Free Republic

Drive through parts of Warren, Michigan, and you can see America's religious transformation written into the buildings themselves. A Lutheran church that stood for more than 80 years is now the Al Ihsaan Islamic Center. The cross that once topped its steeple is gone. A former Baptist church has become another Islamic center. An old industrial machinery business has become a mosque. And another large mosque is being built. Within seven miles of one Warren neighborhood highlighted in a new Fox News investigation, residents identified five new mosques. Longtime residents say the transformation has happened with stunning speed -- largely...

A hijacked ship, a runaway congregation, jailed Baptist preachers, and a snowy churchyard in Madison County, Virginia By: Robert W. Malone, MD, MS, and Jill Glasspool Malone, PhD In January 1789, snow covered the ground around a plain wooden church at the foot of the Blue Ridge. Inside, a German-speaking Lutheran congregation finished its worship service. Two fiddlers played afterward, because this congregation loved music. Then the whole crowd went outside to hear two young Virginians argue about the new Constitution. One was James Madison, age thirty-seven. The other was James Monroe, age thirty. Both would later become President. That...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has suggested that churches and family members of refugees could sponsor and fund people's relocations, as he calls for an end to federal welfare benefits for refugees, some of whom remain on benefits long-term.Paul appeared on Fox News’ “The Will Cain Show” Tuesday to discuss separate lawsuits filed by major American cities and 22 states over a pending rule that seeks to prevent immigrants who would be dependent on government assistance from entering the U.S. “We actually have laws on the books that [say] if you come here illegally, you’re not supposed to be eligible for...

Another church is preparing to disappear from the American landscape. Not because it was burned by an angry mob. Not because Christians were driven out by soldiers. Not because the government outlawed the Gospel. The former Richfield Christian Reformed Church in Clifton, New Jersey, was purchased by the Islamic Center of Passaic County. Now plans call for the existing building to be demolished and replaced with a mosque measuring approximately 40,000 square feet--more than six times the size of the current structure. The cross has already given way to the crescent. Soon the former church itself may be gone. It...

Thomasz Szabo, 27, of Romania, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 48 months in prison for his role as leader of an online swatting ring that targeted more than 75 public officials, four religious institutions, and multiple journalists in a nationwide threat spree, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. Szabo, aka “Plank,” “Jonah,” and “Cypher,” pleaded guilty June 2, 2025, to one count of conspiracy and one count of threats involving explosives. In addition to the 48-month prison term, District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered Szabo to serve three years of supervised release. Federal prosecutors had requested...

We have been warning for some time about the danger of the Iranians and their surrogates like Hezbollah using Venezuela as a launching pad for attacks inside the United States. That possibility is particularly troubling given the number of Venezuelan passport holders this administration has allowed into the country. We don’t need to speculate about this threat anymore, however. It is no longer a possibility. It is happening.video The FBI field office in Miami has issued a public alert seeking information on Majid Dastjani Farahani. According to the FBI, Farahani is an Iranian intelligence officer who is in the United...

IDF finds Hezbollah tunnel near south Lebanon church as group 'exploits' Christian population. The IDF also stated that Hezbollah prevents Christian civilians from fleeing combat zones and "has even fired at them" in the past. The IDF uncovered a Hezbollah tunnel stocked with weapons near a church in southern Lebanon, the military announced on Friday, emphasizing the threat the terrorist organization poses to Lebanon's Christian population. The tunnel was discovered by the IDF's Givati Brigade in the Lebanese village of El-Khiam. The area had previously been cleared by the IDF in December 2024. Therein, three shafts were discovered, as well...

“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” (Mt 17:1-2) When Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a high mountain to show them this amazing moment where he was transfigured and glowed with such brilliance that he outshined the sun, Peter’s reaction was very earthly. Peter wanted to build tabernacles in places where people could come and worship where this event took place. It’s almost...

Florida State Sen. Don Gaetz (R) is pushing legislation to allow churches to use volunteer security rather than being required to pay to hire licensed security personnel. FOX News reported that Gaetz’s legislation is Senate Bill 52, which has already passed the state’s Senate and will now be weighed by the House. FOX 13 noted, “Supporters say…[the bill is] aimed at cutting costs while keeping people safe in places of worship.” Triumph Church of Tampa pastor Elvis Piggott pointed out that “it can get very costly” under the current requirement for licensed security. He said, “Just for myself at an...

A Reform government would move to give churches protected status to ensure they are not turned into mosques. The party’s new home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, plans to “restore Britain’s Christian heritage” by enacting mass deportations of illegal migrants and persuading British expats to return to the country. He said renewing Britain’s Christian faith was imperative to restoring “cultural meaning” among young people and men in particular. Mr Yusuf, a practicing Muslim, told The Telegraph his first move would be to grant immediate and automatic listed status to churches across the UK. This means alterations affecting their historic character would...

