Of five US CHURCHES, 4 CONDEMN RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE and blame Russia solely.  The Mormons do not take a side.
Protestants
Baptists
Episcopalians
Methodists
Mormons, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Catholics

Of these 5 churches, all except the Mormons support the US explanation of the war and blame Russia .  The Mormons don’t take a side.

Baptist response rising as war in Ukraine escalates

MARCH 8, 2022.   Hubert Yates, Correspondent.
Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (MBCB

https://thebaptistrecord.org/baptist-response-rising-as-war-in-ukraine-escalates/

Mississippi Baptists have long standing ties to the Eastern European people of Ukraine since they gained their independence from the former USSR in 1991.

Volunteers from Mississippi Baptist churches and pastors from our state have made many trips to the cities and communities of Ukraine sharing the Gospel and assisting the growing indigenous church with discipleship and training over the past two decades. 

With this strong tie and the many friendships that exist, Mississippi Baptists are joining together to express concern, pray, and respond with our Southern Baptist partners in meeting the needs of the Ukraine people.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces continues to escalate and intensify. Heavy fighting and shelling continue across several towns and cities in Ukraine, with increasing human cost and humanitarian consequence.

At least 752 civilian casualties, including 227 deaths, were recorded February 24-28 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Fifteen of the deaths and 28 of those injured were children.

Most of these casualties were caused by explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems as well as air strikes, according to the same source.

Reports of civilians trapped in towns and cities under shelling continue, including in Volnovakha and Mariupol in Donetska oblast as well as in other locations within and beyond eastern Ukraine. Hostilities or shelling have also continued in and around major cities, such as Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Kyiv.

Clashes have also been reported near the “contact line” in eastern Ukraine, with communities on both sides severely impacted. Damage and destruction to water, electricity, and sanitation facilities, as well as road and residential infrastructure, continue to be reported across several areas, shattering people’s lives, and disrupting access to these vital services for hundreds of thousands.

Population movement remains fluid and on March 2, numbers escalated with 200,000 crossing borders to flee the conflict.  As of March 3, a total of 877,000 people have crossed into Poland, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, and other countries, according to UNHCR.

In country, more than 100,000 people have been internally displaced so far with numbers escalating, according to the same source (Real figures are considerably higher as corroboration is ongoing, albeit with delays and security challenges and some sources say IDPs may be closer to 200,000 – 300,000).

Reports indicate that 30% of those crossing will move on to Western European countries quickly, within one to three days. Women and children still represent the largest populations of those displaced. 

Southern Baptists through our joint International Mission Board (IMB)/North American Mission Board (NAMB) Crisis Response ministry program, SEND Relief, continues to be in contact with our partners on the ground (existing national ministry and other trusted partners).

SEND Relief’s response continues to expand to address this major crisis. SEND Relief began responding with food relief before the invasion and continues to collaborate with national partners to provide food, shelter, transportation, clothing, and ministry to those displaced and impacted by the crisis in Ukraine.

SEND Relief has expanded response to displaced people in countries that border Ukraine. Total resources committed, planned, and in progress is $518,488.00 and has currently served over 59,200 Ukrainians in need.

SEND Relief has a Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Disaster (SBDR) Assistance Response Team (DART) team en route to the crisis area, made up of volunteers from Southern Baptist Disaster Relief state partners. 

SEND Relief anticipates that opportunities for volunteer response will increase after the SBDR DART team completes the initial assessment. Responding teams will need to meet international travel requirements, complete IMB requirements for international response prior to deployment, and be prepared to operate in hardship conditions.

The best current ways for Southern Baptists to respond is by praying and giving.

Prayer Requests

— Pray for peace in Ukraine and Russia.

— Pray for God to change the hearts of those in power in Russia.

— Pray for God’s protection for believers serving and ministering on the front lines of this crisis.

— Pray for those suffering in the areas of active conflict and for those who have lost loved ones.

— Pray that God will open people to the hope of Christ through this difficult season in their lives.

— Pray that the displaced can find a shelter and basic needs as they flee from the conflict.

— Pray for minority groups being displaced, who are often forgotten and dis-enfranchised.

— Pray for women and children displaced from home without their husbands and fathers, who are often the primary providers in these families.

— Pray that partners and the local church will have wisdom and strength during this time.

