June 2009

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• Gunmen in Iraq killed three Christians and wounded two in their Kirkuk homes on April 26, shaking the city's 7,000 believers who had largely avoided the sectarian bloodshed of the region. Local clergy believe the victims were targeted for their religion in an effort to destabilize the oil-rich city, whose wealth is disputed by Arab and Kurdish residents.
• Over 30 Washington, D.C., churches said a recent computer equipment scam cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars. The churches said they were offered free computer kiosks for outreach that proved to have faulty equipment and came with leasing arrangements that were used to make unauthorized withdrawals on their bank accounts.
• Christian publisher NavPress reorganized in April, laying off nine employees (17 percent of its workforce) and closing its two magazines, Discipleship Journal and Pray!, after their paid circulation dropped over 23 and 10 percent respectively in 2008. The organization plans to enhance the Web presence of the former print publications.
• California's Supreme Court in April left intact a lower court's ruling that said a private Lutheran high school could expel students it believed were lesbians because the school, as a voluntary organization, was not covered by California civil rights law. The Wildomar school expelled two junior girls in 2005 after questioning them on their sexual behavior based on MySpace postings.
• The Worldwide Church of God changed its name to Grace Communion International in April, a rebranding four years in the making that further distances the denomination from the views of founder Herbert W. Armstrong, whose denial of the Trinity and literal application of Old Testament laws the church rebuked after his death in 1986.

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