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This is no nursery rhyme but rather the cast of characters lining up to appear at the 2012 Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly meeting in Pittsburgh. ACT I: An assault on marriageThe chameleon:  This character will attempt to lead commissioners to see marriage differently than the Church has historically defined it. Separating marriage from the Biblical narrative of creation and the Biblical witness of Jesus' affirmation between one man and one woman, the assembly will be asked to see a "new normal" that is inclusive of gay marriage. Presented plainly, the redefinition of marriage will arrive at the assembly through...

A Wisconsin man is expected to become the first openly gay candidate ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) since the church opened ordination to gay candidates earlier this year. ...“It’s hard to believe it’s finally happening,” Anderson said in a released statement on Friday. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) officially began allowing the ordination of openly gay and lesbian candidates on July 10. n May, Twin Cities Presbyterians cast the historic vote to allow openly gay and lesbian members to be ordained ministers. Presbyterian leaders say the Twin Cities vote was the action needed to end the 2.1 million-member denomination’s national...

Delegates at the most recent national meeting of the United Church of Christ (UCC) agreed overwhelmingly July 4 to strike the term “heavenly Father” from the denomination’s constitutional definition of the local church. By a vote of 613 to 161, the delegates voted to change language in Article V of the church’s bylaws (see page 3) from describing a local church as composed of persons who believe in “God as heavenly Father” to those who believe in “the triune God” — thereby relieving UCC members of the responsibility of acknowledging God as masculine. Explaining the change, which reflects a trend...

After decades of debate, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on Tuesday struck down a barrier to ordaining gays, ratifying a proposal that removes the celibacy requirement for unmarried clergy, in the latest mainline Protestant move toward accepting gay relationships... Differences over the Bible and homosexuality have split Protestant groups nationally and worldwide for years. Within the Presbyterian Church, about 100 of the 11,000 congregations had already broken away ahead of the vote, but a group of large theologically conservative congregations, which calls itself Fellowship, has decided to remain in the denomination for now. Top Presbyterian executives issued a statement to the...

Bingo in the Buff By Parker T. Williamson, The Layman, Posted Wednesday, October 6, 2010 “This is not your grandmother’s bingo,” says Marcus Wise, a writer for ArtVoice, a Buffalo, N.Y. area Web publication. Wise’s article, written in 2008, refers to Saturday night games that are now being played at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, home of “Buff Bingo.” The players’ pitch is clearly intended to attract Buffalo’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender population. But – true to management’s professed inclusiveness – “the crowd averages half and half,” according to the event’s hostess and drag queen Gladys Over. Wise describes Gladys as...

The head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America reported that 40 positions may be cut as the denomination struggles financially. "These have been very painful days in this organization," ELCA Presiding Bishop the Rev. Mark S. Hanson told the Church Council Friday, according to the ELCA News Service. Lutherans are looking to reduce their 2010 budget by 10 percent due to decreased giving over the past 30 years, the economic downturn, and the decision by some congregations to withhold funding. Several congregations have decided to cut all funding to the ELCA following the controversial vote in August by the...

A news report from the Netherlands points to a form of theological insanity that is spreading far beyond the Dutch. Ecumenical News International reports that church authorities in the Netherlands have decided not to take action against a Dutch pastor who openly declares himself to be an atheist. The pastor, Klaas Hendrikse, serves a congregation of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. In 2007 he published a book described as a "manifesto of an atheist pastor." In the book Hendrikse argues for the non-existence of God, but he insists that does believe in God as a concept. As Ecumenical News...

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 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...

A split within the Episcopal Church has begun and is on its way to court -- something akin to "divorce court," it seems. More than 100 Episcopal parishes -- and some dioceses -- have either left the denomination or requested alternative oversight within the worldwide Anglican Communion. One of them is St. Stephen's Church in Heathsville, Va. "We left the Episcopal Church because we could no longer be under the leadership of people who have the attitude that they did about the authority of Scripture," said the Rev. Jeffrey Cerar, rector of St. Stephen's. "Starting several years ago, the Episcopal...

