Muslim leader says Christchurch terror attack has brought community together

From New Zealand-

Anglican dean of Christchurch Lawrence Kimberley told Stuff why the event was held.

"I thought it was very important that there was a clear statement from the Christian churches that says we're standing in solidarity and love with our Muslim brothers and sisters."

Kimberley said he would like to be part of a delegation with other Christian leaders to meet with Muslim leaders to formally give their condolences. 

"[We'll] see if there's any ways we can assist practically and, in the long term, to build relationships of trust between us and a deepening of understanding between the two faiths."

More here-

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/111472151/muslim-leader-says-christchurch-terror-attack-has-brought-community-together

Man who tackled 'Eggboy' has outstanding warrant on charges relating to church incident

From Australia-

Outspoken Anglican priest Rod Bower has identified one of the men who attacked 'Eggboy' as the same person who allegedly 'terrorised' his Central Coast church last year.

It is believed Neil Luke Erikson and several others stormed into a Gosford Anglican Church service carrying a whip, a fake sword and a megaphone in May last year, traumatising the congregation.
At the time Father Bower described the incident as a "terrorist attack".

Erikson was also one of the men who tackled a teenager who cracked an egg over Queensland senator Fraser Anning's head at a press conference in Melbourne on Saturday.

The altercation prompted the senator to hit the 17-year-old in the face, after which several supporters tackled the teenager and restrained him.

More here-

 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-20/neil-erikson-wanted-over-church-incident/10916948

and here-

https://www.triplem.com.au/story/man-that-tackled-egg-boy-wanted-here-on-the-coast-132061

and here-

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/editorial-eggboy-versus-anning,12492

Explosive device caused damage at St. Stephens Episcopal Church

From Texas-

The Episcopal Diocese of Texas says a package detonated outside the door of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Beaumont between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, damaging windows and part of the church office.

The AFT and Beaumont Police and Fire are investigating.

The church is near the an Episcopal school. No one was at the church or school at the time and no one was hurt.

The school alerted parents to pick up their children.

Last month, what police told KFDM was a box with an explosive target used in hunting was placed outside the Starbucks on Dowlen Road in Beaumont. No one was hurt and investigators haven't found the person who placed it there.

From Episcopal Diocese:

(May 10, 2018) Sometime between the end of worship Wednesday evening and the beginning of school this morning, a package detonated outside the office door of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Beaumont. No one was injured in the blast, which “broke out windows, put holes in the office walls and blew apart the bushes lining the entrance,” said the Rev. Steven Balke, rector of St. Stephens.
Balke immediately called police and soon had the office and school evacuated. “The FBI is here and checking the property,” Balke said. An explosive device was located at an area Starbucks on April 27 so the event at St. Stephen’s is not an isolated incident. “Everyone is taking this very seriously, especially since there is a school involved,” he added.

More here-

http://kfdm.com/news/local/developing-explosive-device-caused-damage-at-st-stephens-episcopal-church

and here-

https://www.click2houston.com/news/bomb-explodes-at-episcopal-church-in-beaumont-bishop-says

and here-

https://www.khou.com/article/news/crime/episcopal-diocese-of-texas-acknowledges-detonation-of-device-and-damage-to-st-stephens-in-beaumont/502-550842664

and here-

https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/BPD-Package-detonated-before-police-arrived-at-12904109.php

Russia church shooting kills 5 after gunman opens fire on people leaving service

From MSN-

Five women were killed and several others were injured after a gunman opened fire with a hunting rifle on people leaving a church service in Russia's Dagestan region on Sunday, Russian media outlets reported.

The shooting unfolded outside a church in Kizlyar, a town of about 50,000 people on the border with Chechnya. The Russian news agency TASS cited Svetlana Petrenko of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation as the source for the number of people killed and wounded.

The Islamic State terror network claimed responsibility, according to its Amaq media agency. ISIS said the killer was a "soldier of the caliphate," a man known as Khalil al-Dagestani, The New York Times reported.

More here-

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-church-shooting-kills-5-after-gunman-opens-fire-on-people-leaving-service/ar-BBJhKAN

How Quebec City Muslims and Anglicans found friendship through faith and grief

From Canada-

Members of Quebec City's Muslim community will stand alongside those of the Huron-Wendat, Jewish, Catholic, Anglican and many other communities Sunday, as they honour the victims of last year's deadly attack on a mosque.

