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The unevenhandedness of the leadership of the ELCA is stunning. From synod to synod, the rules that bind the congregations of the ELCA are meted out without any type of consistency. Take, for instance, the issue of dual affiliation. Those congregations without a substantial value are either ignored by individual synod bishops or dismissed by the synod for violation of the ELCA constitution. Yet, those congregations having substantial assets are fought tooth and nail and even taken to civil court. The Grace Lutheran congregation of Eau Claire, WI was brought before Polk County Circuit Judge Molly Gale-Wyrick by the Northwest...

(Reuters) - Senior Roman Catholic and Lutheran officials announced on Monday they would mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 as a shared event rather than highlight the clash that split Western Christianity. The Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) presented a report in Geneva admitting both were guilty of harming Christian unity in the past and describing a growing consensus between the two churches in recent decades. The 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's 95 Theses, the doctrinal challenge that launched the Protestant Reformation, will be the first centenary celebration in the age of ecumenism, globalization and...

The Canon of Scripture   Real Audio Lessons on this Topic The Canon of Scripture   Protestants, Catholics, and most Orthodox agree now 1 that the New Testament should consist at least of the 27 Books (Matthew through Revelation/Apocalypse) that the Catholic Church determined were canonical, but the Protestant Old Testament is lacking 7 entire books 2 (Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus/Sirach, Baruch, I Maccabees, and II Maccabees), 3 chapters of Daniel and 6 chapters of Esther, leaving them with 66 incomplete books while Catholic Bibles have 73 books. How did this come to be?Background The canon of the Old Testament...

Openly gay clerics will be questioned about the intimate detail of their sex life on behalf of the Archbishops of Canterbury or York before they can be considered to be a bishop, the Church of England has disclosed.A legal briefing sent to members of the General Synod reveals that under a new policy any priest in a civil partnership will have to convince an archbishop that they are not sexually active before their name can go forward. It was drawn up in light of a u-turn by the church last year which lifted a blanket ban on anyone in a...

This translation of a televised conversation reveals a rare glimpse into the outlook of Muslim scholars who are concerned about Christianity’s growth. The invited guest is Sheikh Ahmad Al Katani; the president of The Companions Lighthouse for the Science of Islamic Law in Libya, which is an institution specializing in graduating imams and Islamic preachers. Katani starts off describing the overall problem: Islam used to represent, as you previously mentioned, Africa’s main religion and there were 30 African languages that used to be written in Arabic script. The number of Muslims in Africa has diminished to 316 million, half of...

Pope Francis met the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, for the first time this morning. In an address after the meeting the Pope said Catholics and Anglicans should work together to challenge secular society, especially on subjects such as “the sacredness of human life or the importance of the institution of the family built on marriage”. He also stressed the importance of calling for an “economic system that is at the service of man” and of “giving a voice to the cry of the poor”. Both leaders remarked on the coincidence of their March installations. Francis celebrated...

When considering the forces pulling at the Boy Scouts of America, one thing journalists really needed to consider was a simple statistical chart that can be found (.pdf) on the organization’s homepage. Here are the crucial numbers found at the top of this file: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — 37,856.United Methodist Church — 10,868.Catholic Church — 8,397.Presbyterian Church — 3,597.Lutheran Church — 3,827.Baptist churches — 3,981.These are these numbers? That would be the number of Scouting units hosted by these particular religious groups. I am well aware, as I have written in a previous post, that this...

I often tell people that if you lose your way in Reformed Tradition (read Presbyterian) theology, you can always go back to square one, which says, in essence, this: God is sovereign. Or -- in wording I prefer now because most of us have no experience living under a sovereign -- God is gloriously free.I thought about that the other day when I read something Pope Francis said in a book he co-authored in 2010 as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Speaking about how he would converse with an atheist, Bergoglio wrote: "I would not tell him that his life is...

