Nepal: The ‘Roof of the World’ Collapses
Christians are a minority in Nepal but were especially affected by April’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake. It struck during their main weekly services, collapsing many churches with worshipers still inside. More than 70 died at Nepali Evangelical Church near Kapan, Kathmandu; hundreds of the more than 7,300 Nepali casualties were Christians. The deaths may revive communal tensions over Christian burials, opposed by Hindu activists who favor cremation. The disaster also delays the passage of a new constitution guaranteeing long-sought religious freedoms.
Libya: ISIS makes Christian migration even deadlier
The same day England’s Archbishop of Canterbury arrived in Cairo to honor the 21 Coptic Christians martyred by isis on a Mediterranean beach, the terrorist group released a second propaganda video. This one showed the orchestrated execution in Libya of 28 Christians, mostly from Ethiopia. (Their country’s main Orthodox church claims descent from the eunuch baptized by Philip in Acts 8.) The new martyrs were part of a record number of Africans attempting to flee by boat to Italy, a top destination for Christian migrants from Ethiopia and other African nations. But migrant drownings are also at record highs, including more than 1,500 deaths as of April. (A 2013 shipwreck killed 250 people; most were Christians fleeing persecution.) isis may be fueling sectarianism: Italian police recently charged 15 Muslims with murder for throwing 12 Christians overboard out of “religious hatred.”
Layoff of Christian college professor paused
The president of Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) apologized in April for attempting to lay off a tenured professor. President David Alexander had clashed with theology professor Tom Oord over evolution and open theology. In March, Oord and another professor were laid off, attributed to budget cuts. The move came weeks after the nnu board renewed Alexander’s contract, citing record enrollment and robust finances. Students and faculty objected, claiming Oord was being targeted for his teachings on evolution. That led to a no-confidence vote in the president by three-quarters of nnu’s 100-plus faculty members. The board appointed a committee to review the layoffs, which were placed on hold.
Russia: Europe’s unlikely ‘Bible belt’ disappears
Last year, when citizens of Crimea voted overwhelmingly to leave Ukraine and join Russia, the region was home to 320 Protestant groups and 1,546 religious groups overall. Today, only nine Protestant groups and five others remain registered, according to Forum 18, a religious-liberty watchdog group. Under rules imposed last fall, all Crimean religious groups had to re-register with Russian authorities. But to be approved, leaders have to become Russian citizens, join an existing centralized religious organization, or in some cases pass a state religion expertise test. Unregistered groups can still meet for worship, but they cannot rent or buy buildings, hire staff, or host foreigners.
Theologian’s pen pal faces execution, again
Georgia officials have asked for permission to set a new execution date for Kelly Renee Gissendaner, a death-row inmate turned theology student. Gissendaner was convicted in 1998 for convincing her boyfriend to kill her husband. She has since befriended German pneumatologist Jürgen Moltmann and completed a theology program through Emory University. Her March 2 execution was postponed due to problems with the lethal injection solution. Hundreds of faith leaders have asked state officials to spare Gissendaner’s
life. “On the issue of the death penalty, we unanimously believe that fairness must be paramount,” they wrote. “We also believe in the power of mercy.” In March, the National Latino Evangelical Coalition endorsed a ban on capital punishment; in April, Lynne Hybels, Ron Sider, and Shane Claiborne joined 400 evangelical and Catholic leaders calling for the same.
Liberia: Christians oppose return of ‘Christian nation’
Baptist leaders are protesting a move to officially make Liberia a Christian nation, after a constitutional review conference overwhelmingly approved the proposal in April. “We do not support any legislated domination of any group or individual, because we strongly are driven by the words of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 7:12 to ‘treat others as you want them to treat you,’ ” said the Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention. The West African nation, which is 85 percent Christian, was founded by former slaves from the United States. The country’s constitution credits God in “granting to us the blessings of the Christian religion,” but Liberia became a secular state in 1986. A campaign to return the country to its Christian roots started three years ago. Supporters blame secularization for 2 military coups—and some for the Ebola outbreak that has killed about 4,500 Liberians. The proposal must be approved by the Liberian legislature and then voters.
Evangelicals unite among Mennonites
A new network of Anabaptist churches is set to debut this fall as a conservative alternative to the Mennonite Church USA (mc usa), which is wrestling with how to keep the peace over sexuality. Organizers of Evana—a combination of evangelical and Anabaptist—expect 100 US churches to join. The network was sparked after a lesbian pastor in a committed relationship was licensed by the Mountain States Mennonite Conference in February 2014. The mc usa didn’t recognize her licensing, but also didn’t discipline the group. The current Confession of Faith says marriage is “a covenant between one man and one woman for life,” but the mc usa is considering ways to accommodate Mennonites who disagree.
North Korea: Court orders $330 million for missionary’s death
A federal district court has ordered the government of North Korea to pay $330 million in damages to the family of Kim Dong Shik, a Presbyterian missionary. Kim was kidnapped by North Korean spies in 2000 while working with refugees in China. He was forced into a cab and spirited across the border, where he later died in a prison camp. (President Obama advocated for Kim in 2005 as a US senator.) Asher Perlin, a lawyer for the Kims, told The Washington Post that the family may try to collect money from North Korean assets frozen in the United States.
Nigeria: Christians support new Muslim president
Many Nigerian church leaders were grateful that this year’s presidential election was peaceful—and that the Muslim candidate won it. Muhammadu Buhari, a former general who briefly ruled after a military coup in the 1980s, beat out incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian, by nearly 2 million votes. Many Protestant and Catholic leaders argued that Buhari would more effectively fight corruption and Boko Haram than Jonathan has done. Jonathan drew praise for peacefully ceding power. He had bested Buhari in the 2011 election, which the Council on Foreign Relations describes as Nigeria’s first “genuine political contest between the predominantly Christian south and the Muslim north.” But critics said his victory violated an informal agreement to rotate Muslim and Christian leaders. Resulting riots led to more than 800 deaths and 350 churches destroyed.
