According to the 2018 Census the Destiny Church has 1722 adherents. To put that in context against other indigenous Christian movements, Ratana has more than 40,000, Ringatū has more than 10,000, and other individual Pentecostal Churches are far larger. Twenty thousand people put Jedi as their religion, and more than 4,000 put Church of the Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Religions’
Teach, but don’t preach
Thursday, September 19th, 2019
“I’d get in trouble with a lot of my fellow Christian ministers, but in schools, we don’t need Christian religious education, we need people to be literate about the religions that are in New Zealand,” said Anglican vicar John Hebenton, shortly after the Christchurch Mosque massacre. His voice is one a many that are calling Read more
Trust in churches continues to decline
Monday, July 9th, 2018
A recent survey suggests that, in the last 2 years, New Zealanders’ trust in churches has continued to decline. The same survey shows that the perceived change in personal trust in churches in the same period to be greater than the participants’ answers actually indicate. The results indicate a score of 7 for reduced net trust. The Read more
Why do religions have a foot fetish?
Friday, April 1st, 2016
It’s Easter, and Christians around the world are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. Oddly, though, in the past few years the biggest surprises of the Easter season have come three days earlier, on Holy Thursday, the day when Christians celebrate the Last Supper. This year Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 young refugees. Traditionally, Read more
Faith, tattoos, and evangelisation
Tuesday, June 24th, 2014
Tanksley has five tattoos, three of them with faith themes. A Greek Chi-Rho symbol can be found “hidden” on the inside of his left arm where the arm bends. The tattoo represents a time before Christianity was accepted and followers had to keep their faith a secret. Tanksley believes many still hesitate to express their Read more
100-plus religious leaders oppose US contraception mandate
Friday, July 5th, 2013The leaders of dozens of religious groups have joined the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Southern Baptist Convention in signing an open letter opposing the Obama administration’s contraception mandate. They highlighted the threat to conscience posed by the mandate requiring almost all employers to cover contraception, sterilisation and abortifacient drugs and devices Read more
The state of the church in Christchurch
Friday, April 5th, 2013
In an article on the state of the church in Christchurch, New Zealand, Anna Turner says the number of Christians in Christchurch is dropping, while those identifying as non-religious is steadily on the rise. According to the last census, many Christchurch Christians were older, with 20.6 per cent being over 65. Those who were non-religious Read more
Anti-Semitism seen as threat to Catholics too
Tuesday, March 5th, 2013
A new anti-Semitism is rising in several countries and could lead to dire consequences for democratic societies and members of all religions, according to witnesses who testified at a United States Congressional hearing. Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders spoke of the threat anti-Semitism poses to non-Jewish communities and even to democratic government. The hearing was called Read more
Young people less tolerant and more ignorant of other religions, poll suggests
Monday, June 11th, 2012Young people show less tolerance of other religions than older people, a poll suggests, highlighting widespread ignorance of links between Christianity, Islam and Judaism. People in their late teens and early 20s were significantly less open to children born to parents from different religious backgrounds being brought up to understand both faiths than those in Read more
Religions: neither privileged nor ignored Archbishop says
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols says religions must be free to “speak from their traditions”, and that their involvement in national debates “enriches democracy”. He warned that if respect for a wide range of opinions is abandoned, society will deteriorate into a situation where we become “either dominators or dominated”, while the abandonment of Christian Read more