Permit Required to host a home Bible Study?

Allie Martin
OneNewsNow

A San Diego pastor says county officials have told him he needs a permit to host a weekly Bible study in his home.

Pastor David Jones and his wife, Mary, were hosting the weekly study near their church, when they say they were visited by a county code enforcement officer. According to Dean Broyles, an attorney for the Joneses, the county official asked the pastor if they hosted a regular weekly meeting in their home, and if they prayed and said “Amen” and “Praise the Lord” at those meetings.
 
After replying in the affirmative to those inquiries, a subsequent citation notified the couple they were in violation of county regulations, should stop “religious assembly,” and needed to apply for a “major use” permit to continue the gatherings — a process that could cost several thousands dollars.
 
Jones, his wife, and their attorney, Dean Broyles, were interviewed on the Fox News Channel. Broyles says the couple’s rights have been violated.
 
“The government may not prohibit the free exercise of religion,” says the attorney. “And I believe that our Founding Fathers would roll over in their graves if they saw that here in the year 2009 that a pastor and his wife are being told that they can’t have a simple Bible study in their own home.”
 
The American Family Association has launched an online petition drive related to the incident, asking the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to immediately stop interfering with the rights of individuals to hold Bible studies in their homes.
 
Jones and his wife say they will continue to challenge the county’s policy. About 15 people attend the weekly meetings. 

View related video news report

Americans tend to swap faiths

The U.S. is a nation of religious drifters, with about half of adults restlessly switching faith affiliation at least once during their lives, a new survey has found.

And the reasons behind all the swapping depend greatly on whether one grows up kneeling at Roman Catholic Mass, praying in a Protestant pew or occupied with nonreligious pursuits, according to a report issued Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

While Catholics are more likely to leave the church because they stopped believing its teachings, many Protestants are driven to trade one Protestant denomination or affiliation for another because of changed life circumstances, the survey found.

The ranks of those unaffiliated with any religion, meanwhile, are growing not so much because of a lack of religious belief but because of disenchantment with religious leaders and institutions.

The report estimates that between 47 percent and 59 percent of U.S. adults have changed affiliation at least once. Most described just gradually drifting away from their childhood faith.

"This shows a sort of religion a la carte and how pervasive it is," said D. Michael Lindsay, a Rice University sociologist of religion. "In some ways, it’s an indictment of organized Christianity. It suggests there’s a big open door for newcomers, but a wide backdoor where people are leaving."

Full Story Here

ALJC Launches New National Advertising Campaign

The ALJC (Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ) has embarked on a process to create a new multi-faceted advertising campaign.

The first facet of the campaign was the writing, shooting and editing of four national quality 30-second television commercials. All four of the commercials conclude with a place that can be customized by individual ALJC churches contact information. (Spots can be viewed by visiting www.aljc.org/commercials).

The videos were produced by Andy Dean, an award winning videographer and producer who has worked for ABC, ESPN, and NBC as well as several well known recording artists.

The second facet of the campaign is a website, hopeforyou.org, that corresponds with the commercials. The people who view the commercials are directed to this site. Here, viewers can find more information about the “hope” that is available to them, testimonies and links to the churches who are and decide to participate in the advertising campaign.

Read more HERE.

Louisiana Apostolic church takes a tuneful message to inmates

As roughly a dozen jail inmates clad in red uniforms looked on, Beatrice Randolph clutched the cell bars in front of her and belted out a hymn encouraging them to cheer up and “live in the sunshine.”

Upon completing the song “Father Along,” Randolph, tears welling in her eyes, turned away from the bars and slowly walked back to her place among other members of her church choir, as prisoners applauded.

Choir members from House of Prayer United Pentecostal Church in Thibodaux, LA performed various praise and worship numbers Sunday night during a first of its kind mini-concert at the Lafourche jail designed to provide inmates with not only entertainment but a measure of hope.

“This may be the first time people tell them they care about them,” Lafourche jail Warden Alan Abadie said. “Maybe this will teach them to have better self-respect.”

Abadie thanked House of Prayer pastor Ronnie Melancon for being receptive to the idea of the jailhouse ministry through song. Tammy Theriot, coordinator of inmate services and programs, organized the event.

Using two acoustic guitars, a keyboard and more than a dozen voices, the House of Prayer choir provided uplifting sounds for inmates throughout the jail.

For much of the night, the group performed out of sight from the prisoners, whose whoops and whistles of approval were heard, even when they themselves could not be seen.

Some inmates cried. Others enthusiastically sang along.

Inmates on Cell Block D, all of whom are awaiting trial on felony offenses, said Randolph’s song of redemption resonated with them.

“Due to the dark days we usually spend in here, that was pretty enlightening,” said 35-year-old Christopher Johnson of Thibodaux, who faces a murder charge. “That brought a lot of joy to people’s hearts.”

Johnson said his favorite song of the night contained the words, “I am a friend of God; he calls me friend.”

