Free Republic

A former United Methodist Church pastor who was defrocked about 20 years ago for being in a same-sex romantic relationship has been reinstated by the mainline Protestant denomination. The UMC Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference voted overwhelmingly during a closed session of around 200 clergy on Tuesday evening to readmit Beth Stroud. Bishop John Schol, head of both the Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey annual conferences, said he was “deeply grateful for the discernment of the clergy” and “grateful that the church has opened up to LGBTQ persons.” “I couldn’t be prouder as your bishop, and you couldn’t have given...

First GOP black to win election in Lubbock dies BY JOHN REYNOLDS AVALANCHE-JOURNAL McKinley Shephard, who made local electoral history as the first black Republican to win office in Lubbock County, has died. He passed away Tuesday at Covenant Medical Center. He was 58. In 1982, Shephard was elected Precinct 6 Justice of the Peace. Two years earlier and at the relatively tender age of 33, he had run unsuccessfully for the state House. The political pioneer served 12 years as judge before springing another surprise by leaving the public sphere completely to become a priest in the African Orthodox...

Crawford rallies around pastor, Bush, Iraq war CRAWFORD — The war against Iraq is being felt in a very personal way in Crawford, where most locals support President Bush's policies on Iraq. A popular pastor is being called to active duty. The Rev. Kent Berry of Crawford United Methodist Church, just a few miles from the western White House, has some advice about Iraq. "Keep praying," he advises, "and hang in there. Stay with it." Berry, of Crawford United Methodist Church, is featured in the UMTV video report "From Bush's Back Yard to Iraq" this week. It is available at...