— Pray for local churches and partners in Poland, Moldova, Hungary, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia as they seek to help those fleeing and traumatized by war.

— Pray for the SBDR DART team as they serve in response.

— Pray that as we serve together and offer compassionate ministry in these difficult circumstances that all we do would glorify our great Lord and Savior.

To Give

Church gifts in support of the SEND Relief response may be given through the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board utilizing the Church Mission Giving Designation Form (Pink Sheet) designating International Disaster Relief/Ukraine Conflict Response. Submit to MBCB, P. O. Box 530, Jackson, MS 39205

Individual Gifts may be given directly to SEND Relief online by clicking here.

Yates is disaster of relief director for the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (MBCB). He may be contacted at hyates@mbcb.org. The MBCB disaster relief ministry is supported by gifts to the Mississippi Cooperative and donations designated for disaster relief.

 [Episcopal News Service — Navasota, Texas] The House of Bishops voted unanimously to issue statements condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and political actions targeting transgender people at its March 15-21 meeting.

The House met in person for the first time since September 2019, with 133 bishops and bishops-elect present, at Camp Allen, a retreat center near Navasota, Texas, owned by the Diocese of Texas.

The Ukraine statement – written by the Rt. Rev. Mark Edington, bishop of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, with input from other bishops – denounced the “utter depravity” of the Russian military’s assault on the former Soviet republic in moral and political terms.

“We are gathered at a moment of profound jeopardy to the principles of international law and peace,” the statement read. “As we meet and pray together as a House of Bishops, Ukraine — an independent, sovereign nation that has posed no threat to others beyond its borders — has been invaded by military forces of Russia, without provocation and without justification.”

In a referendum on Dec. 1, 1991, the statement noted, 90% of voters approved the declaration of independence from the Soviet Union that the Ukrainian parliament had issued in August of that year.

In an interview with Episcopal News Service, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry acknowledged the complex balancing act between the West’s support for Ukraine’s self-defense and the risk of escalating the conflict.

 “[Ukrainians] have a right to defend their freedom and to protect it, and the rest of the world’s got to do whatever it can not to precipitate a worse war that will engulf the whole world, but to do everything possible to stand for human rights and decency. That’s not utopian thinking,” Curry said, also offering a comparison to the Gospel passage in which Peter draws a sword to defend Jesus.

“Jesus lived in the real world,” Curry said. “He had clear ideals and clear principles that he was articulating, no question about that. But he was in the world. Now, he did tell Peter, ‘Put that sword back in its sheath.’ But he didn’t tell him to get rid of it.”

Edington told ENS that Episcopal congregations are already seeing Ukrainian refugees in their cities. He is consulting with congregations, Episcopal Relief & Development and the Church of England’s Diocese of Europe, which has a church in Kyiv — Ukraine’s capital — and also in some of the cities where convocation churches are present.

In the meantime, Edington said, it was important for the bishops to speak out in unison against the invasion.

“We have a job to speak the truth as we see it, through the light of the Gospel, to say, ‘These things are wrong,’” Edington told ENS. “We chose to speak in terms of universal principles that we feel are connected to our Christian claim about the dignity of all people, and one of them is the right of nations to determine their own fate.”

By providing the historical context for Ukraine’s independence from Russia, the statement described the Ukrainian people’s self-determination as a fundamental right.

“There is a direct link between our baptismal covenant to respect the dignity of all people in Christ and the demand to respect the will of nations to determine their own destiny — the rule of ‘jus cogens,’ in international law — when expressed freely through the ballot box,” the statement read.

The statement denounced the “utter depravity of the war,” in which Russian soldiers have killed at least 900 civilians as of March 20, according to the United Nations.

“It is evident that Russian military forces have directly and indiscriminately attacked civilian residences, medical facilities, even agreed corridors for the humanitarian withdrawal of civilians in areas of combat,” the statement read. “These actions are a fundamental violation of the rights and dignity rightly accorded all people, and a flagrant breach of international norms.”

The statement echoed a resolution passed by Executive Council resolution in January, before the invasion, expressing “grave concerns about the escalation of tensions and military buildup along the border of Russia and Ukraine.”

All bishops present at the March 19 House of Bishops meeting approved the statement, in which they said they would pray for Russia to immediately cease hostilities; for the safety of refugees, diplomats and political dissidents; and for other churches to speak out in opposition to the invasion.

