The church has also established its own job assistance office. The civil war that recently engulfed Albania has forced at least 100 missionaries to flee the country. Albania, a small European country with a population of 3 million, once declared itself the world's only atheist state and closed its borders to foreigners. At the beginning of 1997, six years after the fall of Communism, more than 500 long-term missionaries were residing in the country. In the past few months, at least two regional governments within Russia have passed legislation restricting missionary activity.
Restrictions are pending or being implemented in at least eighteen other regions.
Some Protestant churches in Udmurtia are no longer allowed to use public buildings for religious purposes. A minister in the Church of England says it is okay to shoplift from giant chains. The Southern California Ecumenical Council has admitted the Metropolitan Community Church as a member. The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches believes homosexuality is part of God's design, and it routinely performs homosexual weddings. The Family Channel included the Osmond Brothers in a broadcast called a Branson Family Christmas.