Free Republic

A month after Transformation Church in Tulsa, OK, hosted a celebration of life for the late pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ, hell-denying, Trinity-denying, Universalist, Unitarian Bishop Carlton Pearson, with lead pastor Michael Todd praising him as a “man of God” who faithfully lived out the gospel message, Todd reiterated his contempt for the scriptures by trashing the stage and pouring syrup and whipped cream all over a bible and communion elements as part of a grotesque sermon illustration. Transformation Church is led by pastor Michael Todd, the fashion-obsessed leader known for crowd surfing during his church’s worship service, preaching some good old-fashioned Modalism,...

Jonathan Demme is set to tackle the world of evangelical ministers with the film Come Sunday and is enlisting Robert Redford to play the late Oral Roberts. The film, which will be financed and produced by Endgame Entertainment (Looper), chronicles the true story of Carlton Pearson, a renowned evangelical minister in Tulsa, Okla., who stirs up controversy with his revelation that there is no hell. He loses everything and must rebuild his church and his family and find his own personal faith. Jeffrey Wright (Quantum of Solace) is in talks to take on the starring role of Pearson. EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS:...

Recent years have provided plenty of church scandals, but an unlikely one has occurred in the Bible belt. A prominent Tulsa, Okla., minister was scandalized not by sex or embezzlement, but by his belief in hell. When Carlton Pearson began wondering if modern believers still need a medieval pit of fire, it cost him his congregation. Watch "Hell: Our Fear and Fascination" Friday on a special "20/20" at 10 p.m. EDT He shared pulpits with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. He counseled presidents at the White House. And after the Oklahoma City bombing, he was called to lead the grieving...

Daniel Stoddart sends this along.  Seems that Episcopal churches aren't the only ones draining members: Carlton Pearson, a high-profile pastor who lost 90 percent of his church’s 5,000 members after publicly teaching that everyone will eventually be saved, held the final service in his church building on New Year’s Eve.Higher Dimensions, founded by Pearson in 1981, was one of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s largest and most prosperous churches. Its high-energy, sharply dressed pastor appeared regularly on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and at national conferences, wrote several books, and hosted an annual Azusa Street conference that drew national figures such as T. D....