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        <title>Christian Daily International | Church & Missions</title>
        <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/church-missions</link>
        <description><![CDATA[Stay updated on global church and mission news, including evangelical outreach, church planting, discipleship, digital evangelism, and cross-cultural missions. Explore how Christians worldwide share the gospel and build the global body of Christ.]]></description>
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        <copyright>Christian Daily International © 2026</copyright>
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        <lastBuildDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:21:38 -0400</lastBuildDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[South Korean theologians say AI and brain technology push churches to revisit human dignity]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/south-korean-theologians-say-ai-and-brain-technology-push-churches-to-revisit-human-dignity</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/south-korean-theologians-say-ai-and-brain-technology-push-churches-to-revisit-human-dignity</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Participants in the Korea Evangelical Theological Society’s 87th regular paper presentation pose for a group photo at Global Mission Church in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.]]></media:title>
                                                            <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu">
                                    <![CDATA[ Korea Evangelical Theological Society ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Participants in the Korea Evangelical Theological Society’s 87th regular paper presentation pose for a group photo at Global Mission Church in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2026 10:50:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Artificial intelligence and new brain technologies are changing how people think and make moral decisions, and churches should respond with embodied community and a renewed account of human worth, two South Korean scholars told a gathering of evangelical theologians Saturday.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Artificial intelligence and new brain technologies are changing how people think and make moral decisions, and churches should respond with embodied community and a renewed account of human worth, two South Korean scholars told a gathering of evangelical theologians Saturday.
Shin Kuk-won, professor emeritus at Chongshin University, and Eom Ju-hee, a professor at Konkuk University, gave the main lectures at the Korea Evangelical Theological Society's 87th regular paper presentation in Seoul, Christian Daily Korea reported. The meeting's theme was "Theology and Ministry in a Future High-Tech Society."
Shin approached the subject through the theology of technology, while Eom drew on neurolaw and theological ethics. Both argued that AI, brain-computer interfaces and biotechnology raise questions that reach past industry and economics to the nature of the human person and the practice of ministry.
Technology as environment
In his keynote, Shin said modern technology no longer works simply as a tool. It has become a system that shapes how people think and see the world, he argued.
A hammer or a pair of glasses extends physical ability, Shin said, but AI takes over mental work such as memory and reasoning. By hiding complex processes and delivering only finished results, such devices can weaken people's capacity to think and judge for themselves.
"AI can analyze the Bible and write sermons, but it cannot obey that Word, nor can it understand or be moved as a person is," Shin said. "It can generate eloquent prayers, but it cannot communicate and have fellowship with God."
He warned that automated technology could carry dehumanization into the life of faith. Scripture, he said, treats human limitation as part of being a creature, something that draws people to depend on God rather than a flaw to be engineered away.
"The world's ultimate problem is not a lack of technology but sin," Shin said, "and true hope lies not in technological progress but in the kingdom of God."
For the church's response, Shin pointed to the incarnation. God did not save humanity by sending information, he said, but through Jesus Christ taking on a human body. "AI can never stay at the side of a grieving believer and weep with them," he said.
A church that offers convenient religious services will end up competing with technology platforms, Shin argued. One that practices worship, Communion and face-to-face fellowship can serve as a "countercultural community" that technology cannot imitate, he said.
Neuroscience and moral responsibility
Eom's lecture, "When Christian Ethics Meets Neuroscience: The Constitution and Ministry in the Age of Neuroscience and AI," examined what she described as a threat to human dignity from neuro-reductionism and determinism.
She referred to experiments by Harvard psychologist Joshua Greene and others that some researchers read as evidence that moral judgments arise from automatic emotional responses in the brain, with reasoning supplied afterward.
Such findings appear to undercut the foundations of law and ethics, Eom said. From a theological standpoint, however, she said they expose as self-deception the "Pelagian optimism" that people can reach moral perfection through their own intellect. The term refers to Pelagius, an early fifth-century monk whose teaching on human moral ability the early church condemned.
"We must lay down the legalistic arrogance that says we can build a perfect moral system," she said, calling for education in moral humility to become central to future ministry.
Eom also discussed brain-computer interfaces such as those developed by Elon Musk's company Neuralink. As the technology moves toward reading and writing data directly in the brain's neural circuits, she said, it creates for the first time a risk that outside algorithms and commercial interests could monitor and manipulate human thought.
She called for constitutional protection of a "right to cognitive liberty" and of mental privacy. Eom linked that protection to Proverbs 4:23: "Above all else, guard your heart."
Transhumanist proposals to upload human consciousness to computers drew similar criticism. The movement dismisses the soul as superstition, Eom said, yet revives an ancient dualism by treating "information" as a new immaterial soul. Citing Swiss theologian Karl Barth, she described the human being as the inseparable "soul of his body" rather than a collection of data.
Dignity of the vulnerable
Eom cited research by neuroscientist Adrian Owen, whose brain-imaging studies detected signs of awareness in some patients diagnosed as being in a vegetative state.
She criticized what she called the utilitarian standard of bioethicist Julian Savulescu and others, which she said would deny personhood to people lacking capacities such as rational thought and self-awareness. Eom said the view would rank the human dignity guaranteed under Article 10 of South Korea's Constitution by function and usefulness.
"Human worth derives not from inherent capacities but from our relational standing with God, who loves us as covenant partners," she said.
Eom also urged churches not to treat addiction only as moral failure. Drawing on Augustine's description of a will bound to sin, she said congregations should pair medical treatment with grace and become communities of healing and hospitality for vulnerable people, according to Christian Daily Korea.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[‘AI cannot pray for us’: Indian AI specialist urges pastors to own their sermons]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/ai-cannot-pray-for-us-indian-ai-specialist-urges-pastors-to-own-their-sermons</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/ai-cannot-pray-for-us-indian-ai-specialist-urges-pastors-to-own-their-sermons</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
                                                                                                                            <media:content  url="https://www.christiandaily.com/media/original/img/0/54/5467.jpg">
                            <media:title><![CDATA[artificial intelligence, preaching, bible, sermon, pulpit, robot]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ iStock / selimaksan ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ An Indian AI specialist says AI should be used as a tool in ministry and never as a substitute for prayer, study or pastoral care. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2026 06:24:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Pastors who use artificial intelligence to prepare sermons and Bible studies must take full ownership of what they preach, an Indian AI specialist told church leaders. He also urged them never to enter personal or pastoral information into public AI tools.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Pastors who use artificial intelligence to prepare sermons and Bible studies must take full ownership of what they preach, an Indian AI specialist told church leaders. He also urged them never to enter personal or pastoral information into public AI tools.
The specialist, who works with AI in the corporate sector, spoke Oct. 16 at an online national webinar hosted by the Theological Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India. The event was titled "AI, Human Dignity and the Future of the Church." His presentation was titled "Artificial Intelligence: Its Impact and Its Use in Research."
He set out where generative AI can help churches, from sermon outlines to translation and administration. He also named areas where it should not be used and described a method for using AI in biblical research without handing over the work of interpretation.
The webinar also featured Indian theologian Canon Dr. Vinay Samuel, who argued in a theological paper that AI cannot become conscious like humans.
What remains human
The specialist opened with a question he said church leaders must face. "If AI can write a sermon, translate a Bible lesson or answer theological questions, what remains uniquely human in ministry?" he asked.
He said some people now turn to AI pastors and AI counselors, and many teenagers have AI "friends." Even when the software reminds users it is not human, he said, people remain attached to it. If church members, young people and children are turning to AI for everything, ministry leaders must ask how to reach them, he said.
His answer was that love, shepherding the church, serving, discernment and bearing witness to Christ remain human tasks. "These cannot be replicated by machine," he said.
He explained in plain terms how the technology works. He described AI as a toolbox and generative AI as a drafting tool. Large language models, he said, are writers trained on patterns that produce text by predicting the next word in a sentence.
"We feel it is working as if like a human, but actually it is just predicting the next token in a sentence," he said. He added that the results can still be very powerful.
The preacher owns the message
The specialist listed areas where AI can help ministry. These include sermon outlines, illustrations and Bible cross-references; study guides and devotionals; Christian education materials; and church administration such as meeting minutes and event planning. AI can also help translate resources into local languages and summarize long documents, he said.
But he drew a firm line around preaching. AI may help prepare study questions, illustrations and drafts, he said, but the pastor or preacher must own the message.
"You cannot say that AI has given me this message," he said.
Prayer, study, theological judgment and care for a congregation cannot be delegated, he said. "AI cannot pray for us," he said, adding that God expects believers to study his word themselves.
He said pastors should use AI for structure and let the biblical text govern the message. When asking AI for a sermon outline, he said, the request should specify the passage, audience, purpose, length and context. It should also ask the tool to flag any application that goes beyond the text.
Four risks
The specialist named four risks he said the church in India must actively manage.
The first is false authority. AI can produce fabricated Bible quotations and invented sources, a problem known as "hallucination," he said. Christians must make sure their authority comes from Scripture, not from fabricated material.
The second is borrowed work and bias, including plagiarism and one-sided interpretation. He said sources must be attributed and perspectives compared, especially when material is published.
The third is false identity. AI can impersonate people and create convincing deepfakes, he said, so users must confirm where information comes from.
The fourth is lost trust and presence. Congregations should not come to see their leaders' work as machine-made or their care as shallow, he said. "We have to protect people and keep human contact."
Keeping personal data out
He repeatedly warned participants never to share personal information about themselves or others with public AI tools. That includes what people confide in pastoral conversations, he said, as well as member records, health and financial details and identifiable stories.
He said churches holding children's information must be careful once India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act takes effect. Under the law, he said, such data may be kept only with the consent of parents or legal guardians.
In his view, information entered into public AI systems can later surface in responses to other users, though without the user's name. He said researchers should not put unreleased work into such tools for the same reason.
Tests before publishing
On translation, he said churches can draft a message in simple language and translate it with AI. But a fluent speaker of the local language must review it before use, he said, because AI misses nuances only a native speaker will catch.
He proposed five tests drawn from Christian discernment: truth, love, wisdom, stewardship and accountability. Before AI-generated content reaches people, he said, someone must check whether it is true, whether Scripture is quoted correctly and whether copyright, privacy and dignity are respected.
The final test is responsibility, he said: whether a named person can defend and approve what was produced. "A responsible person approves the facts, wordings and release," he said.
'Start with the passage'
In the second part of his presentation, the specialist turned to biblical research. He said AI should help believers explore, examine and express, but never work in isolation.
AI tools should be used alongside Bible study platforms such as Logos, Accordance, STEP Bible and Bible Gateway, he said, as well as commentaries, Bible dictionaries and concordances. AI should assist biblical research, he said, but not replace Scripture-centered interpretation, scholarly verification, prayer or pastoral discernment.
"We have to start with the passage, not with the prompt," he said.
He described a sequence: read the whole passage in context and observe repeated words, contrasts and commands. Then name the interpretive question, use AI to map options and identify sources, and verify the results against the Bible text, language tools and reliable scholarship. The final step is to shape teaching for the congregation.
"Prayerful reading and responsible interpretation remain human responsibilities," he said.
He showed sample requests to AI. For Mark 4:35-41, where Jesus calms the storm, he asked the tool to separate direct observations from interpretation, identify at least two plausible readings and list questions to check in commentaries. The request also told the tool not to invent citations.
