Free Republic

Most of my early Church memories center around Sunday School (I think that we did not “stay for preaching” very often). The small Baptist church that we attended was about a mile from our house and was conveniently connected by a railroad track, generally inactive on Sundays. My older brother and I often walked along the track on Sunday mornings when the weather was pleasant. The earliest Bible verses I can recall were learned in those classrooms. One of those was Psalm 122:1: “I was glad when they said unto me, ‘Let us go into the House of the Lord.’”...

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter talked about his recent health setback and his conversation with President Donald Trump, as he returned to teaching Sunday school in Georgia for the first time since breaking his hip. Carter told people gathered at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains that he and his wife, Rosalynn, have nursing care at home and are doing fine. He thanked those present for their prayers and good wishes. The 94-year-old Carter broke his hip last month at his home when he fell while leaving to go turkey hunting. He subsequently had hip replacement surgery. […] “The main...

Around the world, Christians are targeted for persecution and martyrdom, something that is developing even in the United States. But even as church leaders increasingly are on guard against threats of murderous violence, experts warn they may be ignoring a far more common threat – sexual assault against congregants. “Sexual assaults taking place on church property is an epidemic in our nation,” Carl Gallups told WND. “The reasons for it are numerous (and sometimes complex), but the main problem is that most churches have an abysmal lack of adequate security measures. While many churches are concerned about the growing trend...

A source on the Rick Perry campaign tells Hot Air that the Texas governor conducted some Texas-size fundraising in the third quarter. Coming in just a little over halfway through, Perry raised $17.1 million. That number would put Perry somewhere between $4-6 million ahead of Mitt Romney’s rumored total for Q3, according to this report last week from the Boston Globe. It’s also likely to far outpace Herman Cain’s fundraising or that of the other Republicans currently in the race. The pace is even more impressive. Perry had 49 days in which to raise funds, rather than the full 92...

I am looking for help with next Sunday's Sunday School lesson. I need a copy of Baxter Black's "Cowboy Time" but I cannot find it on-line or at the local library. If any freeper has the poem, I would be very thankful if he could send me a copy. Better! post it here, so more freepers can read it. It is a beautiful description of how God works on His time, not ours. Thanks.

What does the age of the Earth have to do with the exodus of young people from American churches? Ken Ham, known for his Answers in Genesis creation-science ministry, says a major study he commissioned by a respected researcher unveils for the first time in a scientific fashion the startling reasons behind statistics that show two-thirds of young people in evangelical churches will leave when they move into their 20s. The study, highlighted in Ham's new book with researcher Britt Beemer, "Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it," finds church youth...

June 14, 2009Obama's Other Controversial ChurchBy Andrew Walden "This is a guy (former Weatherman terror-bomber Bill Ayers) who lives in my neighborhood ... the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago - when I was 8 years old - somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make much sense." -- Barack Obama on the Campaign trail, 2008 As President Obama prepared to commemorate D-Day, the Associated Press dug up old details and photos to write a warm fuzzy story about the WW2 service record of Obama's maternal grandfather...

A Sunday school teacher was booked early today on suspicion of murder and kidnapping in the slaying of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, whose body was found in a suitcase in an irrigation pond. Melissa Huckaby, 28, was arrested at 11:55 p.m. Friday after she drove to the Tracy Police Department to be interviewed. She was booked at 3:25 a.m. today at San Joaquin County Jail in French Camp, where she is being held without bail. "She revealed enough information that we had probable cause to arrest her for both kidnapping and murder," Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman told reporters. During her...

Preacher Dan Smith turned a rap song about babes with booty into a spoof Internet hit, and used it to help create a new church for people who hate church. Dan Smith thinks Christians take themselves too seriously. Pastor Dan Smith's 'Baby Got Book' video, a big hit online, helped him start his Momentum Church. "We can be dorks," he says after Sunday service in suburban Cleveland. "We can be Ned Flanders and basically speak jargon that nobody understands." The 33-year-old pastor has made it his mission to turn the notion of earnest, boring, humorless Christianity on its head —...

