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Apostasy is a strong word. It is a word with a direct correlation with the Anti-Christ. Hence, it should not be used lightly in connection with a person, church, or denomination. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 says: “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come (the second coming of Christ) unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God” (NASU). The...

Bad news travels fast. Though tucked away at a clerical retreat in Nigeria, it took only a flash of electrons for Anglican Bishop Martyn Minns to receive news of the California Supreme Court’s property dispute ruling against St. James parish in the city of Newport Beach, Calif. The court on Monday ruled that the congregation, whose facility overlooks luxury yachts afloat on Lido Channel, must surrender that property to the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. St. James is one of about 100 U.S. Episcopal congregations that in recent years have split with the national church hierarchy, first over the ordination...

The writer Andrew Sullivan sits across the table from you on Chris Matthews' Hardball praising gay-marriage as a symbol of the homosexual community's desire to join the mainstream. He is a Catholic, conservative in many things, and a highly articulate spokesman for his point-of-view. What do you say? The requisite conservative on pundit panels usually falls back on citing heterosexual marriage's 5,000 year history as society's basic building block. Marriage has always been between a man and a woman. 65% of the American people are against homosexual unions. Etc. That's not going to get it. It's a way of brushing...

Al-Qaeda is reportedly planning a terrorist attack against the United States which will "outdo by far" the attacks of September 11 in 2001. Arab newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi in London reports a senior Yemen official close to Al-Qaeda as warning of a new wave of terror attacks against the western nation.

The writhings of worldwide Anglicanism are another reason to disestablish the Church of England IN THE end it held together, but only just. The 650-odd bishops who attended the once-a-decade Lambeth conference went home with open schism between the liberal and conservative wings of the worldwide Anglican Communion averted. A split may prove no more than postponed, as the agreed mechanisms for making minds meet are oh-so-slowly put in place (see article). But at least the unedifying spectacle of comrades in Christ tearing strips off each other over gay sex will vanish from the headlines for a bit. Does it...

ARUSHA, Tanzania (ELCA) -- The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) can help create a global movement to limit or halt environmental degradation, but it must have many partners and large numbers of people to be effective, said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Hanson made the comment at a June 25 news conference following his report to the LWF Council, which is meeting here through June 30. The LWF is a global communion of 140 churches in 78 countries, representing 68.6 million of the...

June 20, 2008 ELCA Bishop Calls for Prayer, Action Concerning Domestic Disasters 08-095-MRC CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), asked the 4.8 million-member church to join him in "prayer and action" for people facing adversity this spring after tornadoes and floods struck the central United States and the humanitarian crisis following an immigration raid in Postville, Iowa. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested about 390 workers May 12 at a meat processing plant in Postville, making the raid the largest at a single location in U.S. history....

Hardline Church leaders have formally declared the end of the worldwide Anglican Communion, saying they can no longer be associated with liberals who tolerate homosexual clergy. The traditionalists dealt a serious blow to Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, by claiming that he can no longer hold the Church together. They warned that the Church was gripped by its most serious crisis since the Reformation. It could only be saved by the repentance of the Americans who triggered the row by ordaining a homosexual bishop, the Rt Rev Gene Robinson, five years ago. The formal pronouncement of the schism...

18th June 2008 The Reverend Dr Martin Dudley, St Bartholomew the Great Parish Office, 6 Kinghorn Street, London, EC1A 7HW. Dear Martin, You have sought to justify your actions to the BBC and in various newspapers but have failed more than two weeks after the service to communicate with me. I read in the press that you had been planning this event since November. I find it astonishing that you did not take the opportunity to consult your Bishop. You describe the result as “familiar words reordered and reconfigured carrying new meanings.” I note that the order of service, which...

The following is from a pdf file of sermon from Barack Hussein Obama's "spiritual mentor" as published in Trinity Church's publication, "The Trumpet."  (Published by the Reverend's daughter.)The following quote is from a wide-ranging diatribe, which includes among other things, calls for US divestiture in Israel. But even amidst the Reverend's other crackpot and racist statements, this one jumped out: Maybe I Missed Something! A Message From our PASTOR, Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., Senior PastorIn the 21st century, white America got a wake-up call after 9/11/01. White America and the Western world came to realize that people of...

-- snip --As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion. Likewise, under Muslim law based on the Koran his mother’s Christian background is irrelevant. Of course, as most Americans understand it, Senator Obama is not a Muslim. He chose to become a Christian, and indeed has written convincingly to explain how he arrived at his choice and how important his Christian faith is to him. His conversion, however, was a...

