“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not
the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any
person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I
require at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12]
Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] English
and Welsh Church Leaders Withdraw Legal Action after Government U-Turn on
Church Closures
[2] Case
of Christian Actress Sacked for Biblical Beliefs To Be Heard at Employment
Tribunal
[4] Union
Theological Seminary’s 1800s-Era ‘Westwood’ House Demolished in Northside
Richmond, Virginia
[5] Dutch
Reformed Church Branches in South Africa Approach Court to Lift Ban on
Faith-Based Gatherings
---
[1] English
and Welsh Church Leaders Withdraw Legal Action after Government U-Turn on
Church Closures
122 church leaders have
withdrawn their pursuit of a judicial review after restrictions
on public worship were lifted in England and Wales following sustained
political, legal and media pressure.
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, a permission hearing for judicial
review over the unprecedented decisions to close churches by the English and
Welsh governments was due this week at Cardiff Civil Justice Centre.
The leaders, from different denominations and traditions within the Christian
church in England and Wales, had launched the claim for judicial review in
response to government lockdowns in October and November 2020.
Disturbing stories broke in the media following the implementation of the
regulations, including a legal online church
service wrongly being shut down by police and the pastor of the
church being prosecuted on his doorstep.
The Welsh ‘firebreak’ lockdown, implemented in October 2020, also saw police
shutting down a church service saying it was ‘illegal’. Mourners
at a funeral service were also prevented
from saying the Lord’s Prayer together, which led to national
outrage.
However, the New Year regulations outlined by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and
the Welsh Assembly respectively, saw both governments U-turn on their policy of
closing churches during lockdown.
Despite this, there have been no reassurances from either government that they
will not close churches in the future. The church leaders vow that they will be
ready to pursue legal action again should they do so.
Now attention turns to Scotland, where the SNP has decided to close churches
during the current lockdown. Church leaders from across Scotland are now
considering whether to pursue legal action.
Must never happen again
Pastor Ade Omooba MBE, who led the church leaders’ legal challenge, said: “English
and Welsh government bans on worshipping together were decided without
sufficient and robust warning, proper consultation, and without even a mention
at press conferences prior to our intervention.
“Since then, significant pressure has ensured the government’s U-turn and
recognition that you cannot treat churches, and the crucial material, emotional
and spiritual services they provide to their communities, as non-essential.
“Throughout the crisis, churches have demonstrated their love and leadership
both by caring for the practical needs of their neighbours and by worshiping
together safely, when possible.
“The language and the actions of the English and Welsh governments has now
significantly shifted. We welcome this and have withdrawn our legal claim
accordingly. Now we call on both governments to ensure consistency of
appropriate dialogue and to uphold and protect the important and long held
constitutional position of the independence of church and civil government.
“If places of worship close again in England and Wales, we will face no
alternative but to pursue legal action again.”
Rev. Matthew Roberts, Minister of Trinity Church York, said: "As
the pandemic and all its tragic effects continue, it has never been more
important that people from across the country should gather safely to worship
God. We are very grateful to the government for recognising this and preserving
Christian worship through the current lockdown, and we see constantly the
benefit of regular and safe worship in people's lives."
Criminalised public worship
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, the leaders had sought permission for
judicial review on the grounds that government restrictions on public worship
breach Article 9 rights, including the freedom of Christians to manifest their
religion or beliefs in communal worship, teaching, practice and observance.
The claim stated that the government failed to
discharge their public law duty of enquiry, especially by failing to ascertain
the extent to which leaving open places of worship would risk contributing to
the spread of Covid-19.
Furthermore, the claim stated that the government’s regulations were made
outside the legislative power conferred by the Public Health 1984 Act, an
important principle long recognised by English law and the constitution.
The claim also argued that the state had unreasonably privileged the use of
religious premises for secular purposes whilst prohibiting their use for
religious purposes which are their raison d’être. This demonstrated that this
ban on collective worship is manifestly unreasonable.
It outlined the position of the leaders on the issue saying that: “The
English and Welsh Governments have now introduced two successive sets of
lockdown measures which have completely prohibited and criminalised public
communal worship, a core aspect of religious life for the Claimants and their
congregations. With these measures, the Governments have inflicted a terrible
human cost, without rigorous consideration of less onerous restrictions, and as
part of a package which leaves places of worship open for secular activities.”