Yet church members slog on through the gay clergy debate because leaders can't seem to devise a solution that satisfies both sides.Ron Miller is a member of Druid Hills Presbyterian Church in Atlanta who says he would have "no problem at all" accepting a gay pastor. But the genial church elder says he'd rather focus on something else — and so should other churches. "A lot of time and energy is being spent by governing bodies and individual churches over this issue," Miller says. "That time could be devoted to the real mission of the church: helping the poor, the...

Colin Coward, left, welcomes Bishop Gene Robinson in November 2005 (BBC News) A report claiming at least 51 priests are in same-sex civil partnerships will confront the Church of England at two major upcoming meetings. The figures, which include four lesbian priests, come from a homosexual-rights group comprised of church members called Changing Attitude, the Times of London reported. "Civil partnerships have helped to increase the stability of same-sex relationships and reduced the social exclusion to which lesbian and gay people are often subjected," said the group's director, Colin Coward. But next month, proponents of homosexuals in the clergy...

FRESNO, CA--An Episcopal diocese in California overwhelmingly passed a series of resolutions yesterday that position it to secede from the Episcopal Church and affiliate with conservatives in the global Anglican Communion. If the Diocese of San Joaquin affirms the move in a second vote next year, the small diocese, with 48 parishes and 7,000 members, would be the first to try to break from the Episcopal Church, which has been torn by conflict since the consecration of a gay bishop in 2003. Until now, only individual parishes have severed ties. The vote by the diocese is one more step in...

BOSTON, June 27, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A group of clergy including members from a number of mainline Christian denominations and other religious organizations, including a number of Catholics, is calling on the Catholic hierarchy to end its opposition to homosexual “marriage,” claiming that it is in violation of “religious freedom”.   The group, calling itself the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry, will release an open letter to Cardinal Sean O’Malley and Roman Catholic bishops of Massachusetts asking the Catholic hierarchy “to respect religious freedom and stop lobbying for a constitutional amendment that would deny civil marriage rights to...

COVINA, May 17 (UPI) — Leaders of the American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest have left the denomination, primarily over its handling of homosexuality.      The region's board of directors unanimously affirmed late last week an earlier recommendation to withdraw from its "Covenant of Relationships and Agreements" with the American Baptist Churches USA, Associated Baptist Press reported Wednesday.      The national denomination, which has its origins in a Civil War-era split from what is now the Southern Baptist Convention, is based in Valley Forge, Pa.      "God's heart is broken when sisters and brothers in Christ divide over matters...

A special commission of the Episcopal Church will recommend that the church slow its acceptance of gays and lesbians as leaders in a report to be published any day, according to church leaders briefed on its contents... "I think one might say this represents a 'go slow' approach for our church," Smith wrote in his e-mail, which he called an "E-pistle." "Without backing away from the decisions we have made, it is nonetheless a clear messages that we will work to conform to the requests of the majority of the Anglican Communion."

American Life League representatives will gather outside of the Dirksen Senate building in Washington, D.C., at 12 p.m. for a prayerful protest of the pro-abortion Catholic senators who sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The group will convey the strong message to these individuals that you can't be Catholic and pro-abortion. The activists will also pray for a just confirmation hearing for Judge John Roberts in which his Catholic faith will not be held against him. "Senate Judiciary Committee members, Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Joseph Biden (D-Del.) all claim to be Catholic, yet support...

The Episcopal Church Self-Destructs over Homosexuality Episcopalians Defend the Consecration of a "Gay" Bishop By Allan Dobras The Episcopal Church has been flirting with a disastrous schism for the last thirty-five years, and now a formal breakup seems inevitable following an unapologetic June 17–22, 2005, appearance before the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) in Nottingham, England. The purpose of the meeting was to hear the church's defense of its consecration of "gay" Bishop V. Gene Robinson. Over the years, the denomination continued to hang together as it blundered through several divisive issues while causing its rolls to plummet by about 1.3...