I can't decide if Gene Robinson should be made an honorary member of Herman's Hermits (second verse same as the first) or just be named Crybaby of the Decade. Sure does a lot of book tours for someone who wants to just be a simple country bishop. Can't you just hear the heavy sigh? Robinson is in London to promote his new book, In The Eye of the Storm. It is a spiritual memoir aimed, he says, at showing that he is more than "a one issue guy". The last of its five sections, however, sets a course for the...

ITALIAN editor and critic of Islamic extremism Magdi Allam, who converted to Catholicism from Islam and was baptised by Pope Benedict XVI, today branded his former faith as intrinsically violent. "I had to do this (abandon Islam)", Allam wrote in a long letter to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. "Beyond ... the phenomenon of extremists and Islamist terrorism at the global level, the root of evil is inherent to a physiologically violent and historically conflictual Islam," wrote the Egyptian-born journalist, who says he has received death threats and is under police protection. One of seven adults baptised during an...

ST. JOHN'S Newfoundland, January 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The deep fissures in the Anglican Communion are increasing as the sides line up in the fight over the "blessings" of homosexual partnerings. A diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada in Newfoundland has announced it will attempt to force its clergy to assent to the blessings, even as the rest of the Worldwide Anglican Communion continues to fracture over the issue.  Clergy were called to a mandatory meeting in the cathedral of St. John's and told that if they supported a breakaway movement that objects to the formal blessing of...

What would things look like if Satan actually took over a city? The first frames in our imaginative slide show probably depict mayhem on a massive scale: Widespread violence, deviant sexualities, pornography in every vending machine, churches closed down and worshipers dragged off to City Hall. Over a half-century ago, Donald Grey Barnhouse, pastor of Philadelphia's Tenth Presbyterian Church, gave his CBS radio audience a different picture of what it would look like if Satan took control of a town in America. He said that all of the bars and pool halls would be closed, pornography banished, pristine streets and...

THE leader of the world's Anglicans has described the Christmas story of the three wise men as nothing but a "legend" and has said not all followers must believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has picked apart elements of the Christmas story, including how a star rose high in the sky and stood still to guide the wise men to Jesus's birth place. Stars simply don't behave like that, he told the BBC during an interview. Dr Williams said there was little evidence that the three wise men had existed at all....

The Archbishop of Canterbury said yesterday that the Christmas story of the Three Wise Men was nothing but a 'legend'. Dr Rowan Williams has claimed there was little evidence that the Magi even existed and there was certainly nothing to prove there were three of them or that they were kings. Dr Williams argued that the traditional Christmas story was nothing but a 'legend' He said the only reference to the wise men from the East was in Matthew's gospel and the details were very vague. Dr Williams said: "Matthew's gospel says they are astrologers, wise men, priests from somewhere...

Sitting in sight of her father and grandfather, both Lutheran ministers, Jen Rude on Saturday became the first ordained lesbian pastor since the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America urged bishops to not penalize congregations who violate the celibacy requirement for gay clergy. Several of the more than 100 congregants present wept as the 27-year-old stood before them, a beaming smile drawn across her face. Under church policy, homosexual ministers are required to make a vow of celibacy before they can be ordained. But heterosexual ministers are not, and Rude, who is not in a relationship, refused to make that vow...

Bishop Wayne Miller said Wednesday he won't discipline a congregation that's challenging the celibacy requirement for gay clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Resurrection Lutheran Church in Lake View plans to ordain a lesbian as associate pastor. Jen Rude says she won't pledge lifelong celibacy because she considers the rule discriminatory. In the ELCA, heterosexual pastors can marry. Miller, head of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod, said he wants to "stay in conversation" with the congregation rather than censure or drive it out of the denomination.

ST. LOUIS — To the Roman Catholic Church, the ceremony was not an ordination. In fact, it wasn't even Roman Catholic. But to two women and the approximately 600 people who came to cheer them on, history was made Sunday in St. Louis as the two became the first women ever in the city to be ordained as Catholic priests. And the first ever, perhaps in the world, to be ordained in a synagogue. Rose Marie Hudson, 67, of Festus, and Elsie Hainz McGrath, 69, of St. Louis, were ordained as priests by an organization called Roman Catholic Womenpriests, which...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In his final report to the Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, shared some reflections about the strengths of the ELCA and specific concerns for its future. Almen also commented on how he has changed his mind about the size and role of the ELCA Church Council, the church's board of directors. Almen made the comments Oct. 6 to the Conference, an advisory body of the ELCA consisting of the 65 synod bishops, presiding bishop and secretary. The conference met here Oct. 4-9. Almen, 66,...

