Tag Archives: Pastors

Charleston AME Church Holds First Service Since Shooting

The Charleston AME church has had their first service since the horrific, race motivated killings of nine church members during a bible study.

“The doors of the church are open. No evildoer, no demon in hell or on Earth can close the doors of God’s church,” Rev. Norvel Goff Sr., a presiding elder of the 7th District AME Church in South Carolina, told the congregation, according to CNN.

The gunman, Dylann Roof, claimed that he wanted to “start a race war.”  Roof also reportedly said the church was a secondary target; that he initially considered attacking the College of Charleston.

“It’s by faith that we are standing here and sitting here,” Goff said during the service. “It has been tough. It has been rough. Some of us have been downright angry. But through it all God has sustained us. … Lots of folks expected us to do something strange and break out in a riot. Well, they just don’t know us.”

The new interim leader added, “We have shown the world how we as a group of people can come together and pray and work out things that need to be worked out.”

Goff will remain at the church until a new pastor is named.

Pastors from around the community came together to rally around the church.

“As a pastor in this city, a husband and a father to two boys and two girls, my heart broke in grief and disbelief,” Rev. Brandon Bowers, a white man who is the lead pastor of Awaken, said. “What the enemy intended for evil, God is using for good. We are here to pray for the healing that needs to come.”

Leaders in South Carolina are now calling for the banning of the Confederate flag in the wake of the shooting.  The hanging of the flag in the state’s capitol has become a serious point of contention.

“The Confederate battle flag, years and years ago, was appropriated as a symbol of hate,” Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley said, and having it fly at the state Capitol “at best sends mixed messages to those who want to understand it as a part of history.”

Two Pastors Face Death Penalty In Sudan

Two pastors in Sudan are facing the death penalty as their trial begins on charges of espionage and blasphemy.  Sudan, a Muslim-dominated and controlled nation, regularly charges pastors with charges of blasphemy.

“This is not ‘something new’ for our church,” says the Rev. Tut Kony, pastor of the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church. “Almost all pastors have gone to jail under the government of Sudan. We have been stoned and beaten. This is their habit to pull down the church. We are not surprised. This is the way they deal with the church.”

Rev. Yat Michael and Rev. Peter Yen Reith were detained illegally in December 2014, released, and then recaptured in January.

David Curry of Open Doors USA said both pastors are married and have children.

“I’m fearful that they will execute these pastors for practicing their faith,” Curry said, according to Fox News.

Sudan is ranked sixth on the Open Doors list of the worst nations for persecution of Christians.

Sudan is known for the death sentence given to mother Miriam Ibrahim and forcing her to give birth while her legs were chained to the wall.

Houston Sermon Subpoenas Feared To Be Republican Fundraising Tools

The recent incidents in Houston where the government tried to seize the sermons of pastors critical of city government actions is now coming under fire from those on the left-wing who fear a backlash that could harm them at the ballot box.

The anti-Christian organization Americans United for the Separation of Church and State has posted a piece posted by member Rob Boston which says that incident will harm those who are trying to keep Christians from having their views in the public arena.

“The officials have handed the Religious Right an incredible public relations victory,” wrote Boston, adding that “this incident has become fodder for the Religious Right’s ‘we’re being persecuted’ campaign. At the end of the day, that’s what’s so unfortunate about the city’s misstep: These subpoenas will launch a thousand right-wing fund-raising letters.”

The demands came after many Christian groups protested and spoke out about a law that would force public locations within the city to allow various actions considered possibly dangerous, including allowing men to use women’s bathrooms.

The subpoenas have drawn condemnation from even major anti-Christian organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union.

The city is angered that over 50,000 signatures were collected on a petition over overturn their law, which city attorney David Feldman dismissed as being mostly invalid.  The issue will go before a court in January.