Christian faith
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Eastern Europe
Ukrainian initiative unites Christians from Baltic and beyond
A group of Ukrainians have started a collective to call Christians to protect their spiritual values. The initiative is called “Platform of Christian Unity in the Baltic and Black Sea Region,” and it aims to organise meetups for Christians around Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. Its vision has the long-term…
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European Union
Why European Christians are experiencing increasing pressure
The number of hate crimes against European Christians is rising, a watchdog reports. Why is that? Over 40 per cent. That is the scope of the increase in reported hate crimes against Christians, says the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians (OIDAC). These include physical attacks and vandalism. Report:…
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Central Europe
Czechia debuts handbook on dealing with church domestic abuse
A Christian group in the Czech Republic has released a handbook nationwide on how to confront domestic violence in its churches. Czech Evangelical Alliance (CEA), the organisation responsible for launching the handbook, says they want to provide a tool for a practical and pastoral response when churches encounter both victims…
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Christian Life
How long will we pray for revival in our city?
Revival would come to the city! That was revealed to a man from Rotterdam, in Holland, over fifty years ago. The visions birthed a local prayer movement that spanned throughout the 1970s. All was quiet until decades later, when two area pastors prayed for change in the city. Meanwhile near…
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Eastern Europe
For Christian Hungarians in Ukraine, Budapest is closer to the heart than Kyiv
The men in southwestern Ukraine no longer attend church. They stay home or abroad for fear of being drafted into the army. It is illustrative of the position of ethnic Hungarians in this war. Still, the Gospel finds fertile ground.Despite the war, ethnic Hungarians in the Ukrainian province of Transcarpathia…
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Opinion
Lennart's comment: In business, too, the Christian must be a role model
In Sweden, a Christian baker refuses to make a cake for a gay couple. In Norway, a company refuses to clean a church. In such conflicts, as Christians, we must set the right example.These days, the Swedish Discrimination Ombudsman deals with a case of a Christian baker who is accused…
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European Union
New story has to fill the space Christianity left
Once, Christianity brought order to the world. But the days of order are over, according to the people behind the recently formed Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC). A new narrative is therefore needed. “Christians can help ARC go deeper.” People are better off than a hundred years ago. But the…
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Central Europe
Christian pacifist under the gun for Western involvement in Ukraine
Germans followed a simple principle after World War II: Nie wieder (Never again). Many of them became pacifists and refused conscription. The war in Ukraine puts pressure on the Christian peace movement. “What is more important? Loving your enemies or standing in solidarity with Ukraine?”A few weeks before the Russian…
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European Union
European churches fear consequences of rising energy prices
Gas prices remain high. A tour around Europe shows that churches are not yet concerned about their financial situation. A church that has been working on sustainability for years, sometimes to the irritation of fellow believers, can now count on interest from other churches.Churches have barely recovered from falling attendance…
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Eastern Europe
Russian Christians persecuted for refusing mandatory mobilisation in the war
As the conflict in Ukraine continues, more Russians are refusing to go to war, particularly for religious reasons. Russia's Investigative Committee has opened the case of two evangelists who have decided not to take part in “hostilities,” according to an inVictory report Sergei Tarasov and Maxim Drozdov, attend an Evangelical…