Monday marked the second annual Global Coptic Day in which President Trump expressed support for the persecuted Coptic Church in Egypt.

According to the Christian Post, President Trump addressed the event in a special message.

“This year, as we celebrate the second annual Global Coptic Day, we recognize the vital role faith, prayer, and service have in our lives, especially as we continue to face the challenges posed by the novel coronavirus pandemic,” Trump shared in a statement.

“We join with people of faith from every corner of the world in asking God to place his healing hand on those fighting the virus and to comfort those who are mourning the loss of a friend or a loved one,” he continued.

The president then highlighted the significance of international religious freedom, noting that “far too many people [all over] the world face persecution on account of their faith.”

“We must ensure that we are using every tool at our disposal to ensure that every man, woman, and child feels safe and secure to worship according to their conscience and beliefs—no matter where they live,” he continued.

“I hope today’s observance is filled with prayer and joy, and provides those celebrating with a renewed sense of purpose and faith. May God bless each of you,” the president concluded.

The inaugural Global Coptic Day started on June 1, 2019, through…

The U.S. Senate chaplain asked God to “inoculate our nation against hate, sin and despair” in a prayer Monday that referenced the death of George Floyd, the ongoing protests and the coronavirus pandemic. 

Barry C. Black, who has served as chaplain since 2003 and is respected by both sides of the aisle, delivered the prayer at the beginning of Monday’s Senate session.   

“Eternal God, who has placed our tears in a bottle, today, we weep,” Black prayed. “We weep because every death diminishes us. We weep because of the grief of George Floyd’s family. We weep because of the explosive impact of deferred dreams. We weep because of the potentially catastrophic consequences of peaceful protesting during a pandemic. 

“We weep because justice delayed is justice denied. We weep because of the paralysis of analysis that often impedes Your prevailing providence. We weep because of our personal culpability during these tragic times. We weep because of our sins of commission and omission. We weep because we know You are weeping. 

“Today,” he prayed, “use our lawmakers for Your glory. May they strive to find a vaccine to inoculate our nation against hate, sin and despair. We pray in Your merciful Name. Amen.”

Black, a Seventh Day Adventist, is the author of five faith-themed books, including From the Hood to the Hill: a Story of Overcoming (2006). The…

High schools throughout Connecticut could lose federal funding if they allow biological boys who identify as girls to compete in girls-only sports, according to a new Department of Education letter that labels such athletic competitions a violation of Title IX.

The May 15 letter from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) became public last week, putting the issue of transgender athletes once again in the national spotlight.

CIAC policy allows biological boys who identify as girls to compete in girls-only events, even if they have not taken testosterone-suppressing hormones as is required on the NCAA and international levels. Transgender girls in Connecticut have won 15 state track titles. 

The Department of Education letter – as Christian Headlines previously reported – claims the policy violated Title IX because female athletes were “denied the opportunity to compete in events that were exclusively female” whereas male athletes were “able to compete in events that were exclusively male.” 

But the letter also threatens CIAC and districts with a loss in federal funding. Negotiations and conversations with the CIAC and the districts failed to reach an agreement, the Department of Education letter says.

“Based on the failure of the CIAC, Glastonbury, Bloomfield, Hartford, Cromwell,…

The brother of George Floyd addressed the riots in an impassioned speech at a prayer vigil for his brother in Minneapolis on Monday.

Faithwire reports that Terrence Floyd urged for the termination of the riots at the site where his brother died last week after a police officer pinned him to the ground, placing his knee on his neck for several minutes.

“I’m not over here blowing up stuff,” he said in response to the riots. “What are y’all doing? You’re doing nothing. That’s not going to bring my brother back,” he said.

He likened the violent riots to drinking, stating that it “might feel good for the moment, but when you come down, you’re gonna wonder what you did.”

“My family is a peaceful family,” Terrence Floyd asserted. “My family is God-fearing. Yeah, we’re upset. But we’re not gonna take it, we’re not gonna be repetitious.”

“Do this peacefully, please,” he pleaded. “My brother moved [to Minneapolis] from Houston, and I used to talk to him on the phone. He loved it here. … I highly doubt — no, I know — he would [not] want y’all to be doing this.”

Floyd also urged the people to educate themselves on who they will vote for as it would make a positive difference.

Floyd concluded his speech by leading the crowd in chanting, “Peace on the left, justice on the right,” followed by back and forth chants of “George…

As many protests against police killings of black people across the nation erupt into riots and unrest, thousands of other protestors are making peaceful demonstrations.

According to the Associated Press, thousands marched peacefully in Phoenix, Albuquerque and other cities in the U.S. Many of those protestors are asking that the violent demonstrations stop.

The protests have come after news broke of the death of George Floyd. Floyd, a black man, died after an officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes, despite Floyd telling the officer he could not breathe. He lost consciousness and later died.

In Schenectady, New York, the police department worked with protestors to keep demonstrations safe, the Daily Gazette reports. Police Chief Eric Clifford even took a knee Sunday to show protestors he was listening to their demonstrations.

“As a profession, we all acknowledge that we must do better, and we will do better,” he said. “We are hearing exactly what you are saying here today.”

In Newark, New Jersey, protestors marched and shouted, “I can’t breathe” and “No justice, no peace.” Only a few minor incidents were reported in the demonstrations, according to NJ.com.

“Every Newark Police officer out there today did a hell of a job,” Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said Saturday night.

Activist Thomas Idiang, known as Afrika, said the demonstrations…

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Friday to intervene in the legal battle over state restrictions of churches during the pandemic, disappointing religious leaders and activists who believed the body’s conservative bloc might side with houses of worship.

The justices, in a 5-4 ruling, turned down a request by a California congregation to issue an injunction against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order limiting houses of worship to 25 percent capacity or 100 individuals, whichever is lower.

The congregation, South Bay Pentecostal Church, a Chula Vista, Calif., asserted it could meet safely while practicing social distancing and following health guidelines – just as stores and businesses are permitted by the state to do. Thomas More Society represented the congregation. 

Chief Justice John Roberts, who joined the court’s liberal bloc in denying the injunction request, rejected the comparison between churches and businesses. California’s restrictions, he wrote in his own concurring opinion, “appear consistent with the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.”

“Similar or more severe restrictions apply to comparable secular gatherings, including lectures, concerts, movie showings, spectator sports, and theatrical performances, where large groups of people gather in close proximity for extended periods of time,” Roberts wrote. “And the Order exempts or treats more leniently…

Friends and ministry partners of George Floyd are remembering his contribution to ministry work as well as his positive impact on others.

Floyd, 46, died last Monday after his neck was pressed on by a Minnesota police officer, according to a viral video that was taken by a bystander.

The altercation came as officials suspected Floyd of using a forged check.

“It just hit me in the chest,” Christian rapper Corey Paul Davis told CBN News. “As I was starting to watch the video and then see what happened, the weight of it. I could literally feel the weight of it immediately.”

“Knowing him as a person and then seeing the humiliation and ultimately the murder of him it was enraging,” said Davis. “That’s why I had to speak.”

The Christian rapper shared that Floyd was a “person of peace,” according to a video he posted on social media.

Floyd had previously lived in Houston, Texas, where many knew him as “Big Floyd.”

In Houston, Floyd had served at a Christian outreach called “Church in The Bricks,” in collaboration with Davis and several ministry partners.

The outreach was established in 2012 by Pastor PT Ngwolo of Resurrection Houston established in reaching people of the projects, particularly in the Third Ward area.

“I think we came along at a time where God was moving in his heart,” said Ngwolo who noted Floyd’s enjoyment throughout his time with the outreach program.

Christian rapper Reconcile…