LAC-MGANTIC Hundreds gathered in Lac-Mgantic on Sunday for a memorial mass to remember the 47 who died in a railway accident here last year.

As wind blew dust clouds past the church and through the construction site that has replaced the destroyed downtown here, firefighters, paramedics and police who responded to the explosion last year marched inside.

You have given us a beautiful message of dignity and strength. Yes, there have been tears and great suffering but at the same time there has been overwhelming generosity and love, Sherbrooke diocese archbishop Luc Cyr said, addressing the crowd inside the Ste-Agns church.

Amidst this individual and community destruction, there is a reconstruction to undergo, for the town and for us as individuals, Cyr said.

To each and every one of you: I urge you to keep your hope and faith. We will rebuild our town more beautiful than ever, Lac-Mgantic mayor Colette Roy-Laroche said after the mass.

Before the service, the town unveiled outside the church a monument to the victims a book carved in granite, inscribed with the names of the dead.

At the altar during the service, Cyr blessed Marie-Jose Rodrigue and Louis-Charles Lacroix and their six-month-old son Elliot. Lacroix and Rodrigue, who was pregnant with Elliot last July, narrowly escaped the accident.

We will never forget the victims, whose names are engraved in stone, but, at the same time, we know that life will triumph again in Lac-Mgantic, Quebec premier Philippe Couillard said, speaking before the crowd gathered outside the church.

The events of July 6, 2013, in Lac-Mgantic touched all Canadians deeply and no passage of time can erase from our consciousness the lives lost, the injured and the families torn apart by this tragedy, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement on Sunday. On this sombre anniversary, let us pay tribute to their resilience, determination and extraordinary strength of character.

Governor General David Johnston, who attended a memorial mass held in the town shortly after the explosion last year, also spoke briefly after the mass on Sunday.

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Memorial mass of hope and faith

Wednesday, July 2

Rotary Club of Eastern York County Wrightsville: 7 a.m. breakfast meeting, The Wrightsville House, 129 N. Front St., Wrightsville. hclideafactory@aol.com.

Parkinson's Exercise: for patient and caregiver, 1 to 2 p.m., New Fairview Church of the Brethren, 1873 New Fairview Church Road, York Township. This program is free; no registration required. Wear comfortable clothes; no experience necessary. 717-851-5503.

Red Lion Area High School Class of 1943: 8 a.m. breakfast, Lion's Pride, Dairyland Square.

Kids Under Construction: support group for children who have loved ones with cancer, 6:30 to 8 p.m., H.O.P.E. office, New Freedom Community Building, 150 E. Main. St., New Freedom. Transportation from Apple Hill Medical Center, Suite 188, Monument Road, York Township, can be provided if notified in advance. 717-227-2824.

Rivertownes PA U.S.A.: 7 p.m., Wrightsville House, Front and Locust streets, Wrightsville. 717-684-2489.

Red Lion/Dallastown Area Rotary Club: noon to 1 p.m., Great American Saloon, 20 Dairyland Square, Red Lion.

Cub Scout Pack 93: 6:30 to 7:45 p.m., Christ Lutheran Church, 80 S. Main St., Loganville. There are groups for first- through fifth-grade boys. 717-428-3312.

DivorceCare: a support group for those considering or experiencing divorce, 6:30 to 8 p.m., Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 397 Tyler Run Road, York Township. 717-854-4276.

Card Club: for York Township residents, noon to 3 p.m., York Township Park building. 717-741-3861, ext. 177.

Originally posted here:
Calendar: Meetings in Dallastown, Red Lion and eastern York County for the week of July 2, 2014

A church stands beside a busy highway in the southern Chinese city of Wenzhou, its steeple shrouded in construction tarp. Its cross is gone, unceremoniously removed. A short distance away another church, a gleaming new structure only barely finished, has been reduced by wrecking equipment to a crater of rubble in another hillside. Police stand in the pouring rain to keep visitors from driving down the road that passes by.

Across Zhejiang, the Chinese province where Wenzhou is located, Christians have counted at least 100 churches forced to make alterations, knock down wings or remove crosses in recent months. It is the most visible evidence of a renewed Chinese effort to restrict the spread of religion, and particularly Christianity, which had until recently flourished over a decade that saw China soften its enforcement of rules that outlaw anything that officially sanctioned worship.

The changes are visible across China, with Christians being detained, publishers facing sudden restrictions on printing new Christian books and rising concern among those whose faith is again placing them at renewed risk in a country often criticized for religiously-motivated human rights violations.

Its very worrisome, said Bob Fu, the founder of China Aid, a Texas-based group that advocates for Christian rights in China. Mr. Fu, who helped human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng leave China, said he has seen official documents that suggest the Chinese central government sees an imperative to, as he put it, contain the rapid growth of Christianity, or religion.

