https://watchmannews.com/ Christian news from the wall. Blow the trumpet. Warn the people. (Ezekiel 33:6) en-us https://watchmannews.com/story/umc-us-membership-falls-2025 https://watchmannews.com/story/umc-us-membership-falls-2025 Fri, 23 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT The Wall The denomination's finance agency counted about 3.8 million U.S. members, but professions of faith rose and fewer churches closed than the year before. https://watchmannews.com/story/the-last-trump-one-trumpet-not-two https://watchmannews.com/story/the-last-trump-one-trumpet-not-two Fri, 23 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT The Trumpet Scripture names the trumpet that gathers the saints, and tells us when it sounds. So did the church's earliest teachers. https://watchmannews.com/story/myanmar-mindat-bhamo-churches https://watchmannews.com/story/myanmar-mindat-bhamo-churches Fri, 23 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT Persecuted Church Christian Solidarity Worldwide says two attacks in Chin and Kachin states this month are part of a pattern of strikes on churches in Myanmar's Christian-majority regions. https://watchmannews.com/story/khartoum-christians-drone-strikes https://watchmannews.com/story/khartoum-christians-drone-strikes Fri, 23 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT Persecuted Church A ministry says the city's small church remains, though often hidden, after a strike on Oct. 19 that killed three children, part of a wave of drone attacks across Sudan. https://watchmannews.com/story/eastern-star-martin-church-demolition-paused https://watchmannews.com/story/eastern-star-martin-church-demolition-paused Fri, 23 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT Hoosier Watch The 113-year-old former St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church on the old Martin University campus will stand for now while the congregation talks with preservationists. https://watchmannews.com/story/clergy-act-signed-social-security https://watchmannews.com/story/clergy-act-signed-social-security Fri, 23 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT The Wall Pastors who opted out of Social Security early in their ministry, a choice that used to be permanent, will get a two-year window to opt back in starting in 2029. https://watchmannews.com/story/why-we-are-called-the-watchman https://watchmannews.com/story/why-we-are-called-the-watchman Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT The Trumpet A word from the editor on Ezekiel 33 and what this newsroom is for. https://watchmannews.com/story/sudan-pastors-son-amin-ismail-freed-kobar-prison https://watchmannews.com/story/sudan-pastors-son-amin-ismail-freed-kobar-prison Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT Persecuted Church Amin Ismail was arrested the day after he came back to Khartoum to see his wife. Advocates say the courts kept finding him innocent. https://watchmannews.com/story/supreme-court-colorado-catholic-preschools-st-mary-v-roy https://watchmannews.com/story/supreme-court-colorado-catholic-preschools-st-mary-v-roy Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT The Wall Can a state make religious schools accept its nondiscrimination rules to join a taxpayer-funded program? The justices will weigh it in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy. https://watchmannews.com/story/pope-leo-xiv-doctors-no-further-treatment-lung-tumor https://watchmannews.com/story/pope-leo-xiv-doctors-no-further-treatment-lung-tumor Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT The Wall Final lab results show the tumor removed Oct. 13 was a localized lung adenocarcinoma, the pope's doctors said in a statement released by the Vatican. https://watchmannews.com/story/nigeria-christian-mother-reportedly-sentenced-14-years https://watchmannews.com/story/nigeria-christian-mother-reportedly-sentenced-14-years Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT Persecuted Church An advocacy group says a Borno State court jailed Liyatu Samuel Dawa after a Muslim woman she spoke with converted. The court record has not been made public. https://watchmannews.com/story/indonesia-purwakarta-protest-gkps-church-construction https://watchmannews.com/story/indonesia-purwakarta-protest-gkps-church-construction Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT Persecuted Church A West Java human rights office says the congregation completed its administrative requirements. The regent has urged calm while residents press for a review. https://watchmannews.com/story/international-day-of-prayer-persecuted-church-november-1-2026 https://watchmannews.com/story/international-day-of-prayer-persecuted-church-november-1-2026 Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT Persecuted Church The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church falls on the first Sunday of November. Free resources are ready for congregations. https://watchmannews.com/story/goa-anti-conversion-bill-shelved-for-now https://watchmannews.com/story/goa-anti-conversion-bill-shelved-for-now Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT Persecuted Church The bill would have made Goa India's 14th state with such a law. Christian leaders welcome the pause but warn the measure could return. https://watchmannews.com/story/supreme-court-kentucky-church-grotto-park-hills https://watchmannews.com/story/supreme-court-kentucky-church-grotto-park-hills Wed, 21 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT The Wall A Park Hills parish was blocked from building a shrine next door. The justices will decide whether that put a "substantial burden" on its religious exercise. https://watchmannews.com/story/indianapolis-to-host-2029-national-eucharistic-congress https://watchmannews.com/story/indianapolis-to-host-2029-national-eucharistic-congress Wed, 21 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT Hoosier Watch The Catholic gathering returns to the city five years after the 2024 congress drew thousands of pilgrims downtown. https://watchmannews.com/story/appeals-court-revives-churches-challenge-ice-houses-of-worship https://watchmannews.com/story/appeals-court-revives-churches-challenge-ice-houses-of-worship Wed, 21 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT The Wall A divided D.C. Circuit panel said 27 Christian and Jewish groups can press their case. The ruling does not stop enforcement for now.