Boz Tchividjian Steps down from Ministry, Resigns from Liberty University to Represent Sex Abuse Victims in Court

Boz Tchividjian Steps down from Ministry, Resigns from Liberty University to Represent Sex Abuse Victims in Court


Basyle “Boz” Tchividjian, an attorney who founded a national ministry that helps Christian organizations deal with sexual abuse, has resigned his post to carry on his mission through the court system. Tchividjian, the grandson of evangelist Billy Graham, is also resigning his teaching position at Liberty University School of Law.

Tchividjian founded Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, or GRACE, in 2004. He announced his plans Dec. 14 during The Roys Report podcast with journalist Julie Roys.

“GRACE has never been about me,” Tchividjian said. “It’s always been about serving and advocating for the wounded and educating and equipping Christ’s Church. And so, I think it’s time that somebody come after me, who has maybe different gifts than me, to take the organization and move it forward.”

Tchividjian told Roys he was motivated by a shortage of lawyers who understand the distinct needs of sexual abuse victims.

“Many of them (lawyers) should not be doing this,” the lawyer said. “They don’t understand victimization. They don’t understand the church … And they end up re-victimizing their own clients. I’ve encountered so many of these survivors who’ve been actually re-victimized by the very lawyers who are supposed to be advocating for them.”

As for GRACE, Tchividjian said he believes the ministry…

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Harry Dunn’s parents cancel meeting with Archbishop of Canterbury

The pair were due to meet Most Rev Justin Welby at Lambeth Palace in London on Wednesday afternoon.

Family spokesman Radd Seiger made the announcement on Twitter and called on the CPS to charge US citizen Anne Sacoolas, 42, over the 19-year-old’s death in a road collision in August.

On Tuesday the family of teenage motorcyclist said they have been given “hope” after meeting with the Foreign Secretary again to discuss the 19-year-old’s death.

Harry’s father Tim Dunn said their conversation with Dominic Raab at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London on Tuesday was more “open” and “friendly” than a meeting held in October.

“This meeting was a lot better. He was more engaging, he came across more honest,” Mr Dunn said.

Harry was killed when his motorbike was involved in a head-on collision with a car outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on 27th August.

The suspect in the case, 42-year-old Anne Sacoolas, claimed diplomatic immunity after the crash and was able to return to the US.

Harry’s mother Charlotte Charles was not present on Tuesday after being left “utterly devastated” by watching footage of Mrs Sacoolas reversing out of…

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Beatles Music, Christmas Story Come Together at Suburban Chicago Church

Beatles Music, Christmas Story Come Together at Suburban Chicago Church


NAPERVILLE, Illinois (RNS) — Community Christian Church’s annual Christmas pageant includes all the classics.

There’s “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and “Away in a Manger.”

And everyone’s favorite sing-a-long: “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

The church’s annual “Let It Be Christmas: The Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, George and Ringo” sets the story of Jesus’ birth, which Christians celebrate at Christmas, to the music of the Beatles.

It mixes Scripture, songs and dance into what Community calls a “magical mystery tour through the gospels to tell the greatest story of all time, with the greatest music of all time!”

And it’s Anna Bramlett’s “favorite annual tradition.”

Bramlett, a 15-year-old sophomore at Naperville North High School, plays Mary in this year’s production. It’s her 10th appearance in the show, now going on 12 years at the nondenominational church, which has 10 locations in the Chicago suburbs.

The show is a family affair for Bramlett. Her father and uncle wrote the show and appear as prophets and wise men in colorful, psychedelic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band uniforms. Her mom casts the show each year. And her cousins and older siblings also have appeared in it.

The production by the church’s Epic Theatre Company also features about 85 performers from across the Chicago area and sells out shows throughout the…

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Northern Ireland healthcare at ‘breaking point’, says Christian NI doctor as thousands of nurses strike

Around 15,500 nurses in Northern Ireland are taking strike action over a pay dispute and patient safety.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) represents about 9,000 nurses who walked out at 8:00am Wednesday, the first time the union has taken strike action in its 103-year history.

