A burgeoning multi-ethnic church based just east of Kansas City is raising $2 million to purchase two key properties owned by the scandal-plagued International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC). These include IHOPKC’s former sanctuary and a nearby property that matches the description of a former children’s center, but neither were officially listed. Leaders at The City KC, located in Raytown, leapt at the possibility of moving to prime real estate in Grandview, 11 miles away in Kansas...| The Roys Report
A former South Carolina youth pastor has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for possessing thousands of images that qualify as child sexual abuse. He took many of the photos himself, secretly recording women and children while they changed or showered in church bathrooms. Daniel Kellan Mayfield, 37, received the maximum sentence for the federal charge of possessing child pornography on Tuesday, according to court records. Mayfield previously worked as the youth pastor at Gowensville First B...| The Roys Report
When Don Speer and Cassie Cox attended a Life Surge event at a Phoenix megachurch last November, they expected a day filled with worship and inspiration from high-profile Christian speakers and musicians. After all, Life Surge billed itself as a seminar on how to “inspire, train and equip others to surge their resources and influence for kingdom impact.” But they weren’t prepared for the high-pressure sales pitches sandwiched between the celebrity presenters.| The Roys Report
The Anglican Church in North America, formed after a conservative break with the Episcopal Church over gay clergy and the authority of Scripture, today confronts a dual crisis at the top. Allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of power have engulfed two of its senior leaders, threatening to shake the relatively young denomination’s credibility. According to The Washington Post, Archbishop Stephen Wood, 62, the denomination’s top official, has been accused by a former children’s mini...| The Roys Report
Christians are commanded, commissioned, and called to combat all religious persecution, international human rights attorney Knox Thames told a gathering at Dallas Baptist University (DBU) on Tuesday. Two-thirds of the global population live in countries that restrict the free practice of faith, Thames informed the Global Religious Freedom Gathering, sponsored by Christians Against All Persecution and DBU’s Center for Global Religious Freedom. The gathering of diverse experts at DBU also fea...| The Roys Report
A federal lawsuit filed by televangelist Bishop T.D. Jakes against Pittsburgh-area pastor Duane Youngblood has been jointly dismissed, ending a year-long legal dispute that drew national attention in faith and media circles. The voluntary dismissal was filed October 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Jakes, 68, sued Youngblood, 59, after the latter—in two explicit 2024 podcasts posted to YouTube by Atlanta pastor-broadcaster Larry Reid accused him of att...| The Roys Report
A Lutheran youth ministry leader in Phoenix has been federally charged for producing and spending thousands on child sexual abuse materials. The accused is Casey Goslin, 46, who worked as a youth director for several organizations tied to the Grand Canyon Synod, one of 65 in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Goslin was arrested Thursday by ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Tucson police, according to a press release from HSI.| The Roys Report
Matt Queen, the former interim provost at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, is now an associate pastor at a Southern Baptist church 30 miles away. Now listed as associate pastor of Plymouth Park Baptist Church in Irving, Queen, 50, is responsible for ministry to shut-ins and developing evangelism strategies. Queen pleaded guilty as part of a federal investigation into a 2022 case where a student at Southwestern’s four-year underg...| The Roys Report
(Opinion) In the wake of the historic schism that has fractured the worldwide Anglican Communion, lazy and ignorant narratives have already begun to emerge. The secular media and even some progressive Christian outlets would have you believe this is a simple story of progress versus bigotry—a misogynistic, homophobic, and unenlightened conclave of Global South bishops mostly from the African continent breaking away because a woman was put in charge. This narrative is not only wrong; it’s ...| The Roys Report
Morris Chapman, a longtime leader of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, died Monday. He was 84. “In a world where so many have fallen, he was faithful to the end,” current SBC President Clint Pressley posted on social media in tribute to Chapman. “Southern Baptists like me owe men like him a debt of gratitude. Praying the Lord is close to his family and especially his widow Jodi in the days ahead.” Chapman led the Nashville-based Executive Committee from 1992...| The Roys Report
It’s 9 p.m. on Oct. 13, a Monday, on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There are two NFL games on TV and fall midterms are this week — but roughly 300 students are packed into a room in the student union building, clapping or raising their hands in worship. “No treasure of this life could ever satisfy,” the students sing, some standing, others kneeling in the back. “God, you are my everything.” Moments later, the group’s founder, 34-year-old Jo...| The Roys Report
After years of decline, a growing number of Americans believe religion is on its way back, a new study from Pew Research Center suggests. The report, published Monday, found that about a third of Americans (31%) said religion is gaining influence in the country — up from 18% a year ago. “While this remains a minority view, it is increasingly held by adults across several demographic groups — with gains of at least 10 percentage points among Democrats and Republicans, adults in every age...| The Roys Report