Question: I have a few questions for you about the "OPC." First, do you teach apostolic succession, and, if so, do you believe ministers outside of the OPC are not really ministers? Second, do you believe that the "gifts of the Holy Spirit" are for today, i.e., are healing, tongues, prophetic revelation, and miracles as led by the Holy Spirit actively manifest in our modern churches? Finally, how are you different from the Roman Catholic Church? Answer: Thank you for your questions. Let me take them one at a time. 1. "Do you teach apostolic succession, and, if so, do...

I have chosen you for a special mission , not just for your zeal in me but through your fortitude to overcome the obstacles I 've allowed to be placed in your way , and these have been used to strengthen and nurture you in my spirit , for I have brought you to this level of enlightenment to allow you to see precisely how my spirit flows and works in and through peoples lives , for now more than ever before I will release my spirit to do more wonders and reveal the true nature of Christ in a...

There are many on the “religious left” who have decided that religion is nice, God is good, but culture is more important. Therefore, they have decided to take the pieces they like best of the Bible—good, loving God who forgives all weakness—and mix them with the lies of the culture—abortion should be a woman’s choice because it’s not a life until, well, they don’t know until when, but not until they say so at least. One of the threads in this religious left movement is the United Methodist Church who actually has written into its Social Principles in the Book...

In which Bishopess Schori’s “Theo-fantastic” Curacao sermon is reexamined, evaluated, judged, and ditched. Brethren, Peace and good to all of you. I can't listen to this sermon! I’ve been asking myself what (or who) possessed Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Episcopal Church’s presiding bishopess of the Episcopal Church, to deliver this sermon in Curacao. As you might remember, I commented on it not long ago on a previous blog post. I think I got the answer after reading a chapter of this book, God or Goddess?: Feminist Theology : What Is It? Where Does It Lead?, by Manfred Hauke....

If you were a Christian minister who was given the opportunity to write an op-ed piece for the Washington Post, what subject would you choose? War and peace? The decline in faith among America’s young people? The increasingly empty pews in mainstream Protestant churches? The ethical decline in society? Or any of myriad other morally and religiously troubling issues? Well, not if you were a Methodist minister named James P. Marsh Jr. For this man of the cloth, the issue troubling him so much that he had to write about in the Washington Post was . . . people standing...

It's not easy being British.The country has lost its way. And should you be on the streets, you don't want to lose your way, lest you encounter the roving bands of intoxicated thugs that spill out on the streets as a regular part of social life. Britain has embraced the machinery of the totalitarian state more than any other democracy, with the entire population under general video surveillance on the streets and squares. The theory was that Britons who had forgotten how to behave might behoove themselves to do so if the nanny state adopted the tactics of the police...

The ELCA Elects its First Openly Gay Bishop 06 Thursday Jun 2013 By Robert Benne Last week at its annual assembly the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) elected its first openly gay Bishop—Guy Erwin, who is a theology professor at California Lutheran University in California Oaks as well as the interim pastor of a nearby ELCA parish. Erwin has been ordained a mere two years because the ELCA has ordained openly gay pastors only since the momentous decisions of its 2009 Churchwide Assembly, which allowed the ordination of partnered gays. He respectfully waited to...

Last week, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America voted for the first time for an openly homosexual man to be made a bishop. For twenty years, R. Guy Erwin had been banned from the ordained ministry in the ELCA, then in 2009 the Lutheran church lifted the prohibition and he was ordained. Now, just four years later, Mr. Erwin is set to become the first gay Lutheran bishop.   With over four million members in 10,000 denominations, the ELCA is the nation’s seventh largest Protestant church, and the second after the Episcopal Church to ordain and promote “partnered homosexuals.” The...

Special to The Washington Post I am a Methodist minister and a Washington Nationals fan. I was there on Opening Day in 2005 at old RFK Stadium in Washington, and I try my best to plan my summer around Nats home games. I have only one issue with the ballpark experience, and it’s not with the beer prices. It’s with “God Bless America.” In his May 15 column, Washington Post writer John Kelly described the odd feeling of not knowing whether to stand during the singing of this song in the middle of the seventh inning. Like Kelly, I don’t...