The interfaith ceremony, which starts at 7 p.m. at the Pavillion de Jeunesse at Expo Cité, will not be the first time different religious communities in the city will have come together since the shooting.

Bruce Myers, bishop of the Anglican diocese of Quebec and Boufeldja Benabdallah, co-founder of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, spoke with Ainslie MacLellan on CBC Radio's All in a Weekend, about how their communities have built a friendship.

More here-

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-city-muslims-anglicans-faith-grief-1.4507155

and here-

http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/interfaith-prayer-meeting

Nine killed as terrorists target Church Nativity service in Quetta, Pakistan

From Anglican News-

The Moderator of the Church of Pakistan, Bishop Humphrey Peters, is to visit the Christian community in Quetta after terrorists killed nine people attending a pre-Christmas service. The terror group Daesh has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Bethel Memorial Church in the Pakistan province of Balochistan. The full details of the attack remain confused, with conflicting accounts. It appears that four terrorists were involved in the attack. One detonated his suicide vest at the entrance to the church compound. Another opened fire at the entrance to the church before being shot by security officials. Two terrorists fled the scene and a security operation was underway to locate them. The security operation succeeded in preventing the terrorists from entering the church itself. In addition to the nine dead, around 60 people were injured.

Speaking to a local pastor attached to the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA), one of the victims described the attack: “I heard loud gunfire and people screaming, some of them fell dead after being shot through the walls others were riven in blood, then a loud explosion occurred,” she said. “There was dust everywhere; people were rushing to help those injured. It was terrifying.

More here-

http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2017/12/nine-killed-as-terrorists-target-church-nativity-service-in-quetta-pakistan.aspx

The season for church-burning

From The Washington Times-

The “soldiers” of ISIS are battered, bloody and on the run in Iraq, but they’re making with big talk for the holidays which they have no reluctance to call by their right name, “the Christmas season.”

They’re promising to torch the National Episcopal Cathedral in Washington, to burn the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Temple (the formal name for the Mormon church) in San Diego, and even hint angrily at Times Square in New York, which is not ever, by anybody here, confused with a church.)

ISIS has even put up a video on social media, with the National Cathedral in flames, with a soldier in the camouflage of jihad standing guard in front of the Gothic church, ready to slay anyone fleeing the flames. There’s even an ISIS poster circulating on terrorist channels with an image taken from an article about the cathedral on Wikipedia.

More here-

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/17/editorial-isis-wounded-and-on-the-run-boasts-of-bi/

also here-

http://www.newsweek.com/isis-attack-washington-dc-new-york-christmas-terrorism-749239

THE PRIEST WHO IS HELPING KEEP CHRISTIANS AND THEIR FAITH ALIVE IN IRAQ

From The Tablet-

Even though IS has been driven out, extremists are still operating there.

Christians are still being persecuted in Iraq and the threat of extermination must not be forgotten, according to a priest from the region.

Fr Daniel, 27, was in London this week to brief MPs, Peers and church leaders about the ongoing crisis in Iraq.

He handed prime minister Theresa May a scorched Arabic Bible recovered from Karamles near Mosul, Iraq, to as part of the campaign to raise awareness of the plight of persecuted Christians in the Middle East.

According to a report by the charity Open Doors, the charity that supports persecuted Christians, more than 100,000 Christians have left Iraq since the conflict with IS began in 2014, while as many as half of Syria’s estimated 1.7 million Christians have fled the country since 2011.

More here-

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/8250/0/the-priest-who-is-helping-keep-christians-and-their-faith-alive-in-iraq

Responding in Faith

From The Cafe-

A reflection on the mass murder in Las Vegas

The appalling massacre that took place in Las Vegas is almost too much to comprehend. The death toll and the numbers of injured are staggering. As is often the case, we will never fully know what was in the mind and heart of the shooter, or why a group of innocent people became the target of his rage. In the face of such unspeakable violence, there are loud and insistent voices coming from many sides. There are some who advocate arming ourselves to the teeth. Others call for the total disarmament of civilians. There are lots of folks in between these two extremes who are overcome with grief and sorrow, who despair of ever finding a way to stop what has become a familiar pattern of violence and bloodshed. There are no easy answers here, but that does not mean that there is nothing we can do. In fact, I believe that John the Baptist might teach us something about our response to the massacre in Las Vegas.