Armed Fulani militias carried out coordinated attacks on several Christian villages in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau state in west-central Nigeria last week, leaving at least 13 people dead and several others injured. The assailants, reportedly motivated by an extremist ideology, targeted Rawuru, Tatu, and Lawuru villages — areas predominantly inhabited by Christians. The attackers also stole nearly 40 cows and caused widespread destruction of farmlands. Eyewitnes...| The Roys Report
The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, a Hispanic evangelical adviser to President Donald Trump, citing significant drops in church attendance in the face of immigration raids and mass deportations, is urging government leaders to recognize the “innocent people” who are being swept up in detention quotas. Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and pastor of New Season Church in Sacramento, California, said in an interview Thursday that some churches in the NHCL...| The Roys Report
After years of sharing her story with no action taken, Cindy Clemishire has closure after reading a statement in court at the trial of the man who abused her, former pastor Robert Morris. Morris started grooming and sexually molesting Clemishire when she was just 12 years old, when he and his wife and children were staying in their home. Morris was also a pastor at the time. The abuse continued, according to Clemishire, for four years.| The Roys Report
Weeks after the appointment of the Rt. Rev. Sarah Mullally as the leader of the Anglican Communion, conservative Anglican prelates in Africa have rejected the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury and have proclaimed their own network of conservative churches the official voice of Anglicanism. “The majority of the Anglican Communion still believes that the Bible requires a male-only episcopacy. Therefore, her appointment will make it impossible for the archbishop of Canterbury to serve ...| The Roys Report
Among American churchgoers, roughly half are concentrated within a small fraction — less than 10% — of the nation’s churches, according to data reported earlier this year on church attendance and size. The other half of America’s churchgoers are most likely to attend one of the 70% of U.S. churches that have 100 or fewer people in their weekly services. That’s a lot of small churches dotted across our country. In my lifetime I’ve belonged to churches of just about every size tha...| The Roys Report
Gateway Church has now been accused of violating a law that has been used to prosecute everything from organized crime operations to pro-life groups. A year ago, a group of four church members from the Dallas-based church filed a financial fraud lawsuit against the controversy-ridden church. They alleged that the church fraudulently claimed that it gave 15% of its members’ tithes to global missions when in reality, it did not. According to the suit, Gateway should have given a minimum of $1...| The Roys Report
Christianity Today International formally announced veteran journalist and author Marvin Olasky has been appointed as editor-in-chief of its flagship magazine, succeeding Russell Moore, who will transition to the role of editor-at-large and columnist. The appointment was made official this week by Christianity Today Interim President Thomas Addington, who said he was “thrilled” to see Olasky join Moore and the rest of the editorial team in leading the publication into its 70th anniversary...| The Roys Report
An Oklahoma grandmother, who masterminded the double murders of a Kansas pastor’s wife and her friend 18 months ago in the famous “God’s Misfits” case, pleaded no contest on Wednesday. Tifany Adams entered pleas to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of unlawful removal of a dead body, and two counts of unlawful desecration of a human corpse. Texas County (Oklahoma) District Judge Jon Parsley found her guilty of murdering Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, both of H...| The Roys Report
After Mississippi youth pastor in her mid-20s sexually assaulted a younger girl in her teens, the local district attorney wanted to throw the book at her. DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton said he had sought the maximum 30-year sentence for Lindsey Whiteside, who previously served as the youth pastor at Getwell Church in Hernando, Mississippi. Instead, Lafayette County Southern District Justice Court Judge Andrew Howorth sentenced Whiteside to 10 years under court supervision wi...| The Roys Report
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is urging China to release an estimated 20 house church pastors and leaders arrested since Oct. 10. But despite evidence to the contrary, China claimed yesterday that its government is protecting religious freedoms. “The Chinese government governs religious affairs in accordance with law, protects the religious freedom of the citizens and the normal religious activities,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Monday at a regular briefing, MSN reported.| The Roys Report
The estate of A.M. Burton has reached a settlement agreement with the Nashville Church of Christ after years of dispute over the downtown Nashville, Tenn., church building formerly known as the Central Church of Christ. According to the settlement, approved by a Davidson County judge Wednesday, the court ruled the Nashville church violated a clause in the property’s deed that reserved it for “the use and benefit of the Church of Christ.” Therefore, ownership of the property reverts to...| The Roys Report
