Colorado Springs Ministry Compassion International Ranked Among Nation’s Top Employers
Compassion International has been ranked as the nation’s 40th-best mid-sized employer in a new ranking published by Forbes magazine, reports the Gazette. Employee benefits include 10 percent match to their retirement contributions, adoption assistance, identity-theft protection, legal services, an on-site fitness center and nature trail, and a minimum of 25 days off. In addition, after five years, employees get an all-expenses-paid trip to one of its church partners in Central America or the Caribbean, and with more time at the company, trips to South America, Africa and Asia. “Compassion was the top Colorado organization on the list.”
Texas Governor Signs ‘Sermon Safeguard Bill’ on Sunday at Megachurch
“Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed into law a bill that is meant to protect pastors from being forced to provide the text of sermons to the government,” according to The Christian Post. “The ‘Sermon Safeguard Bill’ came in direct response to the controversial 2014 move by Houston city government to subpoena the sermon text of five pastors who supported overturning a local pro-LGBT ordinance. While aimed at socially conservative clergy, Houston’s attempted subpoena even drew the ire of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.”
Former Child Refugees the New Face of World Vision’s 40 Hour Famine
“Mr. [Farid] Asghari, 21, from Afghanistan, and Saad Al-Kassab, from Syria, are among refugees who will speak at schools as part of World Vision’s reboot of its 42-year-old fundraiser, the 40 Hour Famine,” The Age reports. Five years ago, Asghari boarded an overcrowded refugee boat near Jakarta with only a small bottle of water and a handful of dates for the three-day voyage to Christmas Island and only received one “meal” from the boat’s crew of dry noodles and two boiled eggs. For the fundraiser, “traditionally, participants are sponsored to give up food for 40 hours to raise money for Third World famine victims. This year, the beneficiaries will be child refugees in East Africa and the Middle East, many of whom are also famine victims.”
Catholic Charities Advances With Huge St. Paul Project
“The state bonding bill signed by Gov. Mark Dayton last week should provide enough support for Catholic Charities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis to complete its $100 million, two-building Dorothy Day Place, a two building housing and social service center that’s replacing an antiquated facility in downtown St. Paul,” according to StarTribune. “The private portion of the multi-year campaign already has raised $40 million. The financial capacity from the legislature last session includes $12 million in bonding proceeds for the Opportunity Center and up to $55 million in housing bonds through the Minnesota Housing authority to fund about 170 housing units in the Opportunity Center. The Saint Paul Opportunity Center and Dorothy Day Residence will include a one-stop location connecting clients to health, training, employment and housing services with community partners, as well as 170 permanent housing units that should be complete by 2019.”
Mike Huckabee to Host New Talk Program on Trinity Broadcasting Network
“Former Arkansas Governor, presidential candidate, and longtime television news commentator Mike Huckabee is launching his own talk show for the second time. Huckabee will host an eponymous new weekly news and talk show on the faith-and-family Trinity Broadcasting Network which will premiere this fall,” reports TVNewser. “Huckabee will be taped in front of a live studio audience in Nashville, and will combine his current affairs commentary, along with guests from the worlds of entertainment, politics and faith.”
Longtime Pastor of Jacksonville Megachurch Dies at 54
“Pastor Rodney “R.J.” J. Washington, Sr., founder of Titus Harvest Dome Spectrum Church, died Tuesday, reportedly following a battle with cancer. He was 54,” according to The Florida Times-Union. “In 1985, Washington founded his own ministry, according to Daystar.com, the website for an evangelical broadcast television network. It began with just a handful of followers, but blossomed over the years into a congregation more than 8,000 people strong. Washington found a wider audience in 1991 by broadcasting his ministry locally on Channel 47, his biography says. It reached millions more when it was televised on popular cable networks such as BET.”
PepsiCo and Feed the Children Unite to Strike out Hunger
“Eight hundred DC-area families in need will receive enough food to supplement meals for a week plus daily essentials, thanks to a partnership between PepsiCo and Feed the Children,” PR Newswire reports. “Volunteers from PepsiCo, Walmart, Schmidt Bakery and Feed the Children will be onsite serving families and assisting with distribution. This is the eighth annual event PepsiCo and Feed the Children have hosted in the D.C. community, where eighteen percent of the population lives below the poverty line. Similar events will be hosted in other major U.S. cities throughout the remainder of the year.”
