If several of Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse victims have their way, the convicted felon’s former charity, “The Second Mile,” will not be allowed to transfer $2.5 million in assets to Texas-based foster ministry Arrow Child and Family Ministries. CT reported earlier how Sandusky's charity couldn't survive donor fallout from the sex abuse scandal at Penn State's football program.

According to initial reports, a petition against distribution of assets was filed in Centre County Orphans' Court on Tuesday by three victims who testified against Sandusky this month, in addition to a fourth man who accused Sandusky of sexual abuse in a televised interview last week.

"The court's first priority must be to preserve [the Second Mile's] assets to maximize its ability to pay current and future liabilities," lawyers for the men known as Victims 3, 5, and 7 wrote in court filings.

Arrow founder Mark Tennant, himself a victim of sexual abuse, hopes to hire and move all of The Second Mile's employees away from the group’s State College headquarters -- which went up for sale Tuesday, listed at $750,000.

Update: UNESCO approved the Church of the Nativity as an endangered World Heritage site today in a 13-6 secret vote that has been decried for its political overtones.

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UNESCO is expected to decide this weekend whether Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity will be granted protected status as an endangered World Heritage site.

The Palestinian Authority has rushed a UNESCO vote by applying for endangered status for the Bethlehem church. Most observers regard the application as a bid for international recognition; the Palestinians failed in their statehood bid before the United Nations last year, but did succeed in gaining status as a UNESCO member state.

The three Christian denominations that serve as the church's caretakers have misgivings about the idea, while UNESCO investigators seem unconvinced that the Church of the Nativity is truly endangered, according to the AP.

CT's past coverage of Bethlehem can be found here.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a 2009 Baltimore ordinance yesterday that required "limited-service pregnancy centers" to post signs announcing they do not provide or make referrals for abortion or birth control services. The 2-1 ruling, which also struck down a similar ordinance in Maryland's Montgomery County, comes on the heels of a flood of pro-life legislation that hit the courts last year.

In the majority opinion, judges Paul Niemeyer and G. Steven Agee wrote: “In compelling that speech, the Pregnancy Center is, in this case, required to participate in the city’s effort to tell pregnant women that abortions are available elsewhere as a morally acceptable alternative, contrary to the moral and religious beliefs of the Pregnancy Center.”

Dissenting judge Robert King called the majority’s decision “indefensible,” and argued there was "ample evidence that the centers engage in 'deceptive practices' that create health risks for the women who seek help from them."

CT has reported how disclosing information to pregnant women—a long-established pro-life legal strategy—is now cutting both ways as a number of cities have passed laws similar to the Baltimore ordinance. San Francisco requires such disclosures by crisis pregnancy centers. A Texas federal court will decide this summer whether an Austin ordinance can stand. New York City passed such an ordinance but a federal judge stopped it for being "overly broad."

Baltimore archdiocesan spokesman Sean Caine told CT that the issue for conservative clinics is less about disclosure, and more about governmental control.

"They're not against disclosure; they're against the government compelling their speech," Caine said. "What they reject is being told by the government that we have to discuss, through a sign, abortion."

Compass Direct News:

Pakistan’s rigid system of prohibiting Muslims from changing their religion status on their national ID cards nearly cost a Punjab politician his post –- even though he has always been a Christian.

Rana Asif Mahmood’s political opponents sought to disqualify him from the Punjab Provincial Assembly seat reserved for minorities in April, on the grounds that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) identifies him as a Muslim.

Mahmood said that NADRA had mistakenly identified him as a Muslim because of his name and then refused to rectify the error. The mistake not only cost Mahmood a cabinet position, but also his part in proposing the provincial budget for 2012-13, he said.

The law establishing NADRA prohibits Muslims from changing the religion column on their Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC), though non-Muslims can easily obtain such changes –- especially if they are converting to Islam.

“The situation was revealed to me when my son applied for a CNIC a few months ago,” Mahmood said. “He was told that he could not put down Christianity as his religion because the records showed his father to be a Muslim.”

When he approached NADRA officials for corrections, Mahmood said, they told him that there was no provision for changing the religion entry. He said that his passport identified him as a Christian, and that twice he had his religion section corrected on his passport because of the NADRA error of listing him as a Muslim.

Mahmood’s political opponents filed a petition seeking his removal from one of the seats reserved for minorities based on the error. Opposition parties accepted Mahmood’s clarification only after he vehemently stated on the floor of the Punjab Assembly that he was born a Christian and appealed to them and the media not to indulge in propaganda against him that could incite Muslim extremists to kill him.

Story continues here.

Though Colorado's wildfires have more than doubled in size over the past 24 hours, buildings on the Navigators’ camp properties remain largely untouched.

“We don’t currently have access to the camp, the Glen, or the headquarters buildings, but initial reports claim none of the structures have been touched,” Navigators’ chief communications officer Gary Cantwell said of the Glen Eyrie property Wednesday. “We don’t feel like it's over – the fire tends to pop up in odd places. But, at this point, everything’s safe.”

Flames currently surround Eagle Lake Camp on all sides, but sources on the ground claim the horses have been corralled, firefighters are holding the lines, and only one cabin has been consumed. All campsites have been evacuated since Saturday afternoon.

Navigators are currently running "essential operations" out of Focus on the Family’s offices. “The body of Christ really sprang to life here,” Cantwell said. “When we evacuated Saturday night, we had several different churches open their doors right away. Dozens of our staff people have been displaced from their homes, and we’re currently operating from Focus on the Family’s headquarters. They’ve been fantastic.”

More than 32,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in Colorado Springs. No official numbers have been released as to how many structures have burned, but Flying W Ranch, an off-site event destination for past Evangelical Press Association conventions, is reportedly “a total loss.”

“Things are surreal and somewhat chaotic here,” EPA president Dean Ridings stated in a press release Wednesday afternoon. “My family is among some 32,000 who have evacuated.… We're trusting in the Lord, grateful that there have been no reported deaths or even injuries. There's a strong sense of unity that ‘we're all in this together.’”

Officials say the fire won’t likely be contained before mid-July, as it has consumed over 15,000 acres and high winds pose a significant challenge to workers on the ground. Smoke hangs densely over Colorado Springs, and homes that have not been directly affected by flame are likely to have incurred smoke damage.

“Our hope is not in buildings – the Navigators are not a bunch of buildings,” Cantwell said. “We’re people who care about people. That’s what our ministry’s all about.”