Is Joy Moore still the president of Northern Seminary — or not? No one seems to know. Ten months ago, the suburban Chicago seminary, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA, hired its first African American president. The much-praised professor and church elder promised to usher in a “new season of ministry”—good news for a seminary whose last president was accused of bullying women. And with a revamped, diversified board, Northern was poised to start a new chapter.| The Roys Report
Daniel Akin, the president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, announced to students gathered for a chapel service on Tuesday that he plans to retire this summer. Reading from a short letter — the same one he sent to the school’s trustees a day earlier — Akin said he planned to step down effective July 31, 2026. Speaking on behalf of his wife, Charlotte, too, he said: “We love this school. … We are filled with incredible gratitude and thanksgiving for God’s grace in brin...| The Roys Report
The drafters of Washington State’s SB 5375 made history on May 2, when Gov. Bob Ferguson signed it into law, shifting the state from one of most lenient on child abuse reporting to one of the strictest — especially concerning clergy and the Sacrament of Confession. That history was muted on Oct. 10 when state and county prosecutors agreed to keep “information clergy learn solely through confession or its equivalent in other faiths” under protected speech.” “Today’s agreement r...| The Roys Report
A week after the 56th annual Dove Awards in Nashville, musicians and fans are still buzzing about electronic artist Forrest Frank’s decision to boycott the ceremony. Frank was not at the Bridgestone Arena last Tuesday to receive Dove’s Artist of the Year award. A few days before, he announced on social media that he didn’t feel right getting an award for simply engaging in worship. “I will not receive a trophy for something that is from Jesus and for Jesus,” he said in a video poste...| The Roys Report
“Welcome to the fight,” said commentator Allie Beth Stuckey as she greeted the 6,700 conservative Christian women assembled in the Dallas, Texas, arena for a Saturday morning rally. “The fight for truth, the fight for our Christian faith, the fight for our children, the fight for the nation.” Among Stuckey’s hundreds of thousands of social media followers, that fight is often waged in podcast recordings, comment sections, PTA meetings and local elections. But this weekend, the battl...| The Roys Report
In a blazing lawsuit that has stunned the Christian music world, Chandler Moore, the Grammy Award-winning worship singer from the collective Maverick City Music, has cut ties with CEO and former manager Norman Gyamfi. Citing allegations of fraud, forgery, and $800,000 in stolen royalties, the 33-page lawsuit came a week before Moore announced he was leaving the group on Oct 8. “I’ve made the bittersweet decision to end my relationship with Maverick City Music,” Moore said on Instagram.| The Roys Report
Evangelical pastors and leaders celebrated Monday morning when 20 Israeli hostages were reunited with their families, while Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange. “Today, we celebrate as darkness has been defeated and divine justice reigns,” said the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. “After 738 long and painful days, the final hostages are released from Gaza.” Similarly, Troy Miller, pr...| The Roys Report
A Virginia church is cooperating with authorities over a second case of unlawful sexual conduct by a former leader in as many months. Zachary Thomas Ramaglino served Union Baptist Church in Hayes for a year as an assistant in the young adult student ministry and communications assistant. That included helping the student ministry director organize events, according to local reports. He was arrested on Sept. 4 on 20 counts of possession of child sex abuse material.| The Roys Report
In the remote villages of Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, fear seems constant. Families say they no longer sleep through the night, children jump at the sound of footsteps and parents clutch their little ones close, terrified they might be the next to disappear. The jihadist insurgency that has gripped the country’s northernmost province since 2017 has entered a new phase targeting children, human rights organizations have warned. Cabo Delgado, a coastal province that borders Tanzania...| The Roys Report
(Opinion) It is the evening of Yom Kippur as I write these words. My Jewish friends are preparing for their holiest day of the calendar year. They are preparing for the annual Day of Atonement, a day on which Israel tells the truth about itself and then by God’s grace receives forgiveness and the fruits of reconciliation. My colleague Dena, before she left school today, instructed me: “Don’t say happy Yom Kippur to me.| The Roys Report
More than 400 people from 22 villages in the Kanker district of Chhattisgarh, in east-central India, gathered on Oct. 5, deciding to strip Christians of their burial rights. The local Hindus had gathered to discuss how the growing number of conversions to Christianity in their region was affecting their cultural identity, customs, and traditions. By the end of the meeting, they decided to oppose Christian burial practices and deny believers access to burial land.| The Roys Report
Somalia tops the list of countries where access to the Bible is blocked by law, actions of religious extremists or acts by other nonstate actors, the Bible Access Initiative announced Oct. 2. “Bible access in Somalia is not just limited; it is outlawed,” a profile of the nation produced by the Bible Access Initiative stated. “Under a strict interpretation of Sharia law, it is illegal to print, import, store, or distribute Bibles.” The analysis notes local Christians in Somalia “fa...| The Roys Report
