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Canterbury Archbishop Caught Lying? Abp. Justin Welby cites a non-existent convention to justify silence on abortion LONDON (ChurchMilitant.com) - The Anglican archbishop of Canterbury has come under severe criticism for apologizing for a historical massacre in India while citing a non-existent convention to excuse his absence from a parliamentary debate on abortion. None of the 26 bishops who serve as voting members of the House of Lords were present during the debate on July 17 for the critical vote that resulted in the imposition of abortion on Northern Ireland. Justin Welby has now defended the bishops' absenteeism, citing convention. There is nothing in...

A Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation in New York made news this week after it featured the sculpture of a pagan deity in its chancel. The United Presbyterian Church of Binghamton hosted “the Sviatovid idol” which depicts a ninth-century Slavic deity, as part of a September 6-7 festival of lights. Sviatovid (alternately known as Svetovid, Svantovit, Sventovit, or Svantevit) was a local Slavic god of war, fertility, and abundance in the Baltic region. In the early twentieth century, an idol was discovered near the Zbruch River in Western Ukraine (accessible with free JSTOR account). This idol pictured was originally thought to...

Accepting the Vatican II Sect as the Catholic Church has consequences. So does believing that Jorge Bergoglio is the Vicar of Christ despite being a public apostate: If he is a valid Pope, then there is no power on earth that can undo his papacy. If he is truly the successor of St. Peter, then he can resign voluntarily, but no one can take the pontificate from him... Clearly, it is high time we looked at what the Catholic Church teaches on the (im)possibility of judging and removing a valid Pope. In this post, therefore, we will examine two things:...

In a recent letter to The New York Times, Marquette theologian Daniel Maguire suggested that the Catholic Church was headed toward a three-way schism. Writing about Pope Francis’ reforms to the annulment process, Maguire predicted: Catholicism is going the way of its parent, Judaism. In Judaism there are Reform as well as Conservative and Orthodox communities. This arrangement is not yet formalized in Catholicism, but the outlines of a similar broadening are in place …. While conservative and orthodox Catholics welcome this annulment concession by the Vatican, reform Catholics don’t need it. Their consciences are their Vatican. Reform Catholics, whose...

Christian politician speaks out on LGBT agendaA politician in Finland is being investigated by police for quoting the Bible. Päivi Räsänen is a member of Finland's parliament and former party chairwoman of the Christian Democrats. In June, she took to social media expressing outrage about the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland supporting gay pride month. Quoting St. Paul to the Romans, she said, "God gave them up to degrading passions. ... Men committed shameless acts with men," adding, "How can the church's doctrinal foundation, the Bible, be compatible with the lifting up of shame and sin as a subject of...

Like all accounts of God’s faithfulness, mine begins with a genealogy. In the late seventeenth century, my mother’s Congregationalist ancestors journeyed to the New World to escape what they saw as England’s deadly compromise with Romanism. Centuries later, ­American Presbyterians converted my father’s great-­grandmother from Coptic ­Orthodoxy to ­Protestantism. Her son became a Presbyterian minister in the Evangelical Coptic Church. By the time my parents were ­living in ­twenty-first-century Illinois, their families’ historic Reformed commitments had been replaced by non-denominational, ­Baptistic ­evangelicalism. This form of Christianity dominated my Midwestern hometown. My parents taught me to love God, revere the Scriptures,...

An Episcopal seminary in Virginia has announced that its setting aside $1.7 million for an endowment fund aimed at paying reparations for slavery. Virginia Theological Seminary, founded in 1823 and based in Alexandria, announced last Thursday that it was creating the fund largely in response to the institution having direct ties to slavery. Money from the fund is expected to go to projects such as helping emerging congregations linked to the seminary, aiding African-American clergy, and helping to support work by historically African-American congregations. The Rev. Joseph Thompson, director of the seminary’s Office of Multicultural Ministries, which will oversee the...

A Christian politician from Finland has come under fire for sharing scripture on Facebook. Interview: Christian Politician Investigated for Posting Bible Verse Speaks Out, Says ‘We Must Obey God Rather Than Man’ Christian Democratic MP Päivi Räsänen called out the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland for its participation in the Helsinki Pride events back in June, sharing a passage from Romans 1 to prove her point. “How can the church’s doctrinal foundation, the Bible, be compatible with the lifting up of shame and sin as a subject of pride?” the politician asked. As a result of this robust remark, Finnish...

Baptist. Clergy. Abortion advocate. Katey Zeh‘s ministry calling is, uh, unique. For several years Zeh has promoted abortions while working in various roles for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC). Now an ordained minister, she is harnessing women of the Bible in an effort to revision abortion as holy. During an intriguing interview with Baptist News Global, Zeh said the Biblical texts “are set in a very patriarchal context” but that “there is still a narrative of very strong biblical women who found ways to beat the odds and survive and beat oppression.” That supposed narrative is the foundation...

Recently, the Superior General of the Jesuits, Fr. Arturo Sosa Abascal, declared that “the devil exists only as a symbolic reality.” He has said similar things in the past. He also made news in 2017 when he asserted, concerning Christ’s condemnation of divorce and remarriage, that we can’t know for sure what Jesus really said because no one recorded him on the spot. These and similar remarks make it clear that at least this Jesuit does not believe that Scripture—which teaches manifestly both the reality of the devil and the sinfulness of active divorce and remarriage—is actually the word of...