China is home to one of the worlds fastest-growing populations of Christians 67 million in 2010 (or 5 per cent of the population, compared with 18 per cent for Buddhism), according to the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project. At the time of the Communist revolution in 1949, there were an estimated four million Christians. At its current rate of expansion, China may one day be home to more Christians than any other nation.

Underground churches and seminaries so-called because they are unofficial and operate in a legal grey zone have in recent years flourished in plain sight, some occupying large office buildings and welcoming parishioners by the many hundreds.

But the past year has seen China clamp down on free speech and lock up hundreds of prominent online critics and human rights lawyers. That effort is now expanding to religion, in a campaign that now threatens a much larger segment of the countrys population.

In May, Zhang Chunxian, the Communist Party chief in Chinas far western Xinjiang territory, pledged strengthened management of religious affairs in accordance with the law, according the state-run Xinhua news agency. Those remarks were seen as opening a round of new crackdowns on Muslims in that region. However, it has become clear that they also gave voice to a broader effort to regulate religion nation-wide.

Many attribute the changes to Xi Jinping, who has waged a broad battle since becoming president a year ago on any force he sees as potentially threatening to the rule of the Communist Party.

We can see that the new central government is really much more controlling, said Max, a former pastor who asked to be identified only by his English first name for fear of repercussions as he remains an active Christian outreach worker.

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Christians face increased risks in China

Multiple crews battle Madison Co. field fire Multiple crews battle Madison Co. field fire

Updated: Sunday, July 6 2014 5:19 PM EDT2014-07-06 21:19:27 GMT

Updated: Sunday, July 6 2014 4:28 PM EDT2014-07-06 20:28:08 GMT

Updated: Sunday, July 6 2014 4:08 PM EDT2014-07-06 20:08:49 GMT

Updated: Sunday, July 6 2014 4:07 PM EDT2014-07-06 20:07:44 GMT

Updated: Sunday, July 6 2014 2:29 PM EDT2014-07-06 18:29:37 GMT

In response to recent shootings in North Huntsville, the Union Chapel Missionary Baptist Church held an event to curb gun violence Friday.

The church teamed up with the Madison County Sheriff's Department to host a gun buyback Friday and Saturday. Officials said people can drop off guns between 9 a.m. and noon in exchange for a $50 credit card. The department said it was a "no questions asked" situation.

Senior Pastor O. Wendell Davis helped organize the event and said the church has been hit hard by violence, particularly the recent death of Ashia Oliver. Ashia's family members attended the event and said seeing the community come together to try and end violence gives meaning to Ashia's death.

"He didn't just take her away to take her away," cousin Acayycee Crutcher said. "He took her away to wake up Huntsville. The grieving is going to come, but we're smiling now. Just look at what's going on."

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2 weeks after murder, church tries to stop gun violence

Two road construction projects will close one road and shut off a lane of traffic in Saline County.

Old Illinois 13 West,between Hankins Road and one-half mile west of Carrier Mills Road,will be closed from July 7 to Sept. 12 for a bridge replacement west of Bankston Church Road.

Another road construction project from Raleigh Road to the American Coal mine on Illinois 34 North will close July 7 to Aug. 17 the north-bound lanes of Illinois 34. Northbound traffic will be detoured along Illinois 13 West to Harco Road.

Harco Road has a weight restriction of 20 tons, so vehicles over 20 tons will need to choose another route.

The Saline County Sheriff's Office uses NIXLE to inform the public about critical traffic information. To enroll, send a text message to 888777 and enter the zip code 62946 to receive Saline County alerts or visit http://www.nixle.com to enroll and select the location and type of alerts to receive.

-- The Southern

Original post:
Construction to close Saline County roads

Father Paul Williams leads Wednesday Mass at the Saint Joseph's Catholic Church in Dalton.

Seen Wednesday on North Hamilton Street in downtown Dalton, the Capilla Inspiracion, a satellite of the Saint Joseph's Catholic Church, offers services in this former funeral home building.

Number of Catholics in Dalton: 17,459

Percentage of Dalton residents who are Hispanic: 48 percent

Weekend church attendance for St. Josephs Catholic Church in Dalton: 5,000 to 7,000

Church attendance at St. Toribio Romo in Chatsworth, Ga.: 900

Attendance at Capilla Inspiracion, a Guatemalan mission in downtown Dalton: 200

U.S. Catholic Church membership in 2011: 68.5 million.

Southern Baptist Convention in 2011: 16.1 million.