In the third chapter of Luke’s Gospel, the word of God comes to John the Baptist in the wilderness. John begins to preach in the area around the Jordan River, calling people to repent of their sins and be baptized, so that they might become a new people fit for the coming of the Lord. John is not subtle – he entices the crowds to the river’s edge, only to insult them by calling them a brood of vipers. He speaks in ominous terms about an ax that is already lying at the root of the trees, ready to destroy those that do not bear good fruit. John’s vision is radical: he is calling for a new kind of purity based not on one’s religious heritage, but on words and deeds that reflect the will of God.

More here-

https://www.episcopalcafe.com/responding-in-faith/

Why ‘thoughts and prayers’ is starting to sound so profane

From The Washington Post-

It’s become a sort of twisted American ritual: A lone white male shooter opens fire on a crowd of people. Americans cry out for someone to do something and are met with shoulder shrugs, mumblings about “the price of freedom” and assurances that the people elected to protect them are sending their “thoughts and prayers.”

Politicians have managed to make a once benign, if not comforting, phrase sound almost profane.

It’s not that there is anything wrong with praying for those who are suffering. In fact, if you are a religious believer, it’s an imperative. I’m not in the camp that dismisses prayer as superstitious mumbo-jumbo embraced only by the unenlightened. I’m a person who prays and who has been prayed for and knows its power.

But it’s not enough. Nor is it what we hire politicians to do. We elect them to fix problems, enact policies and keep us safe.

Instead, we have elected officials — many of them self-described conservative Christians who also happen to take money from the National Rifle Association — using cries for “thoughts and prayers” as some sort of inoculation against responsibility or action when it comes to gun violence.
More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/10/03/why-thoughts-and-prayers-is-starting-to-sound-so-profane/?utm_term=.8c1d46e783c4

Those bells tolling in Portland echoed nationwide gesture against gun violence

From Oregon-

The bell inside the Cathedral Church of St. Luke on State Street rang out at noon Tuesday. A dozen people – most in their 60s or 70s or older – bowed their heads and clasped their hands in silence. Outside, walkers who breezed past noted the sound and looked up toward the church but didn’t stop.

The bell continued to ring for an uncomfortable length of time, each toll of the bell representing a victim of Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas – the deadliest in modern U.S. history.

“It is discouraging,” said Bishop Stephen Lane. “There is a feeling that nothing can happen that would motivate us as a people to change. But we want to give hope. Things are dire, but they are not hopeless.”

More here-

http://www.pressherald.com/2017/10/03/st-lukes-to-ring-bells-hold-service-tuesday-in-memory-of-las-vegas-shooting-victims/

THE LAS VEGAS SHOOTINGS AND THE AMERICAN SOUL

From Jake Owensby-

No words adequately express the horror of the shootings in Las Vegas. News stories report body count and hospitalizations in an attempt to convey the incomprehensible magnitude of the violence.

The number of the dead and wounded could describe a pitched battle in Afghanistan or, long ago, in Vietnam. Nearly sixty dead. Over five hundred in need of medical treatment.

But of course, this wasn’t a battle fought on foreign soil. This was a country music concert. On American soil. And the attacker was an unremarkable American citizen who possessed a personal arsenal. Of automatic weapons. As he so dreadfully demonstrated, weapons designed to kill human beings in large numbers very efficiently.

We don’t yet know why the killer opened fire from his 32nd floor hotel room. But we are reeling from the savagery of his actions and the random senselessness of the deaths. He indiscriminately maimed and murdered scores of complete strangers who were out on the town for nothing more than a rowdy good time.

One of Ann Lamott’s favorite prayers seems most appropriate to me right now: Help, help, help! Help us O God in our grief and our fear and our utter confusion. Help us to find a better way to live in community. Help us to find tranquility in our hearts, peace on our streets, and love of our neighbor. Give repose to the dead, healing to the wounded, and comfort to the sorrowful.

