) annual Freedom Sunday which encourages churches to unite in prayer for the issue.

CEO of the Christian charity, David Westlake, told Premier it’s a very critical issue as 40 million men, women and children are trapped in brutal slavery today.

“If I can put that a little bit into context, in the next hour, in the next 60 minutes, 120 children will be sold, and they’ll be sold into sweatshops and brothels and factories.

“And of course, we know that children belong in families, and playgrounds and schools.

This is a critical issue 120 children in the next hour, and an hour up to that, and the hour after that, and every hour of every day, people made in God’s image that he wants to restore to wholeness and to give them a future and a hope.”

More than 100 churches took part in Freedom Sunday.

Sheila from a church in Yorkshire said: “My prayer is that I do justice to this important subject, the work of IJM and that the Lord’s voice will be heard. At almost 80, this is a huge privilege for me to do this and to raise awareness of this powerful, effective ministry.”

In Ghana, traffickers sit in the congregations of churches in fishing villages around Lake Volta- the lake in which children as young as three are forced into hard, dangerous labour and face a daily risk of drowning.

IJM said hundreds of…

Rev Séamus Hegarty passed away after an illness in Letterkenny University Hospital, Co Donegal.

He served this diocese from 1994 -2011 and retired after announcing he was diagnosed with a condition which was “irreversible and progressive”.

Prior to that, Rev Hegarty was ordained Bishop of Raphoe in 1982.

Church leaders in Ireland have been paying tribute to him.

Archbishop Eamon Martin honoured Rev Hegarty as a leader who passionate about his advocacy on education and emigrants.

“Bishop Hegarty often intervened at conference meetings to draw attention to the personal, social and economic challenges facing emigrants, and he supported efforts to raise vital funds for the mission to those who face challenges far from home,” he said.

During the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Eamon also reflected on his personal relationship with Rev Hegarty.

“I am grateful to Bishop Séamus for his encouragement and support to me as my bishop in Derry from 1994 until his retirement in 2011.  He was unstinting in his support for my role as teacher and President of Saint Columb’s College. 

“Having been a school principal himself for many years, he was passionate about the importance of education for young people and he had a strong awareness of the issues facing school staff and managers.

“He worked tirelessly to secure the new school sites for girls’…

The charity said when paramilitary police attempted to shut down Church of the Prince of Peace in Ighzer Amokrane recently, Christians occupied the church and refused to leave.

The authorities managed to succeed at the second attempt and the church has been closed since 2 September.

Representatives of l’Église Protestante d’Algérie (EPA), the legally recognised umbrella group of Protestant churches in Algeria, said the closure was illegal as it had not been ordered by court.

Around the same time, leaders of another EPA-affiliated church in Maatkas were called by the authorities and interrogated.

The charity said a 2006 ordinance regulating non-Muslim worship requires all churches to be licensed. Since November 2017, most EPA-affiliated churches have been asked to prove they have a licence.

Meanwhile, applications from churches for a licence have been ignored by the authorities and many churches have received written orders to cease all activities.

The charity also said in May this year, a church in the Kabilye area, was shut down.

Churches in Ait-Mellikeche, Al A’keed Amroush and Azaghar were closed in 2018.

An illustrative image of an Algerian church

An Open Doors spokesperson said: “These actions clearly represent a deeply concerning continuation in the systematic campaign against Christians…

Christian Aid’s youth and campaigns manager, Richard Baker, said: “The youth climate strikes have been nothing short of prophetic.

“One seemingly defiant act of protest by a 16-year-old girl in Sweden has grown into a thundering movement for change that is sweeping the globe.

“The climate strikers are pointing the way, it’s now time world leaders and big business take heed and take action.”

The statement comes ahead of a climate action summit in New York convened by the UN secretary general on Monday to urge countries to up their climate effort.

Baker added: “This week at the crucial summit in New York we need to see countries making new pledges to cut their emissions and stronger commitments to help the poorest communities already suffering from the climate crisis.”

Meanwhile, Extinction Rebellion protesters gathered on Dover seafront to “blockade” the busy port on Saturday.

Two major roads out of the port are expected to be blocked for four hours, the environmental group has said.

The group said it’s point out the vulnerability of the UK’s food supply in the face of a climate emergency.

The “No Food on a Dying Planet” action at the Kent port is expected to be mirrored across the Channel by other Extinction Rebellion groups.

Rev Helen Burnett, curate at St Luke’s Church in Whyteleafe, Surrey, took part in the protest and told Sky News action against global…