“We have all fallen by the wayside,” Johnson said. “It’s not about falling, it’s about getting back up and dusting yourself off again.”

Read the Full Story

Facebook Connection Results In Salvation

A couple of Bible School students have used a social networking website to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Brian Dennis is not your regular convert or Bible Study student. Brian was contacted by two Apostolic Bible Institute students via the popular social networking website, Facebook.  Brian has received the gift of the Holy Spirit and was baptized in Jesus’ on Sunday morning, January 11th, 2009.

You can view his baptism here.
(You can fast forward to the 31 minute mark).

Poll: No evidence that recession pulls people into pews

The economic recession has not led to an increase in attendance at U.S. houses of worship, according to Gallup pollsters.

Despite anecdotal evidence cited in high-profile media outlets, Americans’ worship patterns have held steady in 2008, the Gallup Poll reports. Since mid-February, Gallup said, it has asked 1,000 adults a day how often they attend church, synagogue or mosque.

About 42 percent have said they go weekly or almost weekly, with no increase in September through December, when the recession tightened its hold on the U.S. economy.

Gallup also said there have been no significant change in the percentage of Americans who say they attend church about once a month, seldom, or never.

“The available data on self-reported church attendance among American adults do not appear — as of mid-December — to support the hypothesis that on a society-wide basis, the current bad economic times have resulted in an increase in Americans’ churchgoing behavior,” Gallup’s Dec. 17 report said.

The pollsters said they conduct about 30,000 interviews per month on church attendance, which results in a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point for the surveys.

Original Story

Court to decide whether campus evangelism a crime

California student, Ryan Dozier, decided to spend some time on campus sharing his faith and handing out tracts to fellow students, generating conversations about Christianity. Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Heather Hacker comments on the situation.
 
“A campus police officer came over and told him that if he continued to do so without a permit that he would be possibly expelled or arrested, and so Ryan stopped immediately,” she explains.
 
Hacker says Dozier thought the case was closed, but he was apparently mistaken. “Three weeks later he got a certified letter from the president of the college stating that his actions were the subject of a campus crime report,” she adds. “Last time I checked, sharing your faith on a public college campus was not a crime.”
 
But the letter informed him he could face expulsion if he shared his faith on campus again. ADF filed suit, and a federal judge has ordered the college to suspend enforcement of its highly restricted free speech policies until the lawsuit is resolved.

Original Story

North Charleston Apostolic Church hosts a block party

Time To Party at Charleston Church
Story by Gil McClanahan

CHARLESTON — A Charleston Church reaches out to the community. The North Charleston Apostolic Church sponsored a block party today. During the event part of Sixth Avenue was blocked off. Carnival games with prizes and a Limbo contest were just a few of the activities at the party. Animal balloons and face painting were also part of the event.                                                              

Organizers say they put together the party to be good neighbors in the community.

“We believe it’s very important today because our society is forgetting about the family, and in the day and hour we are living in there’s not many that’s carrying for one another and giving back to one another,’ says Reverend Anthony Moss, Pastor of North Charleston Apostolic Church.

About 200 attended the block party event. Reverend Moss says the hope is the party is the first of many to come.

Full Story Here

North Charleston Apostolic Church Web-Site

Apostolic Gospel Church, Zanesville, OH touches community through "Neighborhood Picnic"

A Zanesville church spent the day in Crooksville on Saturday as they held a “Neighborhood Picnic”.

The Apostolic Gospel Church picked Crooksville as a spot for their community day and invited residents to attend the event at the Village Park.

Pastor Aaron Bounds says his church has had community days in Roseville and Zanesville and chose Crooksville due to recent incidents from a storm that packed heavy winds that knocked power out for several days and a recent marijuana bust that was one of the biggest in the state and nation. He says his church wants to help the entire community.

“We have a lot of people that come to the church that are very troubled. We try to get in the community anyway we can” said Pastor Bounds. “We offer pre-marital counseling to help better the marriages. You know Zanesville – Muskingum County has 64-percent divorce rate. 43% of the babies are born out of wed-lock. The drug use per capita is one of the highest in the nation.”

Full Story Here By Mike Partin of whiznews.com

Distributing Bibles Banned by Maryland School

WorldNetDaily – Gideons chased from Maryland schools
‘Christian’ lodged complaint about Bible distribution with ACLU

The Gideons, an international Bible distribution organization, can’t give away their wares – at least not in public elementary schools in Somerset County, Maryland.

The school board banned the Gideons from distributing Bibles for free in schools after a woman describing herself as a Christian complained about the activity to the American Civil Liberties Union and the district.

Stephanie Kayhan contacted the ACLU saying she is against Bibles being passed out in schools, because it blurs the “separation between church and state,” according to WBOC TV. She then wrote a letter to the school board arguing it is unconstitutional to allow the Gideons to continue. The school board subsequently suspended passing out Bibles on the school grounds.

