Theresa May responds to reporter’s ‘what do you pray for’ question

Theresa May, who professes a Christian faith and regularly attends her parish church in Berkshire, was asked by a Daily Telegraph reporter: “What do you pray for in church, Prime Minister?”

In an apparently tongue-in-cheek response, Mrs May said: “I pray for serious questions from journalists.”

 

The British leader, who goes to St Andrew’s Church in Sonning, has publicly acknowledged her faith in the past while also saying it would be wrong to “flaunt” it in British politics.

The PM was speaking before she was due to address American business leaders in New York on Wednesday.

The daughter of a vicar, Mrs May has spoken previously about her faith, as well as her support for persecuted Christians around the world.

During an interview with Premier before the June 2017 general election, the PM spoke about how faith guides her – and the important role the Church plays in society.

She said: “I’ve been clear and everybody knows that faith plays a part in my life and faith guides me in everything I do.”

 

“The Church does so much and it is an integral part of our society but it also does a lot of work overseas and that is important too.”

Shortly before Easter this year, the Prime Minister was asked in the House of Commons to pledge her support to Christians forced out of Iraq’s Nineveh Plains by Islamic State.

Answering a question by the Christian MP Jim Shannon, Mrs May…

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Third Kavanaugh Accuser Comes Forward

Third Kavanaugh Accuser Comes Forward



CNN is reporting that a third woman has come forward with allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.  


Julie Swetnick who attended Gaithersburg High School in Maryland is accusing Kavanaugh of engaging in inappropriate behavior in high school.


Swetnick said in a sworn statement given to the Senate Judiciary Committee that she attended “well over ten” parties where Kavanaugh was present. 


She continued saying, Kavanaugh would “drink excessively at many of these parties and engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior towards girls, including pressing girls against him without their consent, ‘grinding’ against girls and attempting to remove or shift girls’ clothing to expose private body parts. “


Swetnick’s statement includes a series of serious allegations that have not been corroborated. 


Kavanaugh responded to these allegations in a statement released by the White House saying, “This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don’t know who this is and this never happened.”


Reportedly, President Donald Trump has not commented on these allegations against Kavanaugh as he left for a United Nations meeting on Wednesday.


Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Alex Wong/Staff

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Concern grows over future of 'black Christ of Alabama'

There are growing concerns over a stained glass window that depicts a black Jesus Christ may be at risk from the US state of Alabama’s stormy weather.

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Thousands of Christians Flock to Israel to Celebrate the Feast of Sukkot

Thousands of Christians Flock to Israel to Celebrate the Feast of Sukkot



Thousands of Christians from around the world are flocking to Israel to celebrate the biblical Feast of Sukkot this week.


The Feast of Sukkot also known as the Feast of Tabernacles is held between September 23 and September 30 and welcomes Christians from around the world. Together, Christian’s gather to celebrate the provisions that God made for the Jewish people in the past and to “look forward to that promised Messianic age when all nations will flow to this city to worship the Lord,” the Feast of Tabernacles website stated.


The feast is orchestrated by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), and this year they are celebrating the annual feast’s 38th year.


The festival is welcoming more than 5,000 Christians from nearly 100 countries this year for the weeklong celebration, and according to CBN News many have come dressed in national costumes and are ready to worship God and stand with His people.


One young woman from Vermont, Charity, told the outlet, “I know it’s going to be a life-changing experience.” 


Charity continued, “I love Israel and I think that it’s a time when things are going to turn around and it’s very prophetic and to be a part of being able to give back to the people that gave to us.” This is the Vermont native’s first time in Israel.


David Parsons, vice president of the ICEJ, explained to CBN News that people…

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US State department backs independence for Ukrainian Orthodox Church

It follows Washington’s backing of Ukraine’s territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea.

In a statement State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said: “The United States strongly supports religious freedom, including the freedom of members of groups to govern their religion according to their beliefs and practice their faiths freely without government interference.

“The United States respects the ability of Ukraine’s Orthodox religious leaders and followers to pursue autocephaly according to their beliefs.”

Earlier in September, a meeting was held of the Hierarchy of the Ecumenical Throne Constantinople in Istanbul to consider whether it could grant autonomy to a church that requests it without consulting other churches.

The Hierarchs decided that it could, and so subsequent meetings have been held with a view to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church gaining its autonomy from the Russian Orthodox Church.

Disagreement remains though, with the Ukrainian Church split between a group of clerics who are loyal to Moscow and others overseen by the unrecognised Kiev-based Patriarch Filaret.

The dispute has led to a split in the worldwide Orthodox Church between the Russian and Constantinople branches.

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Nearly 30 Nigerian Christians Drown in River Attempting to Flee Fulani Attack

Nearly 30 Nigerian Christians Drown in River Attempting to Flee Fulani Attack



Around 30 people have died following attacks by Fulani militants on five predominantly Christian communities in northeast Nigeria. 


According to World Watch Monitor, between September 13 and 16, the villages of Gon, Bolki, Ndumusu, Yotti and Yanga, in Numan local government area (LGA), Adamawa state, were under attack by Fulani militants who pillaged, murdered, chased, kidnapped, and burned down the houses of villagers.


According to Amnesty International, this area is the same place where 3,000 homes were destroyed last December after fighter jets, sent by the Nigerian Air Force, allegedly fired rockets at villages where Fulani herdsmen were attacking Christians.