A California mayor who has confessed to stealing funds from a church, then attempting suicide over guilt for her crime, finally turned herself in. Tamara Wallace, mayor of South Lake Tahoe, sent the tell-all letter about her embezzlement from Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church to multiple Northern California media outlets on Sunday. “This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I am publicly admitting that I took funds from the Presbyterian Church,” Wallace wrote.| The Roys Report
The Sept. 21 memorial for Charlie Kirk spotlighted the power of Turning Point USA, the youth movement he built around conservative politics and evangelical faith.| The Roys Report
An in-depth report finds Southern Baptist Conv. lawyers for years mistreated abuse survivors, and demonized them to protect the institution.| The Roys Report
Johnny Hunt, a once beloved former SBC President, has sued the nation’s largest Protestant denomination for revealing allegations of abuse.| The Roys Report
The two evangelical behemoths that helped found the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) have abandoned ship due to disagreements over the council’s new standards for leaders of member organizations. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Samaritan’s Purse, which are some of the largest Christian ministries in the United States, voluntarily resigned their membership on Oct. 1, according to a report from the ECFA. Their reason: “Lack of agreement” with ...| The Roys Report
In the summer of 1992, a reporter made a pilgrimage to the Chicago suburbs to get a firsthand look at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, a congregation rumored to be the future of American religion. What he found was worshippers swaying to a rock band, a humorous skit with a spiritual message, a sermon about how God could make their lives better — a service that bore more than a passing resemblance to an episode of “Saturday Night Live,” which debuted the nig...| The Roys Report
A Tulsa County jury has recommended that an Oklahoma couple serve an 18-year prison sentence for stealing more than half-million dollars from a faith-based nonprofit addiction recovery program. Jordan Blake Parker, 40, and Vanessa Parker, 30, of Pryor, were each convicted Sept. 25 of two counts of embezzlement and one count of pattern criminal offenses. The jury assessed the maximum punishment for each count, totaling 18 years imprisonment and $45,000 in fines. Online records show the Parkers...| The Roys Report
Disgraced former Newsboys frontman Michael Tait, accused by several men for alleged rapes and sexual abuse over a 16-year period, is trying to make amends. In a call Tait made to one of his victims, which was recorded and released to The Roys Report (TRR), the rock star begged for forgiveness. “When I first made the advances on you, touched you inappropriately, and it just, it just bloomed out of control, and .| The Roys Report
The lobby of the new Museum of Christian & Gospel Music in downtown Nashville was filled with the sounds of drills, vacuums and other power tools last week as workers scurried to put the finishing touches on displays ahead of the grand opening a couple days away. “Do I feel ready?” asked Steve Gilreath, the museum’s bearded, jovial executive director. “No. But we’ll be ready.” Two days later, the museum, located a block from the famed Ryman Auditorium, opened to the public.| The Roys Report
A woman who was 5 years old when a former Ohio megachurch youth pastor allegedly started sexually abusing her is suing him, his pastor parents, and the church in civil court. The suit’s claims against former Faith Life Church youth pastor Gary Thomas “Tom” Keesee center on a case that has drawn massive media attention in central Ohio. Keesee, 36, is the son of Gary and Drenda Keesee, the founding pastors of the church, located in New Albany, east of Columbus.| The Roys Report
Dallas megachurch founder Tony Evans, who stepped back from leading his church due to an undisclosed “sin” he announced last year, apologized to his congregation and his family on Sunday (Oct. 5), after the elder board of his Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship announced the pastor had completed a “restoration process” and will not return to leadership of the church. “To the flock, to the congregation, for the consternation I may have caused you with questions and wondering and uncertainty, ...| The Roys Report
(Opinion) The conflict entrepreneurs are at it again. This time the skirmish is between dissident right activist Megan Basham and one of her favorite targets: Christianity Today magazine. If, for the past few days, you have been going to work, raising a family, attending church, or doing other things that sane people do, and you’ve therefore missed this tempest in a teapot, here are some basic facts: Canon Press, the publishing arm of Pastor Douglas Wilson’s ministry, made an unsolicited...| The Roys Report
Back in 2000, a Michigan entrepreneur named Ron DeHaas co-founded Covenant Eyes, an anti-porn internet accountability software program that has since grown to more than 2 million users. The idea, he said at the time, was to protect his teenage stepsons from sexual temptation online. Its effectiveness has been lauded by many, including Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson. But this past Aug. 13, one of those stepsons was arrested at a meeting spot in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he thought ...| The Roys Report
Last week, The Roys Report (TRR) published allegations that Jay Spencer sexually harassed an employee at Liberty University while serving as a vice president in the late 1990s. Barely a week later and in light of our report, Spencer’s most recent employer, Houston Christian University (HCU), just fired him. Liberty had terminated Spencer in 1998 with full knowledge of his misconduct. But according to his alleged victim, Rachel Beck, Liberty covered up his sexual harassment and provided him ...| The Roys Report
