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An undocumented immigrant is taking refuge at a church in Denver while she fights to remain in the country. Jeanette Vizguerra, a mother of four, was scheduled to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Wednesday morning. She wanted to extend the stay on her deportation order, which expired last week, while she applies for a special visa. It was denied. She now faces separation from her American-born children, the youngest of whom is just 6. Vizguerra’s attorney appeared in court for her, saying she probably would have been taken into custody if she appeared. She is now taking...

The 200th anniversary of the birth of devoted Materialist and Evolutionist Charles Darwin was in 2009. It was that year that I first became aware of “Evolution Weekend.” Originally “Evolution Sunday,” Evolution Weekend is the product of The Clergy Letter Project. This project exists to promote the teaching of Darwinian evolution, especially within religious institutions. For example, the letter to Christian clergy, in part, reads, "While virtually all Christians take the Bible seriously and hold it to be authoritative in matters of faith and practice, the overwhelming majority do not read the Bible literally, as they would a science textbook…Religious...

A Christian pastor in South Africa has sparked outrage after encouraging worshipers at his church to drink deadly rat poison. Pastor Light Monyeki told worshipers at the Grace Living Hope Ministries to drink from a bottle of water laced with noxious Rattex to 'nourish their bodies' and 'heal their sickness'. After the pastor took a sip from the bottom, 'a multitude of congregants voluntarily ran to the front to have a drink of the deadly poison', the church claimed. Sharing pictures of Monyeki pouring the poisoned water down congregants' throats, the church wrote in a Facebook post: 'The man of...

Originally published by the Gatestone Institute https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9875/muslim-persecution-christians-november Reports of Christian life under the Islamic State (ISIS) continued throughout November. Many of these came from the ancient Christian towns surrounding Mosul, such as Batnaya and Qaraqosh, conquered by ISIS in August, 2014, and liberated in late October, 2016. One Christian man, Esam, from Qaraqosh, related what ISIS did after his sister's husband refused to convert to Islam: "He was crucified and tortured in front of his wife and children, who were forced to watch. They [ISIS] told him that if he loved Jesus that much, he would die like Jesus." The...

Pope Francis says he is concerned about what he calls a “hemorrhage” of priests and nuns from the Catholic church. […] First among the factors he cited as causing nuns and priests to quit their vocations is a society that discourages lifelong commitments. Francis lamented that many conduct their lives based on “à la carte” choices. …

An ancient Trebizond church of Agia Sophia, built between 1238 and 1263 and defiled by being converted into a mosque in 1461, is now set to undergo a restoration project worth about 2 million Turkish liras (about $530,000). The building, regarded as an exemplary piece of Byzantine architecture, located in northeastern Turkey, served as a museum for fifty-two years before being opened to worship again in 2013. The new project plans to continue prior measures taken to conceal the church’s Orthodox Christian frescos from the eyes of Muslims, who, despite their dogmatic opposition to it, have chosen to worship in...

A public high school chorus in Massachusetts wanting to sing during an Easter Sunday Mass at a basilica while on a school trip to Europe isn't going to get to do it because of church/state objections. Story is attached.

Parishioners at a California Episcopal church will no longer pray by name for the president of the United States over fears the name "Donald Trump" might trigger microaggressions among sanctified snowflakes. Mike Kinman, the rector of All Saints Church in Pasadena, broke the news to the congregation in a blog posting that was filled with all sorts of liturgical lunacy.

Translator’s note: The following article has been translated from the German original as it had been originally published in December of 2014 by the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) (29 December 2014). We consider this article to be an excellent description, in the longer light of history, of the decline of Christianity in Germany. We believe it might also be of special interest to our readers in the current discussions concerning the role of German prelates in Rome. The Church in Crisis Diaspora in Germany by Markus GüntherIs Germany a Christian country? It depends. On paper, the churches are still binding...

Do you sense that politics and morals have radically changed? These changes make us ask whether the Church should focus uniquely on preaching the Gospel to the lost. This traditional view is perhaps in question today not because orthodoxy has become soft and is no longer committed to Gospel preaching, but because politics and culture have seen such dramatic transformations. We no longer face mere choices between the free market and forms of government intervention. We sense, rather, that the political debate disguises two spiritual worldviews with radically opposite definitions of human morality. If the magistrate is to promote good...

Norway is asking for a divorce from its biggest, most important church. The Church of Norway and the Norwegian government will formally become separated on Jan. 1 after nearly 500 years. Norway seeks to formalize a separation of church and state ordered by parliament eight years ago. Under the new law, Norway's 1,250 priests and bishops will no longer serve as government officials appointed by the king. That means the Church of Norway will become an independent business, and it's a big deal in a nation that has been grappling with an influx of Muslims and how to ensure other...