Government pressured to U-turn
The legal action followed new restrictions, which came into force in England on
5 November 2020, stating that “places of worship will be closed” with
exceptions for funerals, broadcast acts of worship, individual prayer,
essential voluntary public services, formal childcare, and some other exempted
activities.
These restrictions once again made it a criminal offence for Christians to
gather for worship or prayer, or to go to church for worship on a Sunday.
Ahead of the restrictions, over 1500 church leaders signed an open letter
urging the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, not to close churches, describing the
decision to do so as ‘baffling.’
‘We don’t have good data’
Former Prime Minister, Theresa May, also raised serious concerns over the
government’s policy in parliament in November 2020, stating: “My concern is
the government today making it illegal to conduct an act of public worship for
the best of intentions, sets a precedent that could be misused for a government
in the future with the worst of intentions. It has unintended consequences.”
When asked how
the government had justified closing places of worship, chief
scientific advisors, Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, said in
November 2020: “We haven’t got good evidence”, “this is not
a very exact science at all” and “we don’t have good data to
answer that with any degree of certainty.”
In Germany, Angela Merkel refused to close churches as part of their current
lockdown as it raised serious ‘constitutional issues’, and earlier
this year a French high court branded government church closures as unlawful
and overturned the ban. Recently the United States Supreme Court allowed
churches to remain open in New York state.
+ Christian Concern,
[2] Case
of Christian Actress Sacked for Biblical Beliefs To Be Heard at Employment
Tribunal
From Monday 1 February, the
Employment Tribunal London will hear the high-profile legal case of sacked
Christian actress, Seyi Omooba, 25.
The West End star was removed from a lead role in a musical for a four-year-old
Facebook post that cited the Bible.
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Miss Omooba is suing Leicester Curve
Theatre and Global Artists Agency, who refused to act for her following the
controversy, for discrimination and breach of contract.
The case will expose the mechanisms of censorship at the heart of the theatre
industry, and how any dissenting views against LGBT ideology, especially
Christian beliefs, are currently incompatible with a theatrical career.
The theatre had attempted to avert Miss Omooba’s lawsuit by offering to pay her
the full wages she would have received for playing in the performance. However,
Miss Omooba rejected that offer, and requested a formal and public ruling that
the theatre has acted unlawfully and discriminated against her because of her
Christian beliefs.
Approximate timetable
Monday 1 February: Introductory session at 10:00; the rest of the day reserved
for reading the documents
Tuesday 2 February: The evidence of Pastor Ade Omooba MBE
Tue-Wed 2-3 February: The evidence of Seyi Omooba
Thursday 4 February: The evidence of Chris Stafford, the chief executive of
Leicester Curve Theatre
Friday 5 February: The evidence of Michael Garret, the director of Global
Artists Agency (and of another Global Artists witness)
Monday 8 February: Closing submissions
Tue-Thu 9-11 February: Tribunal’s deliberations in private
Thursday 11 February: Judgement
Raw talent
On March 14 2019, Miss Seyi Omooba, 25, from East London, had been given a lead
role as Celie in Leicester Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome’s co-production of
the award-winning musical The Color Purple, based on Alice Walker’s classic
American novel.
The casting was announced the same day that Miss Omooba went with her father,
Pastor Ade Omooba, an eminent international Christian campaigner and Christian
Concern’s co-founder, to Buckingham Palace to receive his MBE.
Miss Omooba had developed her raw talent from a young age singing gospel in
church and studying performing arts at Anglia Ruskin University.
She had already built up a portfolio of performances, among them parts in
Hadestown at the National Theatre, Little Shop of Horrors, Spring Awakening,
and had played the role of Nettie in the Cadogan Hall production of The Color
Purple.
In a review of her full debut in the West End musical, Ragtime, Miss Omooba was
described as: “jaw-droppingly good, and her ferocious gospel vocals…pin you to
your seat. This is her professional debut, and she’s someone to watch.” In the
production of A Color Purple at Cadogan Hall, Miss Omooba’s depiction of the
character of Nettie was described as capturing the “very heart of her
character.”