For Romans 9:6-24, he asked AI to map major interpretive approaches and distinguish scholarly consensus from disputed claims. He said users must check whether the authors, titles and publishers AI suggests actually exist. For Hebrew and Greek word studies, he said a lexicon should be consulted before relying on AI's reading of a word.
Reaching a younger generation
He said AI can help churches communicate with Generation Z, which he said ministry leaders cannot afford to lose. "If we are not able to reach out to Gen Z, then there will be a big gap and that gap cannot be filled," he said.
He described preparing a Christmas message for listeners about 20 to 25 years younger than himself. He asked AI how to introduce Jesus to that generation and received ideas he said he had not considered. Months later, he said, a listener called and remembered only that part of the message.
He showed a recent request asking AI to create a one-page introduction to Jesus that would appeal to young Indians. The result presented Jesus as more than a name or a religion, he said. Young people, he said, "don't want a religion. They don't want a celebrity. They want a genuine person."
He closed his presentation with the Apostle Paul's instruction to test everything and hold fast to what is good. AI can produce both genuine and deceitful material, he said.
"If you have not tested it, do not use it," the specialist said.
Guidelines for theological education
Rev. Dr. Samuel Richmond, head of EFI's Theological Commission who moderated the webinar, said Caleb Institute is preparing guidelines on AI use. He said students can easily use AI to prepare sermons and write assignments, making it hard even for faculty to judge whether work is authentic.
Samuel told participants that theological institutions have not yet developed adequate courses on a Christian theology of technology. "We live in a very technology driven world and therefore we need to equip people with that very much indeed," he said.
Richmond said EFI hopes to hold more webinars and paper presentations on the subject. "It's not just a closing, but it's a beginning," he said.
Rev. Vijayesh Lal, general secretary of EFI, closed the webinar with a reflection on AI in ministry.
"Ministry is fundamentally about God working through people in relationship with him and with one another," he said. "I'm of the opinion that AI may assist that work, but it cannot embody the calling, the love, accountability or spiritual formation that ministry requires."
"At the same time, it is a great tool, so let's use it responsibly," Lal said.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[United Methodist Church's US membership falls by 174,000 in 2025: report]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/united-methodist-church-s-us-membership-falls-by-174-000-in-2025-report</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/united-methodist-church-s-us-membership-falls-by-174-000-in-2025-report</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[The Christian Post]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[During the opening worship service of the United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 23, 2024, five United Methodist bishops from around the world celebrate communion with participants.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Paul Jeffrey, UM News ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ During the opening worship service of the United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 23, 2024, five United Methodist bishops from around the world celebrate communion with participants. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2026 11:43:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The United Methodist Church’s reported U.S. membership fell by more than 170,000 in 2025, according to a new report from its General Council on Finance and Administration.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
The United Methodist Church’s reported U.S. membership fell by more than 170,000 in 2025, according to a new report from its General Council on Finance and Administration.
The UMC General Council on Finance and Administration announced last week that it had released a statistical insights report on its member congregations in the United States.
The report drew from data based on 20,158 U.S.-based congregations that filed a report for 2025 and 21,176 U.S.-based congregations that filed a report for 2024. Of those numbers, 20,089 churches filed a report in both years, while 1,087 filed in 2024 but not 2025, and 69 filed for the first time last year. 
According to the numbers, while the UMC had around 3.988 million members in the U.S. in 2024, that total dropped to around 3.814 million members last year, or a decline of 4.36%.
In-person worship attendance for U.S.-based churches declined from approximately 1.074 million in 2024 to approximately 1.041 million in 2025, while online worship attendance declined from approximately 1.037 million to about 986,000.
A spokesperson for the GCFA explained to The Christian Post that the decline in membership and worship attendance were due to multiple factors, including removal or correction through charge conference action, being withdrawn from profession membership, removal by transfer to other UMC congregations, removal by transfer to other denominations, removal due to death, or correction of previous reporting errors.
“There is no one single reason for the decline,” explained the GCFA spokesperson. “People also profess their faith and come into the denomination for various reasons, so the membership number is a blend of those that departed and new members.”
“GCFA’s role is to gather and report the statistics that annual conferences submit, so we’re not able to say how much any particular factor contributed to the change.”
The report does not focus on the UMC congregations based abroad, especially Africa, where the mainline Protestant denomination has experienced considerable growth in recent years.
While membership and attendance dropped, the report also found that UMC congregations in the U.S. saw increases in the number of small groups (62,531 in 2024 versus 63,589 in 2025) and professions of faith apart from confirmation (24,081 in 2024 versus 25,444 in 2025), an increase of 5.66%. Baptisms fell 3.76%, and congregation closures fell from 960 the year before to 540, while 214 active congregations began as new church starts, according to the report.
GCFA General Secretary Caitlin Congdon said in the announcement that she hopes “this analysis will encourage congregations and conferences as they look at what God is doing through their ministries.”
“Every number in this report represents United Methodists worshiping, serving, and giving faithfully in their communities,” said Congdon. “UMC Statistical Insights lifts up those bright spots so the whole connection can celebrate them and learn from one another.”
For decades, the UMC experienced considerable internal debate over whether to amend their Book of Discipline to allow for the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of noncelibate homosexual clergy and the funding of LGBT advocacy groups.
Although efforts to change the rules at General Conference every four years failed, theological progressives within the UMC often refused to follow or enforce the Book of Discipline.
At a 2019 special session of General Conference, delegates passed a temporary measure allowing for churches to disaffiliate from the UMC due to the ongoing debate on LGBT issues.
From 2019 to 2023, more than 7,600 mostly theologically conservative churches successfully disaffiliated from the UMC through the process, according to numbers compiled by UM News.
Many other congregations are continuing to attempt to leave the denomination since then, with ongoing legal battles taking place in South Carolina and Maryland, among other areas.  
Originally published by the Christian Post.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Veteran missions leader Daniel Bianchi to lead Arise Latin America]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/veteran-missions-leader-daniel-bianchi-to-lead-arise-latin-america</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/veteran-missions-leader-daniel-bianchi-to-lead-arise-latin-america</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Daniel Bianchi, left, and Rev. Dr. David Ro in a photo Ro shared Oct. 20 announcing Bianchi as director of Arise Latin America.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ David Ro / Facebook ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Daniel Bianchi, left, and Rev. Dr. David Ro in a photo Ro shared Oct. 20 announcing Bianchi as director of Arise Latin America. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2026 06:43:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Daniel Bianchi, who has served as the Lausanne Movement's regional director for Latin America since 2017, has been appointed director of Arise Latin America, carrying into the region a youth missions movement that held its largest congress to date in Manila, Philippines, in July.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Daniel Bianchi, who has served as the Lausanne Movement's regional director for Latin America since 2017, has been appointed director of Arise Latin America, carrying into the region a youth missions movement that held its largest congress to date in Manila, Philippines, in July.
Rev. Dr. David Ro, co-founder and executive director of Arise Asia, announced in a social media post on Oct. 20 that Bianchi had accepted the position. Bianchi will carry into Latin America the work Arise has done across Asia, where it has mobilized young Christians to serve as cross-cultural missionaries.
The appointment follows plans Ro outlined to Christian Daily International after the Arise Asia 2026 Congress.
At the time, he said the movement intended to expand into Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Central Asia, and that talks with local leaders in those regions were already underway.
Decades in Latin American missions
Bianchi's background spans several of the region's main missions networks. He became a Christian in Buenos Aires in the late 1970s and later joined Operation Mobilization, known as OM International, serving with its ship Doulos in Europe. Ro's post says he went on to direct OM's work in Argentina.
He later led the missions department of the Argentine Baptist Convention and founded the Agencia Misionera Internacional, a mission sending agency. He also served as a vice president of COMIBAM International, a cooperative network of missions bodies across Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries.
In 2014, Bianchi founded Conexión Oriental, which Ro described as linking Latin American churches with persecuted Christians and mission partners in the Middle East and East Asia. He holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from a theological school in Londrina, Brazil.
Ro and Bianchi served at the same time as Lausanne regional directors for eight years, Ro for East Asia and Bianchi for Latin America. Both worked on preparations for the Fourth Lausanne Congress, held in South Korea in 2024.
From mission field to mission force
Bianchi takes up the role in a region that has spent decades building its own sending movement. At COMIBAM's first continental congress, held in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1987, participants adopted the motto "from a mission field to a mission force," COMIBAM associate director Allan Matamoros told CDI in 2025.
The network now links training centers, mission agencies and local churches in 25 countries, CDI reported. An estimated 30,000 Ibero-American missionaries serve cross-culturally in more than 200 countries and territories.
Matamoros, a Costa Rican who served for more than two decades in the Muslim world, said Latin American missionaries often connect well in Muslim communities and in India, where extended family and close community carry weight. He said they may have less money than Western counterparts but "bring trust, joy, and a way of living" that fits many of the cultures they serve.
Focus on younger generations
Arise Latin America will focus on Generation Z and Generation Alpha, the age groups born from roughly the late 1990s onward, Ro wrote. He said he and Bianchi believe God can raise up a new generation of missionaries from among them.
Its mission, he said, is to challenge young people to "go where there is no gospel," a phrase drawn from Romans 15:20. Its motivation comes from Hebrews 12:1–2, the passage behind the "For the Joy" theme of the Manila congress, and its aim from Acts 20:24, in which the Apostle Paul speaks of finishing the task given to him.
Ro wrote that he hopes to see young people "willing to live sacrificially," crossing cultures so that people who have never heard of Jesus can hear the gospel.
Challenging places will bring forth future missionaries
The Arise Asia 2026 Congress met July 27–31 at Christ's Commission Fellowship Central in Manila. CDI reported that more than 4,000 young leaders from 64 countries attended and that 341 people came forward to commit to long-term cross-cultural mission.
Speaking to CDI after the closing session, Ro said he expects a growing share of future missionaries to come from places marked by conflict, poverty and persecution.
"Those challenging places will actually raise up people to go to challenging places," he said.
Ro also said the next Asia-wide Arise gathering is planned in three years. ]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Michigan church discloses misconduct allegations against founding pastor Seth Kim]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/michigan-church-discloses-misconduct-allegations-against-founding-pastor-seth-kim</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/michigan-church-discloses-misconduct-allegations-against-founding-pastor-seth-kim</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
                                                                                                                            <media:content  url="https://www.christiandaily.com/media/original/img/0/54/5451.jpg">
                            <media:title><![CDATA[Seth Sung Kim in 2025.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ File photo: Christian Daily International ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Seth Sung Kim in 2025. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2026 07:36:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Harvest Mission Community Church of Ann Arbor has disclosed allegations of sexual misconduct against its founding pastor, Seth Sung Kim, involving two women under his spiritual care. The church said it believes the allegations are true and that Kim has permanently disqualified himself from pastoral ministry.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Harvest Mission Community Church of Ann Arbor has disclosed allegations of sexual misconduct against its founding pastor, Seth Sung Kim, involving two women under his spiritual care. The church said it believes the allegations are true and that Kim has permanently disqualified himself from pastoral ministry.
