Free Republic

A struggling Minnesota church is asking its older parishioners to leave in hopes of making it more attractive to young families. Grove United Methodist Church in the St. Paul suburb of Cottage Grove is closing in June, with plans to relaunch in November. The present members, most of them over 60 years old, will be invited to worship elsewhere, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. The church is asking that they stay away for two years, then consult the pastor about reapplying. “I pray for this church, getting through this age-discrimination thing,” William Gackstetter said at church on a recent...

The United Methodist Church is expected to split into more than one denomination in an attempt to bring to a close a years-long and contentious fight over same-sex marriage. The historic schism would divide the third-largest religious denomination in the United States. Leaders of the church announced Friday they had agreed to spin off a “traditionalist Methodist” denomination, which would continue to oppose same-sex marriage and to refuse ordination to LGBT clergy, while allowing the remaining portion of the United Methodist Church to permit same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy for the first time in its history.

United Methodism moved closer to formal schism with a new proposal released today negotiated with liberal and conservative groups, including bishops. The plan would divide the nearly 13 million member global denomination into separate conservative and liberal communions. The mediator for these negotiations was Kenneth Feinberg, the Washington, D.C. attorney best known as Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Under this plan, conferences (Methodism’s version of dioceses or presbyteries) could vote by 2021 to join the conservative denomination by a 57% vote. Local churches by 2024 could vote by majority. The conservative denomination would get $25 million...

On four separate occasions in October 2017, the informant entered Echo Park United Methodist Church with a hidden recorder and captured audio of meetings held by the Los Angeles chapter of Refuse Fascism, a group which has organized a number of large-scale demonstrations against the Trump administration in major U.S. cities, according to court records reviewed by The Times. ... part of an ongoing case against several members of Refuse Fascism who were charged with criminal trespass for blocking a downtown section of the 101 Freeway during two separate anti-Trump demonstrations in September and November of 2017.

There’s at least one area of agreement among conservative, centrist and liberal leaders in the United Methodist Church: America’s largest mainline Protestant denomination is on a path toward likely breakup over differences on same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBT pastors. The differences have simmered for years, and came to a head in February at a conference in St. Louis where delegates voted 438-384 for a proposal called the Traditional Plan, which strengthens bans on LGBT-inclusive practices. A majority of U.S.-based delegates opposed that plan and favored LGBT-friendly options, but they were outvoted by U.S. conservatives teamed with most of the...

Rejecting the sad direction of many of the other mainline Protestant denominations in the U.S., in a historic — and what some view as a surprising — vote at their General Conference last week, faithful United Methodists — thanks in large part to African United Methodists — stood firm and rejected the perverse LGBT agenda on sex and marriage.  Unlike American Methodists — more than two thirds of American delegates and a majority of American bishops supported the LGBT-driven "One-Church Plan" — African Methodists overwhelmingly supported the Traditional Plan.  Thank God for the African United Methodists! However, though the language forbidding any official acceptance of homosexuality by the...

COLLEYVILLE, Texas On a Tuesday in January, pastor Katie Lewis was surprised to have even 26 members of the United Methodist Church of Colleyville attend her study group on human sexuality and same-sex marriage. In a group of mostly middle-aged white congregants, opinions ranged widely. One man said he felt pressure to accept LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage from "more liberal" members from the East and West coasts. Others quickly disputed that idea, saying the issue is a concern in Colleyville as well. "Whether you know it or not, someone in your life is struggling to be accepted for who...

A large congregation in South Carolina has requested to leave the United Methodist Church over the mainline Protestant denomination's debate over homosexuality. In February 2019, the UMC will hold a special session of its General Conference to determine if the denomination will maintain its official position against homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Christ United Methodist Church of Myrtle Beach, which is said to have approximately 1,600 members, has sent a request to the South Carolina Annual Conference to leave the denomination. While their departure from the UMC has not been finalized, the congregation has already changed the church's name to simply...

Baltimore Rev. Jamal Bryant had strong words for the influential inner-city pastors who met with President Donald Trump on Thursday for a meeting about prison reform, job growth and other issues affecting inner cities. “This is a stain on the body of Christ. This is a stain on our community,” the pastor said in a 25-minute Periscope video Thursday night. “I need to know how all of ya’ll were smiling at that table while the whole world frowns at what this represents and what it looks like. The blood is dripping off your hands.” The pastors have been heavily criticized...