The House of Bishops also discussed the spate of state laws and political directives targeting transgender youth. Dozens of bills have been introduced in state legislatures over the past two years limiting transgender minors’ access to medical treatment and restricting their participation in sports. In some cases, the parents of transgender children have been threatened with legal action, as is now the case in Texas due to a directive from Gov. Greg Abbott classifying certain kinds of medical care, such as hormonal or surgical treatments, as child abuse.

Curry told ENS that while the war in Ukraine and anti-transgender laws are obviously very different issues, the bishops’ responses to them come from the same source.

“People can think ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ can be trite and simplistic until you have to do it,” he said. “And that same principle that applies for transgender children applies for the people of Ukraine. They’re God’s children, and nobody, no human being is meant to be abused. Put down. Oppressed.”

Several bishops testified in support of a statement condemning these laws and directives, sharing personal stories about their own transgender/nonbinary relatives or parishioners and the fears that they face, even in states where they seem unlikely to pass. The resolution originally mentioned Texas “and other states,” but a number of bishops asked that their states also be mentioned by name. After some debate about how specific the statement should be, it was amended to include “Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, Missouri, Florida, Arkansas, Ohio, North Dakota , Mississippi, South Dakota, Nebraska, Indiana, South Carolina and any other states, municipalities, and school districts targeting transgender children and their families.”

“In light of the baptismal covenant’s promise to see Christ in all persons,” the statement read, “… we … voice our love and continued support for all persons who identify as transgender or non-binary and their families. We decry legislative initiatives and governmental actions targeting trans children and their families. We urge all in our church to create safe spaces and shield all people from harassment based on gender identity.”

Curry and others said it was important for both lawmakers and the transgender people whose lives their decisions affect to know where the bishops stand.

“Whether you’re liberal or conservative, there’s such a thing as human kindness and human decency. And for those of us who are Christians, there’s such a thing as unselfish, sacrificial love that seeks the good and wellbeing of others,” Curry told ENS.

“We don’t expect that it’s going to change votes, but we pray [it does]. Maybe the most important thing is if it brings some comfort, some affirmation to transgender folks, that you are children of God, created in God’s image and likeness, as are we all.”

Also during the meeting, the Rt. Rev. Whayne Hougland Jr., former bishop of the dioceses of Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan, was readmitted to the House after a yearlong suspension. Hougland had been suspended from episcopal ministry in June 2020 after admitting to an extramarital affair. Hougland’s suspension period ended in July 2021, and he resigned his position in both dioceses. Along with the suspension, Hougland completed the other stipulations of the disciplinary accord, including receiving counseling.

The Committee on Resignations reported that Hougland had “completely and generously and graciously fulfilled” the terms of the accord and proposed a motion to readmit Hougland to the House as a non-voting member, an action allowed under the House of Bishops’ Rules of Order, section V.M.4. The motion passed the House unanimously.

In addition, the House issued a pastoral letter calling for peace in the Holy Land and expressing that Jerusalem “must be equally protected and accessible to faithful Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and to all people of goodwill,” in accordance with 2018 General Convention Resolution B003. With that resolution, General Convention voted to “reaffirm its long-established position calling for the holy city of Jerusalem to be the shared capital of both the State of Israel and of a potential Palestinian state” and “urge the House of Bishops to disseminate as soon as is practicable a Pastoral Letter supporting Jerusalem’s prophetic identity as the Holy City of Peace.”

Constituting one-half of General Convention, the House of Bishops comprises all active and retired bishops in The Episcopal Church. The House typically meets twice a year, though its meetings have been held remotely during the pandemic. The House of Bishops and its counterpart, the House of Deputies, are next scheduled to meet in person July 7-14 at the 80th General Convention in Baltimore, Maryland.

United Methodists Stand with Ukraine

https://www.resourceumc.org/en/topics/united-methodists-stand-with-ukraine#:~:text=United%20Methodists%20across%20the%20globe,Discipline%2C%20Social%20Principles%20%C2%B6165.

United Methodists across the globe are condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As Christians “we believe war is incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ. We therefore reject war as an instrument of national foreign policy.” (2016 Book of Discipline, Social Principles ¶165.C). We also know our God stands with the oppressed and calls on us to support them. See some of the ways United Methodist leaders, organizations and individuals are responding to the invasion of Ukraine through their prayer, aid and witness.