For years, she was known onscreen as “Crazy Cousin Amy.” From 2008-2015, Amy Duggar King was featured in all 10 seasons of “19 Kids and Counting,” the hit TLC reality show about the ever-growing Duggar family. The thing was, Duggar King wasn’t crazy — she was just a young adult who wore jeans, listened to rock music and had a shoulder-length haircut. But in the fundamentalist world Duggar King’s 19 cousins were raised in, those factors rendered her an outsider.| The Roys Report
Anglican women bishops in Africa are celebrating the unprecedented appointment of the Rev. Sarah Mullally as archbishop-elect of Canterbury, becoming on Friday the first woman selected as spiritual leader of the Church of England. Meanwhile, African traditionalists are rejecting the move as another miss for the Anglican Communion struggling to remain united. Mullally, 63, is a former nurse who was ordained a priest in 2006. She became the first female bishop of London in 2018.| The Roys Report
The Rt. Rev. and Rt. Hon. Dame Sarah Mullally, Anglican Bishop of London, will become the next Archbishop of Canterbury, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office announced Friday. She is the first female to be named to the role. While the position is technically the equal of others in the global 85 million-member Anglican church, the Archbishop of Canterbury has long been regarded as “first among equals.” That could be challenging in more conservative Anglican regions, which have resisted o...| The Roys Report
During an era of rising global hostility toward Christians, a U.S. Air Force veteran has been named to lead one of the leading groups advocating for the persecuted church worldwide. On Wednesday, the Washington, D.C.-based International Christian Concern (ICC) announced Shawn Wright, 54, as its new president after an extensive search process. ICC Board of Directors Chair Ed Wormald said that Wright’s “leadership experience and unique gifting” made him the clear choice.| The Roys Report
Robert Morris, the founder of Gateway Church in the Dallas area today pleaded guilty to sexually abusing Cindy Clemishire in the 1980s, beginning when she was just 12. Morris, who grew Gateway into one of America’s largest megachurches, admitted to five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child before Judge Cindy Pickerill. Under a plea deal, he received a 10-year sentence but will serve only six months in county jail.| The Roys Report
A former youth pastor at a west Tennessee church will spend 24 years in prison after he pled guilty to sexual crimes against a minor. Ryan Kelley McElrath, 40, was a youth pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Jackson, Tennessee, from 2021 until his arrest in June 2024, The Roys Report (TRR) has reported. The independent church fired McElrath after his arrest and admission of guilt to church leaders, Fellowship Bible said in a statement last year.| The Roys Report
Camp Mystic, the nondenominational Christian girls camp in central Texas where 27 campers and counselors died three months ago due to massive floods, will partially reopen next summer. However, parents of the campers have decried the decision, saying it’s far too soon. The Eastland family sent letters to parents last week announcing that a second camp opened in 2020, Camp Mystic Cypress Lake, will operate next summer. Cypress Lake is a half mile from the camp’s Guadalupe River property...| The Roys Report
Christianity Today (CT) magazine has rejected a $10 million buy-out offer from Canon Press, a publishing company founded by prominent Christian nationalist pastor Doug Wilson. News of the offer was posted online Sept. 29 by Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham, who claimed that many Christians lament that CT “has been captured by worldly ideology.” Basham suggested Canon Press would restore the magazine to the “intended purpose” of its founder, the Rev. Billy Graham.| The Roys Report
Since Jennifer Lyell is dead, David and Mary Sills will not seek legal damages against her estate but they will continue their litigation against the Southern Baptist Convention and 10 other people or entities. Sills, a former professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., has accused the SBC and others of “defamation, conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and wantonness concerning untrue claims of sexual abuse.” Sills has admitted ...| The Roys Report
After a price reduction of almost $2 million, televangelist Edir Macedo’s Florida beach condo was recently sold for $13 million, reports the Redfin real estate website. Macedo may own additional property in the United States. One property database indicates Macedo’s family owns a $10.7 million beach condo. However, the Miami-Dade County assessor lists the owner as a mysterious LLC with unnamed managers. Macedo, head of Brazil’s Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), is ranked ...| The Roys Report
Jayme Zazworsky-Opincar adored Michael Tait at the height of his fame with superband DC Talk. As fans have grappled with the fallout of Tait’s double life from paragon of upright Christian manhood to predator, she’s had to grapple with a broken heart. Why? Jayme was Tait’s girlfriend. From 1997-1998, the two were a pair, with promises of marriage and kids. “He felt like he was made for me” she told The Roys Report (TRR).| The Roys Report
Civil society organizations in northwest India’s Rajasthan state have protested the rising attacks on Christians just weeks after an anti-conversion law was passed by its government in the legislative assembly. Following the passage of the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2025 in the state assembly on Sept. 9, the civil society groups documented nine recent incidents of harassment and assault on Christians. A coalition of 12 civil society organizations met poli...| The Roys Report