A German appeals court has ruled that parents do not have the right to circumcise their sons for religious reasons because the parents' right to religious freedom does not justify the physical harm done to the human body.

The court, assessing a lawsuit brought against a Muslim doctor over a botched circumcision, said that circumcision "contravenes the interests of the child to decide later on his religious beliefs," as well as causes "serious and irreversible interference in the integrity of the human body." Despite the millions of Muslims and approximately 100,000 Jews that call Germany home, the court said religious freedom would not be impaired by its ruling because children could later decide on their own whether to be circumcised.

Germany's Jewish council condemned the decision as “an unprecedented and dramatic intrusion on the self-determination of religious communities.”

The ruling casts a legal cloud on doctors who perform infant circumcisions, but still gives male circumcision different standing in Germany than female circumcision because there is no law prohibiting it and the ruling isn't binding for other courts.

Prompted by a proposed ballot question in San Francisco last year, CT's David Neff has weighed in on criminalizing circumcision, arguing that America may have secularized the ancient Jewish rite but it is still inescapably religious.

Update (May 14): City Harvest Church has announced that two suspension orders against Ho Yeow Sun, wife of pastor Kong Hee, have been lifted. According to a statement from the church, "Sun is once again able to exercise her executive powers for City Harvest Church. She is once again an Executive member of the church she co-founded."

The Singapore Commissioner of Charities (COC) also has given the church two extra months to submit representation for eight other City Harvest executive leaders in COC's proposal to remove them from their church roles.

Meanwhile, the corruption trial over whether church leaders inappropriately used building funds to support Ho Yeow Sun's pop music career has begun.

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Update (May 13, 2013): Wednesday will mark the beginning of the trial against six leaders of City Harvest Church, all of whom are accused of embezzling church funds.

According to a statement from the church, at least five church leaders have consented to step down from their leadership roles while the trial takes place. The statement says that Singapore's Commissioner of Charities will permanently remove a total of eight suspended leaders if they do not step down themselves.
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In response to recent allegations, City Harvest Executive Pastor Aries Zulkarnain said in a statement Thursday that the church stands with its accused leaders.

“The people currently in the news are our pastors and trusted staff and leaders who have always put God and CHC first,” Zulkarnain stated. “As a church we stand with them, and I believe fully in their integrity. Pastor Kong is still our Senior Pastor."

Zulkarnain also responded to the charges directly, denying any foul play with funds.

"It has been suggested that the church has been cheated of $50 million. This is not accurate,” Zulkarnain said. “The $24 million, which went to investment bonds, was returned to the church in full, with interest. The church did not lose any funds in the relevant transactions, and no personal profit was gained by the individuals concerned.”

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Singapore's charities commissioner has charged the founder of a 30,000-member megachurch with diverting US$18 million in church funds in order to support the ministry-related singing career of his wife.

City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee, along with four other church leaders, was arrested and charged this week with "conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust." This is the biggest case involving misconduct at a registered charity in Singapore, according to Singapore Press Holdings' AsiaOne website.

Kong and his wife, Ho Yeow Sun (popularly known as Sun Ho), launched the "Crossover Project" in 2002 to use her secular music as outreach to non-Christians. Allegations that the church was funding her music career first surfaced in 2003, but the church denied it.

The Commissioner of Charities accuses Kong of siphoning off funds to the Crossover Project under the guise of contributions to a sister church in Kuala Lumpur, among other methods.

“These funds were used with the purported intention to finance Ho Yeow Sun’s secular music career to connect with people,” stated the Commissioner of Charities, according to the Wall Street Journal. “There was a concerted effort to conceal this movement of funds from its stakeholders.”

City Harvest posted a statement saying that no charges exist against the church itself and that regular worship activities will take place.

CT has interviewed Singapore theologians on how Asia's religious pluralism can help American Christians respond to relativism, how "missional theology" has not gone far enough, and how to stop cultural drift within the evangelical movement.

Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate who narrowly won last week's runoff to become Egypt's first democratically elected president, plans to choose a Coptic Christian and a woman as his vice presidents in a gesture of inclusiveness, his spokesman has told multiple news outlets.

"And it's not just a vice president who will represent a certain agenda and sect, but a vice president who is powerful and empowered, and will be taking care of critical advising within the presidential Cabinet," spokesman Ahmed Deif told CNN.

CT has reported from Cairo on what Coptic Christians think of their new Islamist president, as well as new Coptic strategies to thrive in an Islamist Egypt and how Copts are finding common identity across denominational lines.

CT's complete coverage of Egypt, including how Pope Shenouda's death affects Coptic evangelicals, can be found here.

Among the Colorado wildfires drawing national attention today, the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs poses an immediate threat to the Navigators’ Glen Eyrie Conference Center and Eagle Lake Camp properties. The blaze, which has spread over 5,000 acres in three days, was only at 5 percent containment today, reports ABC News Colorado.

Hundreds of workers are currently on the ground battling the blaze, which has burned down an Eagle Lake tent platform and come dangerously close to its barn, auto shop, and maintenance director’s home.

“They’ve been praying God would raise walls of protection around the camp,” said Melissa Anderson, a 24-year-old Glen Eyrie resident and friend of Eagle Lake’s maintenance directors. “Apparently, the fire went through the barn area and auto shop and came all the way up to their house, where the firefighters are fighting it off now. They're trying hard to save the camp and the buildings.”

Fortunately, there were no campers Saturday when the blaze broke out, as the camp is now surrounded on three sides by walls of flame. The horses on Eagle Lake property were set loose to run free for fear the flames and smoke would eventually consume them, and the fire currently looms on the lip of the canyon above the Glen Eyrie property.

Though the fire hasn’t yet reached Glen Eyrie, Anderson was evacuated with her sister and 6,000 other El Paso County citizens Saturday, shortly after the fire was first announced.

“The fire started around noon Saturday, and within 40 minutes of the initial announcement we had to leave,” Anderson said. “It was a quick turnaround. We just started throwing random things in tubs, got in my car, and left.”

High winds pose a significant challenge to the fire’s containment, but firefighters are currently on the ground at Eagle Lake and throughout El Paso County, fending off flames that threaten to consume the camp and surrounding woodlands.

“We’re staying with friends in Colorado Springs, and you can see everything –- even the water getting sprayed,” Anderson said. “You can see the flames moving across the ridge -- it’s spreading like crazy.”

Evacuated Navigators employees are currently working out of Focus on the Family’s offices, located several miles northeast of the blaze. The cause of the fire is still unknown, though some sources on the ground suspect arson (ABC News & Paul Asay, CT contributor).

