Current page: Reporter / Samuel Smith

Pandemic has negatively impacted churches, say half of pastors

Samuel Smith | Sat 14 Nov 2020 11:58 GMT

Nearly half of Protestant pastors (48%) say that the economic lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively impacted their churches, but only a small fraction of them say the impact has been "very" negative, according to a new survey.
Government restrictions on religion worldwide at record levels

Samuel Smith | Fri 13 Nov 2020 10:34 GMT

Newly released data from an ongoing Pew Research Center study shows that government restrictions on religion around the world have risen to a record level amid increases in government restrictions on religion in Asia and Pacific countries, most notably.
Gospel for Asia says tax department probe into partner church has been 'wildly mischaracterized'

Samuel Smith | Fri 13 Nov 2020 10:13 GMT

Gospel for Asia has responded after the Indian government accused its partner ministry, Believers Eastern Church, and leader Bishop K.P. Yohannan of "siphoning out" tax-exempted funds for "personal and other illegal expenses."
Jim Wallis steps down as Sojourners editor after op-ed row

Samuel Smith | Fri 21 Aug 2020 13:25 BST

Longtime progressive evangelical leader Jim Wallis has been replaced as editor-in-chief at Sojourners magazine after staff members resigned following his decision to unpublish a controversial op-ed accusing the Catholic Church of having a "white-power faction."
How can Joe Biden square 'authentic' faith with 'radical' abortion views, asks evangelical leader

Samuel Smith | Fri 24 Jul 2020 8:45 BST

Prominent evangelical activist and pastor Tony Perkins has pushed back against the claim that Joe Biden is a "more acceptable" presidential candidate for Christians in 2020 than President Donald Trump as the Biden campaign positions itself to appeal to evangelicals.
Christians and Yazidis experiencing persecution in Syria after US troop withdrawal, commission hears

Samuel Smith | Sat 20 Jun 2020 12:15 BST

A religious freedom scholar told the United States' top religious freedom panel that the U.S. troop pullback in northeastern Syria has created a "vacuum" that has allowed Turkish forces and affiliated opposition groups to carry out war crimes against Christians and other religious minorities.
27 killed in attacks on Christian villages in Mali

Samuel Smith | Thu 4 Jun 2020 13:56 BST

Suspected Islamic radicals killed at least 27 people, some of whom were burned alive, in a series of attacks that spanned from last Tuesday to Wednesday evening in three villages that advocates say are predominantly inhabited by Christians in Central Mali, officials said.
Trump makes religious freedom a 'national security imperative'

Samuel Smith | Wed 3 Jun 2020 10:23 BST

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday instructing the U.S. State Department to prioritize international religious freedom in its implementation of foreign policy and budget $50 million per year toward the advancement of religious freedom.
Man sentenced to 26 years after abducting Christian girl and forcing her into Muslim marriage

Samuel Smith | Sat 23 May 2020 11:31 BST

A federal court in Nigeria sentenced a man to 26 years in prison after he abducted a Christian teenager from her home and forced her into an Islamic marriage in 2015.
Ban on religious gatherings is unlawful, France's top court rules

Samuel Smith | Fri 22 May 2020 8:59 BST

France's supreme court for administrative justice has ruled that the government's absolute ban on religious gatherings in hopes of stopping the spread of COVID-19 is unlawful.
Hundreds of Christians killed in Nigeria this year - report

Samuel Smith | Mon 18 May 2020 7:08 BST

About 620 Christians have been killed and hundreds of homes and churches damaged in Nigeria since the start of the year as attacks carried about by Fulani radicals and Islamic terrorists continue, a Nigerian NGO has warned.
GOD TV says it will obey regulations in Israel amid fears of being shut down

Samuel Smith | Wed 13 May 2020 8:12 BST

The head of the international Christian television network GOD TV has said that Israeli authorities are looking to "shut down" its new Hebrew-language Christian channel after concerns were raised about whether the channel will proselytize to Jews.
ISIS has 'returned in force' to Iraq

Samuel Smith | Sat 9 May 2020 9:55 BST

As governments try to combat the spread of COVID-19, there has been a resurgence of deadly attacks by the Islamic State in Iraq over two years after the group's territorial defeat.
GOD TV in Israel threatened with closure

Samuel Smith | Thu 7 May 2020 9:13 BST

A new evangelical Christian television channel in Israel has been threatened with being shut down if it engages in any type of missionary activity
Abducted seminarian was killed because he shared Christian faith with his captors

Samuel Smith | Wed 6 May 2020 7:11 BST

A member of a Nigerian highway gang that's responsible for killing a kidnapped Catholic seminarian earlier this year admitted in a recent media interview that the aspiring priest was killed because he wouldn't stop proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to his captors.