Free Republic

Challenge considered likely to ordination of gay Presbyterian minister in Dobbs Ferry November 14, 2005, 5:23 PM EST DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (AP) _ A Presbyterian congregation has ordained a gay man who refuses to embrace celibacy despite the denomination's ban on sexually active homosexuals joining the clergy. A complaint over the action is likely to be filed with a regional panel in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which is among several Protestant denominations embroiled in a bitter debate over what role gays should have in their churches. Raymond Bagnuolo, of White Plains, was ordained Sunday at South Presbyterian Church in Dobbs...

A churchgoing husband is suing the senior pastor of a top Manhattan house of worship for $5 million - charging the minister tricked him into marriage counseling so he could bed the man's unfaithful wife. Joseph Vione's suit charges that the Rev. Thomas Tewell, 56, of the Fifth Ave. Presbyterian Church also urged him to become more active in the church - so the clergyman could further his "adulterous relationship with [Vione's] wife." Vione's wife, Rachel, 42, admitted the affair to her husband last January, according to the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court by Joseph Vione's lawyer, Dominic Barbara....

The National Council of Churches (NCC) now receives more funding from private foundations, most of them secular and politically liberal, than from its member denominations, it was revealed at its fall 2005 Governing Board meeting. Founded nearly 60 years ago, the council is America's oldest and largest ecumenical organization. It claims to speak for over 45 million church members who belong to its 35 member denominations. "Some may think that foundation money dilutes our responsibility to the churches," NCC General Secretary Bob Edgar preemptively commented at the meeting. But he insisted that the money was spent on church-based programs. He...

JERUSALEM – Christian Zionists are teaming up to encourage greater investment in Israel, hoping to counteract a campaign by a pro-Palestinian group that has encouraged mainstream Christian denominations in the U.S. to divest from Israel. The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) held its annual Feast of Tabernacles celebration in Jerusalem last week. The ICEJ – in conjunction with the Brussels-based International Christian Chambers of Commerce (ICCC) and the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce – urged Christians to invest in Israel at a press conference last week. The week-long ICEJ conference coincided with the holiday of Sukkot. This year more...

I am not a presbyterian, so I am curious about this. Is there a presbyterian church in America that truly follows the articles of faith handed down from the days of the English Civil War. What I am trying to say delicately, is it only the PCUSA that has taken the evil decision to divest from Israel. Are there some real protestant presbyterian churches in America?

Last update - 15:46 20/10/2005 Evangelicals slam efforts by Protestants to divest from Israel By The Associated Press Evangelical Christians on Thursday criticized efforts by some Christian groups to divest from companies associated with Israel and said they planned to counter with a campaign of their own to create partnerships between Israel and international businesses. Several Protestant groups - including the Presbyterian Church (USA) - have looked into selling stock in companies that profit from Israeli policy in the territories. Companies targeted by the Presbyterian Church include Caterpillar Inc.; ITT Industries Inc.; Motorola Inc.; and United Technologies Corp. The Presbyterians...

CHICAGO - Some U.S. Protestant churches are turning their back on the idea of dumping investments in companies alleged to be aiding Israel's hold on the West Bank, people involved in the issue said on Thursday. Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, along with a debate over whether divestment is the right move in the first place, may have helped cool what looked like a growing trend just a few months ago. "My reading, as a central Jewish player in this, is that there never was a (general) move toward divestment," said David Elcott, director of inter-religious affairs for the...

Divesting for JesusBy Steven BernsteinFrontPageMagazine.com | October 10, 2005 In the war against the existence of Israel, the economic boycott has a long history. Now three Protestant churches have passed resolutions in support of the Palestinian intifada against Israel, pledging to divest their current holdings in some companies that do business with Israel and to call for the dismantling of the Security Fence between Israel and the West Bank. The five million member Evangelical Lutheran Church of America(ELCA), at their 9th Biennial Churchwide Assembly last year in Orlando, Florida, voted 668-to-269 to implement their “Peace Not Walls: Stand for Justice...

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley mistakenly welcomed a Palestinian nationalist group whose leader denies Israel's right to exist in the Holy Land by sending greetings to a Sabeel conference at the Lutheran School of Theology. "Sabeel masquerades as a peace group, but its founder, Anglican Canon Naim Ateek, has portrayed Israel as a baby- and Christ killing nation that blocks the political salvation of the Middle East," says Dexter Van Zile, Christian outreach director of the David Project Center for Jewish Leadership and member of the United Church of Christ. "He has also denied the Jews' right to live in the...

The following statement was issued by the Session of First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood on Sept. 30, 2005. "We, the Session of First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, met with Rev. Dr. Meenan and Rev. Dr. Manock. We made the very difficult decision that returning the pastors is not in the best interest of the church, or the pastors. Therefore we asked for their resignations." Our Session has called a Congregational Meeting on October 9th after services in the Sanctuary at 12:30 PM, for the purpose of at which time the A.C. will share it's research findings.