More here-

https://jakeowensby.com/2017/10/03/the-las-vegas-shootings-and-the-american-soul/

Statement from Bishops United Against Gun Violence Following the Las Vegas Shooting

From Bishops Against Gun Violence-

We share in the grief and horror of people across our country and, indeed, around the world in the wake of last night’s mass shooting in Las Vegas. We have spoken with our Bishops United Against Gun Violence colleague and brother in Christ, Bishop Dan Edwards of the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada, and we have offered him and the people of Nevada our prayers and promises of assistance. 

We stand in solidarity with the diocese and the people of Nevada as they cope with this massacre.
It has become clichéd at moments such as these to offer thoughts and prayers. But as Christians, we must reflect upon the mass killings that unfold with such regularity in our country. And we must pray: for the victims, for their loved ones, for all who attended to the victims in the immediacy of the shooting, for the first responders who do so much to mitigate the awful effects of these shootings, and for the medical personnel who will labor for many days to save the wounded. We must also enter into the sorrow of those who are most deeply affected by our country’s cripplingly frequent outbursts of lethal gun violence. We must look into our own hearts and examine the ways in which we are culpable or complicit in the gun violence that surrounds us every day.

And then, having looked, we must act. As Christians, we are called to engage in the debates that shape how Americans live and die, especially when they die due to violence or neglect. Yet a probing conversation on issues of gun violence continues to elude us as a nation, and this failure is cause for repentance and for shame. It is entirely reasonable in the wake of mass killings perpetrated by murderers with assault weapons to ask lawmakers to remove such weapons from civilian hands. It is imperative to ask why, as early as this very week, Congress is likely to pass a bill making it easier to buy silencers, a piece of equipment that make it more difficult for law enforcement officials to detect gunfire as shootings are unfolding.

More here-

http://bishopsagainstgunviolence.org/statement-from-bishops-united-against-gun-violence-following-the-las-vegas-shooting/

Diocese in Europe ‘shocked and alarmed’ by terrorist attacks in Spain

From The Church Times-

THE Archbishop of Canterbury has joined faith leaders and politicians in expressing his sorrow for the 14 people who were killed and hundreds more injured in a spree of terrorist attacks in Barcelona and the surrounding Catalonian region in Spain on Wednesday and Thursday.

Reports first emerged of an explosion at a house in the small town of Alcanar, 200 km south of Barcelona, on Wednesday night, which killed one person and wounded 16. Senior police officials in the region said that the blast — from a failed attempt to create an explosive device — was directly related to a van attack in Barcelona the next day.

Police were hunting for an 18-year-old, Moussa Oubakir, on Friday, who is said to have driven a white Fiat van into pedestrians outside the Plaça de Catalunya metro station, in the centre of the city, on Thursday night, killing 13 and wounding at least one hundred others.

More here-

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2017/25-august/news/world/diocese-shocked-and-alarmed-by-terrorist-attacks-in-spain

Justin Welby says Mosque attack is an 'attack on us all'

From Premier-

He also posted on Facebook: "The freedom to worship without fear is a right we cherish as a nation and was won at great human cost over many years.

"The appalling attack on Muslims in Finsbury Park is an attack on us all and on the culture and values of our country."

Metropolitan Police said one man died after the driver, described as a large white man, targeted people near the Finsbury Park Mosque early on Monday.

Witnesses described hearing the man, who was detained by members of the public at the scene, shout: "I'm going to kill Muslims."

Police have treated the killing as a terrorist attack.

More here-

https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Justin-Welby-says-Mosque-attack-is-an-attack-on-us-all

FAITH LEADERS RENEW CALL FOR UNITY AFTER THIRD TERROR ATTACK ON THE UK IN THREE MONTHS

From The Tablet-

Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, preaching at a Pentecost service shown live on BBC One on Sunday (4 June):

“The strongest power in the world is the love of Jesus Christ. It is more powerful than the evil of terror or the profound wickedness of the terrorist. We need the difference Jesus makes, we need the order bought out of chaos, we need the knowledge of an eternal purpose for each of us. We need to know that whatever other people do to us, God loves us for ever.”

He added: “It is not a difference political parties, however sincere and committed, can bring. But the difference that has to come is a difference that can only be made possible by God.”