Sanitarium Foods, a cereal company owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Australia, has lost its two-year legal battle to keep Australian bakeries, restaurants, and grocery stores from using the word "granola."

The denomination trademarked "granola" as an "invented word" in 1921; this week, a federal judge disagreed, saying the word can be "easily found in dictionaries," reports Adventist Today.

The Adventist church plans to keep defending its intellectual property.

The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) has officially rebuked Wycliffe Bible Translators' approach to translating the phrase "Son of God" for Muslims, and recommended that the small denomination's churches withdraw financial support from such Bible translations if they remain uncorrected.

Wycliffe, already at risk of losing support from the 3-million-member Assemblies of God over its guidelines for Muslim translations, has agreed to a review of its practices by the World Evangelical Alliance. The Assemblies of God has delayed its decision until the review is completed, likely by year's end.

But yesterday the 40th General Assembly of the 347,000-member PCA overwhelmingly approved an investigative committee's recommendation that "Bibles should always translate divine familial terms using common biological terms" because "social familial terms fail to capture the biblical meaning of 'Son' (huios) and 'Son of God' (huios tou theou) applied to Jesus and 'Father' (pater) applied to God."

The resolution is similar to last year's PCA condemnation of "translations of the Bible that remove from the text references to God as 'Father' (pater) or Jesus as 'Son' (huios), because such removals compromise doctrines of the Trinity, the person and work of Jesus Christ, and Scripture.” However, this year's report also recommends that "PCA churches and committees should redirect missions resources away from projects which deviate from the translation principles articulated in this report," should "loving attempts" at correcting such translators fail.

The report also expresses skepticism of past explanations by Wycliffe regarding its approach to Muslim translations. "Current evidence from agencies points at best to a lack of unanimity, and in some cases to frank resistance, concerning a strong commitment to biological divine sonship terminology," notes the report. "Given the inadequate attention they have given heretofore to the theological implications of Jesus’ begotten-ness, we lack confidence at the present time to accept blanket statements made by translation agencies or their representatives that there exist languages in which the use of non-biological kinship terms constitutes best practices."

The committee will spend one more year assessing what specific actions the PCA should take on "insider movements" more broadly.

Missionaries to Muslims recently agreed to soften criticisms of each other over contextualization practices.

Who was really the first Protestant missionary from America?

This title has traditionally been bestowed upon Adoniram Judson and his wife Ann, who left for Burma in 1812. But last week, Southern Baptist pastor Dwight McKissic proposed that delegates to today's SBC annual meeting challenge this tradition and instead recognize George Liele, a freed slave who started a church in Jamaica 30 years before the Judsons left New England, as "America's First Missionary."

Today the SBC acknowledged but dodged McKissic's request by passing a resolution affirming "African American Contributions to American Baptist History." Delegates affirmed that "historiography has not always reflected the contribution of African American Baptists," thus "we celebrate pioneers such as African Americans George Liele, who many acknowledge as the first overseas missionary from the United States in 1782."

The debate over whether Liele trumps the Judsons largely rests on the fact that the Judsons were "sent out" as missionaries, while Liele was not. CT's sister publication, Christian History, tells the story of how Liele had to emigrate to live and worship freely.

A controversial Australian government program that stocks public schools with mostly Christian chaplains has long weathered political opposition and court challenges, thanks to an ironic supporter: the island nation's atheist prime minister, Julia Gillard.

But today Australia's highest appeals court invalidated the program, finding that, while it doesn't violate church-state separation, it does exceed the government's spending authority because it lacks legislation.

However, the Australian government says it will continue to fund the chaplains, either by passing legislation or by funding it at the state level.

CT reported on Gillard's counter-intuitive defense of the chaplain program in 2010.

Religious groups still received more of the nearly $300 billion that Americans gave to charity in 2011 than any other sector, but continued declines in donations have giving experts on the alert for a trend.

More than 220,000 religious groups shared almost $96 billion (about one-third of total giving) last year, a decrease of 1.7 percent from 2010 in a year when giving to all other sectors rose except foundations (down 6.1 percent), according to a new report by Giving USA Foundation and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

"Giving to religion ... is declining," said Thomas Mesaros, chairman of the Giving Institute, to Reuters. "It might be too soon to call the drops in this particular category a trend, but I think they bear watching."

Interestingly, the report found that American individuals gave (on average) 1.9 percent of their disposable income last year, almost equal to what American Christians tithe today. Such stats have led to debates over whether American evangelicals are stingy or not.

Evangelical foundations have seen surges in donations recently as wealthy Christians favor new donor-advised funds, which provide a tax-efficient and cheaper alternative to setting up a private foundation.

Four pastors in central Nigeria have been arrested for faking "deliverances" at a revival in order to raise money for the book launch of one of the pastors, according to Koji state police.

"This is not robbery, it is pure professionalism," said arrested pastor Chuks Ingalis Kelvin, according to the Daily Trust. "Every profession has its own method. The police have their own, lawyers have their own, even journalists have their own way. What I did is pure business and survival instinct."

Fake pastors have caused problems in many African nations such as Ghana, where a church planting boom has left denominations struggling to keep opportunists out of pulpits. "The phenomenon is serious," said Isaac Mills Owoo, South/West Sector Head of the Ghana Baptist Conference, to CT. "People with ulterior motives are entering the ministry … as a way to get rich quickly." And religious freedom protections prevent church leadership from stopping such pastors unless their activities are proven to be criminal.

NEW ORLEANS (RNS)

Pointing heavenward and wiping away tears, the Rev. Fred Luter was elected Tuesday (June 19) as the first black president of the predominantly white Southern Baptist Convention.

“To God be the glory for the things that he has done,” Luter said moments after more than 7,000 Southern Baptists leapt to their feet, cheered and shouted “Hallelujah” when he was declared their next leader.

Luter, 55, a former street preacher who brought his mostly black New Orleans congregation back from near annihilation after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, will lead the nation’s largest Protestant denomination for at least a year when the two-day meeting ends Wednesday. Most Southern Baptist presidents traditionally serve two one-year terms.

Rather than rally behind a traditional white conservative candidate, white Southern Baptists leaders had urged the nomination and election of Luter for more than a year. Many said it was long time for such a move for a denomination that was born in 1845 in a defense of slavery.