In a statement posted on its website Oct. 11 and updated Oct. 15, the church said both women came forward through attorneys. According to the statement, they described being groomed and manipulated by Kim in private meetings presented as discipleship, with the alleged misconduct occurring in Asia and, separately, in Ann Arbor.
Kim has not commented publicly on the allegations. The statement does not refer to any criminal complaint or police investigation.
The church's lead pastor, the Rev. Pete Dahlem, read the statement aloud during the congregation's Sunday service Oct. 11, and a video of the service is posted with the statement on the church's website. He said church leaders had first told members in general terms of "a serious accusation" against Kim at a congregational meeting in February, when they knew only of the alleged misconduct in Asia.
Dahlem said the statement was written together with both survivors after months of exchanges involving lawyers. Details of times, places and events were left out to protect the women's confidentiality, he said.
Two accounts
Kim led the Ann Arbor congregation from its founding in 1996 until 2015, apart from a period in 2009-10 when he helped start a church in Indonesia, the statement says. In 2015 he led a team that planted HMCC of Hong Kong, where he served as lead pastor until January 2026.
Dahlem, who became lead pastor in Ann Arbor when Kim left for Hong Kong, told the congregation the news affected him personally. "Seth was the person who baptized me. He mentored me. He ordained me. He officiated my wedding," he said. He said Kim last visited the Ann Arbor church in 2017.
On Dec. 30, 2025, the Ann Arbor church received a letter from a law firm representing a woman it refers to as Survivor A. The letter alleged that Kim used his pastoral position to arrange private meetings and initiate unwanted sexual contact with her in Asia over a long period, according to the statement.
The church said it then contacted the pastor of HMCC of Austin, which remained organizationally linked to the Hong Kong congregation after the HMCC churches separated in 2024, and asked that Kim be removed. Kim stepped down from the Hong Kong pulpit in early January, the church said. It added that it had confirmed his resignation from ministry leadership roles with several other organizations, which it did not name.
Over the following months, the Ann Arbor church said it sought legal counsel and took part in formal mediation, where the parties agreed to work together on a public statement.
A second letter arrived "in recent months" from attorneys for a woman identified as Survivor B. She described similar experiences in Ann Arbor while Kim was lead pastor there, according to the statement. The church said Survivor B has remained anonymous even to its leaders but that it takes her report seriously.
"On the basis of these two victims' reports of misconduct occurring over many years, as well as supporting evidence we have seen, we believe these accusations against Seth are true," the statement says.
Church response
Citing passages including 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1 and 1 Peter 5, the church said Kim should not hold any position of Christian leadership, spiritual authority or mentorship. It said that, to its knowledge, Kim has not cooperated with efforts to hold him accountable. It advised Christians to apply Matthew 18:15-17, a passage on confronting a fellow believer over wrongdoing, in any dealings with him.
In his sermon, Dahlem cited 1 Timothy 5:19-20 and said the elders had agreed from the start to make the matter public. "The scope of public correction should match the scope of that person's public ministry," he said. He said repentance and restoration remain possible, but that in such cases "restoration is restoration to fellowship with the church, not restoration to a pastoral role."
Quoting counselors and victim advocates, the statement says the power imbalance in clergy sexual misconduct makes genuine consent impossible. It says both women want it known that they did not initiate or want the contact.
The church acknowledged that it had policies and reporting channels in place but said policies alone cannot prevent misconduct. It apologized to both women and said it grieves that the community did not uncover the conduct sooner.
Dahlem outlined changes the church has made in recent years. They include an anonymous way to report concerns to elders through its website and a shift from a single-authority leadership model to an elder-led one. He also listed security cameras at church facilities and accountability meetings among pastors every other week. People with concerns about serious misconduct need not raise them directly with the person involved first, he said.
The Ann Arbor congregation has invited anyone with relevant information to contact its elders through an online form. It also offered pastoral support and referrals to professional counseling.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Insecurity, foreign funding gaps pose challenges to Bible translation in Nigeria]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/insecurity-foreign-funding-gaps-pose-challenges-to-bible-translation-in-nigeria</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/insecurity-foreign-funding-gaps-pose-challenges-to-bible-translation-in-nigeria</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Vincent Matinde]]></dc:creator>
                                                                                                                            <media:content  url="https://www.christiandaily.com/media/original/img/0/54/5443.png">
                            <media:title><![CDATA[Bible Translation]]></media:title>
                                                            <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu">
                                    <![CDATA[ Wycliffe ]]>
                                </media:credit>
                                                                                        <media:description type="plain">
                                    <![CDATA[ According to NBTT, Nigeria has more than 600 minority languages, many of which still require attention through Bible translation and broader language development. ]]>
                                </media:description>
                                                    </media:content>
                                                                            <pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2026 06:41:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Insecurity, inadequate funding and a shortage of trained language specialists are hampering efforts to translate the Bible into Nigeria’s indigenous languages, the Nigeria Bible Translation Trust (NBTT) has warned.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Insecurity, inadequate funding and a shortage of trained language specialists are hampering efforts to translate the Bible into Nigeria’s indigenous languages, the Nigeria Bible Translation Trust (NBTT) has warned.
The organization’s Executive Director, Patience Toma, said some translators working in rural communities had been killed, while insecurity had forced residents to flee their homes and disrupted translation projects.
Speaking in Jos, Plateau state, on Oct. 12 during activities marking the organization’s golden jubilee, Toma called on the federal government to strengthen security in rural areas so translators and language development workers could continue their work.
“We have translators working in rural communities, and insecurity has affected the work in those areas. Some translators have been killed, although we do not have official statistics on the number of casualties,” she said, according to The Evangelist News.
Toma did not provide details about the identities of the translators killed or the circumstances of their deaths. The organization’s lack of official casualty figures also means the scale of the losses remains unclear.
She urged authorities to ensure security personnel were deployed in rural communities where language workers operate.
The warning highlights how insecurity can disrupt work that extends beyond producing religious texts to include documenting indigenous languages, developing writing systems and supporting literacy programs.
Foreign funding sustains translation work
Funding is another major challenge. Toma said approximately 95% of the resources available for Bible translation in Nigeria came from outside the country, largely from Western nations.
She urged Nigerian churches, individuals and local institutions to take greater responsibility for supporting the work, warning that dependence on foreign contributions raised questions about its long-term sustainability.
“We need Nigerians, churches and local institutions to show greater interest in supporting Bible translation. It is important that we take responsibility for the languages and communities that we serve,” she said.
The funding challenge comes alongside shortages of translators, consultants and linguists, which the organization identified as obstacles to expanding its projects.
According to NBTT, Nigeria has more than 600 minority languages, many of which still require attention through Bible translation and broader language development.
The organization says its work includes studying local languages, analyzing their sounds and grammar, developing alphabets and dictionaries, and translating Scripture. It also produces literacy materials to help preserve languages and enable communities to read and write in their mother tongues.
Translation and language preservation
For minority language communities, translation work can provide written materials in languages used in homes and local communities, including languages that have limited published resources.
The work can also help establish writing systems and document vocabulary and grammar, creating resources that may be used in literacy education and other community activities.
NBTT said funding constraints and shortages of skilled personnel continued to limit the expansion of translation projects and related literacy programs.
The organization urged mission agencies and language development groups to make greater use of digital technology and artificial intelligence to reach younger generations.
“Social media and digital technology, including artificial intelligence, have come to stay. We must learn to use them positively to reach the younger generation through languages and formats they understand,” Toma said.
The organization’s comments did not identify specific projects already using artificial intelligence or quantify how much the technology might reduce translation costs.
Church leaders call for renewed commitment
Also speaking at the anniversary, Job Ayuba Bagat Mallam, president of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), described Bible translation as an important part of Christian evangelism in Nigeria and beyond.
He said people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds needed access to Scripture in languages they could understand.
“How can people really create an encounter, understand and respond to the gospel if the Word of God remains inaccessible to them in the language they can understand?” he asked.
Mallam commended the missionaries, translators, church leaders and partner organizations that had sustained the work over the decades. He also urged NBTT and its partners to adapt to changes in language, communication and technology rather than treating the anniversary solely as a celebration of past achievements.
“Fifty years is a milestone, but it is not a destination,” he said.
He reaffirmed ECWA’s commitment to working with NBTT and other partners to advance Bible translation, evangelism and Christian discipleship.
Toma said the organization’s anniversary should serve as a reminder that the work remained unfinished. She called on younger people to take up leadership roles in language development, information technology and missionary work.
“The future of Bible translation cannot depend upon those who began the work 50 years ago,” she said.
She also highlighted the continuing need for language documentation, stronger literacy programs and the adoption of emerging technologies.
NBTT says that the next stage of the work will require stronger local participation and new approaches to communication if more Nigerians are to gain access to Scripture in their own languages.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Evangelical alliance leaders, Costa Rican lawmakers discuss Christian influence on public policy]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/evangelical-alliance-leaders-costa-rican-lawmakers-discuss-christian-influence-on-public-policy</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/evangelical-alliance-leaders-costa-rican-lawmakers-discuss-christian-influence-on-public-policy</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Javier Bolaños]]></dc:creator>
                                                                                                                            <media:content  url="https://www.christiandaily.com/media/original/img/0/54/5449.png">
                            <media:title><![CDATA[Evangelical alliance leaders meet Christian lawmakers at Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly]]></media:title>
                                                            <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu">
                                    <![CDATA[ Diario Cristiano / CDI ]]>
                                </media:credit>
                                                                                        <media:description type="plain">
                                    <![CDATA[ Evangelical alliance leaders meet Christian lawmakers at Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly. ]]>
                                </media:description>
                                                    </media:content>
                                                                            <pubDate>Sun, 18 Oct 2026 20:25:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Presidents of evangelical alliances from across Ibero-America met with Christian lawmakers at Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly on Wednesday (Oct. 14) to discuss how evangelicals can shape public policy without bringing partisan politics into the pulpit.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Presidents of evangelical alliances from across Ibero-America met with Christian lawmakers at Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly on Wednesday (Oct. 14) to discuss how evangelicals can shape public policy without bringing partisan politics into the pulpit.
The forum, titled "Called to Govern," took place in the assembly's Hall of Former Presidents during the 13th General Assembly of the Latin Evangelical Alliance (AEL), which concluded in San José on Friday. Leaders of the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance Federation (FAEC) and the organization Foro Mi País also took part.
Speakers discussed the history of evangelical political participation in the region, cases before electoral and constitutional courts, legislative reforms in defense of life and the need to train Christian professionals for public service. A Costa Rican pastor described written commitments to Christian values signed by the country's president, and recounted being sanctioned by the electoral tribunal over his political work.
The day began with a video address by evangelist and international speaker Alberto Mottesi, who offered a sociological and theological analysis of the growth of the evangelical church in the region and its limited impact on the structures of the nations.
Citing the work of political scientist Samuel Huntington on the factors of cultural transformation in Latin America, Mottesi pointed to the growth of the evangelical movement. He described it through three current theological concepts that he said are setting the course of the continent: revival, reformation and renaissance.
"When I began in ministry, we had the idea that many converted people in a nation were going to transform that nation. And there are countries in Latin America where 50%, without exaggeration, declare themselves evangelical Christians, but we have not seen that transformation. In fact, I firmly believe that we have the most numerous church in history worldwide — not only in Latin America — but at the same time the one with the least social, political and economic influence in all of history," Mottesi said.
