in 2008 Providence Baptist Church was given the property by the remnants of Gospel Chapel Baptist Church.

But Pastor Eric Johnson believes toxic mould in the church has caused him to suffer permanent nerve damage and memory loss.

One of the conditions attached to the gift was was that the new church could never sell the property but could give it away. So they burned it down.

"It's taken us five years to get to this decision," Johnson said. "We had spent over $50,000 on the building and lost all that.

To get back to where we were (with a healthy building) and to pay my medical bills would cost up to three-quarters of a million dollars." Continue reading

The grotto, a walk through a series of Christmas-themed rooms, started 14 years ago and gets bigger every year.

This year there are some new windows for children to peep through at the Spreydon Christmas grotto, including a glimpse inside Santa's cookie-baking kitchen. Continue reading

The union has confirmed that the West City Bible Baptist Church is not affiliated with them.

"I'm appalled by the comments made by the West City Baptist Church pastor Logan Robertson," said Craig Vernall, the National leader of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand.

Robertson, the self -styled "pastor" of the West City Bible Baptist Church runs an independent fundamentalist church from his home in West Auckland.

An official statement on the Baptist Church Facebook page says:

"It's understood that Mr Robertson has had a recent history of mental illness."

"For this reason we need to pray for his well being to see him get through the difficulties he has brought upon himself and his family."

Not even all of Robertson's congregation share his sentiments, with several posting their shock upon hearing of Robertson's comments.

Robertson also called Matt McLean, a TVNZ journalist who is homosexual, a "filthy faggot" when McLean asked for an interview.

He refused the request and expressed the hope that Matt would also commit suicide.

Later he did agree to an interview in which he said, "I think every single one of them should be put to death."

"Christians shouldn't be doing it, I'm not going to do it, it's the Government's job to be doing it."

The Baptist Church says the passing of same-sex marriage legislation in 2013 "has created an ongoing issue" for the churches.

"In response, our movement has indicated that churches and pastors should not act as host or celebrant in same-sex marriage ceremonies."

At its 2013 Assembly the Baptist Union set up a working party on same-sex marriage and issues of local church autonomy.

It says it will involve "weighing issues of local church autonomy in tension with participating together in a cooperative movement of churches."

Source

• gaynewsnetwork.com.au
• tvonenews
• gaynznews.com
• Image: TVNZ

The talk, hosted by Paihia's Baptist Church yesterday, was advertised in community newspapers last week, and sparked a furore on social media and in the gay community.

The ad invited anyone who had problems with same-sex attraction, or a loved one who did, to hear the life story of a man who had overcome his issues.

He and his wife had helped many others, the ad said. Continue reading

The logo on the machine is "Baptist Savings", a small but significant sign that a financial force is rising that could suck more business out of the big four banks.

Baptist Savings has seen its deposits grow in the last 12 months from $60 million to $85m, and it is shooting for $150m in the next three years.

As well as the lending to churches, the mortgage business, and the beginnings of an ATM network, Baptist Savings has also launched an insurance-broking division and offers funeral insurance as part of its growing portfolio of financial services.

The money it raises is lent out to build and develop Baptist churches, something the Christchurch earthquakes has increased demand for, but since the appointment of a business development manager it has been setting its sights wider.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• baptistsavings.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

They highlighted the threat to conscience posed by the mandate requiring almost all employers to cover contraception, sterilisation and abortifacient drugs and devices in their health insurance plans.

The 100-plus leaders included representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Orthodox Christian and Jewish leaders

Continue reading

While a poll of 4437 adults detected no evidence that Catholics feel more guilty about sexual sins than other religious people, it found that religious people in general feel more guilt than the non-religious.

Only 12 per cent of practising Catholics and 9 per cent of nominal Catholics polled said they would feel any guilt about using contraception. By contrast, a quarter of Muslims said they would feel ashamed of using contraception.

A total of 57 per cent of Catholics said they would feel guilty about having extramarital sex, only 1 per cent higher than the general population.

By contrast almost 90 per cent of Baptists and Pentecostals said they would feel guilty about adultery, as did about 70 per cent of Jews and Muslims polled.

Only 19 per cent of Catholics said they would feel guilty about sex before marriage, compared with 50 per cent of Baptists, almost two thirds of Muslims and more than three quarters of Pentecostal Protestants.

Professor Linda Woodhead, professor of the sociology of religion at Lancaster University, who commissioned the study, said it showed a widening gap between the Catholic faithful and the hierarchy on issues of personal morality.