“We have the opportunity to make history, to show a watching world the truth about our savior and ourselves,” the Rev. David Crosby, pastor of the mostly white First Baptist Church of New Orleans, said in his nomination of Luter on Tuesday. “Let’s give our ballots a voice and shout out to the world -- Jesus is Lord! This is our president! We are Southern Baptists!”

Crosby’s church, which sustained less damage after Katrina, shared space with Luter’s remaining congregants after the hurricane.

Members of black Southern Baptist churches – which make up about 8 percent of some the SBC's 45,000 congregations – have hailed the expected election. Some said they were shocked and never thought they’d live to see such an occurrence.

Black Southern Baptists have attended the annual meetings in limited numbers and some have complained when they seldom saw people who look like them speaking from the convention platform. This year, more attended than usual and ushers came from Luter’s Franklin Avenue Baptist Church.

In the months before the election, SBC ethicist Richard Land was embroiled in controversy for saying President Obama and civil rights leaders had exploited the case of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed Florida teen who was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer. Land, who was reprimanded and lost his radio talk show as a result of the racial tension his remarks caused, was among those immediately cheering Luter’s election.

“Today was as truly a historic moment as Southern Baptist life will ever experience,” said Land, who helped craft the denomination's 1995 statement apologizing for the "deplorable sin" of racism. “Praise God for his redeeming grace.”

Many said before his election that Luter deserved to be elected not because he is black but because of his commitment to the denomination, preaching skills and success in rebuilding his church into one of the largest in Louisiana. A recent survey by the SBC’s LifeWay Research found that the majority of Southern Baptist pastors were ready for a black president.

Luter closed out the annual pastors’ conference on the eve of the Southern Baptist meeting, and had the audience on its feet as he waved his Bible in a fervent sermon.

“Only the Word of God can change the heart of a racist; only the Word of God can change the desire of a child molester,” he preached. “The Word of God can change a lifestyle of a homosexual. The Word of God is the only hope for America today.”

On Monday, at the conclusion of the SBC’s National African American Fellowship business meeting, the group’s president reminded members to be sure they had their packet of ballots with them for Tuesday’s vote.

“If you never cast a vote before, you need to cast this one,” the Rev. James Dixon urged, drawing laughter and an “Amen.” “If you need a class on it, we will teach you how to do it.”

Dixon said “we’ve been working on this for years,” making sure that African-Americans were considered for elective office, but noted that white leaders made an unusually hefty push for Luter. “In reality, that’s where it needed to come from,” he said.

Anticipation of the vote continued as the meeting opened. “We cannot undo our past, but here in New Orleans you can show the world we are redoing our future,” said Chuck Kelley Jr., president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Many have tied Luter’s election to the need for greater evangelism among racial and ethnic minorities as the denomination suffered its fifth consecutive year of membership decline.

Prior to the election, outgoing SBC President Bryant Wright cautioned in his farewell address that Southern Baptists should not get sidetracked in their evangelism efforts by debates over “finer points” of theology.

“If we pride ourselves more on being a traditional Southern Baptist or more on being a Calvinist or a Reformed theologian more than we are thankful that we are Christ-centered and biblically based and known by our fellow man that way,” Wright warned, “then it is time to repent of theological idolatry."

By Adelle Banks - RNS

A Phoenix homeowner who held weekly Bible studies in his backyard must serve jail time for failing to comply with building, zoning, fire, and safety codes applicable to churches, ruled a federal district court in Arizona last week.

In 2008, the City of Phoenix ordered Michael Salman to comply with code requirements for a church after neighbors complained about his weekly Bible studies, which often drew 50 people to a gazebo in his backyard. Salman refused, claiming the order violated his free exercise rights, and was sentenced to 60 days in jail, fined $12,000, and given three year's probation--during which he could not host more than 12 people in his home, reports Religion Clause.

On Friday, the federal district court dismissed Salman's attempt to halt this judgment because a lower federal court had already heard his complaint and dismissed it for failing to first exhaust legal options at the state level.

This is not the first time home Bible studies have been cited or barred in the recent past.

In 2011, the California city of San Juan Capistrano fined Chuck Fromm, former president of Maranatha! Music and co-founder and editor of Worship Leader magazine, for holding Bible studies in his family home without a permit. Fromm and his wife Stephanie filed a lawsuit but later dropped it after the city agreed to reimburse the couple and re-examine its permit rules for religious meetings in residential areas.

In April 2009, San Diego county officials issued a warning to David and Mary Jones for hosting a weekly Bible study in their home without a permit for religious assembly; the county rescinded the warning in June of that year. In November of that year, Joe Sutherland of Gilbert, Arizona, was given a cease-and-desist order for church meetings in his home because it violated the city’s zoning code. The city council revised the code the following March to allow the meetings.

A just-released survey by LifeWay Research has found that roughly equal numbers of Southern Baptist pastors identify their congregations as Calvinist/Reformed (30 percent) or Arminian/Wesleyan (30 percent). However, more than 60 percent of pastors are concerned about Calvinism's influence on the denomination.

The SBC debate over Calvinism shifted to heresy accusations shortly before the denomination's annual meeting began today. Baptist Press, which is liveblogging today and tomorrow's annual meeting, reports that several SBC leaders have addressed the controversy.

SBC president Bryant Wright offered a "word" for both Calvinists ("A bit of humility would be most welcome") and traditional Southern Baptists ("The time for judgmentalism is over") as he told attendees to focus on the Great Commission instead of the theology of salvation.

"Let us understand that these two views on election and salvation can co-exist as long as we stay Christ-centered and biblically based in our theology," he said.

Meanwhile, Executive Committee president Frank Page expressed concern about "non-Calvinists who are more concerned about rooting out Calvinists than they are about winning lost to Christ," as well as "Calvinists who view those who disagree with them as unintelligent," according to Baptist Press.

The new LifeWay survey, released today, finds that 16 percent of SBC pastors today identify themselves as "five-point Calvinists," up from 10 percent in 2006 and in 2011. The majority of five-point Calvinist pastors are under 45.

A similar 2007 study of young ministers by the SBC's North American Mission Board discovered that almost 35 percent of SBC ministers that graduated from SBC seminaries in 2004 and 2005 self-identified as "five-point Calvinists."

Yesterday, atheist blogger Leah Libresco posted her last on Patheos' Atheist Portal and announced her new blogging home would be its Catholic Portal. Her conversion announcement, which has drawn more than 700 comments, results from her personal explorations of the underpinnings of morality.

Libresco hosts an Ideological Turing Test, in which she has previously pretended to be a Christian.

