By Christy Barritt

Pastor Launches WikiWorship 

A pastor in North Carolina has launched an interactive website where he hopes to get questions from those who are seeking.

Philip Chryst, a student at Duke Divinity School and a United Methodist minister, wanted to create a website that addresses issues of faith and allows people to give input on the topics he preaches about. Initially he went door to door and gathered questions people had but might not ever go to church to ask. He then invited those people to come and hear his responses at a nontraditional gathering.

Through his ministry called The Anchor, he started WikiWorship, which held its first service at a bar in the Wilmington, North Carolina, area. He wanted to create a space to answer questions such as, “Why are some people born into poverty while others are born into three-bedroom homes?”

Chryst hopes his efforts will be evangelistic and that this will be a new method to reach people in the current culture.

Interfaith Effort to End Global Slavery 

Members of the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, as well as two prominent Muslim leaders have joined together to launch the Global Freedom Network. Their mission is to combat human trafficking and slavery by developing a plan to eradicate it by the end of the decade.

The network has identified more than 29.8 million enslaved people around the world. This slavery comes in many forms, including forced labor, forced marriages, and sex trafficking. These religious leaders are hoping to galvanize action at the local, national, and international level by gaining endorsement from G20 and over 160 governments, among others.

Many have expressed excitement over the potential cooperation between political and religious leaders. The project is being spearheaded by Australian businessman and billionaire Andrew Forrest.

Dating Site Helps Missionaries Find Love

A new dating website has launched in the hopes of helping missionaries and other Christians serving overseas to find a spouse. CalledTogether.us launched in March. At press time, 400 people had signed up. 

One of the founders of the site, Gerin St. Claire, said that he wanted to help Christians find their match so they didn’t have to choose between serving overseas or staying in the United States to find a marriage partner.

According to St. Claire, the majority of American missionaries (about two-thirds) are married. But the one-third who are single generally leave the field in order to return to the U.S. and find a spouse.

The site caters to those overseas, but it’s also available to Christians living in the U.S. who are open to relocating. St. Claire said he developed the site because there’s no other dating resource like it.

Hundreds Gather to Protest Ten Commandments Removal

A crowd of approximately 500 people gathered in Idaho to show their support for keeping a Ten Commandments display at a public park.

The monument was donated to the city of Sandpoint, Idaho, in 1972 by a local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. The Freedom from Religion Foundation sent a letter to Sandpoint’s local government, asking that the monument be taken down. They said the display causes distress and divisiveness. They also called it a “liability.”

The city government released a statement in March, stating that they weren’t going to remove the monument at that time, but they were considering the option. They were seeking out alternative locations for the monument in order to avoid an expensive lawsuit.

Christy Barritt is an award-winning author, freelance writer, and speaker living in Chesapeake, Virginia. She and her husband Scott have two sons.
www.christybarritt.com