A comprehensive vision beyond a single issue
Mottesi said the lack of impact stems from the absence of deep structural changes in society. Although the defense of life has been the main focus of new Christian politicians on the continent, he said, legislation must cover all areas of public life.
"Lately, the new politicians of Christian faith who burst onto the life of their nations raised the pro-life banner; but pro-life is not enough. It is extremely important, but it does not go far enough. We need to carry God's thoughts, God's plans, into every sphere of life. When we look at the Holy Scriptures through these lenses, we discover that God speaks about every detail of life, including politics and government," he said.
He also set out his position on secularism and the role of the state with regard to faith.
"I agree with the separation of church and state or nation, but it is impossible to separate a nation from the source of life, the eternal Creator. We can and must separate the church as it is, an institution, from the government of a nation; but we cannot, must not, and do not have permission to separate a nation from God."
Historical context and political agreements of the evangelical sector in Costa Rica
FAEC President Pastor Ronald Vargas welcomed the international delegations and described the national church's coordinated efforts to have influence beyond church buildings.
"A church cannot be totally isolated from what happens in its communities. The Word says that we are salt and that we are light, and as such we cannot be holding our events within four walls; rather, we have to be part of everything that has to do with the country," Vargas said.
He then gave the floor to Pastor Reinaldo Salazar, director of the Foro Mi País project and pastor of Templo Bíblico.
Salazar gave a broad overview of the Protestant presence in Costa Rica from independence in 1821 to the present. He divided it into stages, from religious intolerance and persecution in the 19th century to the founding of the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance in June 1950 and the emergence of Christian-inspired political parties from the 1980s onward.
"From 1980 until now, we have been forced to enter into politics not because we wanted to be politicians, but because of the whole historical background of persecution, of intolerance. They would not let us into hospitals to see our sheep who were sick; they would not let us into prisons — I am talking about pastors — to attend to particular cases; they would close churches for any reason. So the evangelical sector made the decision to enter politics, and the first evangelical parties emerged," Salazar said.
He noted that the country's first evangelical lawmaker was elected in 1998.
From legislative activism to commitments with the executive branch
Salazar said that in November 2001 he took part in the founding of the Ibero-American Forum for Evangelical Dialogue (FIDE), the predecessor of the AEL, in Caracas. There, he said, he identified a common gap in the region.
"At the lunches and breakfasts with the presidents, I came to discover a common element: that the evangelical sector wanted to make changes through politics. The problem is that we were brandishing an empty scabbard, because in no country was there any concrete project that had a vision of government for a nation," he said.
Salazar said that between 2006 and 2022, under governments of the National Liberation Party (PLN) and the Citizens' Action Party (PAC), the evangelical sector suffered setbacks on sex education policy, the implementation of the technical standard on abortion, and the approval of same-sex marriage following an advisory opinion from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Unable to reverse these measures through Congress alone or through appeals to the Constitutional Chamber, he said, pastoral leaders decided to seek policy agreements with presidential candidates in the 2022 elections.
According to Salazar, after meetings with the presidential hopefuls in 2022, then-candidate Rodrigo Chaves Robles signed a commitment to halt the gender ideology agenda in the education system and to oppose abortion and euthanasia initiatives. Chaves certified in writing in March 2025 that the agreement had been fulfilled, Salazar said.
For the 2026 election cycle, Salazar showed the Latin American delegates the original document signed by President Laura Fernández Delgado, her two vice presidents and the ruling Pueblo Soberano party’s 57 candidates for deputy.
"This letter of commitment, which you have in your booklet, is a letter of Christian values that came from us. The president signed it, the two vice presidents signed it, and the party's 57 candidates for deputy signed it, in which they committed that their entire government during these four years would be on the foundation of these Christian values," Salazar said.
He added that in August the party, which holds 31 seats in the assembly, formally incorporated those principles into its statutes.
Electoral restrictions and inter-American jurisprudence
Salazar also described the legal consequences he faced after he was reported to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) for distributing the booklet on those agreements among pastors.
Article 28 of Costa Rica's Constitution prohibits political propaganda that invokes religious motives. But Salazar said the TSE did not sanction him under that provision. Instead, it argued that his leadership among pastors "enhances his capacity to influence and persuade electoral behavior, which constitutes undue interference in free electoral self-determination."
The Constitutional Chamber, known as the Sala Cuarta, rejected four amparo appeals — petitions for the protection of constitutional rights — on the grounds that the matter fell under the TSE's exclusive jurisdiction. His lawyers proposed taking the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, but Salazar decided to stop the litigation there.
"That's where we stopped everything. That's where I stayed. Why? Because if the Court, which is woke, which is progressive, rules saying, 'Yes, the conviction of that pastor stands,' it's not affecting me: it is going to affect all the pastors on the continent. And so we said, 'No, we are not going to do that,'" Salazar said.
Leadership, character and service from parliamentary seats
Ruling-party lawmaker Gonzalo Ramírez then gave the keynote address, titled "Who decides the future when good leaders do not participate?" Ramírez is a lawyer, a former president of the Legislative Assembly and the author of the book Llamados a gobernar (Called to Govern).
Pointing to an empty chair in the hall, Ramírez reminded the alliance presidents that Costa Rica's parliament is unicameral and has only 57 seats.
"I ask: if Gonzalo had not participated in 2014, and the Christian sector had not participated by supporting Gonzalo, would the seat Gonzalo would have occupied have stayed empty? No! Someone was always going to fill it. Because whether or not you participate does not interest them; what interests them is that their people get in. And if there are no people reaching those places with a right heart, who is going to get there? People with perverse hearts," he said.
Preserving rights and training new generations
Ramírez warned that civil and religious liberties are lost gradually when Christian citizens stay out of decision-making spaces.
"Rights are gained little by little, but rights are also lost little by little," he said.
He said that during a course on civil and religious liberties at the University of Oxford, his own election as president of the Costa Rican Congress was presented as a case study of a public official challenged solely for coming from the evangelical Christian sector.
Ramírez presented a four-pillar framework for public engagement: character as the foundation, influence as the bridge, service as the method and transformation as the goal. He defined transformation as "lasting positive change."
"Leadership does not begin with the privileges of a position, but with the willingness to take on responsibilities that others prefer to avoid," said Ramírez, who urged pastors to prepare the next generation for public service.
"If God called you to be a pastor, blessed be God. But there are others around you whom God may well have called to be in positions of influence. What are you doing to prepare them, equip them, train them and send them? What are we doing so that they go and represent us and take these seats that are not going to stay empty?" he asked.
Constitutional reforms and defense of life in the plenary
Three other Costa Rican lawmakers from the legislative bloc aligned with Christian principles described the bills they are promoting in the Legislative Assembly.
Deputy Kattia Mora described entering public service without a previous political career. She said congregations should encourage their members' academic preparation so they can hold positions of national importance.
"We have already presented proposals for constitutional reform on the issues that matter to the sector: life, family, protection of life. In fact, we presented the reform to Article 21: 'Human life is inviolable.' The one we have now puts a period there; we put a comma, adding: 'from conception to natural death,'" Mora said.
"Politics is not of the devil; politics is an area where we can exert influence with responsibility, with wisdom and with the fear that comes from heaven," she added.
Cindy Murillo, a deputy for Guanacaste province and chair of the International Affairs Committee, spoke about her call to legislative service.
"Four years ago I walked in through those doors, and the first thing I did was look up to heaven and say to him: 'Lord, if it is for me, in four years, if you so will, help me to become a deputy of the Republic to serve you, the Scriptures and the people of Costa Rica.' And God spoke to me, and today I am a deputy of the Republic. That is why I fear God; I serve him, my family and this country," she said.
Deputy Gerald Bogantes, vice president of the National Front for Life (Frente Nacional por la Vida) and a former member of the youth commissions of the AEL and the FAEC, spoke about bills to protect life in the Penal Code and the group's role as a check within Congress.
"Something that really strikes me is that the other deputies who perhaps are not from the evangelical sector notice in us — perhaps a mini-caucus, a mini-group — and they know that here, in these four years, not a single anti-life, anti-family or anti-religious-freedom bill is going to pass, because our convictions give us that clarity," Bogantes said.
The position of the Latin Evangelical Alliance and the World Evangelical Alliance
Closing the presentations, AEL President Pastor Juan Cruz acknowledged the progress described by the Costa Rican delegation. He set out the position the region's evangelical alliances hold on political training and on keeping partisan politics out of churches.
"We always talk with the presidents about reading the times well, understanding the times. And yes, one thing we agree on is forming people, training them. What we are always careful about is not bringing partisan politics into our churches, because that is where we believe we could run a dangerous risk, as happens in some countries and we later regret it, because when the elections are over, the one who suffers is the people," Cruz said.
He said church members and pastors have different callings, and that representative bodies have a guiding role.
"Within the churches there are spectacular professionals who have the calling to serve the nation. Well, the pastor has a different calling: to preach the word, to form people... We, from the evangelical alliances, are going to take care of the alliances; we are going to motivate the people to go and vote according to their principles and values; but you are not going to find any alliance issuing a statement saying 'vote for such-and-such candidate or vote for the other one.' At least we don't get into that; that is very clear for us. But we are going to tell people: vote for people who defend life, the family, principles, values, religious freedom — and that is the path of the evangelical alliances."
World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Secretary General Botrus Mansour, a native of Nazareth, Israel, then spoke to the lawmakers and the national alliance presidents.
"I believe that being a Christian political believer is something very important. And if God is in it, and if you truly represent God, you can make a great difference not only in your country but for the whole continent. We have been called to be salt and light in our families and, of course, also in our churches, in small communities; but if God has also called you to make a difference in the country as a whole, that will be a great blessing for the whole country," Mansour said.
He said caring for the family and legislative work in Congress are both part of the same service to the kingdom of Christ.
Original reporting by Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily International's Spanish edition.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Latin Evangelical Alliance examines challenges of credibility and pastoral care in Ibero-America]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/latin-american-evangelical-alliance-examines-challenges-of-credibility-and-pastoral-care-in-ibero-america</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/latin-american-evangelical-alliance-examines-challenges-of-credibility-and-pastoral-care-in-ibero-america</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Javier Bolaños]]></dc:creator>
                                                                                                                            <media:content  url="https://www.christiandaily.com/media/original/img/0/54/5447.png">
                            <media:title><![CDATA[Pastor Ronald Vargas Badilla, president of the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance Federation (FAEC).]]></media:title>
                                                            <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu">
                                    <![CDATA[ Diario Cristiano / CDI ]]>
                                </media:credit>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Pastor Ronald Vargas Badilla, president of the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance Federation (FAEC). ]]>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Pastor Lyda Arias, president of the Evangelical Confederation of Colombia (CEDECOL), speaks on the panel “The Mission of the Alliances: Challenges and Good Practices” at the Latin American Evangelical Alliance (AEL) general assembly in San José, Costa Ric]]></media:title>
                                                            <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu">
                                    <![CDATA[ Diario Cristiano / CDI ]]>
                                </media:credit>
                                                                                        <media:description type="plain">
                                    <![CDATA[ Pastor Lyda Arias, president of the Evangelical Confederation of Colombia (CEDECOL), speaks on the panel “The Mission of the Alliances: Challenges and Good Practices” at the Latin American Evangelical Alliance (AEL) general assembly in San José, Costa Rica, Oct. 15, 2026. ]]>
                                </media:description>
                                                    </media:content>
                                                                            <pubDate>Sat, 17 Oct 2026 09:06:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Evangelical leaders from Paraguay, Costa Rica, Spain, Colombia and Uruguay discussed missions, pastoral care, church credibility and child protection on Thursday (Oct. 15) at the general assembly of the Latin American Evangelical Alliance (AEL) in San José, Costa Rica.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Evangelical leaders from Paraguay, Costa Rica, Spain, Colombia and Uruguay discussed missions, pastoral care, church credibility and child protection on Thursday (Oct. 15) at the general assembly of the Latin American Evangelical Alliance (AEL) in San José, Costa Rica.