CT has many stories on atheism, including an obituary for outspoken atheist Christopher Hitchens and an account of how atheist philosopher Albert Camus brought a CT editor back to faith.

Update (May 21): This year's Arab International Festival in Dearborn, Michigan, has now been cancelled in order to allow event organizers "to better prepare for the new venue," reports The Macomb Country Advisor and Source.

According to Religion Clause, "This year the Festival was to be moved to a local park that police would be able to better control—particularly in light of anti-Muslim proselytizers that were planning to attend."

Meanwhile, the Detroit Free Press revealed that Dearborn paid $300,000 in order to settle the lawsuit by Acts 17 missionaries.

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Update (May 14): A federal judge has dismissed a First Amendment lawsuit filed by members of the Bible Believers, who say "their rights were violated when they denounced Islam at last year’s Arab International Festival in Dearborn and were pelted with debris." The group plans to appeal its case to the 6th Circuit District Court.
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Update (May 7): The city of Dearborn, Michigan, has agreed to apologize to Christian missionaries who were arrested during the annual Arab International Festival in 2010. The three missionaries, members of the Acts 17 Apologetics group who were making an interview video with festival attendees, filed suit against the city saying they had not violated peace.

As part of the settlement, Dearborn must post an apology to the missionaries on its website for three years. Part of the apology specifies that the missionaries "were not guilty of the criminal offense of breach of peace."
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Today militant Islamist group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings of three churches Sunday that killed 50 Christians and Muslims and left hundreds wounded. The bombings provoked retaliatory violence that contributed to the death toll.

This is the third weekend in a row that Nigerian churches have been attacked during Sunday morning services. Reuters FaithWorld offers a helpful roundup of recent incidents.

Reuters reported that the Christian Association of Kano, northern Nigeria’s main city, called the bombings “a clear invitation to religious war.”

CT has reported whether Nigerian Christians will fight back or keep turning the other cheek, as well as a theological middle ground proposed by Nigerian theologian Sunday Agang.

Update (June 4, 2013): According to CNN, several Professional Golf Assocation (PGA) stars including Bubba Watson, Webb Simpson, and Stewart Cink gather for a weekly Bible study, bringing the champions together over faith.

"On the course and off the course, the Bible group is the invisible club in the bag," CNN reports. "Some members pause midway through their rounds to read from the New Testament, meditate on holy scriptures and, of course, pray."
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Webb Simpson, who won today's U.S. Open golf tournament, might be the newest member of the "holy hall of fame." His Twitter bio describes him as a "*sinner* loved by a Savior."

Simpson, who trailed by four entering the final day, finished at 1-over-par 281 to beat Michael Thompson and Graeme McDowell by one stroke. He studied religion at Wake Forest University and has hosted a Youth for Christ Challenge golf tournament.

"It was a cool day. I had a peace all day," Simpson told reporters. “I probably prayed more on the last three holes than I’ve ever done in my life, and that kept me calm and got me home in 2 under."

He won his first PGA Tour victory at the Wyndham Championship last August.

“I’d be stupid not to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, because it was tough out there and I was nervous, and I felt his presence all day,” he told CBN.

In an interview with Beliefnet's Chad Bonham, Simpson described how faith directly plays into golf ethics.

Our deposit of the Holy Spirit living inside of us, more than anything, has allowed me to make those tough decisions. It’s happened probably 10 times in my life where I had to make certain calls and call penalty shots on myself. For me, it’s not as much the nature of the game but the fact that the Holy Spirit is prompting me to call a penalty on myself. Within our own nature, we don’t want to call a penalty on ourselves. We want to see how much we can get away with. That’s been a part of every tough decision I’ve made in golf.

In April, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association spotlighted Bubba Watson, who won the 2012 Masters.

Earlier this year, CT spotlighted how many high-profile athletes--Tim Tebow, Jeremy Lin, Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols, Kaka--put their faith front and center. CT has written cover stories on the pros and cons of sports.

Nik Wallenda became the first man to walk right over Niagara Falls Friday night, a 30-minute tightrope televised live on ABC News.

Wallenda told reporters it took "a lot of praying, that's for sure. But, you know, it's all about the concentration, the focus, and the training."

QMI Agency reported earlier on the details of Wallenda's faith.

The King of the Wire puts his faith in the King of Kings.

Just before Nik Wallenda steps onto the wire tonight in an attempt to become the first person to walk a tightrope across the mouth of the Horseshoe Falls, he’ll form a circle with a dozen close friends and members of his close-knit Christian family and they’ll say a prayer to Jesus Christ.

The cross Wallenda wears around his neck every time he walks on a wire isn’t just a fashion statement, it’s a message about the religious beliefs the American performer holds close to his heart.

“I grew up in a born-again Christian family. A Bible-believing, God-fearing family. That’s the way I was raised and I find comfort and peace in that,” he said.

The Toronto Star has these details from tonight's walk.

His wife and three children held hands and prayed with him minutes before he began. They were there when he reached the end. His engineer uncle perched close at hand; he was a key player in making the stunt happen.

...Moments before strapping on the harness, the daredevil joined hands in riverside prayer with wife Erindera — an eighth-generation wire walker herself; Nik proposed on a wire — and their three children Yanni, 14, Amadeus, 11 and Evita, 9. Prayer comes easily to Nik, a born-again Christian, who thanked God and Jesus out loud — and through his microphone to the world — for much of his 25-minute feat.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune writes, "He told ABC his faith in the Lord kept his emotions in check, but that his extensive preparation was an equal component of success."

The New York Times used a biblical analogy to describe it:

He started just after 10 p.m. in mist so thick he was not visible on the Canadian side for more than 10 minutes after he started. The walk, which took about 30 minutes and was televised by ABC, had an Old Testament feel to it.

"I don't know what people will say about me 100 years from now, but it's got to be pretty impressive," he told ABC.

Image via Wikimedia Commons.

As Southern Baptists prepare for next week’s annual meeting, LifeWay’s Annual Church Profile indicates that though membership continues to slide and baptisms and churches barely increased, giving saw strong growth.

For the fifth straight year, total membership in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) declined. Membership fell nearly one percentage point to just less than 16 million members. Baptisms and the number of churches rose slightly—by 0.70 percent and 0.08 percent, respectively. Baptisms hit a 60-year low for the denomination, though still totaled more than 330,000. The denomination planted almost 1,000 new churches, of which 50 percent were non-Anglo; however, the net gain of 37 churches was one of the lowest totals in 40 years.

