Today’s Headlines:

LESS CHRISTIANS VISITING BETHLEHEM, PLENTY OF ROOM IN THE INNS

IMPACT OF ‘PROJECT PEARL’ IN CHINA CONTINUES DECADES LATER

PENTECOSTALS SURPASS METHODISTS IN DENOMINATION’S HOMELAND

8 EPISCOPAL CHURCHES IN VIRGINIA JOIN NIGERIAN CONSERVATIVES

76-YEAR-OLD PASTOR OVERCOMES OBSTACLES, EARNS DOCTORATE

Today’s Top Stories:

LESS CHRISTIANS VISITING BETHLEHEM, PLENTY OF ROOM IN THE INNS

The Christian population in the birthplace of Christ is dwindling, and there is lots of room in the inns there today. Bethlehem’s Christian population has dropped from more than 85 percent in 1948 to around 12 percent of its 60,000 inhabitants in 2006. In a story about the city, a U.K. website (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk) says that the situation has become so desperate that British church leaders are to lead a joint delegation to Bethlehem this week to express their solidarity with the beleaguered Christian populace. The influence of Islamic fundamentalism now surrounds what is one of the most sacred sites in Christendom. The story states, “There are reports of religious persecution, in the form of murders, beatings and land grabs.” The years of unrest in the West Bank have also taken a toll. “The breakdown in security is putting off tourists, leading to economic hardship for Christians, who own most of the town’s hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops.” Violence against Christians has increased, and last year’s security measures required tourists to wait in long lines, affecting the Christians’ main source of income. Hotel owners say tourist numbers have dropped from 91,276 each month for the millennium celebrations in 2000 to little more than 1,500 a month now. (Assist News Service)

IMPACT OF ‘PROJECT PEARL’ IN CHINA CONTINUES DECADES LATER

Shortly after the funeral of Ed Neteland, executive director of the Christian Association of Senior Adults (CASA) and former director of Open Doors USA who played a key role in the massive delivery of Bibles to China in 1981 called “Project Pearl,” more word of the impact of the operation has surfaced. Neteland died Sunday, Dec. 3, at age 74 following complications from an accident at his home. Under Neteland’s direction, Project Pearl delivered 232 tons of Bibles to China, reaching nearly every Chinese province. Open Doors reported that those Bibles contributed to “unprecedented growth of Christianity in communist China.” At least one of the Bibles ended up with a man who had “prayed for three years to receive a Bible.” He went on to read the Scriptures “three times in just three weeks” and later became an evangelist and leader of a house church organization now with some 400,000 members. This is just one house church started as a direct result of the Bibles, and Open Doors estimates there are 80 million Christians in China. Open Doors Netherlands spokesman Jeno Sebok suggested Neteland would have been pleased with the results. “It is amazing to see how big the impact has been of these Bibles. That’s not only because of the huge number, but because God has given His blessings over most of these Bibles,” Sebok explained. (BosNewsLife)

* HCJB World Radio-Australia’s shortwave station in Kununurra broadcasts 16.5 hours of Mandarin and 14 hours of Cantonese programming each week.

PENTECOSTALS SURPASS METHODISTS IN DENOMINATION’S HOMELAND

Pentecostals now outnumber Methodists in the homeland of the Methodist denomination. According to Dr. David Voas, a senior researcher at Manchester University, “Methodism is dying in Britain.” Meanwhile, African immigrants have numbers of Pentecostal worshipers increasing in the island nation. A recent survey conducted by the independent charity, Christian Research, indicates that Methodists’ average Sunday attendance dropped to about 278,700 this year while Pentecostal attendance exceeds 288,000. “Black churchgoers in inner London, where they outnumber white attendees, are an important source of growth in the context of the national decline in church attendance,” said Voas. “So it is significant that 40 percent of Pentecostals, but only 4 percent of Methodists, are black. It remains to be seen if Pentecostals can make significant inroads into the white population.” Rev. Jonathan Kerry, coordinating secretary for worship and learning for the Methodist Church in Great Britain, added, “It’s always good news to hear of growth amongst Christians, regardless of denomination — we are not in competition.” However, Kerry did admit, “the Methodist Church now struggles to respond to new movements of God’s Spirit without feeling that it is betraying the past.” (WorldWide Religious News)

8 EPISCOPAL CHURCHES IN VIRGINIA JOIN NIGERIAN CONSERVATIVES

A group of eight Episcopal parishes in Virginia, including two of the state’s largest, have voted to leave the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA)

and associate themselves instead with conservative Anglican groups in Africa. The votes, which affect about 10 percent of the 90,000 Episcopalians in the Diocese of Virginia, came in response to the denomination’s growing acceptance of homosexual relationships. Leaders of Truro Church in Fairfax and The Falls Church in Falls Church, which have roots dating back to the 1700s, have led the way in establishing a conservative alternative to ECUSA. More than 90 percent of the membership voted to sever ties with the ECUSA and form the core of a Virginia-based mission of the Episcopal Church of Nigeria whose archbishop has called ECUSA’s homosexual acceptance a “satanic attack.” A possible legal battle over millions of dollars in church property is expected to follow the churches’ separation. (Agape Press)

76-YEAR-OLD PASTOR OVERCOMES OBSTACLES, EARNS DOCTORATE

After five difficult years, 76-year-old Pastor William Rogers earned his doctoral degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., on Friday, Dec. 8. Rodgers enrolled in the program 42 years after earning a master of divinity degree. He has served as senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church near downtown New Orleans for the past 30 years. Since enrolling, Rogers lost his wife of more than 50 years to a heart attack. The loss was devastating, and Rogers lost 30 pounds and considered giving up his pursuit of a degree. Buoyed by the support of his congregation, however, he decided to press on. Then Hurricane Katrina hit, leaving many in his congregation with 15 feet of water in their houses. The necessary evacuations threatened to tear apart the church, but members connected with each other through the church’s website which was created just three weeks prior to the hurricane. Rogers’ studies were again placed on hold. Despite all the adversity, Rogers’ doctoral supervisor, J.D. Payne said, “He has shown the most Christ-like spirit that I’ve seen in some time. I never heard him complain.” (Baptist Press)

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