Ken Moe, the executive of the Presbytery of the Grand Canyon, delivered a scathing attack on the New Wineskins Initiative and the Presbyterian Lay Committee in his report to the presbytery during its meeting on Sept. 16. He said the two groups are promoting schism in the denomination by insisting on subscription to theological standards and moral imperatives. "Denomination watchers are predicting the greatest impact of the storm will occur next June in Birmingham, Alabama," Moe added. "That is the time and place of the 217th General Assembly." Moe told the presbytery. "And it is fitting that I make this...

Our Worst Fear Online Editorial by O. Benjamin Sparks 09/07/2005 Last week I was overcome with rage and shame at the pitiful responses to the onset of hurricane Katrina and its watery aftermath. I was ashamed at the helplessness of the government of the United States. I was angry that neither the mayor of New Orleans nor the governor of Louisiana did anything initially except to criticize the federal government for its lack of response. How many lives would have been saved by the immediate response of which we showed ourselves capable after 9/11 in New York – a disaster...

A special panel of the U.S. Presbyterian Church appealed Thursday for the church's 2.4 million members to seek unity as they continue their divisive debate over homosexuality and the Bible. The panel urged the church's 2006 national General Assembly to make no changes to a 1997 law that limits clergy and lay officeholders to sex within heterosexual marriage, although liberals have submitted bills to repeal the rules. Instead, the panel outlined a strategy in a 39-page report it says "is designed to help the church maintain peace, unity, and faithfulness to scriptural and theological principles while that debate continues." Continuing,...

A special panel of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) appealed Thursday for the church's 2.4 million members to seek unity as they continue a divisive debate over homosexuality and the Bible. The panel urged the church's 2006 national General Assembly to make no changes to a 1997 law that limits clergy and lay officeholders to sex within heterosexual marriage, though liberals have submitted bills to repeal the rules. Instead, the panel outlined a strategy in a 39-page report it says "is designed to help the church maintain peace, unity, and faithfulness to scriptural and theological principles while that debate continues." The...

Deja vu -- Judith Apter Klinghoffer Dr. Judith A. Klinghoffer is a senior research associate in the department of Political Science at Rutgers University, Camden. She is the co-author of International Citizens' Tribunals: Mobilizing Public Opinion to Advance Human Rights and the author of Vietnam, Jews and the Middle East: Unintended Consequences. Wednesday, March 30, 2005 SHAME ON PRESBYTERIANS AND THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES FOR URGING DIVESTMENT FROM ISRAEL My friend Max said this best: First the Presbyterians and then THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES (WCC) During the last several years militia gangs, armed and supported by the Sudan...

What the Presbyterian Church (USA) Has in Common With al-Qaida BY JAMES LILEKS Newhouse News Service We're often told that Islamic terrorism has an exact mirror in Christian-inspired extremism.Sure, there are thousands of jihadis killing and maiming people of all creeds and colors, but look at Timothy McVeigh! Can't -- he's compost now. But when he was alive he wasn't shouldering aside old ladies to make morning Mass; McVeigh was one of those pathetic Aryan pagans who would have beat up Jesus for his dusky hue. What about that abortion bomber guy, Eric Rudolph? Sorry; he calls himself a disciple...

A female minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) is in hot water over her role in a supposed "marriage" ceremony involving two lesbians. It's a test case that will likely determine whether ministers in that denomination will be disciplined for officiating at same-sex "wedding" ceremonies. A judicial complaint was recently filed against Dr. Janet Edwards for officiating at the wedding of two women in Pennsylvania. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Edwards officiated in a ceremony integrating the couple's Buddhist and Christian traditions." The PC(USA)'s Book of Order officially allows "blessing ceremonies" for homosexual couples unless they are specifically identified as...

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rights organization, is urging Bishop Mark Hanson and the leadership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to reject a proposed resolution by the Church’s Caribbean Synod that denies Israel’s legitimacy and calls for ELCA to push for divestment of the Jewish State. ELCA is convening its biennial Assembly in Orlando today. "The Caribbean Synod’s proposed resolution is a major escalation in the worldwide political campaign to delegitimize Israel and is in keeping with the spirit of the 1975 UN resolution that equated Zionism with racism," charged Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate...

The top legislative body of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is set to take key votes this week on ordaining gays and blessing same-sex unions. Conflicts over what the Bible says about homosexuality have been tearing at Protestant denominations for years. Here is a description of how the debate is playing out in major American churches: _UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: The liberal, 1.3 million-member denomination passed a resolution July 4 endorsing same-sex marriage, making it the largest Christian denomination to do so. The church has been ordaining gays for decades. _EPISCOPAL CHURCH: This U.S. branch of Anglicanism sparked a...

The group named heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, communications giant Motorola, military contractor United Technologies and electronics manufacturer ITT Industries - all of which supply the Israel Defense Forces . . . The Church also listed international banking conglomerate Citigroup, which was cited in April by The Wall Street Journal for "having moved substantial funds from charities later seen to be fronts funneling money to terrorist organizations," including "funds [which] ended up as payments to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers" . . . The 2.5 million-strong church, the ninth largest in the U.S., represents most U.S. Presbyterians.