What is Robert Schuller 'rethinking'? Crystal Cathedral conference accused of twisting biblical Christianity Posted: October 30, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com Crystal Cathedral It's an all-star conference set for the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif., Jan. 17-19. Former President George H.W. Bush will speak. Chuck Colson will make a presentation. Larry King will be there. Rupert Murdoch will address attendees. Ben Stein will appear. And Kay Warren, wife of Saddleback Church mega-pastor Rick Warren, will join Robert Schuller, the white-haired, bespectacled purveyor of "possibility thinking." What could such a diverse group have in common? What's the topic?...

Blessed Are the Shack-Ups September 2007By James F. Csank James F. Csank is a retired attorney living in Seven Hills, Ohio. His writings have appeared in The St. Croix Review and The Human Life Review. The June 2007 issue of U.S. Catholic magazine contains an article titled "A Betrothal Proposal." It is written by Michael J. Lawler and Gail S. Risch, who are described as "two respected family ministry researchers" at the "Center for Marriage and Family at Creighton University, Nebraska, where they also teach theology." The article's headline asks, "Are cohabiting Catholics always ‘living in sin'?" Lawler and Risch's...

One of the Church of England's most senior bishops is warning that people will die unless Muslim leaders in Britain speak out in defence of the right to change faith. Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, whose father converted from Islam to Christianity in Pakistan, says he is looking to Muslim leaders in Britain to 'uphold basic civil liberties, including the right for people to believe what they wish to believe and to even change their beliefs if they wish to do so'. Some Islamic texts brand Muslims who convert to other faiths as 'apostates' and call for them to...

Perhaps it was appropriate this was announced on 9/11 through a campus-wide e-mail, but we were informed that the University of Dayton (OH), a Catholic University established by the Society of Mary, has now set up a "prayer room" for Muslim students and staff, including Korans and "prayer rugs." I do not know if the university felt this was mandated by government regulations (unfortunately, we take government money) or simply an bent knee toward "diversity," but I imagine the Fathers are rolling over in the cemetary.

Vicki Curtis has been a member of St. Benjamin's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Westminster since 1981, but when her denomination appeared to be softening its stance on homosexuality, she didn't hesitate to act. She left her church. Now she's doing what she calls "search the church Sundays" by visiting congregations with convictions closer to her own."The Bible says in Leviticus 18:22 that homosexuality is a sin and its penalty is death. My faith is built on what the Bible teaches, and I will not go where it isn't being followed," she wrote in an e-mail. She was responding to the...

Though global Anglican leaders have urged the U.S. church to unequivocally exclude gay bishops by next month, an openly lesbian Episcopal priest is among the five nominees for bishop of the Chicago diocese announced Tuesday. Rev. Tracey Lind, who followed Chicago Bishop William Persell as dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, is one of three women named as finalists to replace Persell, who plans to resign after his successor is installed. It is the first slate of candidates in the diocese to include women. "Since the day last winter when I was asked to make myself available to this nominating...

WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. (CNS) -- In late July, carloads of curious Catholics caravanned north from their church to a mosque in the next county. Three dozen Catholics who regularly attend Mass at the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement's Graymoor Spiritual Life Center in Garrison accepted a Muslim visitor's invitation to attend services at Masjid Al-Noor, his mosque in Wappingers Falls. Entering the two-story white frame building, the visitors placed their shoes alongside their host's on wire racks lining one wall of the foyer. The women, already modestly covered from chin to ankle, pulled on scarves to cover their hair. The...

Breda - The Dutch Roman Catholic bishop Tiny Muskens is urging the faithful of all religions to call God Allah in order to foster mutual understanding. The bishop of the city of Breda says God does not mind what he is called and points out that Allah is the Arabic word for God. The bishop, who is retiring in a few weeks, added he did not expect his ideas to find immediate acceptance. He expects it could take 100 or 200 years. Bishop Muskens has previously defied the Vatican by calling for the acceptance of married priests and the use...

Robinson proposes marriage of Church and State? Gay Episcopal bishop endorses Obama Washington DC, Aug 3, 2007 / 10:31 am (CNA).- Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the nation's first openly gay Episcopal bishop, has given his endorsement to presidential hopeful Barack Obama, citing the Illinois Democrat's experience with racism and discrimination. Obama's campaign put out a news release announcing Robinson’s support. It identified Robinson as "a civil rights leader and a leading voice in the faith community." The bishop says he hopes to persuade Obama to embrace same-sex marriage. Obama supports civil unions and rights for gay couples, but...