Facebook post from 2014
After the cast was announced, however, on March 15, Miss Omooba was tagged on
Twitter by another West End performer, Aaron Lee Lambert, who is not known to
her. With a screenshot of a Facebook post that Miss Omooba had posted
four-and-half-years ago on September 18 2014, Mr Lambert wrote:
“@seyiomooba Do you still stand by this post? Or are you happy to remain a
hypocrite? Seeing as you’ve now been announced to be playing an LGBTQ
character, I think you owe your LGBTQ peers an explanation. Immediately.”
In September 2014, Miss Omooba was a 20-year-old student whose acting career
had not even started. She regularly posts about her faith online without any
issue, and in this post had written on her personal Facebook page, in the
context of the government introducing same-sex marriage legislation, that:
“Some Christians have completely misconceived the issue of Homosexuality,
they have begun to twist the word of God. It is clearly evident in 1
Corinthians 6:9-11 what the Bible says on this matter. I do not believe you can
be born gay, and I do not believe homosexual practice is right, though the law
of this land has made it legal doesn’t mean it is right. I do believe that
everyone sins and falls into temptation but it’s by the asking of forgiveness,
repentance and the grace of God that we overcome and live how God ordained us
to. Which is that a man should leave his father and mother and be joined to his
wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24. God loves everyone, just
because He doesn’t agree with your decisions doesn’t mean He doesn’t love you.
Christians we need to step up and love but also tell the truth of God’s word. I
am tired of lukewarm Christianity, be inspired to stand up for what you believe
and the truth #our God is three in one #God (Father) #Jesus Christ (Son) #Holy
Spirit.”
Miss Omooba received the tweet from Mr Lambert while supporting a grieving
friend, and despite being deeply shocked and intimidated, refused to be drawn
into an online discussion on the issue.
Called a n***** for citing the Bible
Calls for Miss Omooba to be removed from the cast followed, however, as well as
online abuse which included her being called a ‘n*****.’
Miss Omooba, who visibly prays before each show and wears a ‘Not Ashamed’ of
the Gospel wrist band, had accepted the lead role over Celie after originally
auditioning for the character of Nettie, and disagrees with the interpretation
that Celie is a lesbian character.
The character of Celie in The Color Purple has intrigued readers and critics since
it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 after its publication the previous year. Set
in the Deep South of the US, its main character, Celie, leads a life of immense
struggle at the hands of men, until she briefly finds comfort and friendship
with another woman. It was made into a Hollywood film in 1985 and starred
Whoopi Goldberg, who described the film and the character of Celie as:
“Not really about feminism, or lesbianism, despite the fact that Celie finds
out about love and tenderness from another woman….It has nothing to do with
lesbianism. It has to do with, her eyes are opened, now she understands.”
Steven Spielberg, who directed the film, was pressed in 2011 on whether today
he would make the ‘kiss’ scene in the film more explicit, but he said: “I
wouldn’t, no. That kiss is consistent with the tonality, from beginning to end,
of The Color Purple that I adapted.”
On the 15 March, Miss Omooba received a call from her agency, Global Artists,
telling her that pressure was mounting for her to be removed from the show
because of her views. She was told that only through retracting the comments
and publicly apologising would she be able to continue under their management,
which she refused to do.
Leicester Curve Theatre and the Birmingham Hippodrome then released a statement
on 21 March which led to Miss Omooba’s contract being terminated. The theatres
claimed in their statement that: “The play and production are seeking
to promote freedom and independence and to challenge views, including the view
that homosexuality is a sin.”
+ Christian Concern,
NEWS PROVIDED BY
D. James Kennedy Ministries
Jan. 28, 2021
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 28, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- D.
James Kennedy Ministries (DJKM) is mounting an "I'm With Franklin!"
signature campaign to counter a left-wing group's attack aimed at removing
Graham as President and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and
Samaritan's Purse.
The I'm With Franklin! open letter is located at DJKM.org where
visitors may sign it in support of Graham.
Faithful America—a group originally founded by the National Council of Churches
and funded in the past by George Soros—is petitioning for Graham's removal over
an online post in which he said he tends to believe Donald Trump's claim there
was fraud in the 2020 election.