Southwark Cathedral (Anglican), which remains inside the police cordon and is currently closed, released a statement after the attack:

'The truly shocking events that happened at London Bridge and Borough Market have irrevocably changed the lives of many people and have deeply affected the local community.  Our prayers are with all who have been touched by these events.  At present Southwark Cathedral remains closed but when we re-open there will be the chance for people to come in and pray and talk to our clergy and chaplains.  There will also be books of condolence and a place to leave flowers. Until then we hold all people in our prayers.'

More here-

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/7224/0/faith-leaders-renew-call-for-unity-after-third-terror-attack-on-the-uk-in-three-months-

Coptic Christians: Islamic State’s ‘Favorite Prey’

From The New York Times-

“At this rate Copts will be extinct in 100 years. They will die, leave, convert or get killed,” a friend wrote on Facebook as news broke of the latest bloody attack on Egypt’s Coptic Christians. Less than two months ago, while attending church in Cairo on Palm Sunday, my friend told me she’d mused to herself that it was a blessing her daughter wasn’t with her: If there was a bombing, at least her child would survive. Forty-five Copts were murdered that day by the Islamic State in churches in Alexandria and Tanta. Such are the thoughts of Coptic parents in Egypt these days.

The terrorists chose today’s target well. The Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, which I visited a decade ago, is very hard to reach. One hundred and ten miles on the Cairo Luxor desert road, you make a right-hand turn and for the next 17 miles drive on an unpaved road. The single lane forces cars to drive slowly, and, as the only route leading to the monastery, the victims were guaranteed to be Copts. Friday is a day off in Egypt, and church groups regularly take trips there. Outside of a few policemen stationed out front, there is little security presence.

More here-

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/26/opinion/coptic-christians-islamic-states-favorite-prey.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

Birmingham's Anglican Cathedral closes doors to public in wake of terror attack

From England-

Officials at Birmingham's Anglican Cathedral took the "unprecedented but considered" decision to close its doors in response to the heightened national terror threat.

Although some services continued to be held at St Philip's and a prayer station was set up in its surrounding square, the building was closed to the general public.

The cathedral's acting Dean, Canon Nigel Hand, said: "At this time, we are committed to the safety and security of our congregations, visitors, staff and the general public.

"Cathedral clergy and staff remain committed to ministering to our local community, and we will, as always seek ways to do so.

"Our prayers remain with all those individuals and their families whose lives have been touched by acts of terrorism, in Manchester and across the globe."

More here-

http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/birminghams-anglican-cathedral-closes-doors-to-public-in-wake-of-terror-attack-791049.html

Anglican Bishop, Muslim leaders condemn Manchester attack

From Vatican Radio-

A statement signed by the Anglican Bishop of Salisbury, Nicholas Holtam, and representatives of the Muslim community in Salisbury, has been released in response to the attack at the Manchester Arena on Monday 22 May.

The statement denounces the attack in strong language: “We utterly condemn this evil act which is intended to cause an increase in fear, hatred and division in our country and its communities.” Bishop Holtam, along with Rashid Ullah, the Chair of the Muslim Association of Salisbury and Atiqul Hoque, also of the Muslim Association of Salisbury, say in the statement that they “commit [themselves] to reject absolutely this violence and hatred and the motivation that lies behind it.”

The full text of the statement follows:

More here-

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/05/24/anglican_bishop,_muslim_leaders_condemn_manchester_attack/1314368

Forgiveness: Muslims Moved as Coptic Christians Do the Unimaginable

From Christianity Today-

Twelve seconds of silence is an awkward eternity on television. Amr Adeeb, perhaps the most prominent talk show host in Egypt, leaned forward as he searched for a response.

“The Copts of Egypt … are made of … steel!” he finally uttered.

Moments earlier, Adeeb was watching a colleague in a simple home in Alexandria speak with the widow of Naseem Faheem, the guard at St. Mark’s Cathedral in the seaside Mediterranean city.

On Palm Sunday, the guard had redirected a suicide bomber through the perimeter metal detector, where the terrorist detonated. Likely the first to die in the blast, Faheem saved the lives of dozens inside the church.

“I’m not angry at the one who did this,” said his wife, children by her side. “I’m telling him, ‘May God forgive you, and we also forgive you. Believe me, we forgive you.’

More here-

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/april-web-only/forgiveness-muslims-moved-coptic-christians-egypt-isis.html