FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) – The loss of a rule that prevented officials from entering churches to arrest immigrants accused of being in the U.S. illegally has hurt the Church’s witness, the National Hispanic Baptist Network (NHBN) said Jan. 29 in calling for the rule’s reinstatement. The NHBN, a group representing more than 3,300 Southern Baptist churches, released its statement in Spanish and English nine days after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) overturned a 14-year-old rule … [Read more...]
Iran’s Christians suffer sixfold increase in prison time, report says
LONDON (BP) – Christians in Iran suffered combined prison sentences amounting to a sixfold increase over time levied in 2023, all as punishment for their faith, London-based religious advocacy group Article 18 said in its latest annual report. The courts sentenced 96 Christians to a combined 263 years in prison in 2024 on faith-related charges, compared to 22 Christians sentenced in 2023 to a combined 43.5 years, Article 18 said in the report released Jan. 20 in collaboration with Open … [Read more...]
Trump move to halt refugee program could affect persecuted Christians
WASHINGTON (BP) – Incoming President Donald Trump has halted for at least 90 days a refugee admissions program that resettled 100,000 individuals fleeing persecution in fiscal year 2024, including nearly 30,000 Christians. By an executive order Jan. 20, Trump suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) “until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests” of the nation, ordered the secretary of Homeland Security to submit a report … [Read more...]
Cuba frees pastor after U.S. drops island from state sponsors of terrorism list
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba (BP) – Evangelical Protestant pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo is among hundreds of prisoners, including several religious leaders, Cuba released last week after the U.S. removed the island nation from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Cuba released Fajardo Jan. 17 from Mar Verde Prison in Santiago de Cuba, international religious freedom advocate CSW said upon his release, after President Biden’s 11th hour announcement that he would remove Cuba from the … [Read more...]
Churches mark 2025 MLK Day on rare concurrence with Inauguration Day
DORAVILLE, Ga. (BP) – The charge to “Let Freedom Run” typically spices Pastor Bill Kelly’s devotion at the annual Martin Luther King 5K Drum Run kicking off Jan. 20 from First Baptist Church of Doraville, he told Baptist Press in advance of the 14th annual community event. “His understanding of the heart of God gave him the strength to stand against injustice,” Kelly said of King. “We stand together living out his dream of races and cultures coming together in a spirit of love, grace and … [Read more...]
Open Doors: Violence, civil wars drive global Christian persecution up 4.1 percent
BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. (BP) – Africa, with more Christians than any other continent, has in Nigeria the deadliest nation for believers at the hands of Islamic terrorists and suffers persistently high violence in a dozen countries in its sub-Saharan region. Add to that the civil war in Sudan that has created the largest displacement crisis in the world, as well as lingering civil wars elsewhere, and it’s no wonder that an additional 15 million Christians are suffering high levels of persecution … [Read more...]
Survivors ‘desperate’ as tenuous ceasefire dangles, Palestinian pastor says
JERUSALEM (BP) – Crucial humanitarian aid, the phased release of hostages in exchange for prisoners, and an end to Israel’s bombing of Gaza were among the initial terms of a ceasefire agreement announced Jan. 14 between Israel and Hamas. But the agreement is already in limbo a day later, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing his cabinet will not meet to certify the agreement as stipulated for its passage. Survivors in Gaza, including perhaps 620 Christians, are … [Read more...]
Friendship Baptist disabled father, bedridden son perish in Eaton fire
ALTADENA, Calif. (BP) – Jordan Mitchell, caregiver to his disabled father and brother Justin with cerebral palsy, is certain he could have gotten them out of their Altadena home in advance of the Eaton fire. That is, if he himself hadn’t been hospitalized with sepsis. Instead, the fast-moving fire consumed the home as Anthony Mitchell Sr. huddled beside his son Justin in a bedroom, awaiting an ambulance to evacuate them. Friendship Baptist Church of Yorba Linda Senior Pastor Kenneth … [Read more...]
Laws in 20 states guarding kids from online porn at risk in High Court appeal
WASHINGTON (BP) – Laws in 20 states aimed at shielding minors from online pornography are under fire as the U.S. Supreme Court hears a legal challenge Jan. 15, with the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) among many interceding for the Texas law at the center of the case. At issue is Texas House Bill 1181, one of a string of 20 such laws passed since Louisiana began the charge in 2022 to require websites containing at least 33 percent pornographic materials … [Read more...]
Global Christian persecution up; religious restrictions at peak levels, studies show
WASHINGTON (BP) – Religious nationalism, mass displacement, authoritarianism, surveillance technology and other trends combine to persecute 300 million Christians globally, International Christian Concern (ICC) said in its 2025 Global Persecution Index released Jan. 2. Targeting 20 countries, the latest annual report identifies 20 persecution zones, spotlights underlying factors that make each region increasingly unstable, and details the growing persecution Christians are suffering at … [Read more...]
California baker in court again in fight to follow Christian beliefs in work
FRESNO, Calif. (BP) – California Christian baker Cathy Miller, who won two lower court battles in her refusal to custom design a wedding cake for a lesbian couple, continued to plead her case for individual religious freedom Dec. 17 in a California appeals court. “It takes a special kind of spite to spend almost a decade bullying a small-business owner because she wants to run her bakery without sacrificing her Christian faith,” Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket … [Read more...]
Christians challenge law blocking some religious colleges from state-funded program
MINNEAPOLIS (BP) – Minnesota Christian parents are challenging a state law that blocks certain Christian colleges from a program that allows colleges to enroll high schoolers in tuition-free college credit courses. Through Minnesota’s Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program, 10th through 12th graders have been able to take college credit courses tuition-free at state colleges since 1985, according to attorneys at Becket Law. But the state changed the PSEO program in 2023, … [Read more...]
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