When evangelist Oscar Amaechina discovered people in far-flung communities who are rarely given a chance to participate in Christian fellowship, he resigned from his role as a senior pastor of Christ Reconciliation and Deliverance Ministry in Nigeria’s Kebbi State in 2017. A year later, he founded Afri Mission and Evangelism Network — known by the acronym AMEN — a faith-based non-profit committed to preaching and helping those who are marginalized and oppressed. “I discovered that bei...| The Roys Report
When churches split from the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada in 2009 to form the Anglican Church of North America, the denomination’s church leaders hoped for a fresh start. Though they had broken with their mainline Protestant church bodies because of their conservative views on LGBTQ+ clergy, same-sex marriage and women’s ordination, ACNA also aspired to be a more nimble, less hierarchical church, free of the infighting that came with too much oversight.| The Roys Report
A priest of the Anglican Church of Sudan who stayed in El-Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur, to serve Christians remaining there is now homeless after paramilitary violence forced him out of his church. The Rev. Daramali Abudigin, 44, kept his St. Mathew Episcopal church open, even as bombs, stray bullets and hunger killed members of his flock. Recently, he found himself assisting 130 to 150 families from different Christian denominations in the city after all other clerics fled th...| The Roys Report
(Analysis) Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination has exposed a politically polarized response in the U.S. population, including among some church officials. Kirk’s alleged killer has alternately been accused of being right-wing, left-wing, or part of a foreign conspiracy. Panic World podcast host and former BuzzFeed editor Ryan Broderick identified Kirk’s assailant as an “accelerationist,” a new form of nihilism that seeks to “push politics and political violenc...| The Roys Report
Voddie Baucham, Jr., a Baptist preacher and educator who sometimes courted controversy but had a devoted coterie of friends and followers, died Thursday following an unspecified medical emergency. He was 56 years old and was widely known for his staunch Reformation-based theology and for rejecting “social justice ideology” and so-called “woke” teachings across Christian denominations. The Florida-based Founders Ministries, which had recently announced Baucham’s appointment as presid...| The Roys Report
Emir Caner’s tenure as Truett McConnell University (TMU) president ended today. when trustees announced his firing from the Southern Baptist school in Cleveland, Georgia. The dismissal comes five months after The Roys Report (TRR) first reported that for years, Caner ignored allegations of grooming and sexual abuse by Bradley Reynolds, the school’s academic vice president. The woman alleging the abuse was TMU graduate and former soccer coach Hayle Swinson. Caner was suspended by trustees ...| The Roys Report
An independent team of ministers and experts on abuse today released a report, recommending that International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC) founder Mike Bickle be permanently disqualified from ministry. The 29-page report was prepared by a Pastoral Recommendation Team (PRT) tasked with reviewing the findings of an investigation into sexual abuse and coverup allegations against Bickle and IHOPKC, a 24/7 prayer ministry. That investigation, which was commissioned by the Messianic minist...| The Roys Report
Jonathan Wiggins, the controversial lead pastor of a Colorado megachurch, abruptly resigned last week over “moral failure and personal shortcomings,” according to a report in northern Colorado business journal BizWest. “Following recent accusations, we, the trustees, have accepted Pastor Jonathan’s resignation effective immediately,” the newspaper quoted Britton Cottrell, a board member at Rez Church in Loveland, as saying during Sunday worship. “We, along with our advisers, first...| The Roys Report
An Idaho pastor faces a slew of charges for alleged possession and distribution of child sex abuse material, which a local judge called “horrific.” Matthew Masiewicz, the senior pastor at Sovereign Grace Fellowship in Nampa, Idaho, was arraigned Wednesday at the Canyon County Magistrate Court, according to court records. Masiewicz, 53, faces 13 charges: Six counts of knowingly distributing child sexually exploitative material, six counts of willfully possessing or accessing child sexually...| The Roys Report
On Wednesday, Sept. 10, Iraqi Christian Ashur Sarnaya was traveling late to his apartment in Lyon, France. While in his wheelchair, he started a livestream on TikTok, sharing his faith in Arabic. When he reached his apartment building, an unknown perpetrator stabbed him in the neck. Sarnaya, 45, later died from cardiac arrest. Sarnaya and his sister fled Iraq in 2014 after the Islamic State group threatened Sarnaya for his Christian beliefs. He and his sister settled in Lyon, France.| The Roys Report
Christian author Christopher Yuan has regained movement in his arms and legs after a fall earlier this week left him paralyzed. Yuan, who wrote “Holy Sexuality and the Gospel,” was recovering in “good spirits” after he got out of surgery, his mother, Angela Yuan, posted on X. Yuan, 55, was injured on Monday morning following an accident on an inversion table. While on a Teeter inversion table with a heavy swing, he fell upside down, and the “heavy machine” fell on his chest, she s...| The Roys Report
A South Carolina church secretary has been charged with misusing more than $10,000 of the church’s money. Her arrest follows just months after the church, a 156-year-old community landmark, was destroyed by fire. Jennifer Dixon-Hooks managed finances at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Darlington, South Carolina, according to WBTW-TV Ch 13 in Myrtle Beach. On Tuesday, Hooks was arrested and charged with breach of trust greater than $10,000, the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office said in a...| The Roys Report