The findings emerge from research into the notion of guilt by academics at the Religion and Society Programme, an academic unit based at Lancaster University.

Woodhead said that while it is known that many Catholics quietly ignore the Church's teaching on issues such as contraception, it was striking how little "lurking guilt" there was.

"It does show that people have distanced themselves completely from the Catholic Church's teaching," she said.

"Most Catholics are taking authority much more from their own reason and intuition than they are from the Catholic Church's teaching….

"It is particularly concerning for the Church because it has really staked its distinctiveness on sexual morality."

Sources:

The Telegraph

The Guardian

Catholic guilt (Wikipedia)

Image: Shafaqna

Examples of crimes by the Indonesian security forces include:

• The bombing of the parliament Jayawijaya building on 1 September 2012 by OTK (Orang Tak Dikenal)
• the throwing of bombs at the Jayawijaya police station traffic on 18 September 2012
• the discovery of a bomb in Timika, Friday, October 19, 2012
• the discovery of three bombs in Manokwari on October 9, 2012
• Explosion of three homemade bombs in Sorong on Sunday, October 28, 2012.

The press release states that 7.62 calibre ammunition has been discovered in nine different places, "5 TJ 5.6 bullets in as much as 121 points, 5.6 servant bullets in 20 points and the arrest of four youths known by the initials DIH (26), a resident of Organda, YP (28), a resident Sampan Timika, AK (24) a woman, a resident of Organda, and YJW (27) a Karubaga citizen. (Cenderwasih Pos News, Wednesday, October 31, 2012)".

The press release goes on to say that on the part of the Indonesian security forces there is a "systematic effort to thwart the Papuan demands to work towards a peace dialogue, to destroy the peaceful struggle of the Papua people for self-determination and to brand those Papuan who strive for independence as terrorists.

It says that "The security forces of the Republic of Indonesia must stop committing crimes against humanity by an engineered situation of bombs and ammunition discovery at the houses of indigenous Papuans" and that "The Government of the Republic of Indonesia immediately open a space for an unconditional peace dialogue between the Government of Indonesia and the Papuans, mediated by a neutral third party, as a political solution to the Special Autonomy has FAILED to answer the complexity of the issue of Papua".

The press release is signed by Sofyan Yoman Socratez, Chairman of the Central Body for the Fellowship of Baptist Churches in Papua.

Sources

• West Papua Media Alerts
• Image: Around the Fire

"I just came to support a broken family going through hell. That's what my job is. To show the compassion and love of Christ to someone who desperately needs it," Ngapera says.

Whether Kahui was innocent or guilty didn't matter to Tom and Margaret; it was never even discussed.

"I got involved because Chris' dad came to me and asked for help," says Ngapera.

"His family, who he loved, were being hurt and destroyed publicly. My heart went out to this dad who was broken and asking how his family got into this position."

The Kahuis had asked for help from other agencies. But every person and organisation turned them away when they found out who they were.

Six years on from the deaths of his two young sons, Chris Kahui has become a family man - living with a partner and young children in a religious family.

He is now living with pastor's daughter Marcia Ngapera, with whom he has a daughter, now aged 3. However, although he lives with the girl, he is never allowed to be alone with her.

The national leader of the Baptist Church in New Zealand, Craig Vernal, in an interview on Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint, said that like everyone else they hoped some one would be held to account for the Kahui twins' death. He said that if Chris Kahui had an issue of conscience and needed to turn around and make a confession they would support him.

Vernal said it was not the Church's job to counsel Chris Kahui - the Church is not a law court. He said the church will continue to support the whole Kahui family, and no member of the family would be excluded from that support.

Source:

• Stuff.co.nz
• Stuff.co.nz
• Auckland Now
• Radio New Zealand CheckPoint
• Image: Auckland Now

In her opinion column Sideswipe "A daily look at life's oddities" Ana Samways features a photograph of a notice on the side of the Masterton Baptist Church which she thinks features "a line that has truly done its dash." ...Nek minnit

View Church notice

The chairman of the Alliance of Baptist Churches in Papua, Rev. Socratez Sofyan Yomanis, says this leaves the impression that the Indonesian government is simply not interested and has reinforced Papuan nationalism.

"The Papuan people have no confidence in the Indonesian government and all they want is independence. This is clearly evident from the many incidents when thousands of Morning Star flags were flown everywhere throughout West Papua on 1 May which is commemorated by Papuan people as the day of Indonesia's annexation of West Papua," he said.

Source

• West Papua Media Alerts
• Image: New Zealand Herald