 

 

The RCN  strike is set to last for 12 hours while many Unison health staff members, including nurses and paramedics, are staging a 24 hour strike.

About 6,500 other nurses, who are members of Unison, walked out earlier.

It follows weeks of industrial action by other healthcare workers over the same issues.

Christian Dr John Kyle told Premier the lack of political leadership has been a major factor in the problem with Northern Ireland’s healthcare: “The health service throughout the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland is under extreme pressure and stress, but it has also suffered from three years of lack of political leadership.

“It has struggled with being under resourced. There is also a significant and severe staff shortage and the employment terms and conditions in Northern Ireland are inferior to those elsewhere.”

Dr Kyle explained how the situation is worse than in the rest of the UK: “Currently nurses are not paid as much as they are in the rest of the United Kingdom and so staff retention is difficult and staff morale is low, meaning agency staff are being used and that is a…

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Five ways to view impeachment: Timeless truth from an ‘Old Mission’ in Southern California

The House Rules Committee voted yesterday to approve six hours of debate today on the House floor regarding two articles of impeachment. Unsurprisingly, the vote was along party lines.

Given its Democratic Party majority, it is likely that the House will impeach President Trump today or tomorrow. Given its Republican Party majority, it is likely that the Senate will then acquit the president. 

According to a new poll, 85 percent of Democrats say the president should be impeached and removed, while 86 percent of Republicans say he should not. Independents are split 47 percent in favor and 46 percent opposed. 

In other words, it seems that the two-party politics mirrored in the impeachment debate reflect the two-party divisions of our nation. 

But I’m not sure things are that simple. 

Five ways to view impeachment 

At least five positions are at work regarding the impeachment process. We can examine them on a spectrum from the president’s strongest critics to his strongest supporters. 

Some critics have been trying to impeach President Trump for years. A House member called for his impeachment in September 2017 after the president criticized NFL players who kneeled during the national anthem. The same House member then introduced impeachment articles in December 2017 after the controversy in Charlottesville, Virginia. Those who take this position have long believed that the president is unfit for office and seek his removal. 

A second view focuses specifically on President Trump’s conduct with regard to Ukraine and his refusal to provide requested documents to House committees, claiming that these actions constitute grounds for impeachment. Nearly the entire Democratic Party membership in the House has taken this position, though some Democrats are expected to vote against impeachment. 

A third view is that the president’s conduct has been irresponsible but not necessarily impeachable. Those in this camp…

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Stormzy to recite Bible passage on BBC

He will tell the story of the “first ever Christmas when angels appeared to shepherds to proclaim the news of the birth of Jesus”, the BBC said.

 

Daisy Scalchi, commissioning editor of specialist factual, said: “Stormzy has consistently celebrated his faith and spirituality through his music and we are hugely excited that he is bringing Christmas Day to a close on BBC One with his reading from St Luke’s Gospel.”

Earlier this week, Stormzy said he was “saved by God” during his Glastonbury Festival performance earlier this year was hit by technical difficulties, but didn’t “end” his career. 

The 26-year-old’s Christian song ‘Blinded by your grace pt. 2’ shot up the UK Top 40 Singles Chart in 2017. 

(Additional reporting by Tola Mbakwe)

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Pope presses anti-nuclear call in annual peace message

Francis said the fear of nuclear annihilation embodied by the doctrine of deterrence provides a false sense of security that should be replaced with policies based on fraternity and mutual trust.

His message for the World Day of Peace, which the Vatican celebrates on January 1, was issued on Thursday.

It followed on the major theme of his recent trip to Japan, where Francis denounced as “immoral” not only the use of nuclear weapons but their possession.

He also warned against using nuclear energy, given the environmental risks it poses.

 

As he did in Japan, Francis tied ecological concerns to matters of international peace and security, saying peace requires a new way of interacting with one another and the planet.

He wrote: “Faced with the consequences of our hostility towards others, our lack of respect for our common home or our abusive exploitation of natural resources – seen only as a source of immediate profit, regardless of local communities, the common good and nature itself – we are in need of an ecological conversion.