President-elect Donald Trump was applauded and cheered by parishioners as he and his wife arrived for a Christmas Eve service around 10:30 p.m. EST at Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida according to reports. The church was the site of Trump’s 2005 wedding to soon to be First Lady Melania Trump. “ Florida parishioners cheer for Trump tonight as he arrives for Christmas Eve mass pic.twitter.com/WF08gtF5OM — Chris Snyder (@ChrisSnyderFox) December 25, 2016 “Florida parishioners cheer for Trump tonight as he arrives for Christmas Eve mass” The pool report was posted to Twitter by Time’s Zeke Miller: “...

The worst attack on Egypt's Christian minority in recent years occurred yesterday, Sunday, December 11, 2016. St. Peter Cathedral in Cairo, packed with worshipers celebrating Sunday mass, was bombed; at least 27 churchgoers, mostly women and children, were killed and 65 severely wounded. As many of the wounded are in critical condition, the death toll is expected to rise. As usual, witnesses say that state security was not present, and that police took an inordinate amount of time to arrive after the explosion. Preliminary investigations point to a bomb placed inside an unattended woman's purse on one of the rear...

Atheist activist, Green candidate Rob Sherman dies in plane crash Rob Sherman, who died over the weekend in a crash of his small plane in Marengo, operated a business helping people build aircraft from kits. But the 63-year-old was better known as a colorful political activist and Green Party candidate — some might say gadfly — who called journalists and introduced himself as “Rob Sherman, your favorite atheist.” At one time, he had license plates that spelled out ATHEIST. Though he came in for derision as a self-promoter, he challenged the use of government-sponsored Christmas creches and displays and anything...

A church in Kristianstad has been forced to hire guards to keep the peace at services after the disruptive behaviour of “new clientele” has become increasingly serious in recent years. Christians have become frightened to visit the Holy Trinity church as newcomers are reported to yell loudly and smash liquor bottles during services, masturbate in the pews and urinate and defecate both inside and in the church grounds. Concerned locals have even reported concern over attempts to kidnap children during baptism. Police yesterday gave the go-ahead to the church to have Security guards at all future services, weddings and christenings....

... Europe wonders why its house is falling apart. The death of Europe is in sight. Still hazy and not yet inevitable... Europe is reaching its end not because of its sclerotic economy, or stagnant demography, or dysfunctions of the superstate. Nor is the real cause the massive influx of ... migrants. Those desperate people are just the latest stiff breeze against the timber of a desiccated civilization. Europe is dying because it has become morally incompetent.... it stands for shallow things, shallowly. Europeans believe in human rights, tolerance, openness, peace, progress, the environment, pleasure. These beliefs are all very...

A leftist Christian church decided to show their community that they must open borders by taking in Muslim refugees and letting them live in the church building. However, as soon as they opened their doors, they were forced to call the police when they discovered the sickening thing asylum seekers left for them in the church pews. The West is trapped in a vicious circle of embracing migrants, being abused by said migrants, and blaming the victims for provoking their wrath. The same tolerance and acceptance is not only never returned, but the gracious hosts find that their hospitality is...

A federal judge on Thursday denied a mistrial for accused white South Carolina gunman Dylann Roof, who a day earlier was described as "evil" in testimony by a survivor of the deadly June 2015 attack on a historic black church. Lawyers for Roof, 22, argued eyewitness Felicia Sanders had offered prejudicial and improper opinion about what penalty he should face. During her testimony on Wednesday, the first day of Roof's trial, she called the defendant "evil, evil as can be" for appearing to sit innocently through a Bible study meeting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston before opening...

A Christian congregation in Connecticut that dates back to the 1600s has sold its church building to a Muslim group that plans to turn the building into a mosque. (Photo: Facebook/United Congregational Church)United Congregational Church in Bridgeport, ConnecticutAccording to The Wall Street Journal, the historic United Congregational Church will sell its 1920s Georgian-Revival style church building to the Bridgeport Islamic Community Center for a price of $1 million.The church dates back to the Colonial Era, when it was founded in 1695 as the Ecclesiastical Society of Stratfield. In 1916, the congregation merged with another congregation and officially became the United...

American Atheists has unveiled its holiday billboards, including 2 in the Shreveport area. They encourage people to "Skip church for a merrier Christmas." The group is trying to stir the pot. "And part of stirring the pot is getting that conversation going," explained Nick Fish, American Atheists' national program director. "There are atheists in the community, there are people who don't believe in God." One of the billboards parodies President-elect Donald Trump's campaign slogan. "Make Christmas Great Again. ... skip church." [Snip] American Atheists has its holiday messages on display from Louisiana, to Colorado, even down in Georgia.