Church | Common News Update

Aug192020 by adminNo Comments

Pandemic fear: Church to apologize for funeral refusal

Health

Noel Alexander had helped build Pine Hill Baptist Church in west-central Louisiana. He’d been its music minister, served on numerous committees and he and his wife kept the church’s books. After he died from COVID-19 at age 79, his visitation and funeral were scheduled for the church he loved. But his family said that when they arrived, they were told they couldn’t hold either the visitation or the funeral in the spacious building currently used for services because of the pandemic. And, they learned, the funeral director had been told he’d be met with a gun if he tried to bring the body inside. “It was scary devastating," Donna Hunt, one of Alexander's six children, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. The church's pastor, Tri Evans, had approved of the servic...

Aug172020 by adminNo Comments

S.Korea pastor tests positive amid virus spike at his church

Health

A conservative South Korean pastor who has been a bitter critic of the country’s president has tested positive for the coronavirusBy KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated PressAugust 17, 2020, 8:58 AM5 min readShare to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleSEOUL, South Korea -- A conservative South Korean pastor who has been a bitter critic of the country's president has tested positive for the coronavirus, health authorities said Monday, two days after he participated in an anti-government protest in Seoul that drew thousands. More than 300 virus cases have been linked to the Rev. Jun Kwang-hun's huge church in northern Seoul, which has emerged as a major cluster of infections amid growing fears of a massive outbreak in the greater capital region. Officials are concerned that the virus’s spread ...

Jun112020 by adminNo Comments

George Floyd death: Gen Mark Milley sorry for joining Trump walk to church

World

Media playback is unsupported on your device The top US military officer says he was wrong to have joined President Donald Trump during his controversial walk to a damaged church near the White House.The 1 June event created "a perception of the military involved in domestic politics", Gen Mark Milley said.Mr Trump walked to the church and held up a Bible after a peaceful protest at the death of African American George Floyd was forcibly dispersed.The use of troops to tackle the protests has provoked fierce US debate.Mr Trump has regularly referred to "law and order", calling in the National Guard to the US capital, vowing to deploy the military to other cities and condemning violent protests. Trump's church visit shocks religious leadersSome of the mostly...

Mar22020 by adminNo Comments

Coronavirus: South Korea church leader apologises over virus spread

World

The head of the religious sect that has been at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak in South Korea has apologised to the nation for the disease's spread. Lee Man-hee, the leader of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, got on his knees and bowed at a news conference. About 60% of the country's more than 4,000 confirmed cases are sect members. On Monday, South Korea - the biggest hotspot outside China - reported 476 new cases bringing the total number to 4,212. There have been 26 deaths.Prosecutors have been asked to investigate Mr Lee on possible charges of gross negligence."Although it was not intentional, many people have been infected," said the 88-year-old leader. "We put our utmost efforts, but were unable to prevent it all." ...

Nov92019 by adminNo Comments

Church effort against incest led to rise of individualism in the West, study says

Science

Nov. 8 (UPI) -- When researchers set out to understand how many Western societies came to value individualism, they decided to look at historical shifts in a society's broader psychology. Specifically, researchers explored the ways shifting social structures influenced psychology and values of members. The West, scientists determined, was unique in its steady abandonment of incest. Incest, in this instance, primarily refers to marriages between cousins. Throughout much of the world, the practice was used to maintain broad family alliances and assert political and economic power, and to protect assets like land and other natural resources. In a new paper published in the journal Science, researchers argue that the Roman Catholic Church, in targeting incest, effectively shrunk family ties ...