This week's demolition of a massive Protestant church in the eastern city of Wenzhou highlights the growing uneasiness of the ruling Chinese Communist Party over burgeoning numbers of Christians in the nominally atheist country, analysts said. Authorities completed on Monday the demolition of the 85,000-square foot (nearly 7,900-square meter) Sanjiang church, which once dominated the city with its soaring spires, gleaming white walls, and stained glass windows, saying it had far exceeded the size allowed in the building permit. Christians in Wenzhou, whose large numbers have earned it the nickname "the Jerusalem of the East," launched a frantic campaign to...

Christians have flocked to defend a church in eastern China after Communist Party officials claimed it was an "illegal construction" and announced plans to demolish it Thousands of Chinese Christians have mounted an extraordinary, round-the-clock defence of a church in a city known as the 'Jerusalem of the East' after Communist Party officials threatened to bulldoze their place of worship. In an episode that underlines the fierce and long-standing friction between China's officially atheist Communist Party and its rapidly growing Christian congregation, Bible-carrying believers this week flocked to the Sanjiang church in Wenzhou hoping to protect it from the bulldozers....

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (1 Timothy 2:1-2) THE COLD REALITY OF THIS WORLD IS THAT EACH OF US IS MOVING TOWARD A FINAL DESTINATION. WHETHER THE CURRENT CRISIS WE ARE ALL EXPERIENCING ENDS QUICKLY OR STRETCHES OVER MONTHS AND YEARS,...

An anti-deportation protester who dared Attorney General Pam Bondi to arrest him for crashing a Sunday church in Minnesota is now in custody, Bondi said Thursday.William Kelly was seen on video with a crowd invading and loudly disrupting a service at Cities Church in St. Paul over allegations that the pastor worked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Bondi described the protest as an attack on congregants’ religious liberty and announced multiple related arrests, including Kelly’s, in Thursday X posts.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has insisted that the FACE Act only applies to abortion clinics, coming as the Department of Justice is probing possible violations of the law in relation to the storming of a St Paul church by anti-ICE agitators. Speaking on former CNN host Don Lemon’s podcast, Ellison said, "Yeah, I'm familiar with the FACE Act. You know, in Minnesota, we have—we uphold the right of a woman to choose, and some of the activists, you know, will, you know, sort of—you know, they, so it’s…" He continued, "The law has to do with the, you know,...

Far-left agitator Nekima Levy Armstrong, who was one of the organisers of the storming of a Minnesota church to protest ICE on Sunday, raked in over $1 million during six years leading a Minneapolis civil rights nonprofit that addresses anti-poverty issues. Armstrong, whose website identifies her as a civil rights lawyer and "scholar-activist," helped organise the storming of Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday. In a Facebook post, she claimed that one of the church’s pastors is a leader at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The demonstration is one of many throughout the Twin Cities in protest of...

On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) said that when people find out “someone that’s supposed to be speaking for the community in church” is “a federal agent that is running ICE in their communities, they have the right to go in there.” “Churches have always been an open door,” and the people who barged into a church in St. Paul over the weekend weren’t violent. Host Jim Sciutto asked, “Do you believe it was a step too far for protesters to go into a church?” Grijalva answered, “I don’t. I don’t. I think that when...

One of the unhinged protesters who barged into a Minneapolis church this weekend, terrorizing peaceful worshippers and children alike, was a school board member for the city of Saint Paul named Chauntyll Allen. Libs of TikTok posted this information on Twitter/X: A report from TMZ confirms this (emphasis is ours): Local and federal authorities are investigating after a group of anti-ICE protesters crashed a Minnesota church service … and one of the demonstrators tells TMZ she’d still do it all over again. Here’s the deal … the DOJ and local police are investigating after protesters interrupted a service at the...

A Christian church service was invaded by anti-ICE protesters in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday with former CNN anchor Don Lemon apparently leading the disturbance. Lemon livestreamed the intrusion of Cities Church, a Southern Baptist congregation, as shouts of "ICE out!," "Hands up, don't shoot" and "Justice for Renee Good!" echoed through the building. Good was the anti-ICE activist fatally shot by a federal agent this month when she allegedly tried to run over an officer with her vehicle. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not amused, as it shared a clip of the video and stated: "Agitators aren't just...

4,000 churches closed in 2024, while only 3,800 were started, Lifeway Research reports. More Protestant churches are being closed in America than are being planted, and older congregations appear to be bearing the brunt of the contraction, according to data from a new Lifeway Research study.The study published Tuesday used data collected from 35 denominational groups that represent 58% of U.S. Protestant churches. The Tennessee-based research arm of Lifeway Christian Resources also cited information from the Annual Church Profile for 2023 and 2024 of the Southern Baptist Convention — America’s largest Protestant denomination.While 4,000 Protestant churches were closed in 2024,...