[I recently received some literature from a book club I belong to. In this literature was the description of a book, which really stirred me (a book I have not read and do not intend to purchase). The book title interested me because I have seen this transition of people in my own church – we have people from every denomination – and we’re a very conservative evangelical church. I thought some of you would be interested to know that this is going on – while the ACLU is trying so hard to erase every vestige of Christianity from American...

The United Church of Christ - famous for setting precedent - considers backing same-sex marriage at its national synod. As a federal constitutional amendment on marriage garners growing public support, one American Protestant church could soon go against the grain. During its national synod, which begins Friday in Atlanta, the United Church of Christ (UCC) will debate three marriage resolutions - one backing "full marriage equality" for same-sex couples, one defining marriage as between a man and a woman, and a third proposing further study of the issue. No one is predicting the outcome, but the UCC - a union...

Canadian military has performed its first same-sex "wedding" - chaplains must follow orders Daughter of Homosexual Dad Hopes to Share Her Saga with North AmericaBy Chad GroeningJune 15, 2005(AgapePress) - A Christian woman in Canada whose father was heavily involved in the homosexual lifestyle says she wants people on both sides of the border to understand how devastating homosexuality is on children. Meanwhile, the Canadian military has performed its first same-sex "wedding."Associated Press reports that two men -- a sergeant and a warrant officer -- exchanged vows last month in a small ceremony at the chapel of a Canadian Forces...

Panel votes against earlier decision to defrock Philadelphia woman LINTHICUM, Md. - The United Methodist Church reversed itself Friday, deciding to reinstate a lesbian minister who was defrocked after revealingher relationship with another woman. A church panel voted 8 to 1 to set aside an earlier decision to defrock Irene “Beth” Stroud for violating the church’s ban on openly gay clergy.

(WTNH, Apr. 18, 2005 11:20 PM) _ A meeting between six Episcopal priests and Connecticut's Bishop has ended with no decision being announced. The six have been in the spotlight ever since they took a stand against the church's first openly gay bishop. The six are Reverend Christopher Leighton, rector of St. Paul's Church in Darien, the Reverend Mark Hansen of St. John's Church in Bristol, the Reverend Ronald Gauss of Bishop Seabury Church in Groton, the Reverend Gilbert Wilkes of Christ and the Epiphany Church in East Haven, the Reverend Don Helmandollar of Trinity Church in Bristol and the...

The leader of the Anglican Church says Christians should stop openly criticizing homosexuals, out of concern for their lives. In a letter targeting the world's Anglican churches, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said harsh language about homosexuals can lead to murder, according to a BBC report. Although many traditional Anglican leaders oppose homosexuality, since it is unambiguously condemned in both the Old and New Testaments, Williams reportedly said in his letter: "Any words that could make it easier for someone to attack or abuse a homosexual person are words of which we must repent. "Do not think repentance is always...

UCC: "CBS, NBC refuse to air church's television advertisement" December 1, 2004 - According to a UCC press release, CBS and NBC have refused to air the new UCC television advertisement... and predictably, UCC leaders are going nuts. According to the release, CBS offered this explanation: "Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations," reads an explanation from CBS, "and the fact the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast...

United Church of Christ: "...possession of a nuclear weapon is the best deterrent to a pre-emptive strike by the United States" November 22, 2004 - Justice and Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ issued an action alert today criticizing the United States, and particularly Colin Powell, for releasing information "alleging Iran of secret weapons facilities". The alert suggests that Powell and an exiled Iranian resistance group, which is recognized by the State Department as a terrorist organization, conspired in releasing the information simultaneously. The alert goes further and states "In the new post-Iraq war world where possession of...

