People and Events

Persecution of Christians continues worldwide despite the end of the Cold War and the spread of democracy, according to the watch group Open Doors. Eight of the 10 top countries on Open Doors' 1996 "Watch List" are Islamic. The others are North Korea and China. Evangelicals in eastern and central Europe and Africa experience opposition or violence that are religiously-motivated. The Rutherford Institute's Pedro Moreno says, "The church in many places is bringing the persecution upon itself." Christians are seen as an "irrelevant group of fanatics jumping up and down," with little concern for society and without a strong work ethic. Christians must "externalize" their revivals into society if they hope to be taken seriously, he says. However, Brian O'Connell, director of the World Evangelical Fellowship's Religious Liberty Commission, says, "We're being persecuted because we're winning, not because we're losing."--
Evangelical Missions Quarterly

The Mennonite Historical Society of Canada held its annual meeting Dec. 7. The presidency was handed from 10-year veteran Ted Friesen of Altona, Man. to Royden Loewen, who holds the chair of Mennonite Studies at the University of Winnipeg. The society, formed in 1966 to publish the Mennonites in Canada series, has just published the third book in the series. This volume covers the period 1939-1970 and was written by Ted Regehr. The three volumes are now available as a boxed set. The society is also planning a one-volume synthesis of the three-volume history and has designated $5,000 for development of the Canadian Mennonite Encyclopedia, a database on the World Wide Web.--
Mennonite Historical Society of Canada

A handwritten letter by Martin Luther was found in July, 1996 in an empty laundry detergent box. Christine Oppitz, curator of the Archives at Herzogenburg, Austria, found the letter dated March 14, 1528. The letter was presented to the public only after theologians in Wittenberg, Germany had established its authenticity. It is valued at over $100,000 and is on view at the Austrian National Library. The letter, addressed to Lady Dorothea Jorger, deals with preacher Michael Stiefel's demands for, according to Luther, unheard of sums of money.--
Allianz Spiegel

Trinity Western University has asked the Supreme Court of British Columbia to review a decision by the B.C. College of Teachers to reject the university's application to offer the professional year of teacher education. BCCT rejected TWU's application, saying that a community standards document TWU students must sign could bias them against homosexual students in the classroom. The statement asks TWU students to abstain from premarital sex, adultery and homosexual activities while attending university. TWU argues that BCCT exceeded its jurisdiction when it examined the TWU community standard statement, and notes that the BCCT Council reversed the recommendation of its own review committee. TWU also argues that BCCT's decision is arbitrary, since it cites no examples of TWU students who have acted in a biased manner. TWU also contends that Canada's Human Rights Act protects its right to impose faith-based lifestyle standards, and argues that BCCT's actions breach the school's constitutional right to freedom of religion. A review is scheduled for May.--

Evangelical Press News Service

The percentage of their income that church members give to the church is declining. Church giving can be divided into two categories. Congregational finances go toward those activities that directly benefit the church member--staff salaries, building costs, curriculum. Benevolent finances are earmarked for ministry beyond the church--to support denominational programs, seminaries and missions. While both types of giving are declining, benevolence giving is declining at a much faster rate, and has been doing so for two decades. In 1968, church members gave 0.66% of income to benevolence funds. By 1993, that figure dropped to 0.43%. At that rate of decline, such giving would reach zero % by 2049.--
Christian Century

Promise Keepers Canada , the growing Christian men's renewal movement, will hold six major men's conferences in 1997 under the theme, "The Making of Godly Man". The venues are: Moncton, N.B., May 10; Hamilton, Ont., June 14; Montreal, July 12; Winnipeg, Aug. 23; Vancouver, Sept. 13; Edmonton, Oct. 25. PK Canada will also hold Clergy Summits for pastors and church leaders approximately two months before each conference, with leadership seminars for pastors and lay leaders following shortly after.--
Canada Watch (Evangelical Fellowship of Canada)

The address for Mission USA has changed to: 12630 North 103 Ave., Suite 215, Sun City, AZ, 85351. Phone (602) 972-1604, fax (602) 972-1606. Ed Boschman is executive director of Mission USA, a program of the US MB Conference targetting renewal, church planting and church growth. Boschman is also moderator of the General (North American) MB Conference.--
Mission USA

A priest from Brooklyn who was in the headlines in December for fighting off burglars in his church, has been arrested for smoking crack cocaine. New York City police say they arrested Chester LaRue at St. John's Episcopal Church, where they found him smoking crack while writing a sermon. Ironically, the first story led to the second. The two thieves admitted that they broke into the church for a robbery, and added that they planned to rob a drug dealer who worked out of the church. Undercover narcotics officers made several drug purchases from the 20-year-old dealer, then raided the church, arresting the 54-year-old pastor in the process.--
EPNS

US actor Charlie Sheen , who said last April that he had become a born-again Christian, was arrested in late December for allegedly assaulting a 24-year-old woman. Sheen, 31, said last year that he had found God after a miraculous healing of his shoulder, but also said that his life had "not really" changed and admitted that he hadn't read the Bible, saying, "I've got the rest of my life to explore it, right?"--
EPNS