The 3 - July 21, 2019

This week's edition of The 3, with three stories of relevance to the Christian community, there is news that has emerged from a special conference this week on religious freedom, the formation of a new alliance from a variety of nations to address that topic.  Also, school children in a British city will no longer be allowed to congregate at a public library, due to their inclusion of Christian songs in a group meeting.  And, the chaplain of the U.S. House offered a prayer this week incorporating elements of spiritual warfare following a tumultuous week.

Secretary of State announces International Religious Freedom Alliance

This past week, the U.S. State Department sponsored its second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. ReligionNews.com reported on the events, stating that there were "two days of meetings where survivors shared their stories of persecution and some of the almost 900 religious leaders and activists in attendance made plans to foster interfaith understanding."

The article also said:

Before a gathering of representatives of 106 countries, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced plans to create the International Religious Freedom Alliance.

During the event that spanned three days, according to the article, "speakers hailed religious freedom victories that had occurred since the first ministerial a year ago. That included the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson, an American evangelical detained in Turkey for two years." Brunson prayed at a Thursday luncheon for "heads of delegations," and said, "I bless you in the name of my king, Jesus Christ."

About this new alliance, Pompeo said, “We hope that this new vehicle — the first-ever international body devoted to this specific topic – will build on efforts to date and bring like-minded countries together to confront challenges of international religious freedom,” adding, “It will provide a space for the work that we do here to flourish throughout the year.”

Other speakers included Vice-President Mike Pence, who declared, “The United States stands with all victims of religious persecution and the American people have them in our hearts — and in our prayers...”

British library bans church group from assembling

In Great Britain, a children's group that has been prevented from meeting at the public library, as it has done for the past eight years.

According to ChristianHeadlines.com:

The volunteers at Noah's Ark playgroup says it had been meeting at the Burgess Hill Library in the British county of West Sussex for eight years – they had never encountered any issues until now.

Despite the group serving the local community for free, library officials demanded that they move elsewhere after some parents complained that they were unhappy with the Christian message contained within the songs.

The article quoted from the Mid Sussex Times, which had reported on a statement from a "spokesperson from the West Sussex County Council," who said: “Rhyme time sessions are held every week in all West Sussex libraries and are open to everyone including families of any faith or no faith. In Burgess Hill, a partnership was formed with a local faith group some years ago before rhyme time sessions were offered across all libraries.”

The Christian Headlines piece said that, "Many of the regular attendees were absolutely outraged at the decision to cancel the group." A spokesperson for The King’s Church Mid-Sussex said that the church was “sad that our involvement in Baby Rhyme Time is coming to an end after eight years," but that "we respect the decision of West Sussex Library services and we will continue to do all that we can to serve them and our local community.”

Meanwhile, Liberty Counsel reported on the recent American Library Association annual conference, attended by some 21,000 people, stating that it "provided librarians from across the country with strategies for bringing LGBT propaganda, pornography, and “drag queen story times” for children into primarily taxpayer-funded public libraries while avoiding parents’ knowledge. The report says that the ALA "also provides librarians 'crisis communication plans' to 'shield themselves' from events or materials they provide using public resources that generate a public backlash, such as the 'drag queen story hours.'"

U.S. House chaplain prays against "spirits of darkness"

It was certainly a contentious week in the U.S. House of Representatives, as lawmakers passed a resolution denouncing the President for his criticism of 4 members of the House, and an attempt to impeach Mr. Trump was turned back.  No doubt, those events contributed to the content of a prayer by U.S. House Chaplain Patrick Conroy as he opened up the session on Thursday.

FoxNews.com reports that Conroy started out by declaring, “This has been a difficult and contentious week in which darker spirits seem to have been at play in the people’s House..." The story continues:

Then, in a dramatic moment, Conroy raised both hands and said, "In Your most holy name, I cast out all spirits of darkness from this chamber. Spirits not from You. I cast out the spirit of discouragement which deadens the hope of those who are of goodwill...

The Chaplain closed with these words:

May your spirit of wisdom and patience descend upon all so that any spirit of darkness might have no place in our midst. Rather, let Your spirit of comity, of brother-and-sisterhood, and love of our nation, and all colleagues in this chamber, empower our better angels to be at play in the common work to be done, for the benefit of all Your people. May all that is done within the people's House be for Your greater honor and glory. Amen."

This can be a reminder to pray for public officials and to recognize that there is a spiritual dimension to the work that they do.