US church pays off $8 million of community’s medical debts
A church in Tennessee has paid off $8 million in medical debts for people within its community. Mattie Montgomery, pastor of the Altar Fellowship in Johnson City, tells The Christian Post that the idea came from a friend and businessman who set up an organisation to negotiate with collectors to buy people’s medical debts and pay them off. Montgomery explained: “Essentially, we became the collection agency for $8 million of medical debt. Then, instead of pursuing it any further, we just sent a letter to everyone whose debt we had taken and we just said ‘Hey, Jesus loves you, we love you. And it’s our privilege to cancel this debt entirely’.” Gospel coalition explainer here.
14th-century church is no place for a horror film
The Oscar-winning filmmaker Danny Boyle has been refused permission to shoot a post-apocalypse horror film in a 14th-century church in Northumberland. A consistory court in the Newcastle diocese declined to grant a faculty for the Grade I-listed St Mary the Virgin, Morpeth, to be used for the final part of the 28 Days trilogy because the proposed scene was “intrinsically objectionable” and it would be “inappropriate” for it to be shot in a sacred space. The rector of Morpeth, the Rev Simon White, was in favour of the filming, but against the advice of the Archdeacon and the diocesan advisory committee. Church Times report here
New Bishop of Wolverhampton
Dr Tim Wambunya has been appointed the next Bishop of Wolverhampton, in the diocese of Lichfield. He served as the Bishop of Butere, in Kenya, for seven years before returning to the UK in 2020 to be vicar of St Paul’s, Slough. After a career in marine engineering, Dr Wambunya was ordained in 1998 and was a keen sprinter and rugby player in his youth. Now he prefers to move more slowly, and enjoys long walks. Church Times report here
Ukraine’s church ban condemned by Kremlin as ‘an attack on Christianity’
The move by Ukraine to ban a Moscow-linked branch of the Orthodox Church has been condemned by Russia as an attack on Christianity and a blow to freedom of religion, Reuters reports. Kyiv has accused the church of abetting Moscow’s 30-month-old war by spreading pro-Russian propaganda and harbouring spies. A Kremlin spokesman said: “This is an open attack on freedom of religion, an attack on the Orthodox Church as a whole, and an attack on Christianity.” Dr Jerry Pillay of World Council of Churches said the council was “deeply alarmed by the potential for unjustified collective punishment of an entire religious community and violation of the principles of freedom of religion or belief under the new law”.
Jewish grandmother standing for US president
Kamala Harris isn’t the only woman campaigning to become the first female president of the United States. Rachele Fruit, a Jewish grandmother nominated by the US Socialist Workers Party, is campaigning against Harris and Donald Trump for a society led by “the industrial labour force” — not the ruling classes and the parties that represent them. The party has set its sights on six states initially – Minnesota, Louisiana, New Jersey, Washington, Vermont and Tennessee. Fruit, 74, was last in the UK in 1992 and has been talking to Sandy Rashty of Jewish News in Golders Green. Report here
Pope joins interfaith meeting at Indonesian mosque
Pope Francis will visit the Istiqlal mosque in Indonesia on the first stop of an interfaith Asian trip. There, he will meet delegates of Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Catholicism and Protestantism. He starts his four-nation visit on 3 September in Jakarta where he will meet Joko Widodo, the Indonesian president. Indonesia’s constitution recognises Catholicism and Protestantism as separate religions. Of the country’s 280 million people, 87 per cent of the are Muslim, but it has the third-largest Christian population in Asia after the Philippines and China. AP report here
Refugee family separated by war re-united and supported by Church of Scotland
A refugee who has been living in Glasgow for seven years held a lunch in Gorbals Parish Church on Sunday to thank the congregation for supporting her efforts to bring members of her family to the UK. The Church of Scotland led the campaign to reunite Kaltouma Ibrahim with her husband and surviving teenage children after a decade (pictured). They have now all been granted permission to stay. Mrs Ibrahim, who won the right to remain in Scotland in 2019, said: “I am very grateful and thankful to all the people who have helped me in so many ways to make this happen and we can finally start a new chapter in our lives.” She was born in Chad and is married to a man from Sudan, but was separated from her family after a hazardous journey from civil war in Sudan in 2014. They lost two of their children on the way and Mr Ibrahim and the three remaining children managed to reach Khartoum, where one was killed during a rocket attack. Report here
CofE covenant blocks conversion of church into mosque
Plans to convert a long-abandoned 18th-century church into a mosque and community centre have been scuppered by a restrictive covenant. The council in Hanley, Staffordshire, approved the plans for St John’s Church, but further investigation revealed a covenant prohibiting its use as a place of worship for any religion but Christian, specifically Anglican. The building was last used for services in the 1980s and was sold by Lichfield diocese in 2009. It had been used as an antiques centre and café until 2020. The Zamir Foundation bought the building for £140,000 and planned to convert it into a mosque, museum, multi-faith library and women-only gym. Premier Christian news report here
Muslim leaders study how sign language may help community
Muslim leaders are supporting a campaign to encourage the use of British Sign Language (BSL) in their communities, as a way of improving communication and inclusivity. Zara Mohammed, the secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, visited the charity Deaf World UK to learn more about how BSL could help Muslims in their religious and social life. Report here
