Queen hosting reception to celebrate UK faith groups

Representatives of different faiths and beliefs are among those invited to the event on Tuesday, including volunteers, community workers and people promoting social cohesion in their area.

The reception will recognise figures who have brought about positive change in their local neighbourhoods and celebrate work being done to support people of all ages and backgrounds.

 

 

This includes supporting young people to make positive life choices, bringing people together through cooking, providing food and clothing to the homeless, and supporting refugees and asylum seekers.

The Queen, as head of the nation and the Commonwealth, recognises and celebrates religious diversity in the UK.

 

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Murder accused church warden pretended to be Christian to aid fraud, court told

PhD student Benjamin Field is accused of systematically targeting elderly and vulnerable people in order to become the beneficiary of their wills.

The son of a Baptist minister, Field is on trial alongside Martyn Smith, 32, for the murder of Peter Farquhar, 69, and conspiring to murder retired headmistress Ann Moore-Martin, 83.

 

 

Also in the dock is Field’s brother Tom, 24 – a Cambridge University graduate – who faces a single charge of fraud relating to Ms Moore-Martin.

Field admits deceiving Mr Farquhar and Miss Moore-Martin, who were neighbours in the village of Maids Moreton in Buckinghamshire, into believing he was in a relationship with them both.

During cross-examination at Oxford Crown Court on Monday, Field admitted that he is not a Christian and had only put on a performance of being religious to help his fraud.

Oliver Saxby QC, prosecuting, asked Field if he had only become a church warden in order to meet elderly people he could defraud.

Field replied: “My motivation in going to church was about manipulating Peter.”

Mr Saxby asked: “What faith promotes defrauding the elderly? Do you have any faith at all?”

“I believe in the idea of proof. I believe in the idea of some kind of a light in us. I wouldn’t get more dogmatic than that,” the defendant replied.

Mr Saxby said: “(Church) was a way of meeting potential targets. It’s as simple as that.”

Field…

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Pennsylvania National Guard Blocks Christian Scouting Group from Touring Their Facility

Pennsylvania National Guard Blocks Christian Scouting Group from Touring Their Facility



A Pennsylvania National Guard facility refused to allow a Christian scouting group to go on a tour at their station because of their Christian faith.


According to Fox News, Trail Life USA Troop PA-2717 was denied the opportunity to tour the Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard facility – which regularly holds tours for Boy Scouts of America troops – because of their religious affiliation.


Fox News reports that the troop was originally granted permission back in February to tour the facility. Then in April, a staff sergeant contacted to Troop master and explicitly told him that the tour was no longer permissible because of the scouting group’s religious foundation.


Reportedly, this prompted Trail Life USA – a Christian scouting group created as an alternative to the Boy Scouts – to contact First Liberty Institute and the Independence Law Center. Both law groups specialize in religious liberty cases.


“Fort Indiantown Gap’s denial of access to the base facilities, which are open to other civic, fraternal, and youth organizations and for youth activities, constitutes viewpoint discrimination,” the law firms wrote to the National Guard in a joint letter.


The groups also noted in the letter that the decision was also blatantly “discriminatory and unconstitutional.”


According to a statement on Trail Life USA’s website, chairman of…

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Palestinians Discover New Baptismal Font in Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

Palestinians Discover New Baptismal Font in Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem



Palestinian officials believe they have discovered a new baptismal font in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.


According to the Associated Press, the head of a Palestinian presidential committee Ziad al-Bandak noted that the Church of the Nativity – known as the place traditionally believed to be where Jesus was born – is currently undergoing extensive renovations and restoration.


Reportedly, the font, which is believed to be from the 5thor 6thcentury was covered by another water receptacle and was discovered during the renovation process.


“Another circular baptismal font was discovered hidden inside the existing octagonal baptismal font,” al-Bandak said, before calling the discovery “magnificent,” the Times of Israel reports.


Al-Bandak also noted that he was unsure of why it was covered, but that it appeared to have been built one to two hundred years after the church, which is believed to have been erected in the 4thCentury.


He said, “Nobody knows why it has been covered and put in this place and never written in any historical book about it, either in the Church or in the historical books. This is for sure a baptism font from the 6th, maybe 6th or 5th century,” CBN News reports.


Al-Bandak has shared that international experts will be examining the newly discovered baptismal font. He believes the discovery of the receptible will…

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Fulani Radicals Burn Down 4 Villages, Kill 3 Kids in Latest String of Attacks on Christians in Kaduna

Fulani Radicals Burn Down 4 Villages, Kill 3 Kids in Latest String of Attacks on Christians in Kaduna



Fulani radicals killed more than a dozen people, including three children in West Africa’s Middle Belt on Monday.


According to the Christian Post, radicals burned down hundreds of homes in the area and killed 13 people, some of whom were Christians, many of whom were living in Christian villages.


In one village in Kaduna, residents told reporters that about 200 armed Fulani herdsmen invaded their village.


Of the 13 total killed, four were Christians, including an 8-year-old, 9-year-old and a 17-year-old.


“They were all buried today after a brief prayer at the grave site,” resident Thomas John told Morning Star News.


A resident of Kikoba estimated that some 90 homes had belonged in Christians in the village.


In another village, a church of the Evangelical Church Winning All denomination and a Catholic church were both burned down.


The publicity secretary for the Miango Development Association, Lawrence Zongo, said all farms in the area were also destroyed.


“Presently, all the villagers are displaced,” he said.


Public relations officer for the Kaduna Police Command Yakubu Sabo said the attacks happened about 2:45 p.m. Monday.


 “Teams of policemen quickly moved to the area, evacuated the dead bodies to the hospital and ensured that the situation was brought under control,” Sabo said.


Sabo added that the…

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