The Office of the General Assembly has released the 2012 statistics of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The statistical materials include comparative summaries of the PC(USA)’s membership, a summary of receipts and expenditures from 2009–2012, and additional miscellaneous information. The total membership of the PC(USA) at the end of 2012 was 1,849,496, compared to 1,952,287 in 2011, which is a decline of 102,791 members. The number of PC(USA) congregations at the end of 2012 stood at 10,262, or 204 fewer than the previous year. New church developments, new immigrant fellowships, or other worshiping communities within the denomination are not included in...

Legalising gay marriage could force the Queen to break a Coronation oath, a senior clergyman warned yesterday. Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester, said the Queen vowed when she was crowned 60 years ago to ‘uphold the laws of God’. He claimed that signing into law an act allowing same-sex couples to marry would contravene that promise. He spoke as opponents of same-sex unions launched a last-ditch bid to kill the plans in the House of Lords today. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will demand amendments to the Bill to protect those with moral objections. Gay marriage passed with...

You are my chosen in whom I have found , Loyalty that abounds , Eager and ready to do MY will , A vessel in which the heavens I fill , To whom "has" been given ALL Autority , To take back land and break the neck of the enemy , There is no wall or boundary around , You can not take down , A "Mighty LOYAL" woven into , My Tapestry and Kingdom ready to do , Whatever I ask whenever it is , You do My business for ALL of My kids , So continue on for...

Recent high profile events—the Gosnell trial and the septicemia of Savita Halappanavar in Ireland—have again raised the question if abortion is ever acceptable, such as in attempts to save the life of the mother. There are at least two ways of thinking about such dilemmas in the Christian moral tradition. The first, which can be traced at least as far back as Thomas Aquinas, relies on the principle of double effect. The second, more familiar to the Lutheran communion, is the method of casuistry, the detailed study of all the factors and circumstances of a case in order to determine...

The D.C. lobby office of the United Methodist Church, the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS), has finally broken its silence about the “health care” offered by abortion and infanticide provider Kermit Gosnell. The GBCS likes to boast that it “has not been silent” on pressing issues of social concern. But when it comes to arguably the most pressing social-justice issue of our day, which according to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute globally claims the lives of tens of millions of precious babies created in God’s image every year, the GBCS has been absolutely silent. Or rather, when it has...

With his new book, “American Church: The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America” (Ignatius Press), mild-mannered Russell Shaw has become the bull in the china shop of U.S. Catholic history, knocking heroes off pedestals and overturning conventional story-lines—all in aid of trying to understand why the Church in America is in precarious position today vis-à-vis the ambient public culture and the government. Shaw’s answer: we’re in deep trouble because of a longstanding U.S. Catholic determination to be more-American-than-thou—to disprove ancient charges of Catholicism’s incompatibility with American democracy by assimilating so dramatically that there’s no discernible...

One of the largest Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations in the United States is presently weighing the possibility of leaving the denomination due to theological differences.First Presbyterian Church of Houston, founded in the early nineteenth century and with an estimated 3,600 members, voted earlier this year to enter a discernment process over the possibility of seeking dismissal.James T. Birchfield, senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church, told The Christian Post that the congregation wants to consider where they stand in relation to the views of PC(USA)."Our congregation is attempting to discern the best place – the best denominational relationship – that...

Mistakenly thinking the great Presbyterian theologian J. Gresham Machen had written a book on Catholicism and wanting to give it as an example of Protestant apologetics in yesterday’s item, I googled the subject and found that he didn’t, but he did say this in his book Christianity and Liberalism: Far more serious still is the division between the Church of Rome and evangelical Protestantism in all its forms. Yet how great is the common heritage which unites the Roman Catholic Church, with its maintenance of the authority of Holy Scripture and with its acceptance of the great early creeds, to...

