Religion Today Summaries - June 26, 2009

Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff | Crosswalk.com | Updated: Jul 02, 2009

Religion Today Summaries - June 26, 2009

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

  • Evangelicals Tap New Top Lobbyist to Replace Cizik
  • Village Christians in Hiding after Clash in Egypt
  • Rick Warren to Speak at Islamic Society Convention
  • Breakaway Anglicans Takes Property Case to Supreme Court


Evangelicals Tap New Top Lobbyist to Replace Cizik

Religion News Service reports that the nation's largest evangelical umbrella group has tapped a veteran expert on refugee settlement and international relief efforts as its new top lobbyist in the nation's capital. Galen Carey was announced Wednesday (June 24) as director of government affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals. Carey, 53, has worked for more than 25 years with World Relief, the NAE's humanitarian relief agency. Carey succeeds the Rev. Richard Cizik, who resigned last December under pressure. Cizik had angered some evangelicals with his outspoken work on the environment and, finally, by seeming to signal support for same-sex civil unions in a National Public Radio interview.

Village Christians in Hiding after Clash in Egypt

Compass Direct News reports that nearly 1,000 Coptic Christians are hiding in their homes after clashes with the village's majority-Muslim population Sunday. The crisis began Sunday morning when a group of 25 Christians from Cairo stopped in Ezbet Boshra-East, a village of about 3,000 people three hours south of Cairo. The Christians were beginning to enter a three-story building owned by the Coptic Church, where the priest lives with his family, when Muslim neighbors approached the group outside. A Muslim woman walked up to one of the visiting women, he said, and slapped her. Soon village youths gathered and started throwing stones at the visitors and the building, and according to Castor within minutes hundreds of villagers, Muslims against Christians, were fighting each other in the streets of Ezbet Boshra-East.

Rick Warren to Speak at Islamic Society Convention

The Indianapolis Star reports that megachurch pastor Rick Warren will be speaking at the Islamic Society of North America convention next weekend. The evangelical leader and Saddleback Church pastor, who spoke at the Anglican Church in North America's inaugural meeting this week, will join a panel discussion with Islamic Society President Ingrid Mattson and noted Muslim scholar Hamza Yusuf. "We are living in a pluralist country. It is critical for us to have positive relationships with people of other faiths," said Sayyid Syeed, a longtime leader with the Islamic Society who focuses on building the organization's interfaith ties. "(Warren) realizes that it is equally critical for him to work with people of other faiths."

Breakaway Anglicans Takes Property Case to Supreme Court

The Christian Post reports that the several breakaway Anglican parishes are seeking to reverse a California Supreme Court decision that gives the Episcopal Church the right to the church's property. St. James Church in Newport Beach and two other Southern California parishes are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the ruling violates California's constitution as well as the establishment clause. The Episcopal Church's constitution cedes ownership of parish property to the mother church, and the California's court upheld that rule. Attorneys representing St. James, however, say "no one can unilaterally impose a trust over someone else’s property without their permission under longstanding law," the Post reports.

Religion Today Summaries - June 26, 2009