Some Virginia churches are hoping to reopen as the state lifts “safer-at-home” rules on Friday.

According to the Christian Post, Gov. Ralph Northam’s office released a statement, saying churches would be allowed to resume worship services under phase one of the state’s reopening plan.

Under the plan, churches and other houses of worship will be allowed to have services operating at 50 percent of the “lowest occupancy load on the certificate of occupancy of the room or facility.”

Churches still have to maintain social distancing and sit 6 feet apart at all times except family members living in the same household. Congregants will also have to wear masks.

Finally, the church must clean surfaces before and after any service.

“If any place of worship cannot adhere to the above requirements, it must not conduct in-person services,” the state’s guidance said.

It will be up to church leaders to decide whether to restart in-person services.

“What we’ll do each and every Sunday when people come, we’re going to have our seats 6 feet apart,” said Pastor Danny Dillon of Rock Church. “They’re encouraging us not to give out any programs or hand out anything, so as they come in, we’ll do everything digitally.”

Added Rev. Barry Absher of City on a Hill in Tazewell: “It would feel like an episode of ‘The Walking Dead.’ People would want to hug you, then you feel like a jerk…

Around four in 10 families say they are “more likely” to homeschool their children after the lockdown ends, according to a new survey that also found widespread support for school choice.

The Real Clear Opinion Research poll was conducted April 18-21 and asked 626 parents if they are “more or less likely to enroll your son or daughter in a homeschool, neighborhood homeschool co-op, or virtual school once the lockdowns are over?” 

A total of 40.8 percent of parents said they are more likely, while 31.1 percent said they are less likely. A majority of Asians (53.8 percent) and blacks (50.4 percent) said they are more likely to homeschool, while more than a third of Hispanic parents (38.2 percent) and whites (36.3 percent) also answered “more likely.” 

The question for parents was part of a larger survey of 2,122 registered voters.

John Schilling, president of the American Federation of Children, said the poll should inform policy decisions. 

“Every single family with kids in school has been incredibly disrupted by the lockdowns,” Schilling said. “With 55 million students no longer in their normal educational setting, families are clearly considering new options and many are seeing the benefits of homeschooling and virtual schooling.”

Meanwhile, 64 percent of registered voters said they support school choice. Voters were asked, “School choice gives parents the…

One of San Francisco’s oldest churches is suing video conferencing platform Zoom, after its online bible study was flooded with porn in a cyber-attack.

On Wednesday, a proposed class action lawsuit was filed against Zoom by Saint Paulus Lutheran Church after its May 6 Bible study, “had their computer screens hijacked and their control buttons disabled while being forced to watch pornographic video footages,” USA Today reports.

The complaint was filed by the church and church administrator Heddi N. Cundle in the U.S District Court in San Jose, California. 

In response, Zoom addressed the incident in an emailed statement.

“We were deeply upset to hear about this incident, and our hearts go out to those impacted by this horrific event. On the same day we learned of this incident, we identified the offender, took action to block their access to the platform and reported them to the relevant authorities,” the statement read.

According to the Christian Post, the lawsuit claims that Zoom failed to “implement proper security measures to protect users’ privacy and secure their videoconferences.” This action, the lawsuit argues, is what allows “Zoombombing” to occur.

The suit also claims that Zoom “uses data-mining tools to collect users’ personal information and shares it with third parties without the users’ consent” in order to provided targeted…

HYDERABAD, India, May 15, 2020 (Morning Star News) – A pastor arrested in Nepal in March on charges of giving false information for saying prayer could heal COVID-19 was released last month – and then immediately re-arrested on new charges, sources said.

Moments after releasing pastor Keshab Raj Acharya on bail on April 8, police re-arrested him on charges of “outraging religious feelings” and “proselytizing,” according to court documents. Christian leaders in the Himalayan country and rights advocates said the charges violate a freedom of religion agreement to which Nepal is a signatory.

