Editor’s note: This two-part series explores why some evangelicals have chosen to convert to other branches of Christianity, namely Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism. Read part 1 here.

The first time Jon Schweppe remembers palpably experiencing the manifest presence of God was at a Roman Catholic Mass, in what proved to be an unusual yet ultimately irresistible divine encounter.

For the 32-year-old Midwesterner turned D.C.-area policy director for the American Principles Project, faith was something that his family always took seriously, particularly as his father was a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. His dad was a theologically orthodox minister in an otherwise liberal mainline denomination.

He called his upbringing in this particular faith “a liturgical tradition with really good hymns,” in a recent interview with The Christian Post as part of its two-part series about former evangelical Protestants who instead of leaving faith behind, as some have done, have traveled down a more ancient road. You can read part one…

Christianity is a faith with a long and extensive history, with numerous events of lasting significance occurring throughout the ages.

Each week brings the anniversaries of impressive milestones, unforgettable tragedies, amazing triumphs, births, deaths, and everything else in between.

Some of the things drawn from over 2 millennia of history might be very familiar to the reader, while other happenings might be previously unknown.

Here are three things that happened this week, Oct. 25-31, in Church history. They include the confirmation of a saint’s historical existence, the establishment of a charity aimed at combating prostitution, and the birth of the Reformation.

By Leonardo Blair, Christian Post Reporter Follow | Sunday, October 25, 2020

Responding to a new report showing a growing number of coronavirus cases connected to clusters in religious gatherings, World Overcomers Christian Church, one of North Carolina’s largest churches, announced Thursday it will not hold in-person services until a vaccine is developed.

“When our people are able to come back together, they’re going to want to greet one another and hug one another, and in my estimation, the risks are too great,” Andy Thompson, senior pastor of the 15,000-member church, told CBS 17.  “We have to figure out ways to minister to people beyond just them risking contact in the middle of a pandemic.”

A report from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services released Wednesday said in the last two weeks, clusters of coronavirus infections from social gatherings have increased. A cluster is defined as the occurrence of five or more epidemiologically linked cases within 14 days of one another. The link could be through common residence, sports team, fraternal organization membership or similar gatherings.

Data from the report show…

According to the latest survey by the Nashville-based LifeWay Research Center, the majority of Protestant churches in America have held in-person services in September but attendance has not been the same as it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The survey, which was released Tuesday, found that 87 percent of Protestant pastors in the U.S. say their church met in person in September, while 13 percent did not.

Additionally, 60 percent of African American Protestant pastors said that their congregations did not physically meet in September.

LifeWay Research also found that 31 percent of mainline pastors are more likely to have physically gathered in September while 7 percent of evangelical pastors did not.

Regarding denominational groups, Methodists (22 percent) and Presbyterian/Reformed (23 percent) are more likely to have not met in person as opposed to Lutherans (12 percent), pastors in the Restorationist movement (10 percent), or Baptists (9 percent).

Scott McConnell, the executive director of the LifeWay Research, explained that while “more and more churches across the U.S. have found ways to meet again, things are not back to normal.”

“The impact of regulations, caution and hardships mean more than 1 in 10 churches are still not meeting in person for any type of worship service,” he noted. “Churches are living organisms, and when more than a third…

In a lengthy Facebook post on Thursday, Evangelist Franklin Graham addressed Pope Francis’ endorsement of same-sex civil unions saying it contradicts the Bible’s take on homosexuality.

Graham wrote that the Pope’s comments, which were made in the new documentary Francesco, were “unthinkable in light of the Word of God.”

He went on to highlight God’s creation of humanity in Genesis and the definition of the family as “society’s most basic social unit.”

“The Bible teaches that when God created the human race, “He created them male and female, and blessed them …” (Genesis 5:2),” Graham noted. “The first family consisted of a male husband and a female wife, then their children, which is how God defines society’s most basic social unit, the family.”

But when humanity sinned, Graham explained that God’s design for marriage and sexual expression between males and females was distorted by homosexuality.

“Women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another …” (Romans 1:26-27),” he wrote, citing the Apostle Paul’s words.