Homosexual Lutheran clergy who are in sexual relationships will be able to serve as pastors, the largest U.S. Lutheran body said on Saturday. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) passed a resolution at its annual assembly urging bishops to refrain from disciplining pastors who are in "faithful committed same-gender relationships." The resolution passed by a vote of 538-431. "The Church ... has just said 'Do not do punishments'," said Phil Soucy, spokesman for Lutherans Concerned, a gay-lesbian rights group within the church. "That is huge." The ELCA, which has 4.8 million members, had previously allowed gays to serve as...

The photo above purports to show (Lutheran) Church of Sweden clergy demonstrating yesterday in Stockholm to "break the conspiracy of silence regarding homosexuals, bisexuals, and transsexuals." Few of us, perhaps, would have noticed a great deal of silence on the issue, but I suppose these ministers are specially trained to listen for it. But my interest was tweaked by a side issue: the marchers' use of the roman collar. In standard progressivist polemic, the roman collar is deplored as a token of clericalism, and more particularly of the hierarchical subordination typified by the Church of Rome. We might expect...

Speaker: Process is in its sixth year now, needs to be continued until it's finished. To change things now would rush the process. Speaker: In favor of full inclusion; God calls and we now preclude gifted people from service. (Time-keeping problems corrected so time appears on screen and speakers can tell how much time they have.) Speaker: Respect the bishops' recommendation for the process and the memorials committee's decision to refer. Speaker: In favor of memorials originally passed by a number of synods. Wants to open a window and create a little space to see where the Spirit is leading....

“Is the candidate worthy?” intoned Bishop Patricia Fresen ceremonially, as lifelong Catholic Juanita Cordero stood before her in a pure white gown, about to be ordained as a priest. The question was asked three times during the ordination ceremony on Sunday, July 22, as one female priest and two female deacons were invested with the power to perform sacraments — a function forbidden to women under canon law. They are part of a movement from within the Roman Catholic Church that has been ordaining female priests since 2002, though those involved say that the tradition of women priests and...

UNITED KINGDOM, July 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The U.K. Girl Guides, an organization that originally promoted traditional Christian values,  has conformed to the modern sex-saturated culture by seeking a new course on "safe sex" practices. According to a report in the UK Times, the program is based on results from a survey of more than 1,000 Girl Guides in the Britain. Attempting to keep in touch with the changing needs of modern women, the survey asked them what life skills they think are most important. For senior Guides, girls aged 16 and over, the hands down top priority was "money...

The openly gay pastor of Atlanta's oldest Lutheran church has been removed from his denomination's clergy roster. But the Rev. Bradley Schmeling said Thursday he will not leave the pulpit of St. John's Lutheran Church, a decision that could open the 350-member congregation to disciplinary action from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. "The congregation issued a call to me in 2000 and as far as we are concerned, that hasn't changed," Schmeling said. "I'm disheartened (the decision) gives the impression the church is more interested in rules than in compassion." In a decision issued Monday, a 12-member appeals committee...

WASHINGTON — Long before her beliefs would be tested in the most wrenching of ways as first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton taught an adult Sunday school class on the importance of forgiveness. It is a lesson, she says, that she has harked back to often. “We all have things that oftentimes we’re upset about, or ashamed of, or feel guilty over, and so many people carry these enormous burdens around,” Mrs. Clinton said in a recent interview. “One of the great gifts of faith is to let it go.” The themes of wrongs, forgiveness and reconciliation have played out repeatedly...

LifeNews.com Note: John Lomperis is a research associate at the Institute on Religion and Democracy in Washington. At their annual meetings in June, the North Carolina and Mississippi Conferences of the United Methodist Church called on the denomination to limit its support for legal abortion to cases of danger to the mother's physical life. This would align America's second-largest Protestant denomination with the stance of the National Right to Life Committee and other major pro-life groups. The stated goal of both the North Carolina and the Mississippi resolution is to prevent the church's position from being identified “with the ‘pro-choice’...

The Bishop of Hamar, Solveig Fiske, has taken action after a minister in Toten refused to allow homosexuals to be godparents in a christening ceremony. Bishop Solveig Fiske fears that this incident will drive more people away from the Church.

Global Warming and Evangelicals by: Mary Kapp, June 14, 2007 Leading clergymen and women warned of the dangers of global warming at a congressional hearing on June 7th. “Number one, human-induced climate change is real,” the Reverend Jim Ball, president and CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network, told the U. S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “Secondly, the consequences of climate change will be significant, and will hit the poor the hardest.” “Three, Christian moral convictions demand our response to the climate change problem, and fourthly, the need to act now is urgent.” Other witnesses disputed not only the...