The panel, titled "The Mission of the Alliances: Challenges and Good Practices," brought together leaders and representatives of Ibero-American federations. It focused on five themes facing representative organizations in the region: missionary outreach to unevangelized ethnic groups, holistic care for pastors, the public and internal credibility of the church, strategic connection in response to real needs, and the training and support of Christian workers.
The panelists also agreed that churches must end institutional silence on abuse and turn to the civil and criminal courts.
The panel featured Alcides Román, president of the Association of Evangelical Churches of Paraguay (ASIEP); Pastor Ronald Vargas Badilla, president of the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance Federation (FAEC); Carolina Bueno, executive secretary of the Spanish Federation of Evangelical Religious Organizations (FEREDE); Pastor Lyda Arias, president of the Evangelical Confederation of Colombia (CEDECOL); and Pastor Louder Garabedian, president of the Evangelical Representative Council of Uruguay (CREU).
From mission field to mission force, and the challenge of generational succession
Román, a Paraguayan pastor, gave the first presentation. He focused on the growth of the Latin American missionary movement 39 years after the 1987 São Paulo declaration, when Luis Bush said Latin America was ceasing to be a mission field and becoming a mission force.
Citing records from the Alcance una Etnia (Reach an Ethnic Group) movement, Román said there are 15,128 unreached peoples in the world. Of those, 4,727 ethnic groups are considered completely unreached, and for 1,105 of them there is no information or they are entirely unknown.
He said Paraguay, despite historically being one of the least evangelized countries in the region, now has 129 missionaries serving in cross-cultural contexts around the world.
This work is coordinated through the National Missionary Cooperation (CONAMI), a missionary arm that works closely with ASIEP and the Pastors' Association (AP).
The three bodies have jointly committed to adopt 100 of the 4,727 completely unreached ethnic groups through daily prayer and mobilization. They also circulate profiles of missionary families daily to encourage intercession in local congregations.
New strategies amid the transition in missionary support
Román drew on 20 years of local pastoral ministry and 13 years of direct service among the Indigenous peoples of Paraguay, a period during which he directed a German mission focused on Indigenous communities.
He said he saw firsthand the decline in workers and resources sent from Europe. When he took on his role, there were 20 German missionary couples. Today only one German couple and one single German woman missionary remain, and most have been replaced by Latin American workers.
Román said the aging of European congregations reduced traditional offerings. That forced a rethinking of sustainability and mobilization under a new generation of leaders. His son now heads the mission.
Describing a recent tour in Germany, he cited the experience of the new leadership in presenting projects to businesses and youth groups.
"They accepted 100% the challenges we presented to them. The traditional way in which I had to work does not reach young people. Young people need to be reached with other challenges, other goals, so that they can respond. So I believe the church needs to learn new ways of reaching the new generation, so that all these peoples that still remain to be evangelized, we can reach them with the same gospel, with another generation, but with another strategy."
Dignifying the ministry and engaging with the state in Costa Rica
Vargas addressed pastoral care and the defense of ministerial rights.
He opened by recounting an interreligious meeting at the Presidential House, convened by the executive branch under then-President Rodrigo Chaves to address violence in the country, where he demanded equal treatment from government authorities.
"The minister of communication said this: 'Well, and here we have Bishop So-and-so, who is with us, and here we have little Pastor Ronald Vargas.' I said: 'Just a moment. I am not a little pastor; I am a spiritual authority, and I am to be respected.' And he was surprised and said: 'Well, the spiritual authority.' And every time I arrived, President Chaves would say to me: 'The spiritual authority has arrived.' Because we have learned that pastors have rights, and we work on the basis of those rights."
To put that support into practice, the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance four years ago reactivated the College of Pastors (Colegio Pastoral), which had been inactive for 25 years. Its aim is to give the spiritual leaders of communities identity, professional representation and legal backing, much as professional associations do for physicians, engineers or lawyers.
Extension theological training and protocols in hospitals and prisons
Through the College of Pastors, the alliance launched an Extension Training Plan for pastors and leaders who did not have access to secondary or university education.
Offered at sites across Costa Rica, the program provides two years of training leading to a diploma in Bible and pastoral ministry. So far 1,200 pastors and leaders have graduated.
The organization also introduced an official ID card that costs $35 and is valid for two years. The card generates income for the alliance and also serves as an ethical check: to renew it, ministers must submit a letter of endorsement from their denomination or church authority certifying that their pastorate is current and that they are in good standing. The card also offers discounts through agreements with opticians, restaurants and hardware stores.
In the public sphere, the College of Pastors negotiated agreements with the prison system, the Ministry of Health and the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS). Vargas said that when ministers faced obstacles visiting the sick in hospitals, he filed a complaint with the CCSS executive presidency over the obstruction of religious freedom. He also committed to correcting the bad practices of some pastors who tried to hold services with lecterns and tambourines inside medical facilities.
"We are going to train pastors in how they should behave in hospitals; we are going to train them in how they should behave in prisons. And so we give them a workshop on how to minister in prisons and how to minister in hospitals so that what they are doing can have credibility. These institutions have the names of all the pastors; when a pastor arrives and presents that card, they know he is a pastor backed by the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance."
As a result of this dialogue, spiritual care in hospitals now has an official regulation known to medical directors. The Ministry of Health also expedites operating permits for church buildings, which are renewed every five years, for accredited ministers.
Holistic health and generational transition among older pastors
Vargas also warned about the physical, emotional and financial condition of aging pastoral leaders in Latin America. He named four common ailments among pastors: diabetes, hypertension, depression and obesity. For that reason, the alliance runs seminars on ministers' emotional and physical health.
He said churches urgently need to plan for retirement and generational succession with financial foresight, and the alliance advises them on pensions and life insurance.
"Now we are working a great deal on the transition to new generations, because in Costa Rica 70% of us are 65 or older, and we already have to start thinking that within 15 years the church in Costa Rica will have to transition. We help them look at where they stand regarding their pension; we help them if they have any life insurance. We are attentive so that the church can know how to make that change and support the pastor, so that they don't tell him: 'Well, brother, God bless you, don't call us, we'll call you,' and he is left with nothing and becomes a burden on his children."
The three dimensions for recovering and sustaining the church's credibility
Bueno, of Spain's FEREDE, gave the third presentation. She spoke about the need to strengthen credibility both within congregations, to build trust in and commitment to the alliances, and externally, with civil society, governments and donors.
Drawing on Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17 ("that they may be one so that the world may believe that you have sent me") and the call to self-examination in Psalm 139, she said Christian credibility is inseparable from the unity of the church and from ethical consistency.
"Credibility is not marketing; it is not having popularity or social prestige; it is not having wealth or enormous church buildings or many members. To have credibility we also don't have to be perfect — thankfully, because we are not. We need to be humble, to be able to acknowledge that we make mistakes, that we are sinners and are no better than others. Nor does Christian credibility consist in having everyone's approval or adapting the message of Jesus to social expectations; rather, it is offering reasons to trust through a faith lived out authentically, consistent ethical conduct and selfless service to one's neighbor."
Bueno distinguished between the rejection Christians suffer because of the gospel and the discredit that comes from their own sins, divisions and lack of integrity. She urged the alliances to evaluate themselves in three areas: spiritual, institutional-ethical and social-public.
Theological identity without political or economic instrumentalization
In the spiritual dimension, she said alliances must be recognizable by a clear theological identity grounded in the Scriptures, the centrality of Christ and salvation by grace through faith. That means firmness on essential doctrine, combined with generosity, respect and dialogue on secondary matters to make room for the diversity of evangelicals. She also warned about the risk of distorting the Christian message.
"An element that is very important for having spiritual credibility, from my point of view, is that we not instrumentalize the gospel for economic, partisan political or power purposes. The aforementioned linkage or instrumentalization distorts the message of Jesus and takes away, or will take away, our credibility in the future."
Good governance, financial transparency and verifiable social action
On institutional and ethical credibility, she cited Paul's principle in 2 Corinthians 8:20-21 of handling offerings honestly before the Lord and before people. She recommended effective bylaws, participatory rather than strongman-led governing bodies, compliance with tax obligations, clear budgets, accessible annual reports, reasonable pay and a strict separation between church and personal assets.
On the social and public dimension, she stressed concrete service to the common good without subordination to partisan interests.
"We need a voice that expresses visible unity, a voice that expresses cooperation by strengthening our common platforms, such as the AEL; we also need a public voice that is humble, truthful and open to dialogue, and a prophetic distance from political power."
During the question period, Pastor Christian Hooft, president of the Christian Alliance of Evangelical Churches of the Argentine Republic (ACIERA), asked about handling media crises in Spain and making community work visible. Bueno described the impact of documenting evangelical work rigorously. In 2022, she said, FEREDE commissioned a specialized polling firm to carry out a national study on evangelical social action. It found that Protestant churches rank fifth in Spain in the volume of social assistance, behind only the Red Cross, Cáritas and two other large organizations. The finding changed how politicians and authorities saw evangelicals when it was presented to them.
Spiritual intelligence and interdisciplinary work in managing the alliances

Arias, president of CEDECOL in Colombia, addressed the connection between strategy and need. She began by distinguishing vision from strategy: vision defines "the what" one wants to achieve, while strategy determines "the how" and the choice of the right tool for each circumstance.
Drawing on biblical accounts, including the organization of groups to feed the 5,000, the taking of Jericho, Jesus' visit to the house of Zacchaeus, and David trading Saul's armor for a sling to face Goliath, she questioned the church's tendency to spiritualize problems that require technical or professional action.
"I want to start from a truth that sometimes hurts us: we have a lot of anointing and little strategy. David did not defeat Goliath only because he had faith; he had faith, yes, but he won because he changed strategy. To every giant its sling; to every need its strategy. Sometimes we are praying about something that requires a lawyer. And with pastors, sometimes cases come to us and we spiritualize everything, and it turns out the person needs to go to the doctor, to be treated by a specialist."
Arias added that "not every battle is won by praying: some are won by praying, others are won by making a phone call; others are won by sitting down to negotiate." She gave as an example the steps taken during the week of the assembly to secure entry into the country for Pastor Gabriel and his wife, which required directly contacting a person with immediate access to the presidency.
