An online prayer site that collects daily and monthly fees for prayers to be read out loud at services inside your choice of four Orthodox churches in Romania is being viewed critically by leaders of the centuries-old denomination.

The Romanian company charges $1.44 per day or $34 per month for prayers that fall inside categories that include health, good exam results, and forgiveness of sins for those alive and dead.

The Romanian Orthodox church did not approve the company or the site, according to news reports. Father Iulian Anitei of the Holy Protection Orthodox Church in Houston said he doubts the legitimacy of the company and the prayer service. more >>

On the opening day of the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, SBC president Bryant Wright addressed the convention, saying if there is one message God wants Southern Baptist individuals, churches and the convention itself to hear, it is that they have left their first love, as Jesus describes in Revelation 2.

Wright addressed on Tuesday five challenges Southern Baptists face on a daily basis that slowly pull believers away from Christ.

The first challenge he spoke about was materialism – which he says is the number one idol in SBC churches, pointing to studies that show evangelical Christians give less than 2.5 percent of their income to the Lord’s work. He said there’s a clear message in that fact. more >>

Modern day society tolerates any philosophy “except that centered on Jesus Christ”, the newly installed Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland warned Monday June 6.

Dr Ivan Patterson attacked society’s lack of tolerance towards Christianity, and warned Christians at the Church’s annual assembly in Belfast that Christians will undoubtedly encounter challenges for living out their faith.

“Jesus speaks about going extra miles; welcoming strangers; loving enemies; forgiving those who do us harm,” Dr Patterson said. “In our society Christians have had their wings clipped in our politically correct world.” more >>

The first of a series of ordinations are set to take place, which will see former Anglican clergy defect from the Church of England and become Roman Catholic priests, on Saturday.

Overall more than 50 former Anglican clergy will complete their defection over the next two weeks in a series of Pentecost ordinations.

The first of these will see seven former Church of England clergy be ordained in London by the Most Rev. Peter Smith, Archbishop of Southwark. The event will further establish the new Ordinariate formed by Pope Benedict XVI for Anglicans that wished to defect from the Anglican Church of England in protest against its moves to accept women bishops. more >>

A group of conservative Presbyterians has put out advertisements in major news publications asking congregations to reconsider their relationship with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The ad by the Presbyterian Lay Committee directs readers to a petition where they can declare their stance against the PC(USA)'s liberal direction.

"I grieve over the apparent departure of the Presbyterian Church (USA) from these Scriptural truths, and I am estranged from its policies and programs that do not affirm Christ alone, Scripture alone and the holy institution of marriage alone as the divinely ordained context for human sexual activity," part of the petition reads. more >>

Evangelical and conservative members of the Church of Scotland have expressed deep concerns as the church controversially voted at its General Assembly to allow gay ministers as it lifted a ban imposed in 2009.

The move will allow gay ministers to take on parishes in Scotland’s largest Protestant church body for the first time since its formation 450 years ago.

A temporary moratorium was initially imposed in 2009 following an uproar at the appointment of the first openly gay clergyman, Scott Rennie, as a minister in the Church’s history. However, the Presbyterian Church’s law-making body voted Monday to lift that ban, which now opens the prospect of the church body moving toward allowing civil partnerships for gay couples. more >>