Sources: Association of Religion Data Archives, U.S. Census, St. Josephs Catholic Church, National Council of Churches

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Catholic Church booming in Dalton as thousands attend St. Josephs and its two new missions

More Religion stories More Religion Stories By JoAnne Viviano The Columbus Dispatch Thursday July 3, 2014 2:05 PM

While two church communities in Morrow County continue to recover from the sting of losing their buildings to fire last fall, both are looking forward with hope as they forge ahead with rebuilding efforts.

Gethsemane Baptist Church in Marengo is preparing to raze whats left of the burned-out structure and begin rebuilding in August, with the hope that a new church will be ready by the new year.

Meanwhile, Sacred Hearts Parish, a Catholic church about 10 miles away, is almost halfway to a $1 million fundraising goal about a month after kicking off a capital campaign.

Sacred Hearts member Andy Ware said people are still suffering from the Thanksgiving Day destruction of a building that held memories and many irreplaceable items, including a wood altar crafted by the father of a parishioner.

Thankfully, folks are channeling that into praying hard, he said. That we were able to raise the amount we have so far is remarkable for our small country church. Were confident we can keep moving forward.

Since the June 8 campaign kickoff, $427,000 has been raised for a building that will look more like a traditional Catholic church than the previous structure dating to 1973, Ware said.

The new 242-seat church and attached parish hall is expected to cost about $2.3 million, to be funded by the donations along with about $1.2 million from insurance money and $100,000 in parish reserves.

We want to put together a facility and a church that glorifies God but will last for the parish for generations, Ware said. We think building a proper church reflecting modest but traditional values would certainly be a boost to the parish and give us the ability to engage more with the community.

Sacred Hearts, with about 200 members, is the only Catholic church in the county. It continues to hold weekend services at the closed Cardington Lincoln Intermediate School.

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New churches to rise from ashes in Morrow County

Sudanese authorities demolished the Church of Christ in Thiba Al Hamyida, North Khartoum on 30 June, after giving the churchs leaders 24 hours notice of the action. However, a mosque on the same plot of land was left standing.

After their Sunday service on 29 June was interrupted by the authorities, who announced the planned demolition, the churchs leader Rev Kwa Shamal appealed to the North Khartoum Commissioner, providing evidence that the Church of Christ was the legitimate owner of the land on which the church was built.

Morning Star news reported that Abdel Aziz Omer, office director for the commissioner, informed Rev Shamal that the government had intended to destroy the church since 2012 to make way for the construction of a hospital. However, the church building was destroyed while a mosque located on the same plot of land was allowed to stand.

Christians in Sudan have come under increasing pressure since the secession of South Sudan on 9 January 2011. In April 2013, the government announced that new church licences would no longer be issued. Since then the destruction of church buildings has continued unabated. Christians have also faced detention and interrogation by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), with several non-Sudanese Christians being deported at short notice.

Christian Solidarity Worldwides (CSWs) Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said: It is deeply concerning that Christians in Sudan are experiencing increasing repression. The demolition of the Church of Christ, while a mosque in the same location was left untouched is not only a blatant act of discrimination, but also appears to be part of a strategy aimed at restricting the rights of religious minorities incrementally, and in violation of the Sudans own constitution, which recognises the nation as multicultural, multi ethnic, multi lingual and multi religious. CSW calls on the Sudanese authorities to return the land and rebuild the Church of Christ in Thiba Al Hamyida, or alternatively, to compensate the church and allocate an equally viable location for a new building. Sudan must also fully guarantee the right to freedom of religion or belief for all its citizens, as per the Interim constitution and article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Sudan is a signatory.

Source: CSW

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Sudan: Authorities demolish church

A large bell was installed Tuesday at the new St. Michael the Archangel Church in Kailua-Kona.

Ground breaking for the church was held Sept. 28, 2012. The former church building was deemed unsafe by structural engineers in 2007 following Oct. 15, 2006, earthquakes. Since then, services have been held in a tent on the Alii Drive property, and, more recently, at a facility off Honokohau Street in Kailua-Kona.

Completed in 1850, St. Michael the Archangel is the oldest Roman Catholic church in Kona, according to the Kona Historical Society. Gov. John Adams Kuakini gave the land beneath the facility to the Catholic Church in 1841. The original building was completed under the Rev. Joachim Marechal.

The new facility will include a 9,455-square-foot church building and a two-story, 11,030-square-foot parish hall. Also in the plans are a parking lot and landscaping. The $7.1 million project will be built in two phases. Construction is underway with a completion date targeted for Christmas.

Continued here:
Crews install bell at under-construction St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Kailua-Kona

St Mark - New Church construction time lapse - June 2014
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St Mark - New Church construction time lapse - June 2014 - Video