Westview Middle School’s “Teacher of the Year,” Kanesa Hopkins, went from being in front of a 7th grade class to behind bars. The 31-year-old teacher is accused of criminal sexual misconduct with a former student.   “She's been placed on administrative leave at this point with pay,” Berkeley County School District Representative, Pam Bailey, said.   Hopkins is accused of sexual misconduct with a then-14-year-old female student. According to court documents, the girl was a 7th grade student at Westview Middle three years ago. Investigators said the student and teacher started writing letters to each other in 2001 and became...

Sunday school teacher fired for being female Updated: 8/18/2006 5:53 AM By: Amy Ohler Since 1946, Mary Lambert has been a member of the First Baptist Church in Watertown, and for the past 11 years, she's been the Sunday school teacher. But, last Thursday Lambert received a letter from the Diaconate Board telling her that she was dismissed from her position because the board had adopted the scriptural qualifications for Sunday school teachers. In short, this prohibits women from teaching men. "I was astonished, absolutely astonished to pick up and read that kind of a letter without being talked to...

Muslim Mob 'Terrorizes' Children in Indonesian Sunday School(CNSNews.com) - Approximately 30 Christian children fled in panic after a mob of Islamic militants raided and vandalized their Sunday school class, which was being held in a private home last weekend in Curug, Indonesia, according to a Christian group called Voice of the Martyrs (VOM). The violence came less than a month after three teenaged Christian schoolgirls were attacked and beheaded as they walked through a cocoa plantation on their way to school. One girl's severed head was reportedly placed in front of a church, eight miles from where the bodies were...

This is just a thread to satisfy my own curiosity. Zorach vs. Clauson was a supreme court case that ruled that high school students could get "release time" to go attend a religous instruction class. In essence, it allowed students take a course when they could've been taking an elective, provided some religous organization was providing a course. Now, in my area (SE Idaho), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has set up a number "Seminaries" just outside high school campuses for this very reason. They offer four courses (Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Church...

State drops Christian children's home Will no longer refer kids to facility because of church-attendance policy Posted: April 1, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com Because the Tennessee Department of Children's Services disapproves of a successful children's home's practice of taking its child residents to church each week, the state agency will no longer refer children to the care facility. The new government policy seeks to ensure the religious freedom of the children under the state's care in compliance with a federal court order that requires a state contract for all children's care providers. Those who run the Tennessee...

Baptist children's homes in dispute with state over church attendance BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (AP) - Directors of the Tennessee Baptist Children's Homes believe their core mission is spiritual growth and Sunday morning church attendance for the state foster children they house. But a new state contract required by the settlement of a federal lawsuit says the homes cannot infringe on the right to religious freedom of the children if they want to continue caring for them. "We cannot agree not to have our children, when they're able, to be in church. That's what families do," said Bryant Millsaps, president of...

Everything I Need to Know about Diversity I Learned in Sunday School Last Friday, partly out of curiosity, partly as a favor to my department head, I attended a College of Education “Diversity Workshop.” About 75 faculty, students, and staff crowded into a conference room to watch brief theatrical vignettes illustrating various common campus interactions involving race. The actors were entertaining, the skits (though cartoonishly exaggerated) were provocative, and the whole thing at least began with a good sense of open discussion. Gradually, however, I began to suspect that the “facilitator” had an axe to grind. They say that to...

A longtime popular environmental slogan says, "Think globally. Act Locally." A new Sunday school class at The Presbyterian Church of Danville might cause a new environmental slogan to be developed: "Think Globally. Act Locally. Connect Theologically." The new class, "Caring for Creation: God's Ecology," looks at several environmental issues in a biblical context. The six-week class started Sunday and will be held the next five Sundays from 9:30-10:30 a.m. People attending the class should use the West Walnut Street entrance to the church; a sign will guide them to the classroom. "Genesis talks about God giving man dominion over the...

Respected authorities, Greetings in the name of Lord Jesus Christ. My name is Nadia Anwer and I am a director of Sunday school of Christ Revival Church Lahore, Pakistan. There are about 150 children learning about Jesus in our Sunday School. We often take them to other churches where they learn from other teachers also. We also take them to different programs arranged by Scripture Union Pakistan so that they may learn more. I have 5 permanent volunteer teachers working with me and I also call a few other volunteers to help me in different programs, whenever it is needed....