Churches query C4 ‘witch children’

From The Church Times-

CHRISTIAN groups have expressed dismay at a Channel 4 programme that investigated African churches in the UK that brand children as witches, describing it as “im balanced”.

Churches Together in England, the Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Service (CCPAS), and the Evangelical Alliance issued a joint statement after the screening on 26 July of the documentary Dispatches: Britain’s witch children, which reported on the alleged abuse of children and vulnerable adults by pastors who appeared to label them as witches or possessed by demons.

The groups said that they were “disappointed” that Channel 4 made no attempt to contact them for comment during the production of the programme, and are “dismayed that the programme did not feature any Christian representatives, who would have condemned these practices and provided the context that they are not tolerated in the vast majority of African churches.”

The organisations, which pointed out that none of the churches featured in the programme were members of the Evangelical Alliance or Churches Together, said that they would be making a representation to Channel 4 to explain their “unhappiness with the imbalance shown by the programme”.

A spokeswoman for Channel 4 said: “As the Evangelical Alliance and Churches Together say, none of the churches or pastors featured in the programme are members of the organisations and were, therefore, not approached. . . Nevertheless, the programme did properly feature important contributions from AFRUCA [Africans Unite Against Child Abuse] and the Victoria Climbié Foundation.”

More here-

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=98614