Meanwhile, SBC members gave $1.33 billion last year, a $26.2 million increase from 2010. That news comes on the heels of a report from the SBC’s International Mission Board, which stated that $146.8 million was donated to the annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions—the fourth-highest total since the offering began 123 years ago (though it was still short of the $175 million goal). The offering helps support nearly 5,000 missionaries worldwide.

LifeWay’s Annual Church Profile follows last week’s report that more than half of SBC pastors do not plan to use the informal name recommended in February by a task force that analyzed a possible name change for the convention.

The task force, established by SBC president Bryant Wright, suggested that the SBC keep its legal name but use "Great Commission Baptists" as an informal option for those who want to use it. Wright set up the task force last fall over concerns that the term “Southern Baptist” was too regional and could potentially impede the convention’s growth.

LifeWay’s report indicated that more than 70 percent of pastors thought the “Southern Baptist Convention” name should continue to be used, though 40 percent of pastors said they haven’t discussed or decided on the issue yet.

SBC messengers will consider the task force’s recommendation during the annual meeting in New Orleans next week. Other proposed resolutions (that have been floated in Baptist media but not confirmed by the resolution committee) include affirming the use of a sinner’s prayer as a “biblically sound” part of evangelism and rejecting the idea that same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue (disagreeing that sexuality and race are equal characteristics).

As the Internet prepares for its biggest-ever expansion of domain names, more than a dozen potential domains revealed this week have religious connections.

On Wednesday, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) posted a list of the nearly 2,000 domain names for which various groups have applied. The new domains would open up website address endings beyond today's common ones such as .com and .net.

At a cost of $185,000 per domain application, many of the applicants were big corporations among the likes of Apple and Microsoft; some, including Amazon and Google, applied for multiple domain names.

But groups like the American Bible Society, the Christian Broadcasting Network, and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Social Communications have also paid the fee and applied for domain names (.bible, .cbn, and .catholic, respectively). The Catholic Church additionally applied for the equivalent of .catholic in Arabic, Chinese, and Cyrillic.

Other religiously-affiliated domain names include .christmas, .halal, .islam, .mormon, and .kosher. Three separate groups applied for the domain name .yoga, and two for .church: Holly Fields, LLC and LifeChurch.tv (the group behind the YouVersion Bible app).

Bobby Gruenewald, innovation leader at LifeChurch, told USA Today that LifeChurch’s goal isn’t to profit from its control of the domain fees, but to make online outreach easier—for all groups of similar religious beliefs.

“We’re not trying to define beliefs or doctrine that people would have to agree upon,” Gruenewald said. “This is not an effort to make it exclusive to any type of belief.”

At least one other religious applicant plans to be more exclusive with their domain if their application is accepted. Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, told Catholic News Service that the use of .catholic would be limited to groups with formal canonical recognition, such as dioceses, religious orders, or Catholic institutions like universities and hospitals.

“[Controlling the .catholic domain] will be a way to authenticate the Catholic presence online,” Tighe said.

ICANN has opened a 60-day period for comments and objections on the list of domain names. It anticipates ruling on all 1,930 applications over the next year.

Last year, ICANN approved the creation of an .xxx domain. In February, Christianity Today reported that several Christian colleges joined hundreds of organizations in buying .xxx domains to protect their brands.

(RNS) A coalition of nearly 150 religious leaders, led by conservative Protestants, have petitioned the Obama administration to broaden the exemption that allows churches and some religious organizations to avoid a controversial new mandate that all health care insurers provide free contraception coverage.

In a letter sent Monday (June 11) to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the 149 religious leaders note that they hold differing views on “the moral acceptability” of birth control and on the viability of various administration proposals to allow faith-based groups to bypass the mandate for contraception and sterilization coverage.

But they said they share a strong objection to the language that defines which "religious" groups are eligible for an exemption, saying the definition creates a “two-class system” of religious groups: churches, which qualify under the wording of the exemption, and “faith-based service organizations,” which may or may not qualify.

"This two-class scheme protects those religious organizations focused on activities directed inward to a worship community while offering little religious freedom protection to the many religious organizations that engage in service directed outward,” the letter says.

The letter says that “both worship-oriented and service-oriented religious organizations are authentically and equally religious organizations. ... We deny that it is within the jurisdiction of the federal government to define, in place of religious communities, what constitutes true religion and authentic ministry.”

Diverse critics of the mandate have found a common rallying point in opposition to the exemption definition. The regulation currently states that to qualify as exempt, an organization must be dedicated to promoting its religious values, must primarily employ and serve people who share the group’s beliefs, and must be a nonprofit.

The administration says the regulation would go beyond houses of worship to cover most religious groups, except for universities and hospitals. Officials also say the federal regulation, which is based on a definition used in contraception mandates in some states, would not be applicable in anything beyond the birth control policy.

But religious groups remain wary, at best, of such promises, and are pressing the White Houses to broaden the exemption or drop the mandate altogether.

The letter to Sebelius was organized by Stanley Carlson-Thies, an architect of President George W. Bush's faith-based office, and includes Ronald J. Sider, head of Evangelicals for Social Action; Richard J. Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary; Samuel Rodriguez, head of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals; Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; and David Neff, editor-in- chief of Christianity Today.

A dozen Catholic groups and individuals -- mainly conservative colleges and activists -- signed the letter but no Catholic bishops joined in. The bishops have been at the forefront of efforts to alter or overturn the contraception mandate, and are pursuing their own high-profile course of legal action and political lobbying. The Catholic hierarchy has also made it clear that it has problems with the mandate that go well beyond the exemption.

The bishops are meeting in Atlanta this week to discuss their strategy against the mandate, which they are framing as a campaign for religious freedom.

David Gibson - RNS

WASHINGTON (RNS)

An appeal over Christmas sweets turned bitter on Monday (June 11) when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the so-called “Christian candy cane” case.

The case out of Texas has become a rallying point for conservative Christians concerned about free religious expression in public schools and students' ability to distribute religious literature.

The case, Morgan v. Swanson, kicked off nine years ago in the Plano Independent School District as principals prevented self-described evangelical students from distributing religious literature on school grounds.

In one instance, principal Lynn Swanson stopped third-grader Jonathan Morgan from distributing a Christian-themed bookmark at a winter break party. The boy wanted to hand out candy-cane shaped pens along with a card purporting to explain the holiday treat’s Christian roots.

The card read in part: “So, every time you see a candy cane, remember the message of the candy maker: Jesus is the Christ!”

