News

Christianity Today News Briefs

Burned churches in Nigeria and Indonesia, plus a Baptist Foundation of Arizona update.

Young Muslims burned 10 Nigerian churches on September 20. Rioting began in the northern city of Dutse after rumors spread that a Christian woman had blasphemed Muhammad. Crowds gathered at the local emir’s home and Dutse’s central mosque, demanding her stoning. The emir and the state governor attempted to calm the crowd, but when police fired tear gas, the protesters became a mob. On September 22, during Friday prayers, the federal government sent in tanks, soldiers, and anti-riot police to control the situation, according to Compass Direct. Police have detained the woman, whom Muslims allege blasphemed Muhammad during an argument over Pope Benedict XVI’s controversial September speech.

• William Crotts, former president of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, was sentenced September 29 to concurrent seven- and eight-year prison sentences on fraud and racketeering charges related to the foundation’s collapse. Former legal counsel Thomas Grabinski received five- and six-year concurrent sentences. Both men, who were each ordered to pay $159 million in restitution, will appeal their July guilty verdicts. Lawrence Hoover, the final board member implicated in the fraud, pled guilty on September 4 and will be sentenced in late November. The foundation, created in 1948, began using shell companies in the 1980s to cover financial failure and repay old investors with new investors’ money. The foundation’s collapse in 1999 cost investors, mostly elderly members of the Southern Baptist Convention, more than $550 million.

• Muslims in Aceh, Indonesia, burned a church after a renewal service on September 1. Indonesia Evangelical Mission Church had invited Christians from surrounding villages. But to provoke conflict, a local Muslim edited the invitation to include Muslims and sent it to thousands, according to Compass Direct. A crowd of Muslims and police arrived at the service where 500 Christians gathered. Police reprimanded the church’s pastor, Luther Saragih, and ordered the Christians to leave. Three hours later, more than 100 men burned the church. The pastor and his wife hid in the jungle and found refuge in a Christian home nearby.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

More coverage of the Dutse riots is available from Compass Direct, the BBC, Associated Press, Reuters, This Day (follow-up 1, follow-up 2), Vanguard, and IRIN.

The Arizona Republic has more information on the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, which has also received coverage in Christianity Today. Phoenix New Times first raised questions about the foundation in 1998.

Compass Direct has more on the burning of Indonesia Evangelical Mission Church.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

News

Looking for God in Russia: Finding Jesus in Orthodox Robes and Evangelical Jeans

God's Word in an Old Light

The New Context of World Missions

News

Long-Distance AIDS Ministry

Plethora of Talent

Rx for Recidivism

Middle East Morass

Behold, the Global Church

Stopping Cultural Drift

Dreaming of Dystopia

Imagining a Different Way to Live

A Good Death

Editorial

Look at All the Lonely People

Into the Silent Land

A Practical Understanding of Jesus' Life

Shoot-First Apologetics

How God Works Through Ordinary Churches

Worth Protecting

Editorial

Theocracy, Anyone?

No Theocracy Here

Meet the Patriot Pastors

Autumn

News

Races to Watch: Tammy Duckworth vs. State Sen. Peter Roskam

Children of a Lesser Hope

Races to Watch: South Dakota's Abortion Ban

Q&A: Newt Gingrich

Races to Watch: Governor of Michigan

Margin of Victory

News

Passages

High-Impact Leader and Shaker

News

Quotation Marks

The Other <em>Plan B</em>

News

Morning-After Headache

News

Go Figure

Does Islam Need a Luther or a Pope?

Gallery of Accusations

News

Cutting Out <em>VeggieTales</em>' Core

News

Malay Melee

News

Public Grievance

Expelling InterVarsity

Clash of Churches in Lebanon

View issue

Our Latest

The Bulletin

Young Republican Texts, Anglican Split, and George Santos Released

Controversial Republican texts, Anglican Communion splits, and George Santos’s sentence is commuted.

Review

Do Evangelical Political Errors Rise to the Level of Heresy?

A Lutheran pastor identifies five false teachings that threaten to corrupt the church’s public witness.

Highlights and Lowlights of 1957

In its first full year of publication, CT looked at Civil Rights, Cold War satellites, artificial insemination, and carefully planned evangelism.

News

Will There Be a Christian Super Bowl Halftime Show?

Conservatives suggest country and Christian artist alternatives for game day.

News

As Madagascar’s Government Topples, Pastors Call for Peace

Gen Z–led protests on the African island nation led to a military takeover.

News

Amid Fragile Cease-Fire, Limited Aid Reaches Gazans

Locals see the price of flour rise and fall as truce is strained and some borders remain closed.

News

Federal Job Cuts Hit Home as Virginia Picks Its Next Governor

Meanwhile, the GOP candidate draws from Trump’s playbook to focus on transgender issues in schools. 

Religious OCD and Me

Scrupulosity latches onto the thing we hold most dear—our relationship with God.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube