View of Tangkhul Church in Imphal, Manipur. Photo by Deepak Shijagurumayum. It will be a dark Christmas for the residents of Imphal city. The night before Christmas eve, Tanghkhul Lane, in Chingmeirong, is pitch black and the lit Bethlehem Stars that adorn the top of every house at this time of the year are stark in their absence.

A church in Victoria, B.C. is drawing criticism for putting up a concrete-block wall and iron fence to keep drug users and homeless people off its front steps. Central Baptist Church said its goal was to create a safer environment for its attendees, as well as its neighbours on Pandora Avenue.

If tonight follows the pattern of recent Christmas Eves, expect silent night on the streets of NG1. Nottingham can expect to sleep in heavenly peace. All that may change next Saturday, New Year's Eve – an excuse for tens of thousands of people to converge on the city centre to booze their way into 2017.

If Santa Claus stops in North Korea this year, he’ll find some trees and lights and might even hear a Christmas song or two. But he won’t encounter even a hint of what Christmas actually means – not under a government that sees foreign religion as a very real threat. There are almost no practising Christians in North Korea.

Christian groups around the country are up in arms over Octavia Spencer being casted to play God in the upcoming faith-based film The Shack. Joe Schimmel, the pastor of Blessed Hope Chapel in Simi Valley, California, told that the “pretentious caricature” of God as a “heavy set” black woman is “dangerous and false.

There will be no pews and no pulpit, but plenty of coffee and even some puck watching. A chapel on the second floor of West Edmonton Mall, just down from the World Waterpark and tucked in near the theme-roomed Fantasyland Hotel, is changing hands and getting a make-over.

Rev. Paul Angelicchio (right), conducts a Mass at Holy Family Church in Fairmount in October 2003. This week the Syracuse Catholic Diocese put The Rev. Paul F. Angelicchio, pastor of St. John the Baptist and Transfiguration parish in Rome, on administrative leave as church officials investigate an allegation of abuse involving a minor 27 years ago.

The Rev. Paul Angelicchio (right), conducts a Mass at Holy Family Church in Fairmount in October 2003. The Syracuse Catholic Diocese deemed allegations of misconduct from 27 years ago against Angelicchio to be not credible. (Gary Walts | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) on December 23, 2016 at 10:48 AM, updated December 23, 2016 at 10:49 AM.

If tonight follows the pattern of recent Christmas Eves, expect silent night on the streets of NG1. Nottingham can expect to sleep in heavenly peace. All that may change next Saturday, New Year's Eve – an excuse for tens of thousands of people to converge on the city centre to booze their way into 2017.

In this Monday, Dec. 12, 2016 photo, a waitress serves customers before a Christmas tree decorated with lights, ribbons and balloons in Pyongyang, North Korea. If Santa Claus stops in North Korea this year, he'll find some trees and lights and might even hear a Christmas song or two, but he won't....

The Pope has ordered his senior clerical staff in Rome to employ more women, lay people and people from ethnic minorities. This was not a mere "facelift" aimed at removing wrinkles, he told his audience of ordained men that make up the Roman Curia, but part of a wholesale "purification" of the Vatican.

Pyongyang, North Korea • If Santa Claus stops in North Korea this year, he'll find some trees and lights and might even hear a Christmas song or two. But he won't encounter even a hint of what Christmas actually means — not under a regime that sees foreign religion as a threat. There are almost no practicing Christians in North Korea.

The homeless in Victoria have one less place to sleep after a church decided to put up a decorative fence. The fence is now in place along the front of the Central Baptist Church. The combination of cement blocks, iron fencing and spikes has been put up to keep people from gathering in an undercover area.

​Port Harcourt-based gospel artist, Godswill Adiks, popularly known as Will Adiks, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on Wednesday night, December 21st. According to PUO Report, the handsome Minister was ambushed by gunmen at the Rivers State Axis of the East-West Road while returning back from a programme in Benin, Edo State.

“It gladdens my heart to get reports of our citizens rushing to purchase this cheaper local rice to enable them and their families enjoy the Christmas and New Year celebrations,” the president said via a statement released by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina on Friday, December 23.

LAHORE: Director General Punjab Emergency Services (Rescue 1122) Dr Rizwan Naseer hosted a cake cutting ceremony for the department’s Christian employees near Christmas time on Friday. A lunch was also organised at the headquarters as well as the Emergency Services Academy and all district offices.

Lee Shafer knows the feeling. As rector for Grace Episcopal Church in Anniston, Shafer used to get annoyed as Christmas encroached more and more on Halloween and Thanksgiving. But she’s since made peace with it. Now she views Christmas as two separate holidays — the religious and the commercial — and embracing one isn’t a threat to the other.

In a strongly-worded letter to Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan, the Baguio-Benguet Ecumenical Group urged local officials not to issue permits and licenses to e-bingo establishments here after the City Council endorsed the application of the e-bingo operator at Maharlika to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Chief Executive Officer of Garry’s Concept, Garry Parrish, displays two of his refrigerator magnets at the recent Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) heritage festival held at the entity’s headquarters, 10-16 East Street, Kingston. - Rudranath Fraser. KINGSTON (JIS) -- For persons looking for a unique and....

After what many have described as the most unprecedented presidential election in modern U.S. history, it seems little has changed. Presidential politics still dominates the headlines. Unless you tune out, turn off or simply run away, it’s easy to let the prevailing tide of partisanship and civil....

$1.3million water supply plant suspended. The management room of the Hai Chanh Water Supply project is being used for months by locals to breed cows. While thousands of locals await clean water, a nearly-complete water supply project in central Quảng Trị Province has been delayed for over a year due to the lack of funding.

If you could ask Dr Tim Keller just one question, what would it be? If you're a conservative evangelical, that question may have long kept you up at night. Now however, you can rest and rejoice, because the popular pastor and writer just yesterday participated in another #askTK event on Twitter, where for an hour he fielded questions.

LITTLE ROCK - Police have arrested and charged a suspect in connection with last Saturday's road rage killing of 3-year-old Acen King in Little Rock, Arkansas, officials confirmed Friday morning. The suspect, 33-year-old Gary Holmes, was arrested for the shooting and is being held at the Pulaski County Detention Center in Little Rock.

The Rev. Amy Byerley was formally installed as pastor at Brooksville Church of the Nazarene by the denomination's district superintendent, Larry Dennis, on Dec. 3. She previously served as associate pastor at Largo First Church of the Nazarene. This is her first position as senior pastor.

To submit items for this calendar, visit news-gazette.com/living and click "Add an event" under the miniature calendar on the page. You must be logged in, then fill in the appropriate fields and submit.Deadline is noon Tuesday before Friday publication. Events. Christmas Eve services (Dec. 24): — 4, 7 and 11 p.