Free Republic

Besieged pastor of L.A.'s First AME Church touts his successes Critics seeking to oust the Rev. John J. Hunter cite financial issues and what they view as a shift in priorities from his predecessor's. Hunter's backers cite progress they say the church has made. Teresa Watanabe August 2, 2009 Nearly five years after replacing a legendary pastor in one of the nation's most prominent African American pulpits, the Rev. John J. Hunter counts his blessings. Since taking the helm of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles in October 2004, Hunter says, he has been privileged to bring...

The pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the oldest and most prominent black congregations in Los Angeles, used church credit cards to pay for at least $122,000 in personal expenses over a three-year period, ... The spending came to light during the course of an independent audit and Internal Revenue Service investigation into the financial affairs of the pastor, John J. Hunter; his wife, Denise Brown Hunter; and the church, according to people connected with the church, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation. Earlier this year, field officials in the Los Angeles...

Democratic candidates spend time in church The Democratic candidates for governor went to church on Sunday and prayed for victory, as well they might in a race that is neck and neck heading into Tuesday's primary. Steve Westly, who made his fortune at eBay, and Phil Angelides, a wealthy former developer, have been battering each other with nasty television ads for several weeks. Analysts say voters may respond to the negativity campaign by not voting. Westly, the state controller, appeared with Rep. Diane Watson, D-Los Angeles, at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, which he joined three...

The Institute on Religion and Democracy Ecumenical News December 2, 2005 NCC Delegates Question Council's Political Focus John Lomperis Responding to criticisms of the National Council of Churches' (NCC) liberal political activism, NCC General Secretary Robert Edgar has defiantly announced that the council's leadership is committed to "standing up and speaking out when others have told us to sit down and be silent." But now the criticism is coming from within the council itself. Delegates at the latest NCC General Assembly openly questioned the ecumenical body's focus on political activism and the ways in which that activism has been expressed....

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Democrat John Kerry on Sunday tried to persuade late-deciding voters that they can put their faith in his leadership by describing the values and beliefs that he says have guided him and would shape his presidency. Kerry said the Bible - and the American dream - says society must take care of its most vulnerable members, but in many ways that test is not being met under the country's current leadership. And he responded to some leaders of the Catholic church who have criticized his support of abortion rights and stem cell research. "I love my...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) on Sunday tried to persuade late-deciding voters that they can put their faith in his leadership by describing the values and beliefs that he says have guided him and would shape his presidency. Kerry said the Bible — and the American dream — says society must take care of its most vulnerable members, but in many ways that test is not being met under the country's current leadership. And he responded to some leaders of the Catholic church who have criticized his support of abortion rights and stem cell...

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards pledged from the pulpit of a black church on Sunday that the party will work hard to head off the kind of Florida ballot irregularities that Democrats assert gave the White House to George W. Bush."We will get voters registered. We will get voters mobilized. We will get voters to the polls," the North Carolina senator told the congregation of St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church. A scant 537 votes delivered Florida and the presidency to Bush after a protracted legal battle resolved by the Supreme Court.The race seems as...

John F. Kerry, a lifelong Roman Catholic, carries in his briefcase an unmarked manila folder stuffed full of religion articles, scriptures, personal reflections -- and a sermon the Democrat has been fine-tuning since the early 1980s. In the latest iteration Kerry borrows the words of James, reputed brother of Jesus, to condemn President Bush's leadership. "It is not enough, my brother, to say that you have faith, when there are no deeds," Kerry told thousands of African American Christians gathered in Indianapolis earlier this month for the annual convention of the AME Church. "We look at what's happening in America...

AME rejects same-sex unions National convention forbids ministers from performing gay marriages By CHRISTINA LEE KNAUSS Staff Writer Delegates at the national convention of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church voted unanimously Wednesday not to allow any of the church’s ministers to perform same-sex unions. The 2.5 million-member, mostly African-American denomination is the most recent Christian group in the nation to address the hot-button issue of gay marriage. Delegates at the AME convention in Indianapolis used a unanimous voice vote to pass the motion, which made it illegal within the denomination for any minister to perform a same-sex marriage or...

Gray out Davis, and Bill Krington at the First AME Church showing their "godliness" and they are such good chuch folk.Julian Bond (NAACP) is in there with them. This just may be the largest gathering of democrat athiest (since democrats believe Govt. is supreme to God) in the First AME Church in a long time. Praying for God to re-enter that Church and cleanse it.

When it comes to Black History Month and this region, one person stands out--the Rev. Richard Allen. Born in Philadelphia to slave parents on Feb. 14, 1760, Allen spent part of his childhood on an estate in Germantown belonging to Benjamin Chew. At various times in his career, Chew served as Pennsylvania's attorney general and chief justice.