In other instances, principal Jackie Bomchill prevented second-grader Stephanie Versher from passing out Passion play tickets and pencils with the message, “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so” on school grounds.

Last year, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the principals were within their rights in stopping the candy canes, but also found restrictions on student speech unconstitutional.

The principals were exempt under “qualified immunity,” which protects government officials from violating a law that is not “clearly established.” The Supreme Court's decision not to intervene means that ruling stands.

Hiram Sasser, who represented the families on behalf of the Texas-based Liberty Institute law firm, was disappointed in the latest decision.

“We were hoping to finally put this issue to rest: that government school officials should be held accountable when they violate the law and students’ First Amendment rights. No student should be subjected to religious discrimination by the government,” he said in a press release.

Dallas attorney Tom Brandt, who represented the two principals, said the case was never about First Amendment speech but rather protection for teachers. "Educators must be allowed to make decisions that are in the best interest of an entire school without fear of individual retribution when the law is unclear," he said.

While the educators' immunity question is settled, other parts of the case continue to work their way through the district and circuit court levels, and Sasser said there's still a possibility to win on students' rights.

“I’m concerned that some government school officials received the wrong message, which is that if they violate the law, no court is going to hold them accountable,” Sasser said in a telephone interview. “Hopefully the message is that from now on, government officials (teachers) will be held accountable.”

Chris Lisee - RNS

InterVarsity Press (IVP) has pulled a well-acclaimed book on the Reformation from shelves after a review pointed out at least two dozen significant errors in one section.

G. R. Evans’s book The Roots of the Reformation: Tradition, Emergence and Rupture, which was released in March, analyzed the relationship between the Reformation and the medieval church. Evans, a former British Academy Research Reader in Theology, is a noted scholar and a professor of medieval theology and intellectual history at the University of Cambridge. Her book received several notable endorsements, including one from J. I. Packer hailing it as “certainly the best of its kind currently available.”

But last month, Carl Trueman, departmental chair of church history at Westminster Theological Seminary, published a review at the e-magazine Reformation21 that listed significant errors within Evans' section discussing the Reformation, including inaccurate dates, names, and omissions of key cultural factors that influenced it.

“The Reformation section is unfortunately replete with errors of historical fact, some of which are very serious, even if a few are possibly the result of typos,” Trueman wrote. “The sheer number of these errors renders the book a liability in the classroom and undermines its stated purpose as a textbook.”

In response, IVP said in a statement that though it stood by Evans’s work, it would be taking the book out of print until the publication of a revised second edition, set to be released by the end of August.

“We hope that this underscores the abiding value of Professor Evans' book, one that a number of internationally respected scholars have recommended as a masterful investigation of the Reformation's roots from the early church through the medieval era,” IVP stated.

In 2009, Christianity Today reported on scholarly publisher Wiley-Blackwell’s withdrawal of the four-volume Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization; the editor alleged the publisher was trying to censor the work.

A group of churches and religious leaders are suing Philadelphia over new regulations on feeding programs in public parks, which the churches say effectively prohibit their efforts to feed the homeless.

In March, the Philadelphia Department of Health passed the new regulations, which heavily restrict outdoor feeding programs but make exceptions for picnics, permitted events, office lunches, and lunch trucks. On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of the churches, alleging the restrictions violate First Amendment rights because they target religiously sponsored feeding programs, many of which have been in place for more than a decade.

Additionally, the suit accused Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter of using the restrictions to try to remove the homeless from areas near tourist attractions.

Last fall, CT reported on the shrinking number of feeding programs and shelters for the homeless, despite the best efforts of churches and religious ministries to keep such programs available after cuts in government funding.

Religious freedom violations against Indonesian Christians are rising and on track to surpass last year’s increase.

Nearly two dozen churches have been forced to shut their doors this year, and violent attacks against Christians have increased since January, reports Compass Direct News. Most of the church closures occurred in Aceh Province, where local authorities have faced pressure from Islamist extremists.

In 2011, monitors tallied 64 known cases of religious freedom violations, up from 47 the year before. The Jakarta Christian Communication Forum already counted 40 reported incidents as of May, according to Compass.

The increase affects Indonesian Christians in the United States. In New Jersey, a pastor has drawn attention for harboring Indonesian refugees facing deportation in his church. In March, refugee Saul Timisela moved into a Sunday school classroom at the Reformed Church of Highland Park; within one month, two more men joined him.

Pastor Seth Kaper-Dale has pledged to help Timisela and nearly 80 other Indonesian Christians facing deportation, many of whom came to the U.S. in the 1990s on tourist visas to flee persecution in their homeland. Most were not aware of their time limits for applying for asylum; their visas expired, and they continued living in the U.S. illegally.

One of the refugees living in the church, Rovani Wangkoa, told the New York Daily News, “I’m scared to go to Indonesia.… Indonesia is no good for Christians.”

Kaper-Dale has been working with authorities to secure legal means for the refugees to stay. He told Religion News Service that he would continue to bring refugees into his church, despite the potential legal ramifications he could face, saying, “Our arms are open wide, as wide as the cross.”

Indonesia, long known for valuing religious pluralism and harmony, has made headlines in recent years for a Bogor mayor disobeying a Supreme Court order to reverse the forced closure of a church; a rare suicide bombing at a sister congregation of Rick Warren's megachurch; the banning of aid groups from hurricane-ravaged Aceh Jaya over charges of proselytism; and narrowly upholding its long-standing blasphemy law.

Update (Jan. 25): The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the assault charge against Creflo Dollar has been dismissed in return for the pastor completing a program that required him to "enroll an anger management program, report to a probation officer and pay $1,072 in court fees."

Stan Telchin, a popular Messianic Jewish author and speaker, died on Monday, June 4, in Sarasota, Florida. He was 87.

Telchin is best known for his book Betrayed, which relates his daughter's conversion from Judaism to Christianity and his own subsequent conversion. The book is the "single most-read testimony of a Jewish person who has come to faith in Jesus in recent history," according to Jews for Jesus.

CT reported on how heated debates over evangelism style and substance between Messianic missionary agencies and Messianic congregations in 2005 kept Jews for Jesus from selling one of Telchin's books, in which he critiqued Messianic Judaism for its excessive emphasis on Jewish tradition.

CT has covered the new strategies for evangelism that Messianic Jews are using today, as well as profiled the 2010 death of Jews for Jesus founder Moishe Rosen.