"This is just one more stunning display of the left's bitter intolerance
and its self-righteous determination to banish Biblically faithful voices from
America's public square," said Frank Wright, Ph.D., CEO and President of
DJKM.
Wright added:
"Franklin Graham is an international evangelist and a renowned
humanitarian whose organization, Samaritan's Purse, delivers aid across the
world to people in need. He is also an outspoken defender of Biblical moral
values at a time when the left is determined to purge competing voices from
American public life.
"That is why D. James Kennedy Ministries is collecting signatures on our
I'm With Franklin! open letter for delivery to our friends at the Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse.
"We want him, as well as the boards of BGEA and Samaritan's Purse to know
that faithful believers in Jesus Christ love Franklin and stand with him."
To request an interview with Dr. Frank Wright, contact John Aman, Director of
Communications, at j.aman@DJKM.org.
D. James Kennedy Ministries is a media ministry whose television programs,
Truths That Transform and The Coral Ridge Hour, air nationwide. It actively
communicates the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the supremacy of His Lordship, and a
Biblically informed view of the world.
SOURCE D. James Kennedy Ministries
CONTACT: John Aman, j.aman@DJKM.org
+ Christian News Wire, 2020
Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC
20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
[4] Union
Theological Seminary’s 1800s-Era ‘Westwood’ House Demolished in Northside
Richmond, Virginia
A 28 January 2021 Richmond
BIZSENSE article by Jonathan Spiers titled “Seminary’s 1800s-Era ‘Westwood’ House
Demolished in Northside” reports that Union
Theological Seminary (UTS) in Richmond, Virginia during the week of 25 January 2021
razed the Westwood house, also known as McGuire Cottage, in the Northside
section of the city. The house was almost 200 years old.
UTS spokesman Mike Frontiero said its
board of trustees voted last year to demolish the structure, originally the
home of Confederate surgeon Hunter Holmes McGuire, “as recognition of and in
repentance for the resourcing provided to the seminary through the labor of
enslaved persons.” McGuire additionally was said to have authored works
describing blacks and other groups of people as being inferior to whites.
+ Richmond
BIZSENSE, 23 W. Broad Street. Suite 401, Richmond,
Virginia
23220, aaron@richmondbizsense.com
[5] Dutch
Reformed Church Branches in South Africa Approach Court to Lift Ban on
Faith-Based Gatherings
Pretoria - The government is
facing a second urgent application - this time by, among others, several Dutch
Reformed Church branches - to lift the ban on faith-based gatherings under the
amended level 3 lockdown regulations.
The churches, of which
several are locally based, filed papers in the Johannesburg high court, in
which they are asking for an urgent order that faith-based gatherings be
allowed.
+ Independent On Line, 118 St. Georges Street,
Post Office Box 4116, Cape
Town 8001, South Africa, +27-21-481-6200, Fax: +27-21-481-6294
A group of Scottish church
leaders has launched a claim for judicial review over the
Scottish Minsters’ unprecedented decision to close churches and criminalise
public worship during the current lockdown.
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, 27 church leaders from a range of
Christian denominations, including the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing),
the Church of Scotland, the Free Church of Scotland, and a number of
independent churches, have launched the action, stating that the closures are
unlawful and breach European Convention of Human Rights law and the Scottish
constitution.
Restrictions outlined by First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, on Friday 8 January
2021, made it a criminal offence in the highest tiers for churches to hold
services in-person and, for example, to conduct baptisms.
In response, the church leaders sent
a pre-action letter to the Scottish Ministers on 15 January,
urging them to re-open churches.
They emphasised that the regulations prohibit them from supporting the
material, emotional and spiritual needs in their congregations and communities.
In the claim the church leaders outlined that they fully understand the
seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic and the difficult decisions the Scottish
Government has had to take.
However, the leaders stated that they believe the Scottish Ministers’ have “failed
to appreciate that the closure of places of worship is a disproportionate step,
and one which has serious implications for freedom of religion.”
The Scottish Ministers’ responded by rejecting the claim and declaring
that the state can ‘regulate the secular activities of Churches…for the
purposes of protecting public health’ and that churches are compelled
to ‘comply with secular law’ and therefore must remain closed.
This statement conflicts directly with the long-established and traditional
authority Scottish churches have had over their own affairs, free from state
interference. This is enshrined in the 1592 Act, the 1706 Act for Securing
Protestant Religion and the Church of Scotland Act 1921.