(Reuters) - The Church of England published a plan on Friday to approve the ordination of women bishops by 2015, a widely supported reform it just missed passing last November after two decades of divisive debate. It said the new plan, outlined in a document signed by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Archbishop of York John Sentamu, would be presented to the General Synod, the Church legislature, in July to begin the approval process. The proposal would make allowances for traditionalists who oppose women clergy, a minority that blocked the reform at the last Synod meeting, but each diocese...

If a pastor says that he has prayed and sought direction from God, and yet is opposed by the deacon board, should the pastor be able to overrule them? Do deacons occupy a role beyond that of an advisor? Are they equal in authority to the pastor? I'm not saying that a deacon board is no better than dirt (by any stretch of the imagination, as they do have a necessary and Biblical role to fill), but I can't find any scripture where a deacon board has authority equal to that of a psator. It has been said that the...

Footsteps is a Jewish organization that helps Hasidic Jews wishing to leave their ultra-orthodox community become integrated members of secular society and work through the profound difficulties of leaving behind their past and, in most cases, being disowned by their families.PBS and A Journey Through NYC Religions report the varying responses of current members of the Hasidic community and individuals who have chosen a new way of life.Sol Feuerwerker is glad he left. I think thatÂ’s what surprises most people, you know, most outsiders, is that how can something this insular be happening right here in the middle of New...

U.S. Episcopal Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori (far left) is seen next to Episcopal Auxiliary Bishop Nerva Cot in this 2007 photo. (CNS) The Anglican Ink site reports: The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church has denounced the Apostle Paul as mean-spirited and bigoted for having released a slave girl from demonic bondage as reported in Acts 16:16-34 . In her sermon delivered at All Saints Church in Curaçao in the diocese of Venezuela, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori condemned those who did not share her views as enemies of the Holy Spirit. The presiding bishop opened her remarks with an...

Senior members of the Church of Scotland voted Monday to let some congregations choose ministers who are in same-sex relationships — an important compromise that must still pass further hurdles before it can become church law. The church's General Assembly backed a motion affirming a traditional conservative view on homosexuality, but permitted liberal congregations to ordain openly gay men or women if they wish. The assembly's vote would require the approval of next year's General Assembly as well as votes by the church's regional presbyteries to become law. The process is complicated, and is expected to take at least two...

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church has denounced the Apostle Paul as mean-spirited and bigoted for having released a slave girl from demonic bondage as reported in Acts 16:16-34 . In her sermon delivered at All Saints Church in Curaçao in the diocese of Venezuela, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori condemned those who did not share her views as enemies of the Holy Spirit. The presiding bishop opened her remarks with an observation on the Dutch slave past. “The history of this place tells some tragic stories about the inability of some to see the beauty in other skin colors...

My love for you and through you "IS" My Ordination . So take on my ordainment that My love through you endures for it is "this" commandment alone that "IS" the very Cornerstone that I speak of against which there is NO weapon but My love is never changing it does not whither or fade it does not wax or whane for I AM Eternal and it "IS" the I AM I speak of " I AM THAT I AM " ----> MY LOVE and MY LOVE you "MUST" BEcome . 1 Corinthians 13 If I [can] speak in the...

[SNIP] The Church's predictions came as it launched an attack on plans by the First Minister, Alex Salmond, for a new class of “belief” ceremonies – alongside traditional religious and civil weddings. The Scottish Government is currently attempting to overhaul the marriage laws north of the border, primarily to introduce same-sex marriage. But the bill would also include a wider update of matrimonial laws including plans to create a “third way” to get married, through so-called “belief” ceremonies to accommodate those who do not belief in a deity but do but do promote a belief system. It follows the popularity...

