Citing recent high court rulings, Washington State announced Monday that it is lifting its COVID-19 restriction on the size of gatherings at indoor worship services, the Christian Post reports. Masks and social distancing are still required but, under the new regulations, the 25% capacity and 200-person limit of gatherings indoors is a recommendation rather than a mandate.
Despite US Supreme Court decisions to strike down COVID-19 worship service restrictions in two recent cases, a federal judge again refused to lift worship restrictions in a case brought by California’s South Bay United Pentecostal Church, the Christian Post reports.
The governor of Colorado has declared that houses of worship provide “essential” services that are no longer subject to COVID-19 restrictions on attendance numbers, Christian Headlines reports.
Christian activists say they are gathering at abortion clinics across the United States this month to sing Christmas carols and offer women seeking abortions a message of hope.
A judge in Manitoba, Canada has told a church it is not allowed to hold even drive-in services during local COVID-19 lockdown orders, the Daily Wire reports. The current restrictions prohibit houses of worship from holding in-person services.
Switzerland’s Constitutional Chamber has ordered the suspension of a COVID-19 ban on religious gatherings in the Canton of Geneva, enabling churches in the region to resume in-person services again, Christian Post reports. The court will make a final ruling on the ban in due course but has reportedly indicated that the likelihood it will permanently strike down the ban is “high.”
In countries where governments already oppress Christians because of their faith, COVID-19 has led to more surveillance of Christians than ever before, says Wycliffe Associates. The Orlando-based international organization empowers mother-tongue Bible translators and partners with local churches in the advancement of Church Owned Bible Translation.
A new survey conducted after the 2020 presidential election has shown that 97% of politically active conservative Christians voted for Donald Trump, the Christian Post reports. The survey was launched by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University and was conducted from November 3 through November 16, 2020.
France will have to review the restrictions it created for worship attendance to combat the spread of the coronavirus, according to the Western European nation’s highest court.
Hungary’s government says landmarks in Budapest lit up in red to remember persecuted Christians who it claims to form the world’s most suffering faith community. “The initiative “Red Wednesday” was about commemorating persecuted Christians around the world,” said Tristan Azbej, Hungary’s state secretary for assisting persecuted Christians.
The U.S president of an influential Christian broadcaster warned Wednesday that American churches could face similar persecution as denominations in Algeria.
Two California churches on Friday appealed to the Supreme Court for an emergency injunction against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s coronavirus restrictions, days after the state revamped its shutdown orders.
A middle school in Kansas has stopped participating in Operation Christmas Child (OCC), a Christian project which involves packing shoeboxes with toys and supplies for children in need, following a complaint from an atheist group that such participation is unconstitutional, Christian Headlines reports.
This week saw a special International Day of Prayer held for Muslim- background believers (MBBs), Christians who leave Islam to follow Jesus, CBN News reports. Highlighting the particular needs of those leaving Islam for Christ, MBB Global launched November 18 as a day of prayer, encouraging believers all over the world to seek God for their MBB brothers and sisters.
The Church of England (CofE) has promised a “decision-making” process on sexuality doctrine, which may result in its approval of same-sex marriage by 2022, CBN News reports. The CofE Evangelical Council has said it will engage with the process but has warned of the need for obedience to Scripture.
Wycliffe Associates, an international organization that empowers mother-tongue Bible translators and partners with local churches in the advancement of Bible translation, reports that Nigerian Bible translators are asking for help after suspending Bible translation projects in 30 languages.
Hungary’s anti-migration government has warned that surging Christian persecution must end worldwide, including in Europe, which faced several Islamic terror attacks.
Churches in several parts of Britain have told a court that authorities misuse the coronavirus pandemic to restrict Christian worship.
Wycliffe Associates, an international organization that empowers mother-tongue Bible translators and partners with local churches in the advancement of Bible translation, is providing equipment for Christians to print the Scriptures in their own language in places where it’s illegal to own a Bible.
UK church leaders are launching a legal challenge against the British government for what they describe as an “unlawful” COVID-19 ban on worship services, the Christian Post reports. Britain has been placed back under a second lockdown until December 2, with over 1.3 million coronavirus cases and more than 51,000 COVID-19 related deaths.