Presbyterians, divestment, and anti-Semitism The Presbyterian Church (USA) continues its campaign against Israel.... What we still have is an example of what Lawrence Summers, the president of Harvard, has forthrightly labeled anti-Semitism.... And that is why I chose the words anti-Semitic to address proposals for the large-scale divestiture of companies doing business in Israel, to address the movement in England to remove Israeli scholars from the editorial boards of scholarly journals, to address the move of Presbyterian churches last summer to divest the stocks of companies that were doing business in Israel with no action whatsoever with respect to the...

<p>The Episcopal bishop of Washington has named two priests — the former national chairman of the church's homosexual caucus and a divorced mother of two sons — to head a new diocesan task force on same-sex blessings.</p> <p>The Revs. Michael W. Hopkins and Susan N. Blue favor same-sex blessings and have both performed several in the 40,000-member diocese. The rite, requested by Bishop John B. Chane, should be ready by June.</p>

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/156855_gaypastor16.html Methodist church to try gay pastorEllensburg clergywoman disclosed having relationship THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - The lesbian pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Ellensburg will face a church trial for disclosing that she is living in a "covenanted homosexual relationship."The church's Northwest Committee on Investigation voted 5-2 to pursue a complaint against the Rev. Karen Dammann. The trial could lead to her removal from the pulpit.Earlier decisions not to pursue a complaint -- by the local panel and a regional one -- were reversed last fall by the Nashville, Tenn.-based denomination's Judicial Council.The council move came on an...

<p>The Phoenix Suns are embroiled in a battle between a conservative religious group and some Valley churches over anti-gay-marriage literature that accompanied invitations to "Church Night" at a March basketball game.</p> <p>The Suns dropped the Center for Arizona Policy as its "Church Night" sponsor for the March 19 game after several Valley clergy members complained about invitation packages sent by the Suns and the center.</p>

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. - An Anglican bishop in British Columbia has closed a church that won't support same-sex unions. Church officials say the Holy Cross Church in Abbotsford, B.C., brought the closure upon itself. Ronald Harrison, executive archdeacon of the Diocese of New Westminster, told the National Post that by declaring itself "independent" the church lost its funding from the archdiocese and eventually had to be closed. Despite the timing of the closure, the church's congregation intends to celebrate mass on Christmas Day. "Can you imagine abandoning my people at this point and not serving them communion on Christmas Day?" said...

MILWAUKEE -- Just a week after the Episcopal Church approved an openly gay bishop and let individual churches decide whether to bless same-sex unions, the nation's largest Lutheran denomination convened Monday to pick up a similar debate. For the 5.1 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the discussion of homosexual marriage and openly gay pastors has its own unique twists and timeline. Homosexuals already may become pastors if they agree to remain celibate. And individual churches may bless same-sex unions despite a non-binding statement made a decade ago by the church's 66 bishops condemning such ceremonies. The Evangelical Lutherans' discussion...

The Episcopal Church in America has ratified the election of The Rev. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as the first openly gay priest to assume the office of Bishop. But will this action lead to the breakup of one of the world's largest Christian denominations? And will other schisms follow? More (and a poll to FReep) HERE.

American Anglicans are poised on the precipice of spiritual irrelevance as they decide whether or not to ratify the election of an openly practicing sexual pervert to be a Bishop in that Organization. It does not matter that sexual pervert Robinson believes in God or believes that Jesus is God’s incarnate son. So does Satan—and if some liberals reading this are outraged and might want to know if I might be comparing Robinson to Satan, if you can’t stand the answer, don’t ask. On Monday, August 4th, 2003, questions arose about Robinson’s suitability to be confirmed because of allegations that...

Allegations throw church's vote into turmoil Minneapolis — Plans by Episcopal leaders to vote on confirming the church's first openly gay elected bishop were thrown into turmoil Monday when allegations emerged that he inappropriately touched a man and was affiliated with a youth Web site that had a link to pornography.Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, head of the Episcopal Church, released a statement announcing the delay as debate was about to start on whether to confirm the Reverend V. Gene Robinson as New Hampshire's bishop. "Questions have been raised and brought to my attention regarding the bishop-elect of the Diocese of...