There has been no attempt to close churches in Scotland since the persecution
of the Presbyterian church, instituted by the Stuart kings, in the 17th
century.
Left with no alternative but to pursue a judicial review, lawyers representing
the church leaders, will now argue that the regulations are in violation of the
European Convention on Human Rights (Articles 9 and 11) and the Scottish
Constitution.
As part of the claim, the church leaders will seek a ‘declarator’ that the
closure of churches in Scotland are unlawful, that church closure regulations
must be reversed, and that a person may lawfully leave their home to attend a
place of worship without fear of prosecution.
In the claim, the church leaders: ‘hold that public corporate worship,
involving the physical gathering together of Christians… are fundamental and
indispensable aspects of their religion’, and argue that ‘in
the absence of the gathered people of God, there is effectively no “church.”’
The Scottish Ministers' now have seven days to respond.
Closures ‘illogical’ says microbiologist
Scottish Ministers’ insist they are relying on ‘science’ to justify a number of
lockdown measures, including church closures. However, an expert report,
provided as part of the case by microbiologist, Dr Ian Blenkharn, describes the
strategy as ‘illogical’ on a number of levels.
Dr Blenkharn says, for example, that it is: “illogical to propose that
church premises can be used for blood donor sessions, food banks and other
social support activities, and if required for Covid-19 testing and vaccination
activities”, but not for public worship.
At present, a church building in Scotland could be used as a vaccination
centre, but should the same people recite the Lord’s Prayer together, they
could be prosecuted.
Dr Blenkharn’s report concludes that he can find: “No barriers to the
safe opening of churches for worship. Indeed, there is an overwhelming and
unavoidable comparator that church services present no additional risk of
COVID-19 coronavirus infection than would the many different commercial
activities in the manufacturing, supply and retail sectors etc that are now
permitted to operate.”
‘Constitutional issues’
The decision to close churches in Scotland is out of step, not only with the
decision of the English and Welsh government’s decision to allow churches to
remain open under the current lockdown, but also internationally.
In November 2020, Chancellor Angela Merkel refused to close churches in Germany
due to ‘constitutional issues’.
Earlier this year a French high court branded government church closures as
unlawful and overturned the ban, and the Supreme Court of the United States
recently allowed churches to remain open in New York state.
Vulnerable excluded
Rev. Dr William Philip, leader of the Tron church in Glasgow City Centre,
which has over 500 members of all ages and backgrounds, said: “We are able
to do some things remotely via broadcasting, but many - especially the poorest,
the oldest, and those most vulnerable - have no access to this. They are excluded
completely from the possibility of Christian worship, and the comfort and
encouragement in life and death only this can give.
“Due to the severe restrictions upon gatherings and significant distress
this has caused, we have faced no alternative but to pursue legal action.”
Rev. Nathan Owens, Minister of Maxwell Church in Kilmaurs, said: “I
serve a number of vulnerable people and I have seen the dire consequences that
shutting churches has had on those people for whom church is a lifeline. We think
churches being open is not only a human right or a Scottish constitutional
matter, but is one of the most vitally important ways our society can respond
to this pandemic.”
Gerald White, Pastor of Hope church in Edinburgh, said: “I serve the
local community on a council estate and there is a lot of darkness here. The
church offers hope to the hopeless. People’s struggles with drug and alcohol
addictions are exacerbated at this time. Mental health issues are even worse
than they were before and single mothers in particular are struggling. Under
these regulations we cannot reach and support those in greatest need.”
John William-Noble, pastor of Grace Baptish church in Aberdeen, said: “We
do recognise that the pandemic is very serious and churches throughout this
past year have followed a number of guidelines given by the government in order
to protect health and safety. Churches have demonstrated that they are one of
the most Covid secure parts of society.”
Rev. Dr Rupert Hunt-Taylor, Minister of Edinburgh North Church, said: “When
the nation faces a life and death situation, with so much already taken away
from so many, you don’t close down the one source of true hope that Scotland
has turned to for centuries.”
+ Christian Concern, 70 Wimpole
Street, London W1G
8AX, England, 020 7935
1488, Contact Page