Read the full article HERE.

Soul Winner Boot Camp hits Washington D.C. streets

Editor’s Note: the following is an article found at the Washington City Paper’s website.  It discusses the 2008 GoWinSouls Soul Winners Bootcamp that is hosted in part by some United Pentecostal Pastors and Evangelists. 

By Amanda Hess

On Friday evening, Adams Morgan’s pizza and beer-fueled sinners met their match: A group of pizza and God-fueled “soul winners.”

At around 1:30 a.m., a sizeable crowd gathered outside Columbia Road watering hole Chief Ike’s. The hundred-strong mob jumped, fist-pumped, and chanted in unison. Some wildly brandished flags, possibly made of their own shirts. From my perch across the sidewalk, the driving two-syllable chant was indecipherable.

Were these revelers footballers? Kickballers? Goths? As I ventured closer to the seductive chorus, its message became clear: “JE-SUS!” the mob shouted, again and again. “JE-SUS! JE-SUS! JE-SUS!”

They had me at “JE-SUS.” I joined the mob as it began to migrate down Columbia and toward 18th Street’s den of iniquity. Most of the crowd was composed of coltish, t-shirted teens; some older, calmer heads took up the rear, driving the pack to their destination. One bright-eyed, fanny-packed reveler enthusiastically extended a postcard to me after lamenting, enthusiastically, that he no longer had any “American” cards. I accepted an un-American version, then slipped from the train before the Jesus coalition hit Asylum.

“JESUS,” the card read, predictably. “Es la respuesta a todos tus problemas.”Beyond the rather ambitious promise, the card held little identifying information. I dialed a phone number on the card and reached Jerry Staten, Pastor of the Living Hope First United Pentecostal Church.

The evangelists, Staten informed me, were members of the Go Win Souls Soul Winner Boot Camp.

Children’s Ministry Profiled in Local Paper

The River of Life, a United Pentecostal Church in Muncie, Indiana, has begun a unique service dedicated to children’s outreach.  Sister Virginia O’Dell coordinates the weekly service, which is held separately from the church’s other worship opportunities.

Most of the attendees are bus children, but the service is available to any child.  The children are served a meal, complete a craft, have a Bible lesson and move into a full-fledged worship service.

The outreach is all about “souls, souls, souls” according to Sis. O’Dell, who also works as a case manager for A Better Way as children’s after school coordinator.

River of Life is pastored by Rev. John Martin.

Click here to read the full story.

Apostolic Minister is now Pastor of Three Methodist Churches

 

Reverend David Walters is a former UPCI District Superintendent and now pastor of a Home Missions Church in Harvey, North Dakota.  He has recently accepted the responsibility of pastor for three additional churches, but these are not Apostolic churches as you might expect; these are Methodist churches.

 

The three churches are small and were in need of a pastor. They have been using a Lutheran Lay Minister for the past several years, but he is leaving. The District Superintendent called Brother Walters and said that he was recommended for these churches. After praying about it, Brother Walters met with the man in charge of them and agreed to help out for one year.

 

At this point, they have given him an open door and complete liberty. What a tremendous opportunity to reach the members of these churches with the Acts 2:38 message!

 

Brother Walters preached in all three churches for the first time on June 1st, driving between churches in a few hours. The heart of his first message was the foundation of prayer. There seemed to be a good response to his preaching. One of the members of the first church even drove to all three of the services.

Keep praying for this great opportunity.

Christians face arrest for preaching gospel

WorldNetDaily

Two American-born pastors handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham, England, were threatened with arrest and warned of being beaten for committing what an officer called a “hate crime.”

Arthur Cunningham, 48, and Joseph Abraham, 65, were handing out the leaflets and talking with local youths when they were approached and questioned by a police community support officer, or PCSO.

When the officer discovered the two Birmingham pastors were born in the U.S., he began a heated criticism of President Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Cunningham explained that the gospel message was not linked to American foreign policy, but the officer reportedly became belligerent.

“He said we were in a Muslim area and were not allowed to spread our Christian message,” Cunningham told the London Telegraph. “He said we were committing a hate crime by telling the youths to leave Islam and said that he was going to take us to the police station.”

Click Here to read the complete story.

Four out of ten pastors lack strong interest in increasing community outreach

Excerpt from article: “Methodist churches are more likely than average to use events, but less likely to use literature, door-to-door visitation, and revivals or crusades. Lutherans are particularly likely to rely on Vacation Bible School, online methods, and mailings or fliers, and less likely to use revivals or crusades, musical events or concerts, or audio/visual methods. Pentecostal churches are particularly likely to employ musical events or concerts, revivals or crusades, “invite a friend to church” days, and audio/visual products, but less likely than average to use Vacation Bible School for evangelism. Presbyterians are especially unlikely to use literature, revivals or crusades, door-to-door visitation, or audio/visual products.”

Full Article Here