His wife, Junu Acharya, told Morning Star News that police had told her the bail amount would be 70,000 Nepalese rupees (US$571), an amount she gathered from church members and was counting and re-counting at the district jail when an officer told her the bond was only 5,000 Nepalese rupees (US$41).

Overjoyed, she quickly thanked him and rushed into the main office, where she paid the amount and received a receipt, she said.

“I was happy that my husband was finally returning home. But the moment we both stepped out of the district jail gate, a police officer came running after us,” Acharya told Morning Star News. “He told me that I cannot take my husband home.”

Another police officer followed, seizing her husband’s hands and handcuffing him, she said. When she…

Americans stuck inside their homes during the coronavirus pandemic are watching television at a rate three times the norm, according to new data from a company that operates a streaming guide app.

Netflix traffic has increased 332 percent since March 17, but it’s not the only streaming platform that has seen a massive increase in traffic, according to JustWatch, which owns a popular streaming guide app. Disney Plus (290 percent), Amazon Prime Video (266 percent) and Hulu (259 percent) all have seen major upticks in traffic, according to JustWatch.

“It’s not just Netflix that profits from the epidemic,” a JustWatch press release said. 

The data did not originate from the major streaming companies but from JustWatch. Its app allows users to search and view the schedule of every major streaming platform in one place. Users also can receive notifications about new shows and personal recommendations.

Netflix said in April it attracted nearly 16 million new subscribers the first three months of this year – almost twice the amount it gained in the first three months of 2019. All total, it has 182.9 million subscribers. 

“Netflix is and will continue to be the media company least impacted by Covid-19,” eMarketer analyst Eric Haggstrom told the BBC. “Their business is a near perfect fit to a population that is suddenly housebound.”

Still, Netflix warned its future growth could be…

It’s a laid-back Friday afternoon and as soon as author and speaker Philip Yancey says, ‘hello,’ I can tell he has dedicated all of his focus on our conversation. 

For many who know of the works of Yancey, his intentionality is not surprising. Yancey is regarded by many as a counselor who knows how to guide people through their situation, while simultaneously pointing them to Christ. 

Best known for his work on listening to God through pain and suffering, Yancey is no strangers to what deep pain feels like. 

Yancey was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, and can remember feeling the agony of living a life without a father as well as the emotional turmoil he experienced as a part of a specific legalistic church. 

Yancey’s father died when he was just one year old, and the church his family belonged to at the time showed anything but grace. 

“I had a lot of ups and downs growing up as a child and young adult,” Yancey shared.

“I grew up in an unhealthy church environment that made me question God and Faith based on how they treated people of color,” he added.

Fortunately, it was in his years of wondering that God placed some important and influential people in Yancey’s life and his faith began to blossom.

“I found my own path spiritually when I left to go to college,” he shared.

During this time, Yancey would be introduced to Paul Brand, someone Yancey would later come to…

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Thursday the administration is keeping President Trump and Vice President Pence healthy and is not “addressing” the prospect of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rising to power if Trump and Pence become incapacitated due to the coronavirus.

Pelosi is second in line to the presidency according to the Presidential Succession Act of 1947.

A reporter asked McEnany if the White House has “a procedure in place in case Speaker Pelosi needs to come in if the president and the vice president are incapacitated.”

“That’s not even something that we’re addressing,” McEnany said. “We’re keeping the president healthy. We’re keeping the vice president healthy. … They’re healthy at this moment, and they’ll continue to be.”

The same reporter then followed up: “But is it something they should be considering?”

“The president’s healthy, the vice president’s healthy, and I think that’s something all reporters should be celebrating and the American people as well,” McEnany answered.

Trump told Fox Business Pelosi “would be a disaster” as president.

“Never going to happen. We’ll keep our vice president very healthy, and I’ll stay healthy. Never going to happen,” he said, according to Politico.

The line of succession has been discussed in Washington, D.C., as the coronavirus has gotten closer to Trump. Pence’s press…