U.S. adults don’t think God changes. Their beliefs about the divine have basically stayed the same, as well. The latest State of Theology study from Lifeway Research and Ligonier Ministries finds significant stability across a wide range of theological beliefs. Societal changes following the COVID-19 pandemic led to several theological shifts in the 2022 State of Theology, but many reverted to previous pre-pandemic norms in 2025. “While many aspects of American society can accurately b...| The Roys Report
About 20 men identified as Muslim adherents again prevented the congregation of the Indonesian Bethel Church (GBI) in Gerendeng Pulo, Karawaci District, Tangerang City, Indonesia, from holding a Sunday morning service. Footage of the incident, which occurred on Sept. 21, shows a crowd of Muslim residents engaging in dialogue with the congregation under police supervision. The footage is on social media. This is not the first such occurrence. On Sunday, Sept.| The Roys Report
Liberty University, a power center for evangelical Christianity and one of the country’s largest educational institutions, claims it adheres to the highest ethical standards. But while students were forced to follow the school’s honor code called “The Liberty Way,” leaders at the top flagrantly violated it, says 1996 graduate and former admissions counselor Rachel Beck. Beck, who’s going by her maiden name, says she was sexually harassed in the late 1990s by two top administrators.| The Roys Report
Theologian and author Christopher Yuan, known for writing about his journey from being an agnostic gay man to following Christ, is paralyzed from the neck down following a fall Monday from a medical device. Yuan, 55, was admitted to a hospital’s trauma center Monday morning following a severe injury, his mother, Angela Yuan, posted on X. While she did not clarify where the fall occurred, the author’s account says he is based in San Diego, California.| The Roys Report
Ruth Abah, 28, no longer walks to her local church, St. Paul’s, which now lies in ashes. Instead, the mother of two locks her doors and prays with her children, fearful the next attack could come at any moment. On Aug. 11, suspected Fulani herdsmen stormed the compound of the Catholic church in the village of Aye-Twar, in central Nigeria, setting the church, rectory and parish offices ablaze along with vehicles and other property. Earlier raids had already forced the parish’s 26 outstatio...| The Roys Report
In Trinidad, Colo., 200 miles south of Denver, Clay Mason leads a 12-member ministerial alliance. But his move from Texas to Trinidad, a city of 8,200 bisected by Interstate 25 and the Purgatoire River, was not about ministry. He and his wife, Mary, arrived in their RV eight and a half years ago to pursue nontraditional cancer treatments, which Clay believes cured him. They initially felt unwelcome at a local church in their denomination, the Churches of Christ..| The Roys Report
Six members of La Luz del Mundo including several top clergy were recently indicted for sexually grooming minors and women for decades.| The Roys Report
The pinnacle of a more than four-hour massive tribute to slain activist Charlie Kirk came when his wife revealed she forgave his killer. Erika Kirk’s remarks, said while speaking before a crowd estimated at 200,000 that filled both State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and an adjacent arena Sunday afternoon, brought down the house. “My husband Charlie, he wanted to save young men just like the one who took his life,” she said, weeping as she remembered when her husband was shot dead ...| The Roys Report
In an escalation of its already tight grip on religious freedom, China introduced a sweeping set of regulations that strictly control how clergy of officially recognized religions can operate online. The new rules – released by the State Administration for Religious Affairs on Sept, 15 – are a continuation of Beijing’s long-term campaign to control religious practices in an effort to reshape faith so it aligns with the Chinese Communist Party. The 18-article document, titled “Code of ...| The Roys Report
Mehran Shamloui, a Christian convert, has been denied a retrial for his case by the Iranian Supreme Court. Shamloui was arrested in 2024 and sentenced to 10 years and 8 months in prison in March 2025 for participating in a house church. The charges against him included “propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law,” and “membership in groups opposing the state.” He was released from jail after he posted bail in late 2024.| The Roys Report
Two Romanian men have filed lawsuits accusing a former pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, of sexually abusing and trafficking children at a shelter he operated in Bucharest for nearly a decade. The lawsuits also name Harvest and its prominent pastor Greg Laurie for alleged negligence in failing to prevent the abuse. The complaints filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in California by Marian Barbu, 33, and Mihai-Constantin Petcu, 40, allege that Paul Havsgaard, a ...| The Roys Report
Erika Kirk, widow of assassinated conservative Christian activist Charlie Kirk, will be the new CEO and board chair of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), the group revealed. Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot and killed Sept. 10 during a public appearance on the campus of Utah Valley University in Provo, Utah. A 22-year-old suspect, Tyler Robinson, is facing a litany of charges in Utah, including aggravated murder, a death penalty offense. He was also charged this week with felony discharge of a firearm caus...| The Roys Report