The new ELCA gospel boils down to a natural man’s religion replacing fundamental Bible truth with politics. A vague ethic of love is preached for the betterment of society. Sin is seen as ignorance. Jesus is not savior but only an example of sacrificial living. Universal salvation is proclaimed for all. Gone are missionaries, the urgency for lost souls, honest awareness of sin and the need for conversion. Gone are theological and moral absolutes. Present is the undermining of scripture, protests, endless social statements and lobbying platforms. This enterprise is capped off with the desire to unite all mainline liberal...

Dennis Prager and others have done an excellent job of highlighting the genuinely anti-Semitic content of a recent Church of Scotland publication entitled “The Inheritance of Abraham? A Report on the ‘Promised Land,’” and Prager has even called it “ugliest depiction of Jews since medieval times.” What has not been mentioned, however, is the great tradition of philo-Semitism in recent Scottish Church history, making the contrast all the more extreme. Some of the great Scottish Presbyterian leaders of the 19th century built on the heritage of English Puritan theologians like John Owen (1616-1683), who wrote, “The Jews shall be gathered...

This is a request for information assistance. Last night, I received a disturbing email from a longtime friend and pastor from my hometown church, which is breaking from the corrupt, mainline Presbyterian Church (USA), like many others are doing. Apparently PC (USA) has asked the congregation for an exorbitant sum of money, and is threatening the church manse and other property in an effort to force the congregation back into the corrupted fold. I've been out of the Presbyterian loop for a while but want to help, and so I'm wondering if anyone has any specific information about what is...

Christians are being persecuted all over the world.  Churches are being burned and destroyed, girls are being raped and ancient Christian communities reaching back 2,000 years are being obliterated.  And the world yawns.  Most shockingly, many Christians in the West, worse than yawning, look away and in some cases embrace the perpetrators and blame our allies.This begs the obvious question:  Why do so many Christians in America and Europe seem to not care about what is happening around the world to their fellow disciples of Jesus?  Why are we looking the other way while the brutal murder, persecution, rape and...

New Zealand became the 13thcountry to legalise same sex marriage two weeks ago. This week the Anglican Bishop of Auckland is being taken to the Human Rights Tribunal over allegations he is discriminating against a gay man who wants to become a priest. Right Reverend Ross Bay (pictured) has been accused of preventing a gay man entering the Anglican Church's training or discernment programme for priests because he is unmarried and in a sexual relationship with his male partner. Bay denies the allegation. The complainant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he had been signalling his desire to...

Bishop Ross Bay New Zealand became the 13thcountry to legalise same sex marriage two weeks ago. This week the Anglican Bishop of Auckland is being taken to the Human Rights Tribunal over allegations he is discriminating against a gay man who wants to become a priest. Right Reverend Ross Bay (pictured) has been accused of preventing a gay man entering the Anglican Church's training or discernment programme for priests because he is unmarried and in a sexual relationship with his male partner. Bay denies the allegation. The complainant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he had been signalling his desire to train...

<p>On Wednesday, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said President Barack Obama needed to clear up and "renounce" the "un-American" and "amoral" reports from the Pentagon that U.S. soldiers could be prosecuted for promoting their Christian faith. She called on Obama to do so "today, right now."</p>

One is often judged, fairly or unfairly, by the company they keep. Hang with someone who is a thief and it may be assumed that you are also a thief. Affiliate with an organization and those values espoused by that organization are assumed to be yours. Fair or not, it is what it is. While our Lord and Savior hung around with those judged not acceptable by society, He came to heal their spiritual shortcomings. Jesus healed the sick, both physically and spiritually. So, when Jesus sat down with prostitutes and tax collectors, He did so to heal their hearts...

It took me fifty years to find my way home (to the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church), though only twenty-three to get pointed in the right general direction. This is my tenth year “inside,� corresponding thus to my sixtieth biological. My question for today: What takes people so long?One begins, naturally, by answering for oneself. But I can’t coherently answer. Starting just after my Christian conversion, then moving forward patiently through memory, I recall many occasions when the idea of being received into the Catholic Church occurred to me. Several of these were somewhat dramatic.But the drama was for...