In regard to the current attack, a local pastor told World Watch Monitor that 27 people had been confirmed dead. He added that, when residents heard gunshots, many fled into the bush or the river. Many who fled to the river, he said, drowned because they could not swim. 


Though 27 people have been confirmed to have lost their lives, the local pastor, who chose to remain anonymous for his protection, said ten people are still missing, four from Yanga and six from Bolki.


He said, “Nobody knows the whereabouts of these people missing. Since their dead bodies are not found, it is too early to declare them dead. We will give them the benefit of doubt; maybe some of them may return home to their…

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Westminster Abbey unveils David Hockney’s glass window tribute to Queen

Spanning over eight metres high, the new work is the 81-year-old’s first in stained glass.

Designed on his iPad and set in Hockney’s Yorkshire birthplace, it reflects the Queen’s love for, and connection with, the countryside.

 

Hockney was commissioned to create the window to celebrate the Queen’s reign.

The brightly-coloured abstract window of yellow, red, blue, pink, orange and greens, features hawthorn blossom and stands out in its historic setting.

Hockney told the Press Association that the iPad was “a natural thing to use” because it is “back-lit like a window”.

The much-loved artist, who recently broke his own auction record with a £21.1 million painting, said that designing his first stained glass window “was a challenge” adding: “I’ve learnt something about glass.”

He said of wanting to depict the countryside: “Landscape is nature. The previous window put up in here was also nature, lilies.

“I chose the hawthorn which is (for) four days (like) the moment when champagne looks as though it’s been poured over all the bushes.

Victoria Jones/PA Wire

 

“It’s a rather celebratory thing. It’s the height of the spring and summer”.

The artist said of the window’s Westminster Abbey home: “I know this is a historic place and I know it’s going to last.”

Hockney once said that he turned down the chance to paint the Queen because he was “very busy…

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Man Barges into Church, Confesses to Cold Case Murder

Man Barges into Church, Confesses to Cold Case Murder



Last week, a man barged into a Connecticut church and confessed to a four-year-old murder that had gone cold. 


William Leverett walked into Open Gate Ministries Church pastored by Michael Trazinski last Wednesday and told the parishioners that he was responsible for the killing of 54-year-old Melissa Millan in 2014.


When the pastor heard Leverett’s confession he said he knew “Justice needed to be done.” 


The pastor and two other church members took Leverett, 27, to the Simsbury Police Station and had him turn himself in.


According to the arrest warrant affidavit released Monday, Leverett walked into the precinct and said, “I’m here to turn myself in for the murder on Iron Horse Boulevard almost four years ago.” 


Fox News reports that in his full confession the man told police that he went to the trail that night looking for “human contact” after going to a treatment meeting for sex offenders.


Leverett was a registered sex offender who had been charged with sexually assaulting a child in 2009 in Colorado and according to his confession, he was scared that a woman he had met would find out.


He told the police he was “embarrassed and scared and figured that if I just killed somebody, it would make all that go away and I wouldn’t have to explain myself.”


Then he ran into Millan, a mom of two, jogging on the trail and decided to take…

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Franklin Graham Slams ‘Anti-Christian Bias, Fake News’ in Claims of 200 LGBT Protesters at Event

(Photo: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)Franklin Graham preaching at the “Festival of Hope” which took place September 21-23, 2018 in Blackpool, U.K.

Franklin Graham has slammed news reports claiming that hundreds of LGBT protesters came out against his three-day evangelistic event in Blackpool, U.K.

The preacher said that while there were around 39 protesters on the largest night for the “Festival of Hope” outreach event over the weekend, that is a far cry from claims that “up to 200” showed up.

“I guess fake news is everywhere — it’s in England too! As word got out that I was coming to Blackpool to preach the Gospel, some were against us coming and tried to stir up opposition and protesters. But what they intended for harm, God used for good. We had thousands attend the events this weekend and hundreds of lives were changed by the power of the Gospel!” Graham wrote Tuesday on Facebook.

(Photo: Facebook/Franklin Graham)LGBT protesters outside Franklin Graham’s three-day evangelistic event in Blackpool, U.K., September 21-23, 2018.

He said that overall, there were only a “handful” of people protesting outside, despite what the Blackpool Gazette has reported. At the same time, close to 9,000 attended the “Festival of Hope” over nine days.

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German bishops apologise for thousands of sex abuse cases

The report released on Tuesday concludes at least 3,677 people were abused by clergy between 1946 and 2014.

“Sexual abuse is a crime,” Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who is also the head of the German Bishops Conference, told reporters.

 

“I’m ashamed for so many (of us) looking away, not wanting to recognise what happened and not helping the victims. That goes for me as well.”

The apology came on the day Pope Francis acknowledged the sex abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church was driving people away. He said the church must change its ways if it wants to keep future generations.

The report on sex abuse in the German Catholic Church found that more than half of the victims were 13 or younger and most were boys.

Every sixth case involved rape and at least 1,670 clergy were involved. Some 969 abuse victims were altar boys.

On average, the abuses happened multiple times over a period of at least 15 months.

The German Bishops Conference released its report on Tuesday, but it had already been leaked earlier this month and was heavily criticised for the lack of transparency and the church’s refusal to let the researchers access original documents.

Instead of looking at the original church files, they sent questionnaires to the dioceses, which then provided the information.

The report was commissioned by the German Bishops Conference and researched by experts from the…

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