MORE ABOUT OUR VIEW OF WAR

MORMONS

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gives statement amid Ukraine crisis

Feb 25, 2022, 2:34 PM | Updated: 6:54 pm

BY ELIZA PACE, KSL TV
https://ksltv.com/485351/church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-gives-statement-amid-ukraine-crisis/

SALT LAKE CITY—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a statement of their deep concern and prayer for peace amidst the current conflict in Ukraine. The full statement is found below.

“We are heartbroken and deeply concerned by the armed conflict now raging. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has members in each of the affected areas and throughout the world. Our minds and hearts have been turned toward them and all our brothers and sisters.

We continue to pray for peace. We know that enduring peace can be found through Jesus Christ. He can calm and comfort our souls even in the midst of terrible conflicts. He taught us to love God and our neighbors.

We pray that this armed conflict will end quickly, that the controversies will end peacefully and that peace will prevail among nations and within our own hearts. We plead with world leaders to seek for such resolutions and peace.”

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Administrative Committee Releases Statement on Ukraine

MARCH 16, 2022 BY PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE

https://www.usccb.org/news/2022/us-conference-catholic-bishops-administrative-committee-releases-statement-ukraine

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WASHINGTON - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Administrative Committee has issued the following statement today on Ukraine. The Administrative Committee is led by the president of the Conference and is comprised of the USCCB’s officers, chairmen of the Conference’s standing committees, as well as a representative from each episcopal region of the United States. The committee operates as the board of directors of the Conference.

The committee’s full statement follows:

In union with the Holy See, we call for the immediate cessation of Russia’s armed aggression and unprovoked war on Ukraine that has already exacted a staggering toll - thousands dead and an exodus of three million refugees - with no end in sight. We join our plea with that of the Holy Father on March 13 when he said, “In the name of God, listen to the cry of those who suffer, and put an end to the bombings and the attacks!” Similar appeals have been raised throughout the Orthodox Christian world and indeed by many Russians themselves.

We are witnessing an unprecedented threat to world peace. This possibility of global warfare is compounded by the unthinkable consequences that would result from the potential use of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.

We call on Catholics of the United States and all people of good will to pray for an end to this war in Ukraine and for peace based on justice and respect for international law. We remember always that prayer is never a feeble gesture of last resort! It is a weapon of hope.

We continue to call on the U.S. government to aid humanitarian access and to support and provide assistance to those who remain in Ukraine and those fleeing the country. We call on all Americans to contribute generously and sacrificially to Catholic and other humanitarian agencies supporting these efforts.

At this dark time, we are united with the suffering people of Ukraine. May Our Lady of Fatima and the patron saint of Kyiv, St. Michael the Archangel, guide all peoples in the pursuit of peace and watch over all those in the path of war.

Russia-Ukraine war: Some pastors wonder about “end of days” By DAVID CRARY March 10, 2022

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-religion-baptist-74edf434be618f1552ce555f5bbb9cda

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted some of America’s most prominent evangelical leaders to raise a provocative question — asking if the world is now in the biblically prophesied “end of days” that might culminate with the apocalypse and the second coming of Christ.

There’s no consensus on the answer, nor on any possible timetable.

Megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, addressing his congregation at First Baptist Dallas, said many Christians are wondering, in the face of carnage in Ukraine, “Why does God permit evil like this to continue? …. Are we near Armageddon and the end of the world?”

“We are living in the last days,” Jeffress said, “We’ve been living in the last days for the last 2000 years. We don’t know, is this the end? Is this the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning?”

The curators of raptureready.com -- which shares commentary about “end of days” prophesies – suggest things could move quickly. Their “Rapture Index,” -- on which any reading above 160 means “Fasten your seatbelts” -- was raised this week to 187, close to its record high of 189 in 2016.

One of the most detailed alerts came from televangelist Pat Robertson, who came out of retirement on Feb. 28 to assert on “The 700 Club” that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “compelled by God” to invade Ukraine as a prelude to an eventual climactic battle in Israel. Robertson said verses of the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel support this scenario.

“You can say, well, Putin’s out of his mind. Yes, maybe so,” Robertson said. “But at the same time, he’s being compelled by God. He went into the Ukraine, but that wasn’t his goal. His goal was to move against Israel, ultimately.”