The Episcopal Church saw a greater decline in members and average worship attendance in 2018 than in 2017. According to statistics recently made available by the Office of the General Convention, The Episcopal Church saw its active baptized members decline from approximately 1.712 million in 2017 to 1.676 million. The 36,000-member drop is larger than the previous two years, when the denomination declined by about 32,500 members in 2017 and a little more than 34,000 members in 2016. In 2018, the average Sunday worship attendance declined by about 23,500 people, making it the largest drop the church body has seen...

The Archbishop of Canterbury has apologised for comments he made to Remainers about the Brexit referendum. It comes after the Archbishop told those who voted to stay in the EU to "stop whingeing" and accept the verdict of the Brexit vote at a Christian festival last week. Welby shared on social media his regret over hurting people's feelings with his "careless" and "insensitive" remarks saying: "I am aware of the upset after I talked about the need to "stop whingeing" about the Brexit referendum result. "I expressed myself carelessly and insensitively in the moment. I apologise for that and the...

On a scorching afternoon in mid-July, clergy members gathered outside a small unmarked building tucked away in a business complex in North Austin. They filed inside, up the stairs, and into the waiting room of the Whole Woman’s Health abortion clinic. There, Christian and Jewish leaders stood in a circle and sang phrases in chorus: Hallelujah. Do not fear. You are loved. Bless this room. Bless this womb. The 20 or so people had assembled not to protest, but to bless the clinic, burning sage in the exam rooms and reading patient and staff testimonials. “We’re gathered together today to...

The UM News Service has reported that I filed a complaint against the Rev. Anna Blaedel for violating the UMC’s longstanding prohibition of “self-avowed practicing homosexual” clergy, and that the Iowa Conference Committee on Investigation (COI) has certified a bill of charges. Those interested in a three-minute summary of my perspective can scroll down to the italicized text, which I read at the COI hearing earlier this month. But there is a bit more background. I am grateful for the professional, non-partisan manner in which the COI completed its work. I am disappointed that Blaedel has since painted a misleading...

The Disciples of Christ could lose half their membership within ten years if the current rate of decline remains the same, according to a report by the Institute on Religion & Democracy. Also known as the Christian Church, the Disciples saw their membership decline by 7 percent, going from approximately 411,000 in 2017 to approximately 382,000 in 2018, according to an entry posted Tuesday on the IRD’s blog Juicy Ecumenism. Worship attendance fell 11 percent, going from about 139,000 in 2017 to about 124,000 in 2018, and baptisms declined by 13 percent, from approximately 4,300 in 2017 to approximately 3,700...

In an open letter to the faculty, administrators, students, and alumni at Asbury Theological Seminary, a group of 70 current and former students attacked the seminary for its support of the United Methodist Church’s Traditional Plan at General Conference 2019. Asbury is an independent evangelical seminary outside Lexington, Kentucky with 1800 current students that teaches Wesleyan beliefs. It graduates more United Methodist clergy than does any official United Methodist seminary and is one of America’s largest seminaries. Among the letter signers, and possibly its organizer, is Bill Mefford, who left the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society after...

Norwich's Anglican cathedral installed a helter-skelter in its nave to try to bring people to church A controversial amusement park ride erected in Norwich Cathedral has come down after an 11-day installation. Rt. Revd. Johnathan Meyrick, the Anglican bishop of Lynn, delivered a sermon midway down the helter-skelter slide during the final liturgy held in the cathedral with the ride present. “God is a tourist attraction,” Meyrick said, claiming that God would be “revelling” in the joy it brought to visitors. During the time the helter-skelter was installed, over 20,000 people came to visit the nearly thousand-year-old cathedral. While an...

Oldline Protestant denominations make for a competitive peer group, but the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is on track to claim the top spot for fastest declining major U.S.-based church last year. Total membership declined from 411,140 in 2017 to 382,248 (-7%) while average worship attendance declined from 139,936 to 124,437 (-11%) according to numbers reported for 2018. Baptisms dropped from 4,344 to 3,782 (-13%) while the number of other additions (including transfers in) declined from 7,441 to 6,969 (-6.4%). At the current rate, the denomination will shrink by another 50 percent within a decade. This annual rate of decline...

Did the Apostle Paul really say women can never be pastors? Within evangelical Christianity the debate surrounding women in ministry, particularly in ordained leadership capacities, is usually framed as complementarianism vs. egalitarianism. Complementarians believe that women are forbidden from holding certain offices in the Church. Egalitarians insist that Scripture does not warrant such restrictions. In part 1, The Christian Post examined the views of some female complementarians. For this second part, CP interviewed an egalitarian, Ben Witherington III, a professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. "There is evidence in the New Testament of women teaching...

Archbishop of Canterbury Hosts Muslim Gabfest as Peers Push Abortion on Northern Ireland Truant archbishop marks World Emoji Day as babies are slaughtered LONDON (ChurchMilitant.com) - The archbishop of Canterbury and his fellow bishops in the Church of England are being slammed for skipping the critical House of Lords vote that resulted in the imposition of abortion on Northern Ireland. None of the 26 bishops who serve as voting members of Parliament were present or voted during the debate on July 17 and 18