Tucked away in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, somewhere along the winding roads that hug Great Lakes shores, is an idyllic town named Bay View. For more than a century, generations of “Bay Viewers” have congregated here to share in summer activities. What started out as a modest camping ground for Methodist families 140 years ago has quietly developed into a stunning vacation spot for people who can afford the upkeep of a second home. Streets named Moss, Fern and Maple are dotted with impeccably maintained century-old gingerbread cottages. Over the horizon, residents can watch lifelong friends sail their boats across the...

Emma Akpan is a faith leader at her North Carolina African Methodist Episcopal Church. She also volunteers for Planned Parenthood. Akpan wrote a column for Bustle this week trying to justify her abortion advocacy with her Christian faith by claiming that she wants to end violence against women. Akpan described herself a minister at her church. “I am a clinic greeter because of my faith, which teaches me how important it is to provide care for my community,” the Raleigh, North Carolina, woman wrote. “For me, that means ensuring that women have safe access to their health care facilities.” Akpan,...

FULL TITLE: Church leaders say Roy Moore is 'infected by a false Christian religious virus' as they hold a rally in Alabama arguing he is unfit for US Senate A group of church leaders in Alabama have spoken out against Republican US Senate candidate Roy Moore saying he is infected with a 'false Christian religious virus'. The Rev. William J. Barber, a leading figure among religious liberals, led a rally against Moore at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Birmingham on Saturday after he was dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct involving teenage girls decades ago. Barber told the crowd of 100...

For politicians who are searching for an appropriate way to talk about their Christian faith in public, the Bible can sometimes appear to contain contradictory mandates. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he admonishes his disciples to pray in secret and “not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.” Later, however, the resurrected Jesus, just before he is taken up to Heaven, implores his followers to go forth and “be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the...

Hillary Clinton's pastor compared her defeat to Christ's crucifixion and a Trump presidency to Hell in a devotional he sent her hours after she lost, it was revealed Friday. The Democratic loser had received a daily prayer from the Rev Bill Shillady, a longtime Clinton family friend, throughout her campaign. But on the Friday morning after her defeat, he sent her a very different text - this time a full-on lamentation, he reveals in a new book and in a CNN interview. It compared her defeat to the crucifixion, and said: 'You, our nation, our world is experiencing a black...

This is the email Hillary Clinton's pastor, the Rev. Bill Shillady, sent her on the morning of November 9, 2016, the day after she lost the presidential election to Donald Trump. For more on how religion helped lead Clinton "out of the woods," read our interview with Shillady. Sunday is Coming November 9, 2016 It is Friday, but Sunday is coming. This is not the devotional I had hoped to write. This is not the devotional you wish to receive this day. While Good Friday may be the starkest representation of a Friday that we have, life is filled with...

Nearly a dozen religious organizations joined abortion advocacy groups Wednesday to urge U.S. Senators to keep funding the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood. United Church of Christ, Methodist, Presbyterian and Jewish groups were among the 150-plus groups that signed a letter outlining their support of the abortion chain, Obamacare and Medicaid expansions. A group called NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice also signed the letter. “We urge you to oppose any repeal of the Affordable Care Act, attempts to change Medicaid’s open-ended funding guarantee into a block grant or per capita caps, and any attempts to defund Planned Parenthood,”...

I can't copy on my iPad. Sorry. Very annoying article from the Huffington Compost.

WACO, TX – On-the-ground sources in west Texas confirm that the United Methodist Church (UMC) is potentially engaged in a massive operation designed to reprogram churches as virtual mosques in preparation for a deluge of Muslim refugees. While President-elect Trump announces plans to defund “sanctuary cities,” churches (especially those with far-left theologies) are declaring their intent to invoke “sanctuary” for the millions already pouring across the border, including Muslim refugees. Some churches are even getting visits from “clergy” urging them to virtually roll over and accept an Islamic future. [RELATED: GELLER REPORT: Sanctuary Cities Showdown: Churches Loom As Thorn To...

It’s weird to think about, but a lot of the things we take for granted are almost shockingly recent inventions. The can opener didn’t exist until 1870—nearly a full century after canned food was first produced (people ate so much canned food that year, you guys). Doors have been around forever, but doorknobs weren’t invented until 1878 (and people were finally able to leave their houses). And grape juice?

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton will address thousands attending the African Methodist Episcopal conference in Philadelphia on Friday. The Black Church a familiar stumping ground for Hillary Clinton, and leaders expect Clinton to tackle tough Black issues straight on. Rev. Mark Tyler said she will be addressing many current events. “Not only will she speak about the shootings in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis, but she will be able to speak to it in a way that will certainly surprise a number of people.” Rev. Tyler is pastor of Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia. His church...