(Fox News) – President Trump on Friday announced that new Centers for Disease Control guidance will classify houses of worship as “essential,” as he called on governors to allow them to open “right now” after being closed during the coronavirus lockdowns. Trump announced the policy for churches, synagogues and mosques, during a short briefing at the […]

HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. (Newsweek) — A church in Mississippi that burned down in what authorities say was an arson attack had previously defied the city’s stay-at-home order and was suing officials over lockdown measures. The First Pentecostal Church of Holly Springs on Highway 178 was destroyed in a fire in the early hours on Wednesday, […]

(Fox News) — Thirty-seven Planned Parenthood affiliates applied for and received a total of $80 million in loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” has learned — and now the federal government wants the money back, saying the affiliates should have known they weren’t eligible for the coronavirus stimulus payouts. […]

(NBC News) — Federal authorities announced the forfeiture Monday of an ancient tablet inscribed with part of the Epic of Gilgamesh from a museum backed by the arts and crafts chain Hobby Lobby. The piece, known as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, bearing a version of what’s considered perhaps the world’s oldest work of literature, was […]

PORTLAND, Ore. (The Oregonian) — In a late Monday ruling, the Oregon Supreme Court stepped in to put a hold on a dramatic decision by an eastern Oregon judge that declared not only Gov. Kate Brown’s restrictions on church gatherings “null and void” but all her “Stay Home Save Lives’’ coronavirus emergency orders. State Supreme Court Presiding […]

Syracuse, N.Y. (Syracuse.com) — Churches and other houses of worship will be among the last things to reopen in New York state, along with concert halls and stadiums. Religious institutions will be part of phase four of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s four-phase reopening plan. That’s because they invite large gatherings, which are a big concern as […]

(Voice of the Martyrs Australia) — The governor of the Borno state in northeast Nigeria has revealed that the extremist group Boko Haram is responsible for making tens of thousands of widows and orphans as it continues its reign of terror. Borno Govenor Babagana Zulum was recently a guest lecturer at the National Defense College. […]

(The Pathway) — COVID-19 has contaminated hundreds of thousands of people, with infections increasing dramatically daily. Some have projected the total number of those affected worldwide will be in the tens of millions, with fatalities anticipated to be over one million people. … The current circumstances, though alarming, could present opportunities for churches to deepen […]

(Christian Concern) — Savanta ComRes has recently published the results of a survey commissioned by Tearfund on British people’s spiritual habits in relation to the lockdown. This survey helps give a detailed picture of how people of different religious affiliations have responded and of their interaction with churches. The survey is a random representative sample […]

(Fox News) — Being a Christian in North Korea means using secretive, spylike tactics to read the Bible, facing threats of the death penalty, and circumventing propaganda with tales of believers harvesting organs, according to persecution watchdog groups. Ministries have been creatively sneaking Bibles and smuggling bits and pieces of Scripture through land, air and […]