Displaying items by tag: Religion

As all eyes turn to Tokyo for the Olympics and Paralympics, Japanese Christians are inviting the global Church to unite for one million hours of prayer for the spiritual transformation of their nation. An international prayer movement (Japan1Million) is led by the Japan international Sports Partnership and the Japan Evangelical Missionary Association. Their partnership is driven by a vision to see the Church in Japan grow to ten million people by 2024. Working towards that vision, they had hoped to reach a million Japanese people during their Olympic outreach year. Covid closed those doors, but one door remained open; the door to prayer. With less than 1% of its population of 126 million attending church, the Japanese are the world’s second largest unreached people group. Most people in Japan have not been to church, read the Bible or encountered any Christians. Committed prayer is needed for a significant spiritual breakthrough.

A new survey reveals Americans who identify as having no connection with religion has declined slightly. The survey was part of ‘American Values Atlas’, based on phone interviews with over 50,000 Americans throughout 2020. One of the biggest takeaways from the survey is that the rise of the ‘nones’ has slowed. The term ‘nones’ describes Americans who do not identify with a particular religion and includes atheists and agnostics. Even with this slight decline, religiously unaffiliated Americans constitute a larger share of the American public than the three most prominent religious groups in the US: white mainline Protestants (16%), white evangelical Protestants (14%), and white Catholics (12%). All other religious groups accounted for less than 10% of population, including Christians of colour, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists.

As many in England and across the Land are gripped by the euphoria of football and the Euros, multitudes are learning how to prophesy and believe in Hope. With the singing of ‘its coming home’ everywhere, people may not realise it but they are actually declaring Hope. In the same spirit of faith, may we declare as believers that ALL of God’s Will and promises for our family of nations are coming home! May revival, transformation and restoration visions or prophecies that many have been waiting for over many years finally begin to be fulfilled in this generation. On 8 July, believers joined a Zoom call to pray and declare God’s will and Kingdom promises over our land. This is a regular event. Those who miss the prayer gathering will find it is available on YouTube and Facebook to watch again.

Church and science can seem like separate worlds, but many scientists appear in pews and pulpits across the UK. ‘Encouraging Christian Leadership in an Age of Science’ (ECLAS) affirms the work of faith-filled scientists who bring their vocation in science to the church, as members and active friends of congregations. ECLAS want to help them create spaces of engagement, build confidence and competence around scientific issues, and foster thoughtful, prayerful communities working in the world. They are funding 22 churches in England and Wales creatively to change the conversation between the church and the scientific world, focussing on topics from climate change to mental health, with the aim of showing how engaging with science can lead to a deeper experience of faith. ECLAS are supported by a grant of £400,000 to enable congregations and organisations to host these projects and shepherd follow-up projects for one or more additional congregations by 2022.

China Aid, which provides legal aid to Christians in China, recently tweeted, ‘New Cultural Revolution starts. Government tells students’ parents and teachers to hunt all religious books, antagonistic books and overseas books. Everyone is mandated!’ CBN News said the communist government does not want any disruptions for the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. ‘They really fear there could be protests, a pro-democracy movement going, leading up to and during the Olympics. So this sends a message to the parents: “Look, no outside influence. We don't want any collusion with foreigners here”, because they know that foreigners are pro-democracy. They are indoctrinating students, and also sending a message to the adults.’ Pray for the world to recognise false religion when they see communist party flags in pulpits.

New ways of engaging people with faith are being pioneered by the Church of Scotland in Ayrshire. It is sending teams of missioners out into the community to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and to build new worshipping communities. Team leader Revd Maggie McTernan said the aim is to connect with people who do not want to worship in traditional ways. ‘There's a challenge of declining attendance at our traditional churches on Sunday mornings. But that doesn't necessarily match with a decline in interest in matters of faith. There are people who have an interest and a concern about faith, but for a whole host of reasons they won't go to church on a Sunday morning. Maybe it's not what they're used to or maybe they have other commitments.’ The vision is an intergenerational church sharing activities, experiences and worship in new ways: Messy Church, prayer walks, sports-based wellbeing projects, online, digital parish and a disability project so that the church is fully inclusive.

Christians and others are being encouraged to welcome a refugee or asylum-seeker into their homes as part of a new initiative. The Hospitality Pledge was launched this week and will work with international charities and the church to speak up for the displaced. It's being led by Dr Krish Kandiah with the aim of encouraging people to offer sanctuary to those who are persecuted or fleeing conflict as offering sanctuary is at the heart of the Gospel. ‘Christians are called to show mercy and compassion to those that are in need. Jesus once said, I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. In welcoming, to the least of those in our society is a demonstration of the love and compassion of Jesus. Right now our nation has an interesting relationship with asylum and welcoming refugees.’ Dr Kandiah assured enquirers that there will be a lot of support available for anyone who decides to accommodate a refugee or asylum-seeker.

Members of the Early Rain Church in Chengdu continue to face harassment as authorities attempt to shut down their unregistered congregation. While Wang Yi, the head pastor, is serving a nine-year prison sentence, other members of the church have also encountered persecution. Since early June, church minister Wu Wuqing, his wife Xiong Meifang, and their children have been locked in their home by governing officials. The fire door, which gives access to the stairs and lift, has been chained, and guards remain posted outside the door. At first the guards would unlock the door if visitors came to see the family but on 8 June they turned a woman and her children away, stating that since visitors were prohibited from entering the residence, they would only be allowed to pass food through the fire door.

Although Christian persecution continues to rise in India, the only recent survey of this fact was in 2020 when a report from the Evangelical Fellowship of India listed 366 incidents where Christians were targeted, 40+ in the first two months. Most incidents feature physical violence, threats, harassment, and the disruption of church services by religious radicals or the police. Disruption of prayer meetings and Sunday worship is now a trend across many states. Many Christians are falsely accused and detained on charges of forced conversion. The US commission on international religious freedom has said, ‘Religious hate crimes in India are rising. Mob violence is carried out against Christians accused of forced or induced religious conversion.’ Christians make up a little over 2% of India’s population. Though they are often accused of following a ‘foreign’ religion, the gospel was introduced there in the first century through Jesus’ disciple Thomas.

We celebrate all that has been done in the past by God’s people across this nation: church planting, mission, transformation and social care. Many Christians believe that God is taking His people back to the very roots and foundations of His gospel, releasing and empowering a people who will move in the mandate of this season - to make disciples of all nations. Pray for apostles to arise in fresh levels of authority, building, empowering and equipping God’s people, so that the Kingdom will be released into all areas of society. Pray for teachers to be raised, to preach the word in all its fullness of truth, calling the Church back to its first love. Pray for evangelists to teach and equip the saints – so that the gospel is preached into all communities with signs and wonders following.