Nevertheless, Graham stressed that God’s love is “completely inclusive” and that sinners can come to Him by turning to His Son Jesus Christ in faith and…

Pro-life advocate Erika Schanzenbach, in a new lawsuit, claims two abortion activists intimidated and licked her while she was protesting outside of an abortion clinic in Tennessee, CBN News reports.

Some of the abortion activists’ alleged harassment was caught on camera by Schanzenbach and uploaded to YouTube.

In the video, Schanzenbach is heard asking to speak with one of the abortion activists.

“Ma’am, can we talk to you today?” Schanzenbach asks. “This place is a place where little innocent children are killed, ma’am. We’re asking you to love your neighbor as yourself, today,” Schanzenbach continued.

As Schanzenbach is speaking, one of the abortion activists approach her, seemingly pushing against her sign.

When asked repeatedly to back off, the activist stood there and refused. The other activist slowly inched closer to her and then touched Schanzenbach when she put up her hand, seemingly in an attempt to defended herself.

The other girl still would not back off and eventually, more abortion activists surrounded Schanzenbach.

Thomas More Society attorneys filed the lawsuit on October 2, 2020, when a local judge denied orders of protection from the abortion activist who tried to intimidate her, lung at her and later licked her hand.

According to CBN News, “The Thomas More Society’s newest lawsuit names Denise Skeen, her adult daughter Alethea Skeen –…

Letitia Wright, who starred in Black Panther, the highest-grossing movie in the U.S., is starting her own production company titled, Threesixteen Productions, to bring light to Hollywood, The Christian Post reports.

The company’s name, Wright said, is based on John 3:16, which states “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

In an interview with Porter Magazine, Wright shared that “It was a name that was pressed on my heart. When I was in a dark place, God reached out to me and I kind of see my production company in that sense: there’s an issue and it needs a little bit of saving.”

Wright also talked about a Black Panther sequel and how that would be different without Chadwick Boseman, who recently died of cancer. “The thought of doing Black Panther without him [Boseman] is kinda strange. We’re just grieving at the moment, so it’s trying to find the light in the midst of it,” she said.

According to the production company’s website, Threesixteen Productions “will have an impact on the audience, helping to bridge the gap between stories untold & hidden within our society.” It also states, “the focus of the company is to produce meaningful content within the entertainment industry.”

Letitia Wright said in an interview with The Hollywood…

A church in Illinois is encouraging its congregants to go out to dinner and engage in friendly conversation with people who may hold opposing political views.

Stateline Church, a nondenominational church in Rockford, kicked off a two-week series called “Thou Shalt Not be a Jerk” last week. The series is designed to instruct Christians on how to rise above the politically polarizing climate that has come to define the United States ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

In a sermon at Stateline Church’s Oct. 11 service, Pastor Gregg Giamalva expressed concern about “the polarization of people over politics.” He lamented that it has become commonplace to “destroy bridges with people, with family members because of this polarization … where we literally reduce people, when it comes to politics, to evil.”

Giamalva unveiled the first half of a list of “commandments” that he thought would help Christians understand “how to engage politics.” The first commandment is “thou shalt engage in politics with proper perspective.”

The pastor argued…

Luci Swindoll, a devotional author and speaker, died this week from COVID-19 complications. She was 88.

According to Christianity Today, Swindoll was one of the first Women of Faith speakers in the 1990s and also wrote books about Christian singleness.

She was most known for her message to Christian women to find purpose in God and not in the world.

“Legalism is the worst thing that ever happened to the church,” she said. “When I realized that God deals in grace … it set me free to be who I really am.

“Everything changed because of grace,” Swindoll said. “Now all we have to do is know him, trust him, see what he does with our lives, and love people into the kingdom. I don’t think it’s our place to tell people how to live. … We can’t make people believe, but if they see in the believer love and fun and joy and just the thrill of being alive, they say, ‘What is it they have that I don’t have? I want it.’”

Swindoll was born in 1932 in El Campo, Texas and raised in Houston. When she was 12, she decided she would not get married.

But in 1950, Swindoll, 18, became engaged to a man just before leaving for college at Mary Hardin-Baylor College. She realized she didn’t want to settle down and broke the engagement.

“I learned it was okay to be myself and like myself—and survive—in spite of my mother’s strong disapproval. She had no…