My love is enduring and so it must be with you "My children" for I AM a just and loving God visiting these Virtues upon those that choose love in an enduring manner, for to see My River of Life "TRULY" flow through you there can be NO Guile or sorrow, no hopeless desires for My hope in you "IS" Christ Jesus and his desire is My will and My will alone and so as you enter into my will all guile and tribulation begins to subside and a new and fresh awakening begins. So take on my will for...

Protestants with a strong religious identity continue to increase as Catholics with a strong religious identity continue to decline, according to a March study by the Pew Research Center. The proportion of Catholics reporting strong religious affiliation declined by almost twenty percentage points over the last few decades, from 46 percent of Catholics in 1974 to 27 percent in 2012. Protestants reporting strong religious affiliation increased more than ten percentage points during the same period, from 43 percent to 54 percent. The contrast between Protestant and Catholic trends is not as straightforward as the numbers suggest. The data tell us...

I saw in WaPo that the homosexual Episcopalian ex-bishop of New Hampshire is telling Catholics what their doctrine and discipline should be.This serves as a follow-up to my post about Protestants who deign to determine for Catholics what ordination really is and what Mass really is.  That is to say, when Protestant churches host a women-priest circus, they are either blatantly protesting the Catholic Church concerning her most sacred rites, or they are dictating to the Church what Catholics ought to believe.So much for ecumenism!Similarly, the openly homosexual Robinson takes it upon himself to tell Catholics what to do.  We should conform...

Dave Hunt, an apologist, best-selling author, speaker and radio commentator, died April 5 with his wife, Ruth, at his side. He was 87. Noted for his research on cults, the occult and New Age doctrines, which began creeping into the church during the 1980s, Hunt was renowned for his controversial 1985 best-seller, The Seduction of Christianity (Harvest House Publishers), which he co-authored with T.A. McMahon. A prolific author of more than 40 books with at least 4 million copies sold, many translated into 50 languages, Hunt's other titles include Yoga and the Body of Christ; A Woman Rides the Beast;...

I am troubled by Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s crackdown on florist Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, for refusing to make a flower arrangement for a same-sex wedding. #I’m not arguing here against gay marriage. I voted for it. I’m not even sure that Stutzman has a legal right to refuse the business. Ferguson says that under Washington’s anti-discrimination statute, she doesn’t, and probably he’s right. She might, however, have a superior right under the state constitution, depending on how you interpret it. #The constitution has nothing in it about freedom from private discrimination. But Article 1, Section...

Sociologist Max Weber first advanced the idea of a Protestant work ethic in 1914. A recent study suggests that not only does this ethic exist, it can make the effects of unemployment worse for Protestants than for non-Protestants. The Dutch survey, which used data from 150,000 people in 82 countries traditionally identified as Protestant — including the U.S., U.K., South Africa, Germany and others — found that while unemployment has a negative effect on everyone, it affects Protestants more, up to 40% more in some cases. Dutch economist Dr. André van Hoorn, who led the study, said, "We found that...

Catholic Church officials in Great Britain have reportedly assured lawmakers that Catholics who marry into the royal family would not be expected to raise their children in the Catholic faith. During debate in the House of Lords on proposed changes in the Act of Settlement—the law that bars Catholics from the line of succession to the crown—Lord Wallace of Tankerness reported that he had been assured Catholics marrying a member of the royal family would not be held to the usual requirement that their children be raised as Catholics. Citing the general secretary of the bishops’ conference of England and...

A Church of England diocese has made building bridges with the gay community part of its new bishop’s job description.The Diocese of Manchester has instructed the official panel appointing its new bishop to select someone who can establish “positive relationships” with gay Anglicans and non-worshippers. The panel, which met on Friday, was told that the successor to the Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch, who retired earlier this year, should build on “significant engagement” with “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities” in Manchester. The move comes amid growing tensions within the Church over its attitude to gay worshippers and clergy. Such...