“All this gives us deeper motivation and a new way to dwell in our common home, to accept our differences, to respect and celebrate the life that we have received and share, and to seek living conditions and models of society that favour the continued flourishing of life and the development of the common good of the entire human family.”

 

Stay…

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Joel Osteen discusses new friendship with Kanye West

In an interview on US chat show Good Morning America, the megachurch pastor shared how he and the rapper met.

Osteen, who leads Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, said it was an “interesting” situation.

 

“You know, Kanye’s had a turn of events in the last year or so, and I got a text from him, and we just struck up a conversation and a friendship,” he said.

“And he was going to be in Houston for an event and I thought, ‘Hey, you want to come by the church?’ And so it all came together.'”

Last month, West, who’s been very vocal about becoming a Christian, held his “Sunday Service” at Lakewood Church and was interviewed by Osteen during the church’s Sunday morning service where he shared about his journey to faith in God.

“I’m a believer in people,” Osteen said. “I found him to be very genuine and just a fantastic person.”

Osteen also shared advice that he gave to West when they first met.

“He asked me for advice because this world is new to him,” Osteen said.

He told him to “keep God in first place, and keep listening to his heart”.

The pair will team up next year for Osteen’s “Night of Hope” in New York. The event, which tours to eleven cities across the United States promises to be “inspirational nights of hope, worship and encouragement”.
“I’m excited,” Osteen said.

“It’s going to be you know, 50,000 people there in the [Yankee] stadium. He’s bringing his…

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10 Marks of a Good Staff Meeting

By Chuck Lawless

Over the years, I’ve been in a lot of staff meetings in different organizations. As I think about those meetings, here are the characteristics of meetings I thought were most productive:

1. The leader was a man whose spiritual walk I trusted. I cannot underestimate the power of this truth. When I genuinely trust the leader, I’m ready to listen. On the other hand, I dreaded going to meetings led by someone whose walk with God I questioned.
2. The people gathered were people I knew and loved. That is, the team really was a team. We knew each other’s families. We played together outside of the office. Meetings were fun because we were a team living out a vision.
3. The meetings were prayer-saturated. Prayer was not just a perfunctory beginning and ending task. We seriously prayed for each other, for the organization, for God’s vision and guidance. In some meetings, we prayed more than we discussed.
4. They started and ended on time. The amount of time varied, particularly because of our commitment to prayer – but we knew exactly how much time to set aside. The leader respected our time.
5. We had a clear agenda from the beginning. We had no question as we went to the meeting that we were going to discuss stuff that mattered. If we ever varied from the agenda, the reason for doing so was obvious and necessary.
6. Every person there was enlisted ahead of time to contribute. This aspect I especially appreciated – the leader asked each of us ahead of time to bring something to…

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Christ’s manger included in Christmas treasures gifted to abbey, medieval manuscript reveals

Expert study of a 580-year-old manuscript details an array of festive relics that were given to Battle Abbey by William the Conqueror and King John.

The astonishing list of objects stored at the abbey, situated near site of the Battle of Hastings, was revealed by English Heritage.

 

Dating back to the mid-15th century, the manuscript is one of only 30 or so relic inventories to still survive from medieval England, and mentions 175 individual relics.

From pieces of what was believed to be the manger where Christ was born, to the hair shirt and finger bone of Saint Nicholas -the original Santa Claus, the relics housed at Battle Abbey were some of the most prestigious objects gifted to any abbey in England – some more significant even than those given to Westminster Abbey, English Hertiage said.

Dr Michael Carter, English Heritage historian, said: “The collecting and cherishing of relics was an important aspect of medieval monasticism and I am thrilled to think that I could have been the first person in over 500 years to study the glorious list from Battle Abbey in detail.

“It’s fascinating how connections to our Christmas today can be traced back almost a thousand years and despite Henry VIII’s violent suppression, these great monasteries are still giving up their secrets.

“There’s no greater endorsement than a king giving a gift of relics so this list reveals just…

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