“It’s all there,” added Robertson, referring to Ezekiel. “And God is getting ready to do something amazing and that will be fulfilled.”

Also evoking Ezekiel – and a possible attack on Israel -- was Greg Laurie, senior pastor at a California megachurch whose books and radio programs have a wide following.

“I believe we’re living in the last days. I believe Christ could come back at any moment,” Laurie said in a video posted on YouTube.

Citing the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic, he said biblical prophesies “are being fulfilled in our lifetime.”

“We are seeing more things happen in real time, closer together, as the scriptures said they would be,” Laurie said. “So what should we do? We should look up. We should remember that God is in control.”

Predictions of an imminent “end of days” have surfaced with regularity over the centuries. Pat Robertson, for example, has inaccurately predicted apocalyptic events on previous occasions.

“One of the characteristics of apocalyptic thinking is that the most recent crisis is surely the worst — this is the one that is going to trip the end times calendar,” said Dartmouth College history professor Randall Balmer.

“Now, admittedly, there may be some evidence for that, especially with Putin mumbling about nuclear weapons,” Balmer added via email. “But I also remember the urgency of the Six Day War and George H. W. Bush’s Persian Gulf War and, of course, 9/11.”

The suggestion that God is somehow using the Russia-Ukraine war to fulfill biblical prophesies troubles some Christian scholars, such as the Rev. Rodney Kennedy, a Baptist pastor in Schenectady, New York, and author of numerous books.

“This evangelical insistence of involving the sovereignty of God in the evil of Putin borders on the absurd,” Kennedy wrote recently in Baptist News.

“Rapture believers fail to understand that if they assist in bringing about world war, there will be no Superman Jesus appearing to ‘snatch’ all true believers into the safety of the clouds,” Kennedy wrote. “The rapture is an illusion; the rupture caused by Putin is a deadly reality.”

Russell Moore, public theologian at the evangelical magazine Christianity Today, said it’s wrong to try to connect world events to end-times prophecy, noting that Jesus himself said his second coming would be unexpected and unconnected with “wars and rumors of wars.”

“It’s not consistent with the Bible and it’s harmful to the witness of the church,” said Moore, noting that the world has outlived many episodes of end-times speculation.

Moore said most Christians he’s talked with are more concerned about Ukraine’s well-being.

“I’m surprised at how little I am finding the idea that these events are direct biblical prophecy,” he said. “I’m just not seeing that in the pews.”

That’s a change from the recent past, he noted, when many evangelicals tried to interpret world events as a road map to the apocalypse – driving sales for hugely successful authors Tim LaHaye (“Left Behind”) and Hal Lindsey (“The Late Great Planet Earth”).

“It’s very rare for me to find someone under the age of 50” preoccupied with such views today, Moore said.

Jeffress said members of his congregation in Dallas are “very troubled by the atrocities being committed against the Ukrainian people and think we should push back forcefully against Putin’s aggression.”

“However, they are not headed toward their bunkers and preparing for Armageddon — yet,” Jeffress said via email. “Most of our members understand that while the Bible prophesies the end of the world and return of Christ one day, no one has a clue when that day will be.”

Laurie, in a written reply to questions from The Associated Press, said his congregation at Harvest Christian Fellowship “isn’t fixated on the ‘end times.’”

“My message for Christians during this time and really all people in general is don’t panic, but pray,” Laurie advised. “Live every day like it may be your last.”

The war in Ukraine has heightened anxieties for some members of Mercy Hill Chapel, said Oleh Zhakunets, lead pastor of the small Southern Baptist church that holds services in Ukrainian and English in Parma, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb.

Several members have close relatives in Ukraine – some in more dangerous zones in eastern Ukraine and others who are welcoming refugees in the west, he said.

“It’s a bag of mixed feelings,” said Zhakunets, citing their worries for loved ones and their hope that God is in control.

Congregation members believe in biblical passages detailing signs of Jesus’ return, he said, but they don’t see Russia’s invasion as fulfilling a specific prophecy.

“A lot of that is just guesswork,” Zhakunets said. “We have hope that he’s coming, but in terms of specifics, we’re not going to give that kind of what we see as a false hope.”

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Associated Press reporters Peter Smith, Holly Meyer and Deepa Bharath contributed to this report.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.