Huston-Tillotson University, a Christian school in Austin, Texas, marked its 150th anniversary with an announcement that it received a $150 million gift — the largest-ever single donation to a private historically Black college or university (HBCU) — from a Texas foundation. Ross Moody, a trustee of the Texas-based Moody Foundation, made the surprise announcement during the university’s fall convocation on Thursday (Sept. 18), providing a watershed moment for the school founded in 1875.| The Roys Report
Liberty University, the evangelical powerhouse founded by Jerry Falwell Sr., has long touted its mission of “Training Champions for Christ.” But a deep dive into its latest IRS Form 990 filing for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, reveals a different kind of championship: one in executive compensation. Its top officers and insiders are pocketing salaries rivaling those of Fortune 500 CEOs, while the institution operates as a tax-exempt nonprofit. The filing, obtained via ProPublica’...| The Roys Report
For two decades, Michael Tait survivors Jason Jones and Randall Crawford hid their alleged rapes by Tait from the world. Now, they are on the warpath. After telling media their stories of grooming and sexual assault at the hands of the former Newsboys frontman, they have launched a platform called Coalition Reloaded. The ambitious music and ministry initiative calls out sexual and church abuse in an effort to change Christian music from the inside out.| The Roys Report
The Southern Baptist Convention will go its own way on immigration policy, the denomination’s top public policy official said Wednesday (Sept. 17), breaking ties with a coalition of other evangelical Christian bodies focused on the issue. “We feel we need to take a more independent posture on our immigration-related work,” Miles Mullin, acting president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the SBC’s policy arm, told the agency’s trustees in announcing it had severed ties ...| The Roys Report
AI-generated versions of conservative Christian activist Charlie Kirk are popping up online after his killing—as well as in church services.| The Roys Report
The lead pastor at a North Texas megachurch has resigned after confessing to “sexual sin and moral failure.” John McKinzie, lead pastor at Hope Fellowship Church in Collin County, Texas, stepped down Monday, church leaders announced in an email to congregants. Hope Fellowship, with an estimated weekly attendance of 8,000 to 9,000, operates four campuses in Frisco, McKinney, and Prosper, Texas. The email described how leaders were blindsided by McKinzie’s confession on Sunday.| The Roys Report
As millions worldwide mourned the Sept. 10 murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) issued a statement lamenting his death and praising his message. While saying he believes Kirk’s assassination was “demonic,” the Rev. Dwight McKissic, a prominent Black pastor in the SBC, claims the statement’s omission of Kirk’s demeaning comments about persons of color was glaring and wrong. “We need to lament his death,” McKissic, senior pastor of th...| The Roys Report
A California pastor has been arrested for viewing child sex abuse material for more than 10 years, church officials said. Jeffrey Williams Zabel, the pastor of worship and service production at Arbor Road Church (ARC) in Long Beach, was arrested on Sept. 9, Long Beach police told The Roys Report(TRR) in a statement. Zabel also served as a part-time music and choir teacher at Lakewood Christian Schools (LCS), which is affiliated with the church.| The Roys Report
Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk, has been charged with aggravated murder, which, if convicted of, means he could face the death penalty. In a 10-page probable cause document, Utah prosecutors levied a total of seven charges against Robinson. Along with the murder charge, others were felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and committing a violent crime when children are present.| The Roys Report
As he sat behind a microphone for nearly two hours in the White House complex on Monday (Sept. 15), Vice President JD Vance’s face hung with visible emotion. As the guest host of Charlie Kirk’s podcast, he talked with a series of White House officials as they told stories about Kirk, the conservative activist who was killed by an assassin’s bullet last week while speaking at a college in Utah. But as the vice president began to draw the episode to a close, the tone shifted from mournful...| The Roys Report
On Aug. 27, over a thousand attendees lifted their voices in worship at Washington, D.C.,’s Kennedy Center as part of a red-carpet premiere of a new documentary, “The Revival Generation: Gen Z Turning to Jesus.” As the notes of the last song faded, Abigail Robertson, granddaughter of famed televangelist Pat Robertson and producer of the film, took the stage to praise God for the Christian revivals taking place around the globe. “May this be the first of many events like this at the Ke...| The Roys Report
Eight leaders of a Georgia-based church have been indicted for swindling more than $30 million from multiple banks and an untold number of U.S. veterans. The widespread fraud scheme was operated for decades by leaders of the House of Prayer Christian Churches of America (HOPCC), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia in a press release. The leaders allegedly targeted members of the U.S. military for indoctrination and then “exercised extreme control” to gain mon...| The Roys Report
(Analysis) “America remains today substantially what it has always been, namely a Christian country. That observation can sound aggressively partisan or intolerant, since some extremists believe that Americans are a Christian people who require a Christian government, with all that implies about religious exercises in schools and public displays. I make no such assertion, since I believe that religion flourishes best when it is kept farthest away from any form of government intervention, ev...| The Roys Report