Obama Says Some Have `hijacked' Faith Jun 23 03:24 PM US/Eastern By STEPHEN SINGER Associated Press Writer HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Sen. Barack Obama told a church convention Saturday that some right- wing evangelical leaders have exploited and politicized religious beliefs in an effort to sow division. "Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart. It got hijacked," the Democratic presidential candidate said in remarks prepared for delivery before the national meeting of the United Church of Christ. "Part of it's because of the so-called leaders of...

A Hindu professor of religion has become the first non-Christian to head St. Olaf College's Religion Department in the college's 133-year history. "It's a great honor," Anantanand Rambachan said of the three-year appointment. "St. Olaf has one of the finest undergraduate religion departments in the country." Rambachan, 55, has taught religion, philosophy and Asian studies at the college in Northfield, Minn., since 1985. He also has been a leading figure in Minnesota's Hindu cultural circles. He grew up on the West Indies island of Trinidad in a devout Hindu family -- both of his grandfathers were Hindu priests. As a...

Shortly after noon on Fridays, the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding ties on a black headscarf, preparing to pray with her Muslim group on First Hill. On Sunday mornings, Redding puts on the white collar of an Episcopal priest. She does both, she says, because she's Christian and Muslim.

One of the most influential liberation theologians in Brazil has just granted a startling interview to Claudia Korol of the “Fray Tito News Agency for Latin America.” In the interview Brazilian Dominican friar Alberto Libanio Christo, known as “Friar Betto,” expressed his admiration for Fidel Castro and for the “father” of urban terrorism, Carlos Marighella. He also revealed his enthusiasm for the time he spent with Marxist guerrillas during Brazil’s military government.In the surprising interview, Friar Betto confessed that 22 years after the publication of his book praising Castro, “Fidel and Religion,” “as a young boy I had great admiration for...

Manchester, NH (LifeNews.com) -- Parents in New Hampshire are outraged after learning that the YMCA, in partnership with a local school district, took a group of junior high school students to a Planned Parenthood abortion business. The Manchester school district has come under fire for the trip and promises students will never go there again.The Manchester school district has partnered with the YMCA to put together a program for at-risk students who are in danger of dropping out of school. YMCA took the students to various places around town to show them summer programs and places to get involved in...

In an earlier column, I discussed why the religious left is wrong on budgets, morality, and priorities (available here). Here, in Part II, I want to focus on what happened Monday night between the three Democrat frontrunners and the sponsor of the event, Jim Wallis of Sojourners.

One of the Church of England's most senior women clerics has quit her job after becoming pregnant while unmarried. The Rev Dr Emma Loveridge stepped down as principal adviser to the Archbishop of York after only 13 months in the post. The 42-year-old cited "personal and family reasons" for leaving the staff of Dr John Sentamu, who ranks second in the Church's hierarchy. He is regarded as conservative in matters of sexual morality She is also understood to have resigned her licence to practise as a priest and to have effectively stepped down from the clergy. The baby is believed...

A Baptist megachurch in Decatur, Ga., is preparing to take the rare step of calling a female pastor to lead its congregation. First Baptist Church Decatur and its 2,696 members have been without a pastor for about a year. The search committee sought out to find a pastor young enough and mature enough to appeal to both young and old congregants, a dynamic speaker, and passionate and warm leader with a vision for the future of the church. On Sunday, the committee presented the Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell to the church. The Decatur congregation reportedly reacted positively to the announcement of...

CHICAGO, May 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – DePaul University in Chicago, one of the largest and most important Catholic universities in the US is hosting the second “Out There” conference on homosexuality and Catholic education. The conference, whose full title is the Conference of Scholars and Student Affairs Personnel Involved in “LGBTQ” (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer) issues on Catholic Campuses, is being organized through the DePaul Women’s and Gender Studies department. It is scheduled for October 19-20, 2007 and is calling for submissions for papers and workshops. The first Out There conference was held at Jesuit-run Santa Clara...

Scotland's University of Edinburgh, after proposing a ban on Bibles and denying a Christian campus group the right to hold a conference on the immorality of homosexuality, has extended the welcome mat to the school's Pagan Society to hold its annual meeting on campus next month. The pagan conference will feature presentations on a variety of topics, including Magic and Witchcraft in the 21st Century, Pagan Parenting, Pagan Marriage, Pagan Symbolism and Practice and Ancient Greek magic. A workshop in tribal dance will be held at the university Student's Association. "It will be an opportunity for people to listen to...