Unity in the face of polarization, and delegation to specialists
Arias said an alliance cannot expect its president to master every discipline or attend every forum just to appear in a photograph. Instead, it must rely on qualified Christian professionals so as not to expose evangelicals to discredit in the media. When the Colombian Senate summoned her to discuss strictly legal matters, and when she was invited to international environmental summits in Cali, she delegated CEDECOL's representation to a specialized lawyer and to an internationally awarded Christian environmental researcher, securing high-level representation.
She also described how she became president of CEDECOL, the first woman and native of Cartagena to hold a post held for 75 years by men from Bogotá. After winning the election by four votes over Pastor Eduardo Gómez, she reached out to him directly to stop attempts at internal polarization.
"If there is an election that belongs to the people of God, you will never see me telling anyone: vote for me, because that is not of God. I was praying and I felt very uneasy about the polarization, and I called him and said to him: 'Pastor Eduardo, if you win, count on me; and if I win, I am counting on you.' We cried together and we prayed too. Today he is an extraordinary teammate; he has gifts that I don't have."
She used a similar approach with church leaders in the Colombian capital when CEDECOL needed a physical headquarters. She called together the pastors of the main congregations, beginning with Pastor Ricardo Rodríguez of Centro Mundial de Avivamiento. The Bogotá megachurches agreed to pay the rent for CEDECOL's office and the salary of one of its secretaries.
Pastoral calling, theological training and the priority of the family
Garabedian, president of CREU in Uruguay, gave the final main presentation, on the ministerial call, the training of workers and support for the family. A third-generation pastor, he said God's call comes together when there is "availability and intentionality," as in the case of the prophet Elisha.
Garabedian recalled the early years of his ministry with his wife, Mercedes, in extreme financial hardship. He walked eight kilometers in the dead of winter to serve a congregation of four elderly women, without pay and without asking for financial help.
"For 25 years in the exercise of the pastorate we began and ended the ministry by inaugurating a church. I could have asked for money because I needed it, but I didn't ask; nor did they offer it to me. I am not a beggar; I am a child of the King, and my King knows my needs, and I have no reason to tell people what I am suffering or what we are in need of. It is not pride; it is dignity."
He warned of what he described as an alarming lack of biblical preparation in today's Protestantism, and of the risks of emotionalism, syncretism with Judaizing symbols that displace the centrality of the cross, and ecumenism without doctrinal foundations.
"There is a great danger in the calling: many times we are exposed to a lack of theological preparation. Seminary is not just for finding a husband or a wife, but for preparing ourselves so that we are not like a wind of doctrine blowing here and there. And the lack of theological training is alarming at this moment in the evangelical church. The opposing clergy are prepared from head to toe, from A to Z. We are not; we are guided many times by emotion and very few times by reason. That brings with it dangers of immorality, of spiritual heresy, of deviation."
Bivocational pastoring and the role of the home in the face of paternal absence
Garabedian's comments on pastors' children and bivocational work drew some of the most audience participation, including contributions from Gómez and from pastors from Chile and Brazil. He said his own father, though a Bible teacher and seminary professor, was "a perfect stranger" to him because he was so often away for ministry. When Garabedian noticed he was repeating the pattern of the traveling preacher as his two children reached adolescence, he made a radical decision.
"When my daughter and my son were teenagers, I realized I was doing the same thing as my dad. So I chose to be a perfect stranger to others and known by my children. The essential point is that God's call is solitary, it involves suffering, it is incomprehensible."
He credited Mercedes with the decisive role in their children's spiritual formation at home while he worked 10 to 15 hours a day at a lumber company they founded to make ends meet. He urged pastors to break with church structures that prevent secular work when the congregation cannot cover a family's basic needs.
"Children turn out rebellious because of paternal absence; they turn out rebellious because of need in a materialistic, calculating, cold society; they turn out rebellious because we cannot meet their needs. And I want to be very blunt about this: be like the apostle Paul — go and put in your eight hours and then serve the Lord. Go and put in your eight hours, brothers and sisters, feet on the ground. Because if the church cannot support you, that is called mediocrity, complacency. Go and put in your eight hours and be an example to your children."
Zero tolerance for child abuse
In the final question-and-answer segment, a representative of a mission organization asked the panelists what concrete steps the alliances are taking to protect children and vulnerable people from all forms of abuse in churches.
The leaders agreed unanimously on ending institutional silence and on the obligation to turn to the civil and criminal courts.
Paraguay: Román said that for years, out of fear of staining the testimony of the gospel, some congregations kept silent about internal cases. But he said "the gospel cannot be stained — evangelicals can," and urged participation in public protection policies and speaking up about specific incidents.
Costa Rica: Vargas said that through the Children's Commission, pastors are trained under strict protocols. These include installing cameras in churches, never leaving minors alone with Sunday school teachers, and having women minister to other women. He said that in any crime, "they have to report it; they cannot stay silent. We can offer them restoration, but they cannot shake off the consequences."
Spain: Bueno said FEREDE runs national awareness and prevention courses under a zero-tolerance policy. Because the federation officially accredits ministers of religion before the Spanish state, it also requires an official criminal record certificate and a specific certificate covering sexual offenses.
Colombia: Arias said CEDECOL created its children's commission a year ago. It has drafted prevention protocols and is promoting training to raise awareness across all denominations.
Uruguay: Garabedian said CREU brings together 1,400 churches and has no administrative authority over denominations, but it holds a non-negotiable position against cover-ups. He recalled the case of a 73-year-old pastor reported for inappropriately touching a girl. CREU demanded that he appear before the ordinary courts. After the courts found him guilty, his denomination complained that the alliance had not defended him and chose to leave it. "We simply put him in front of it: 'Take responsibility, and that's that.' They resigned and left the Alliance. Between a greater evil and a lesser evil, I will always stay with the lesser," he said.
Original reporting by Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily International's Spanish edition.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Latin Evangelical Alliance renews board positions at general assembly]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/latin-evangelical-alliance-renews-board-positions-at-general-assembly</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/latin-evangelical-alliance-renews-board-positions-at-general-assembly</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Javier Bolaños]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Participants sit at tables marked with country placards during the Latin Evangelical Alliance’s 13th General Assembly in San José, Costa Rica.]]></media:title>
                                                            <media:credit role="author" scheme="urn:ebu">
                                    <![CDATA[ Diario Cristiano / CDI ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Participants sit at tables marked with country placards during the Latin Evangelical Alliance’s 13th General Assembly in San José, Costa Rica. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Sat, 17 Oct 2026 07:51:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[At its 13th General Assembly, the Latin Evangelical Alliance (AEL) held the vote required under its bylaws for the periodic renewal of several positions on its board of directors. The session covered the election and re-election of the positions of first vice president, secretary and two members at large.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
At its 13th General Assembly, the Latin Evangelical Alliance (AEL) held the vote required under its bylaws for the periodic renewal of several positions on its board of directors. The session covered the election and re-election of the positions of first vice president, secretary and two members at large.
AEL President Juan Cruz Cellammare explained the regulatory context of the elections at the start of the session and noted the importance of the time members must devote to the board, “because being on the board demands quite a lot of time.”
The procedure required an absolute majority, set at 9 votes out of a total of 17 accredited presidents, to decide the appointments. Before voting opened, Pastor César Ayala of Guatemala offered a prayer on behalf of the organization: “Give us wisdom to cast this vote according to your holy will.”
Election of first vice president and secretary
Four candidates stood for first vice president: Pastor Jorge Gómez (Costa Rica), Pastor Christian Hooft (Argentina), Pastor Enrique Alva (Peru) and Pastor José Gerardo Irías (Honduras).
In his remarks, Gómez said: “I have always said that one has to speak through actions, and you will judge what my work has been during these two years. I believe I have taken all the tasks assigned to me seriously and carried them out, as long as it is to honor the name of the Lord.” After the count, Gómez received 10 votes, securing his continuation in the post.
For the position of secretary, Pastor Mariano Blázquez (Spain) was confirmed with 13 votes.
Presenting his candidacy, Blázquez said: “I understood that God was giving me a vision of connecting Spain with Latin America to strengthen the evangelization of Europe and also the Latin position in it. I believe I have fulfilled a good part of the objectives I had, and I feel very much at ease.”
Vote for members at large and inclusion of a woman
Filling the positions of members at large 4 and 6 required two rounds of voting among five initial candidates. In the first round, Pastor Lyda Elena Arias (Colombia) was elected with 12 votes.
In her earlier presentation, Arias summed up her approach: “If we are ethical, whoever has stood as a candidate has done so because they are saying, ‘I am going to serve.’ So, 3A: Amor [love] and service, Aportar [to contribute], but also Aprender [to learn].”
Cellammare highlighted the result, saying: “It is the first time we have a woman on the board of directors representing a country.”
Because no other candidate reached the minimum threshold required by the rules in that round, a second round was held among the three candidates with the most votes.
In the final vote, Irías reached 9 votes and was elected to the remaining member-at-large position.
Irías had earlier told the assembly: “The passion I have for evangelism is one of the things that moves me to be here, and you do that: preach the gospel of Christ ... I believe it is a good platform to serve and to work as a team.”
A budget report was also presented during Thursday’s board of directors session.
The AEL General Assembly, which has brought together full members, commission members and associated entities in San José, Costa Rica, concluded Friday with a Communion service.
Original reporting by Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily International's Spanish edition.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[German churches launch initiative calling for child-appropriate AI standards]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/german-churches-launch-initiative-calling-for-child-appropriate-ai-standards</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/german-churches-launch-initiative-calling-for-child-appropriate-ai-standards</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[A child uses an artificial intelligence chatbot on a smartphone while doing homework.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ iStock / Chong Kee Sliong ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ A child uses an artificial intelligence chatbot on a smartphone while doing homework. Germany’s Protestant and Catholic churches launched the initiative “KI kindgerecht!” (“Child-Appropriate AI!”) on Oct. 14, 2026, with the children’s media network Seitenstark. The initiative calls for a code of conduct, quality standards and legislation for AI products used by children. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2026 08:43:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Germany's main Protestant and Catholic church bodies have joined a children's media association in launching an initiative that calls for binding standards on artificial intelligence products used by children, including a code of conduct for developers and new legal obligations for providers.]]></description>
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Germany's main Protestant and Catholic church bodies have joined a children's media association in launching an initiative that calls for binding standards on artificial intelligence products used by children, including a code of conduct for developers and new legal obligations for providers.
The initiative, "KI kindgerecht!" ("Child-Appropriate AI!"), was announced Oct. 14 by the Evangelical Church in Germany, or EKD, the umbrella body of the country's regional Protestant churches. Its partners include the EKD, the Church and Society Department of the German Bishops' Conference secretariat, the Protestant media agency GEP and Seitenstark, a network of German children's websites.
The organizers said they are responding to 56 recommendations issued in June by a federal expert commission on protecting children and young people online. In the EKD's announcement, they argued that shielding children from harm is insufficient on its own and that children also need access to good digital services, adult guidance and the skills to use AI themselves. They rejected a blanket ban on AI for minors as unworkable.
"AI is already embedded in many digital applications," said Bishop Georg Bätzing, chairman of the bishops' conference's Commission for Media. He said Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica humanitas gives the church "a clear mandate" to defend human dignity in the age of AI, "especially where children are easily exposed to dangers."
Bätzing said responsibility "must not be shifted onto parents alone," and named providers, policymakers, educational institutions, civil society and families as sharing it. "Technology must serve people, not purely economic interests," he said.