After four months of hosting tours, soliciting proposals and fending off controversy, the billionaire owners of a picturesque campus in western Massachusetts have announced two finalists in the competition to receive the property free of charge, reports RNS.

The Green family, which owns Hobby Lobby, will give a 217-acre Massachusetts campus founded by D.L. Moody either to the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board or the Grand Canyon University Foundation of Phoenix. The campus was first intended to become the home of much-discussed C.S. Lewis College, but organizers failed to raise enough money to make the dream a reality.

Grand Canyon University, the first American college to ever switch from nonprofit to for-profit status, has made headlines for a remarkably successful IPO, as well as releasing tenured teachers and settling a whistleblower suit with the Department of Education.

CT has reported how other Christian colleges have sought new strategies to survive financial pressures amid a bleak economy.

Update (April 9): PBS' Religion and Ethics Newsweekly is spotlighting Twitter's faith-outreach efforts. The show notes a recent meeting between top Twitter social innovation strategist Claire Diaz-Ortiz, former White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships executive director Joshua DuBois, and D.C.-based National Community Church pastor Mark Batterson.

CT previously reported on Twitter's effort to reach out to Christian leaders at the Catalyst conference in 2011.
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Legal challenges related to religious symbols in public settings continue to be dismissed over issues of taxpayer standing.

Yesterday the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed an atheist activist's attempt to stop state funding of the restoration of Bald Knob Cross, an Illinois tourist attraction, because the activist lacks taxpayer standing according to recent Supreme Court decisions. In Hein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation Inc., the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that taxpayers can bring Establishment Clause challenges when funds are spent under legislative decisions but not administrative decisions, explains Religion Clause.

This limitation on church-state lawsuits was strengthened when the Supreme Court dismissed a challenge in April 2011 to Arizona's tax-credit-for-scholarship-donations program. CT reported how the Arizona ruling undercut a high-profile legal challenge to the longstanding housing allowance enjoyed by clergy. The Seventh Circuit also rejected a challenge to the National Day of Prayer in April 2011 over issues of taxpayer standing.

CT has spotlighted Supreme Court tussles over public crosses, as well as debate over whether memorial crosses should be considered secular.

A California satellite campus of Mark Driscoll's Seattle megachurch has run afoul of city officials for violating zoning laws.

Mars Hill Orange County meets on Sunday mornings in a concert venue, but Santa Ana officials say the 600-member church must move to a zoning district that allows churches. Driscoll says Mars Hill is investigating whether "we are just getting bullied by a political discriminatory agenda against Christianity and the church," while Santa Ana, noting that two-thirds of its zoning districts allow churches, says Mars Hill Orange County "need[s] to comply with the same rules to which all other churches abide," according to the Christian Post.

CT has reported on the recent trend of multisite churches crossing state lines, as well as a Mars Hill satellite logo dispute and whether churches should trademark their names and logos. CT has also profiled Driscoll's rise to celebrity status.

CT has also reported on the recent increase in church-city zoning battles during the recession.

Update: The Bauchi chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria has alleged that the Nigierian military killed 8 civilians and wounded 20 while attempting to pacify crowds at the scene of the bombing.

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A suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into a row of Nigerian churches during Sunday morning services yesterday, killing at least 10 and wounding more than 30. The attack at Living Faith Church in Bauchi, which also damaged neighboring Harvest Field Church, is the latest in a steady stream of church bombings and shootings this year. Boko Haram claimed responsibility, according to the Associated Press and Reuters.

CT has reported how Nigerian Christians this year are debating whether to fight back or turn the other cheek. CT contributor Sunday Agang, a seminary president in Kaduna state, offers theological reflections on a third way.

The attack follows an April attack against a Christian college that killed more than 20, an Easter attack that killed more than 30, and a February attack at a denominational headquarters that killed one and injured more than 30. CT has chronicled the surge in violence since Christmas, as well as previous seasons of sectarian violence.

As Coptic Christians dodge blame this week for "betraying the revolution" after the first free presidential election in Egypt's history resulted in an unexpected runoff between the old Mubarak regime and the Muslim Brotherhood, CT offers an exclusive snapshot of new strategies Copts are testing to thrive under an Islamist government.

Are Christians fleeing Egypt? Some, yes. Nearly every church can name a family that has emigrated. Many more families desire to follow suit but cannot.

But the closer one looks, an irony emerges. Coptic leaders report that a significant number of Christians, especially in rural or poor communities, do fear the future. But many of the most ardently Christian—former Muslims who now follow Christ and have the most to lose under an Islamist government—are the most eager to stay. They hold to their love of country—and to their belief in God's promise in Isaiah 19: "Blessed be Egypt my people."

One case study is a Muslim-background believer turned human-rights activist who fancies himself the Christian version of Che Guevara. ... [He] sees the coming days as a blessing in disguise.

"I am glad we are moving into an Islamist era, because [Egyptians] are like Doubting Thomas; we don't believe until we see and touch," he said. "People believe [political] Islam is the best, but they need to be freed of this idea. Entering this era will be a chance to be freed from this illusion."

CT recently reported from Cairo on the host of new Christian movements that have sprung up since the revolution and their strategies to not merely survive but thrive in an increasingly Islamist Egypt.

The investigation into Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) leader Richard Land's racially charged radio commentary and plagiarism concluded today with two official reprimands and the cancellation of his weekly radio program.

Land, the longtime president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) who has been a key proponent of racial reconciliation in the SBC, has already apologized twice for his commentary on the controversial shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Florida. His comments provoked demands by some black Southern Baptist leaders for censure of Land by the SBC; today many, including Fred Luter who is expected to become the denomination's first African American president this month, have accepted the apologies.

The ERLC trustee committee, whose chairman resigned during the investigation, said today that "damage was done to the state of race relations in the Southern Baptist Convention" by Land's comments. The scandal broke as the SBC prepares to install its first black president, prompting observers to disagree on how much clout Luter will actually have in a denomination closely identified with high-profile figures such as Land.

"We must now redouble our efforts to regain lost ground, to heal re-opened wounds, and to realize the dream of a Southern Baptist Convention that is just as diverse as the population of our great Nation," said the trustee statement.

Regarding the radio program, trustees stated "we have carefully considered the content and purpose of the Richard Land Live! broadcast. We find that they are not congruent with the mission of the ERLC. We also find that the controversy that erupted as a result of the March 31 broadcast, and related matters, requires the termination of that program."

Below the jump is the full text of the June 1 reprimands by the ERLC trustee executive committee: