Free Republic

When Raegan Zelaya and Shua Wilmot decided to include their pronouns at the end of their work emails, they thought they were doing a good thing: following what they viewed as an emerging professional standard, and also sending a message of inclusivity at the Christian university where they worked. But their bosses at Houghton University, in upstate New York, saw the matter very differently. Administrators at Houghton, which is affiliated with a conservative branch of the Methodist Church, asked Ms. Zelaya and Mr. Wilmot, two residence hall directors, to remove the words “she/her” and “he/him” from their email signatures, saying...

The news is replete with examples of corporations and institutions going woke, from Google to Aunt Jemima. Unfortunately, now The Salvation Army is in danger of joining the ranks of Woke Inc. In materials prepared for its more than 1.5 million members, The Salvation Army uses terms that echo both radical “anti-racism” jargon and the divisive teachings of critical race theory, which divides people into two camps: the oppressors and the oppressed. The Salvation Army has begun to promote political and racial ideologies under the banner of its New York-based International Social Justice Commission since the protests and riots over...

The United Methodist Church, a denomination that sponsors thousands of Boy Scout troops, recently told congregations to consider ending or altering their current agreements with the Boy Scouts of America as the embattled scouting organization settles a major sex abuse lawsuit.The UMC’s Office of Public Information released a statement last week explaining that the mainline Protestant denomination had a long history with the BSA, dating back for more than a century.Church leadership cited the recent BSA lawsuit filed by thousands of victims of sexual abuse. Earlier this year, BSA reached a settlement with a proposed payout of over $850 million...

Bill Mefford, Director of Civil and Human Rights at the UMC’s Washington office, used the March for Life last week to mock the event with a sign, and picture he posted on Twitter, saying “I march for sandwiches.” Many are upset a church leader used a solemn event to liken an unborn baby to a sandwich. The next day, UMC Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe General Secretary General Board of Church & Society, issued a statement about Mefford’s “march”: “Affirming human dignity is central to the witness of Jesus Christ. Christians are called to watch over with care the lives of...

Greeting warmly a delegation led by General André Cox, the Pope said Catholics and Salvationists, together with other Christians, recognise that those in need have a special place in God’s heart – so much so, that the Lord himself became poor for our sake. As a result, the Pope said, Catholics and Salvationists often meet at the same peripheries of society. I pray, he concluded, that all of Christ’s disciples can contribute with the same conviction and dynamism that the Salvation Army demonstrates in its devoted and highly appreciated service. Founded by former Methodist minister William Booth in 1865 as...

Will the United Methodist Church soon have to drop the “United” part of its name? A group of 80 pastors, including at least two from North Carolina, says the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination faces a split because of an inability to resolve long-standing theological disputes about homosexuality and church doctrine. But more than lamenting the divisions, the pastors indicated there is little reason to think reconciliation – or even coexistence – could be found. Like a couple heading to divorce court, the pastors cited irreconcilable differences that can’t be mended.