A code of conduct for interactive AI
The initiative sets out three measures. The first is a voluntary code of conduct for interactive AI aimed at children, which the churches and Seitenstark plan to draft with researchers, educators and interested companies.
According to the EKD, the code will rest on five principles: safety by design, respect for children's rights, age-appropriate spaces for participation, data protection, and human oversight of AI systems.
Building on that code, the partners plan to develop practical quality standards. These are meant to serve as a reference for developers, providers and educational institutions that design or use AI applications for children.
The third measure is a call for legislation obliging providers to meet child-appropriate standards. The partners also want sustained public funding for media education so that children, parents and education professionals can learn to use AI competently.
Participation is open to schools, media providers, researchers, parents' associations, businesses and individuals, the announcement said. It closed with a question: "Will we shape AI for children — or will we leave it to AI to shape our children?"
'The last to be asked'
Darja Martens, a board member of Seitenstark, said young people have largely been left out of decisions about technology they already use.
"Children today are the first to grow up with AI. But often the last to be asked about how it is designed," she said.
Children need protected spaces where they can test, understand and question AI at a level suited to their age, Martens said. Seitenstark will contribute its experience in children's media and from its quality seal for digital children's media, which the group says it has awarded since 2022.
Dorothee Wüst, church president of the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate and chair of GEP's supervisory board, said children "must neither be left alone nor excluded in the digital space." The partners want to help ensure that children can use AI "safely and in a self-determined way," she said.
New risks, yet a ban is not the answer
On its website, the initiative lists the dangers it sees in digital media. They include graphic images of war, targeted disinformation, deepfakes and AI-generated nude images, as well as hate speech, cyberbullying, online grooming and sexualized violence.
Generative AI that interacts with users brings new risks to privacy and data protection, the site says. It also warns that known threats to children's physical and mental health are growing more severe, and that existing approaches to protecting minors in the media are reaching their limits.
The partners describe public debate on children and digital media, including current arguments over social media, as often driven by fear. They point to calls for a blanket ban for minors that followed the commission's recommendations and describe that option as "the seemingly simplest path" and the worst one.
A ban, they argue, would keep children from learning confident, critical and creative media use in a protected setting. Those skills develop only through supervised practice, age-appropriate explanation, clear rules and good examples, according to the site.
The partners also contend that a ban could not be enforced in practice. AI is already built into search engines, learning apps, voice assistants, gaming platforms and social networks, they say.
Parents can act as gatekeepers depending on a child's age but cannot control the entire digital world on their own, the initiative says. It places structural responsibility on platforms and services that use AI, saying they can decide whether to take children seriously.
Children's rights as framework
The initiative grounds its approach in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, citing children's rights to protection, participation and empowerment and the principle of the best interests of the child. Those rights should be pursued together rather than set against one another, the partners say.
They plan to begin with their own work, which includes children's media and church-run educational institutions ranging from daycare centers to schools.
In drafting the code's criteria, the group is examining chatbots and agentic AI and drawing on projects already being tested. It names Auxie, a chatbot for children developed for GEP's children's website religionen-entdecken.de, as one example of good practice.
The partners list three goals: broader public awareness and skills-building, quality criteria to help children, parents and teachers develop media literacy, and secure funding for high-quality, noncommercial AI services for children. They say the five principles will be made more specific over the coming months with input from those who join.
Ingrid Stapf, a researcher in media ethics and children's rights at the University of Tübingen's International Center for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities, is also listed as a partner.
The Independent Expert Commission on Child and Youth Protection in the Digital World was appointed in September 2025 by Karin Prien, Germany's federal minister for education, family affairs, senior citizens, women and youth. It presented its 56 recommendations on June 24.
Seitenstark has worked as a registered association since 2007 to promote children's rights online. Organizations and individuals can join the initiative through its website, ki-kindgerecht.de, the EKD said.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Global Methodist Church cuts ties with seminary over ‘doctrinal commitments’]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/global-methodist-church-cuts-ties-with-seminary-over-doctrinal-commitments</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/global-methodist-church-cuts-ties-with-seminary-over-doctrinal-commitments</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[The Christian Post]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[United Theological Seminary of Dayton, Ohio.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Emily Barnes/United Theological Seminary ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ United Theological Seminary of Dayton, Ohio. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2026 06:22:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The Global Methodist Church has cut ties with an Ohio-based seminary, with the theologically conservative denomination citing multiple differences, including “doctrinal commitments.”]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
The Global Methodist Church has cut ties with an Ohio-based seminary, with the theologically conservative denomination citing multiple differences, including “doctrinal commitments.”
GMC announced last week that it was ending its relationship with United Theological Seminary (UTS), a Dayton-based institution that had been an approved school for the denomination since 2024.
In emailed comments to The Christian Post on Tuesday, a GMC spokesperson said the decision to sever ties came after the GMC Ministry and Higher Education Commission completed its review of UTS.
“The Commission’s review identified differences in doctrinal commitments, institutional alignment, and clergy formation,” the spokesperson said. “It concluded that United did not sufficiently align with the GMC’s standards for institutions preparing its clergy.”
“We appreciate United’s contributions to theological education and Christian ministry. The GMC remains committed to preparing clergy in accordance with the Church’s doctrine and beliefs.”
Although the denomination no longer identifies UTS as an approved academic institution for clergy preparation, the change will not affect current seminary students.
“Global Methodist students who matriculated at United on or before December 31, 2026, may complete their current educational program and have it recognized toward applicable GMC educational requirements,” the GMC spokesperson added.
“Those students remain subject to the requirements of their respective candidacy and ordination processes. Recognition of an educational program is one part of the ordination process; this decision preserves that recognition for qualifying students.”
Currently, the GMC has 10 officially approved institutions, nine with six-year approval from the denomination and one — Ashland Theological Seminary — with three-year provisional approval.
The other nine entities are: Asbury Theological Seminary, Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, Mid America Christian University, Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University, Wesley Biblical Seminary, West Africa Theological Seminary, and Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University.
UTS President Mark Teasdale told CP via email that the seminary had developed courses specifically for GMC students seeking ordination and had launched a GMC House of Study to help them receive mentorship and access to required courses.
“The decision was not prompted by a difference in mission, vision or values,” said Teasdale. “The GMC is at an early stage in the development of its denominational identity, having just clarified the Articles of Faith.”“In 2026, United is celebrating its 155th year as a seminary formed in the Pietist heritage of the Evangelical United Brethren denomination, which emphasizes holding to orthodox Christian teachings while building relationships across the church.”
According to Teasdale, the GMC House of Study will remain active at UTS, and the seminary “will continue to welcome GMC students who are not seeking ordination, such as through its Doctor of Ministry and Doctor of Theology degrees.”
The GMC was officially launched in 2022 and currently boasts over 7,000 congregations, the majority of which had left The United Methodist Church due to its debate over LGBT issues.
Originally published by The Christian Post.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Swiss churches across five traditions issue joint ethical guidelines on artificial intelligence]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/swiss-churches-across-five-traditions-issue-joint-ethical-guidelines-on-artificial-intelligence</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/swiss-churches-across-five-traditions-issue-joint-ethical-guidelines-on-artificial-intelligence</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Swiss Evangelical Alliances publishes working paper on the benefits and challenges of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for churches and Christian organizations, warning that ‘Pandora’s Box’ cannot be closed]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ SEA ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Churches have an ethical responsibility to show AI can be used for the welfare of others, says the Swiss Evangelical Alliance ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2026 11:35:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Five Swiss church bodies representing Protestant, Roman Catholic, Old Catholic and evangelical Christians have jointly issued 10 ethical guidelines on artificial intelligence, arguing that human dignity rather than technical capability should determine how churches and society use the technology.]]></description>
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Five Swiss church bodies representing Protestant, Roman Catholic, Old Catholic and evangelical Christians have jointly issued 10 ethical guidelines on artificial intelligence, arguing that human dignity rather than technical capability should determine how churches and society use the technology.
The document, titled "Humanity in the Digital Age," was adopted by the Protestant Church in Switzerland, the Swiss Bishops' Conference, the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland, the umbrella association Freikirchen.ch and the Swiss Evangelical Alliance, according to a joint statement from the five bodies.
The guidelines are aimed chiefly at leaders of churches, congregations and church-related organizations. They combine a theological account of the human person with specific rules for church practice, including a prohibition on entering information covered by pastoral confidentiality into any AI system. The signatories also present the text as a contribution to wider public debate over the technology.
"Artificial intelligence is changing how we learn, work and relate to one another," said Rita Famos, president of the Protestant Church in Switzerland. "On this question, we as churches in Switzerland have one voice."
Ten guiding principles
Each guideline pairs a theme with a short thesis. The first four hold that people differ from machines, that relationships depend on embodied experience, that personal formation cannot be handed off to technology and that technology does not write history.
The remaining six concern truth and transparency, protection of human participation in decision-making, the claim that people are more than their data, environmental responsibility in the digital sphere, limits on concentrated digital power, and shared public responsibility for the direction of AI. The document describes the 10 theses as one common position rather than separate rules.
According to the text, the guidelines rest on a Christian understanding of human beings as beloved creatures made in the image of God. Their dignity, it says, comes from God's unconditional love and not from performance or usefulness, which places it outside anything a machine can achieve.
Bishop Charles Morerod, president of the Swiss Bishops' Conference, said the two questions cannot be separated. "Whoever speaks about artificial intelligence is always speaking about the human being as well," he said.
Neither enthusiasm nor fear
The authors reject both utopian promises and doomsday predictions about AI. In their view, stories of technological salvation and stories of catastrophe share a flaw: both treat technology as the driving force of history and reduce people to onlookers.
Such narratives, the document argues, distract from present problems including algorithmic discrimination, concentration of power and environmental costs. The greater risk, it says, is that people give up their own freedom and responsibility, either from resignation or for convenience.
The text also cautions against speaking of AI as a single entity. It distinguishes large language models, image and audio generators, recommendation systems used by search engines and online shops, and applications in medical diagnostics, robotics and scientific research.
Christian hope, the authors write, rests on God's faithfulness rather than on human progress. Salvation remains God's work, according to the document, and no technical achievement can overcome the brokenness of the world.
Rules for church practice
Much of the document addresses how churches themselves should use AI. Where AI is used in preaching, education, media work, counseling or fundraising, its output should be checked against sources, and quotations, factual claims and legal information should not be accepted without verification.
Churches should disclose AI use in counseling, pastoral care, education and decision-making, and wherever it shapes personal communication or authorship. A named individual must always remain responsible, the guidelines state.
On sermons, the authors warn that lessons and preaching produced efficiently by software, without being worked through and spiritually wrestled with by the preacher, cause church communication to lose depth and truthfulness.
The data protection section sets out the firmest limits. Personal or sensitive data should not be entered into AI systems unless storage location, further use and retention periods are contractually settled, according to the document. It rules out AI-based profiling of people seeking help, employees or volunteers, and fully automated decisions in sensitive areas.
The guidelines also warn that churches must never use closeness, trust or spiritual authority to manipulate people through AI tools.
Openings as well as risks
The document does not urge churches to avoid AI. It describes a dual task: monitoring and assessing the technology critically while investing in expertise, creating space for responsible experimentation and sharing applications that work.
