Leonardo Blair

Latest

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  Apr 13, 2020

  South suffers deadly Easter Sunday as storm system of hail, tornadoes kills at least 18

  At least 18 people are now dead and hundreds of homes were damaged after several states in the South, including the coronavirus-ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi, were battered Sunday and early Monday by a deadly storm system of hail and tornadoes.

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  Apr 10, 2020

  After coronavirus outbreak at church that left one dead, health officials praise pastor for response

  Health officials in Shasta County, California, have praised pastor Paul Tilley and his Faith Assembly Church in Redding for how they responded to a coronavirus outbreak at the church that left one person dead.

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  Apr 10, 2020

  Coronavirus claims at least 7 more veteran pastors, leaving churches to celebrate Easter in mourning

  Multiple churches across the country will be celebrating Easter in grief come Sunday as the new coronavirus claimed the lives of at least seven more longtime pastors in the last two weeks. All of the pastors were older adults and some suffered from underlying conditions which left them vulnerable to the virus.

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  Apr 9, 2020

  Mt. Sinai nixes field hospital at cathedral as Samaritan’s Purse steps back amid LGBT tensions

  A day after the Franklin Graham-led Samaritan’s Purse revealed they were stepping back from work on a second field hospital to be housed at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Mount Sinai Hospital, which was leading the effort, informed the cathedral Thursday that they will no longer be using the church’s space.

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  Apr 9, 2020

  GOP lawmakers in Kansas overturn gov.’s restrictions on church gatherings

  Days before Easter, Republican lawmakers in Kansas overturned on Wednesday Gov. Laura Kelly’s executive order restricting religious gatherings and funerals to no more than 10 people.

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  Apr 9, 2020

  Congressman James Clyburn points pastors who insist on gathering during pandemic to Matt. 6:6

  As a minority of pastors across the country have continued to resist calls from federal and local government officials to shutter in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, citing their First Amendment rights, Democrat and House Majority Whip James Clyburn urged them to apply Matthew 6:6 from the Bible and stay home.

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  Apr 8, 2020

  2 members of megachurch linked to dozens of coronavirus cases reportedly die in Calif.

  Two members of Bethany Slavic Missionary Church, a megachurch linked to dozens of coronavirus cases in California, have reportedly died as officials push back against allegations they have been regularly flouting the state’s social distancing guidelines.

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  Apr 8, 2020

  Calif. court dismisses sex crime charges against La Luz del Mundo leader because he didn’t get speedy trial

  Members of La Luz del Mundo, a  megachurch headquartered in Mexico but boasts five million followers around the world, celebrated Tuesday after the Court of Appeals of the State of California dismissed multiple sex crime charges against their leader, Naason Joaquin Garcia, because his right to a speedy trial was violated.

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  Apr 8, 2020

  More Americans would attend church this Easter if open but plan to heed restrictions: survey

  If churches were open this Easter, more than half of Americans who attended church last year to celebrate the season said they would go, according to a survey.

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  Apr 7, 2020

  Samaritan’s Purse eyeing partnership with St. John the Divine Cathedral on second NYC field hospital

  Samaritan’s Purse, the Franklin Graham-led evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization, said Tuesday that they were looking at partnering with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the world’s largest Gothic cathedral, as a field hospital site to help treat coronavirus patients, if necessary.