Among the benefits it cites are real-time translation, automated transcription and text-to-speech tools, which it says allow people with illnesses, disabilities or language barriers to take part in church and public life. Anonymized data analysis could help churches identify loneliness, poverty or care needs earlier, the text says.
Peter Schneeberger, president of Freikirchen.ch, said AI is already part of church work. "AI has long been in use in our churches — for translations, administration, communication," he said. "These guidelines help us ask the right questions in doing so and see both the opportunities and the dangers."
The authors acknowledge that some people find it easier to open up to a chatbot than to another person, and that this can be a step toward later speaking with someone face to face. They warn, however, that platforms built to capture attention and simulate emotional closeness can replace human relationships rather than supplement them. Children, adolescents and vulnerable people need spaces where trust and belonging are not generated by algorithms, the document says.
Global justice and the environment
Several sections look beyond Switzerland. The document notes that the most powerful AI systems are controlled by a few large companies, mainly based in the United States and China, and that churches, schools and government agencies are becoming dependent on proprietary systems whose terms and prices they cannot influence.
People in poorer regions carry much of the cost, the authors write, through raw material extraction under precarious conditions, low-paid and stressful data work, and exclusion from digital participation. Many environmental costs, including electricity and cooling water for data centers and growing electronic waste, are shifted to other parts of the world and remain largely invisible to users in the Global North, according to the text.
The guidelines ask churches to assess AI products for data protection, transparency, technical dependency and the ability to switch providers. They also encourage Christian aid organizations to bring the experience of affected communities into public debate.
Bishop Frank Bangerter of the Christian Catholic Church said the guidelines deliberately focus on those at risk of being left behind. "AI must not benefit only those who already hold power anyway," he said. "Technical progress is only good if it serves everyone."
A common commitment beyond church traditions
The Swiss churches link the guidelines to the Charta Oecumenica, the joint commitment of European Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic churches. Its revised edition, signed in Rome in November 2025, includes a section on new technologies for the first time and commits churches to developing ethical guidelines on them. The Swiss document calls itself a first step in that direction.
Its listed sources include Pope Leo XIV's encyclical "Magnifica humanitas" on AI, published in May 2026; the Vatican note "Antiqua et nova" from January 2025; statements by the World Council of Churches and the Evangelical Church in Germany; and an AI ethics framework from the Lausanne Movement. Earlier working papers from the Swiss Evangelical Alliance are also cited.
The text was drafted by theologians and specialists from the participating traditions, among them Manuel Schmid of the Protestant Church in Switzerland's Centre for Theology and Ethics and Oliver Dürr of the Centre for Faith and Society at the University of Fribourg. The authors describe the document as provisional and subject to ongoing review.
The guidelines will be presented and discussed at a specialist conference, "Ghost in the machine," at the Paulus Akademie in Zurich on Oct. 20, according to the joint statement. The full text is available in multiple languages at menschlichkeit-digital.ch.
The document closes by saying churches should enter the public debate on AI not as moral authorities with ready-made answers, but as communities of faith drawing on a long tradition.
Andi Bachmann-Roth, co-general secretary of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance, made a similar point. "Churches are not AI experts," he said. "But behind the technology lies the question of what a flourishing life is. To that, Christianity has offered a sustaining answer for two millennia."]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[WEA leaders tell Latin American alliance heads: Asking for money is not begging]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/wea-leaders-tell-latin-american-alliance-heads-asking-for-money-is-not-begging</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/wea-leaders-tell-latin-american-alliance-heads-asking-for-money-is-not-begging</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Javier Bolaños]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Rev. Botrus Mansour, secretary general of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), participates in the panel “The Role of the Leader in Fundraising” during the 13th General Assembly of the Latin Evangelical Alliance (AEL) in San José, Costa Rica.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Diario Cristiano / CDI ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Rev. Botrus Mansour, secretary general of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), participates in the panel “The Role of the Leader in Fundraising” during the 13th General Assembly of the Latin Evangelical Alliance (AEL) in San José, Costa Rica. ]]>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[the 13th General Assembly of the Latin Evangelical Alliance]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Christian Daily International ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Participants in the panel “The Role of the Leader in Fundraising” during the 13th General Assembly of the Latin Evangelical Alliance (AEL). ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2026 11:15:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Asking for money is not begging but an invitation to partner in God's kingdom, World Evangelical Alliance leaders told national alliance heads at the Latin Evangelical Alliance's 13th General Assembly, which runs Oct. 12-16 in Costa Rica's capital.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Asking for money is not begging but an invitation to partner in God's kingdom, World Evangelical Alliance leaders told national alliance heads at the Latin Evangelical Alliance's 13th General Assembly, which runs Oct. 12-16 in Costa Rica's capital.
The Rev. Botrus Mansour, secretary general of the World Evangelical Alliance, and Brad Smith, global leader of the WEA's Global Leadership Institute, spoke on a panel titled "The Role of the Leader in Raising Money."
They talked about the responsibility of national leaders to put their organizations on solid financial footing and to build strategic partnerships that help them carry out their mission.
How evangelical leadership has changed
Smith began with a review of how church structures have developed over the centuries. He said today's evangelical movement is organized mainly through independent ministries and global networks.
The WEA, he said, is a family present in 164 countries. Its main goal is to promote unity and cooperation in ministry.
Smith said the role of national alliance presidents has changed in recent decades. Where they once organized annual conferences, they now advocate for evangelicals and work to advance the kingdom of God in their countries. That work requires sustainable funding, he said.
"To fulfill God's calling, you have to raise money," Smith said. "Unfortunately, some think raising money is begging. And that is not biblical. Fundraising is starting and building relationships of mutual trust, and eventually you are being discipled and discipling others in an area where discipleship is difficult, which is money."
He acknowledged that fundraising often brings fear or resistance among leaders, because of cultural perceptions or fear of failure. He said working in community and as a team helps leaders overcome those barriers.
Fundraising as friendship
Mansour spoke from his own experience as a Palestinian Arab leader. He said cultural barriers, such as a culture of shame, often lead leaders to see fundraising as begging. The task, he said, is to invite others to join in the work of the kingdom.
He said raising funds should not be seen as public charity or dependence. Instead, it is a spiritual opportunity to involve believers in mission.
"Asking for money is not begging — it is inviting people to partner in the kingdom of God," Mansour said.
He said that when leaders build genuine trust and friendship, they give donors the chance to take an active part in the vision God has given the organization. In this way, a financial gift becomes a blessing for both sides.
"You are going to people and asking them to partner in the kingdom of God. What could be better than that?" Mansour said. "You are giving these people a blessing. By asking them to give money, they are going to be part of it. They are going to be partners in what the Lord has put on your heart and in your mission."
Mansour added that donors and partners want a direct relationship with the head of the organization. They want to know that resources are managed with full transparency and excellence.

Practical steps and international cooperation
During the Q&A session, the speakers said building relationships with donors takes time, consistency and proper follow-up, much like growing a friendship.
They also shared practical tools used in different regions. These included identifying leaders who act as "champions" for the financial vision, using matching funds to spur growth and inviting key partners to take a direct part in ministry work.
The leaders also presented the global initiative Call 33. They urged national alliance representatives to fill out the forms for the program, which aims to strengthen cooperation, make the most of available resources and build collaboration among WEA member bodies worldwide.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Luis Palau Association names Jonatan Proietti director for Latin America]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/luis-palau-association-names-jonatan-proietti-director-for-latin-america</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/luis-palau-association-names-jonatan-proietti-director-for-latin-america</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Lizzie Sotola]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Jonatan Proietti]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Photo: Diario Cristiano ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Jonatan Proietti, the new director for Latin America of the Luis Palau Association and executive director of the Latin Evangelical Alliance (AEL). ]]>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[prayer]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Photo: Diario Cristiano ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ AEL and Luis Palau Association leaders pray for Jonatan Proietti following the announcement of his appointment as director for Latin America. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2026 17:30:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The Luis Palau Association has named Jonatan Proietti its director for Latin America, effective January 2027. Levi Park, the association's global director, announced the appointment during the 13th General Assembly of the Latin Evangelical Alliance, or AEL.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
The Luis Palau Association has named Jonatan Proietti its director for Latin America, effective January 2027.
Levi Park, the association's global director, announced the appointment during the 13th General Assembly of the Latin Evangelical Alliance, or AEL.
Proietti will also continue serving as executive director of the AEL and will devote part of his time to that role with the association's support, said Juan Cruz Cellammare, a longtime member of the Luis Palau team.
His late father, Rubén Proietti, was the association's previous director for Latin America.
A new generation
Park said Proietti joined the association in 2018 to lead the Latin American branch of the Global Network of Evangelists, known in the region as Nueva Generación de Evangelistas. The network offers resources, training and opportunities to work together.
The network includes more than 7,000 evangelists in about 100 countries, Park said. Under Proietti's leadership, the network grew to about 1,000 members in the region.
Park spoke of Proietti's growth as a leader and his personal qualities. He called him "a good leader, a man of character" and welcomed a new generation taking on responsibility within the ministry.
He said the association's core commitments will not change. Proclaiming the gospel, the unity of the church and mobilizing believers remain central. He added that the organization works "through, with and for the local church."
Park also recalled the losses the team has faced. Luis Palau died in March 2021. Six months later, his friend and longtime co-worker Rubén Proietti also died.
Remembering Rubén Proietti
Cellammare spoke of Rubén Proietti's service and of the path his son has followed. He said Jonatan Proietti's appointment reflects merit, preparation and the will of God.
He urged the alliance presidents present to support Proietti in his new role. He invited Edmundo Gastaldi, director of festivals in Latin America, and Marta Hotton, logistics coordinator for the Palau Festivals, to come forward. He then asked the leaders to pray for Proietti and to support his work across the continent.
Proietti thanked the team for its trust and spoke of his relationship with AEL members. He noted that his father would have turned 80 nine days after the gathering. He thanked God for opening doors for this new stage.
He said the association has built credibility, trust and respect over its history. He said he remains committed to the ministry's Christ-centered and Bible-centered character and to the values behind its work.
To describe how he sees leadership, Proietti compared his new role to driving a high-performance car. Each team member's preparation, adjustments and contributions matter, he said. He recalled a lesson from Luis Palau.
"The team makes all the difference," Proietti said.
He described the Palau team as a family that builds relationships and close ties. That sense of family is essential to the association's work in each country, he said. He said he wants to move forward with the team and care for the relationships that sustain the work.

Working for unity
Gastaldi, who worked for years with Luis Palau and Rubén Proietti, welcomed the rise of new generations. He said he is confident in Jonatan Proietti's ability to lead the region.
He said the festivals bring churches closer together and, in some places, have led to the formation of pastoral alliances.
"Not only working in unity, but for unity," Gastaldi said.
Hotton will also continue working with the AEL, Cellammare said. Her work includes the assemblies and their preparation and helps maintain the relationship between the two organizations.
Christian Hooft, a pastor and president of the Christian Alliance of Evangelical Churches of the Argentine Republic, known as ACIERA, prayed for Proietti, who also serves on ACIERA's national board of directors. Park then prayed on behalf of the Luis Palau Association team.
Original reporting by Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily International's Spanish edition.]]></content:encoded>
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