Free Republic

A young Ohio man has pleaded guilty to attempting to burn down Community Church of Chesterland in Ohio in an attempt to halt the church from hosting its Drag Queen Story Hour. Aimenn D. Penny, 20, threw two Molotov cocktails at the church on March 25 the weekend before two planned drag queen events. He is slated to be sentenced in January, and could spend up to 20 years in prison for violating the Church Arson Prevention Act with a mandatory sentence of 10 years, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The federal law was enacted in 1996 following...

A Protestant denomination that claims to follow Christ passed a pro-abortion resolution this week that describes aborting unborn babies as “health care” and pro-life laws as “sexual violence.” The United Church of Christ General Synod overwhelmingly passed the resolution “Proclaiming Abortion as Healthcare” in a 611-24 vote, according to the denomination website. UCC leaders said they created the resolution in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Dobbs v. Jackson, which overturned Roe v. Wade and began allowing laws to protect unborn babies from abortion again. Currently, 15 states are enforcing laws that protect unborn babies from abortion, and more...

Years of data are now available to test liberal activists’ insistence that the church “must” liberalize its values to avoid disastrous decline in a changing America. In short, we see that churches that go beyond compassion for self-identified members of the LGBTQIA+ community (which we could all do a better job of) to reject clear biblical teaching on sexual morality can expect a dramatic, long-term, and irreversible membership decline, with emptier pews and increasingly uniform liberalism among congregations who remain. Anyone considering the future prospects and decline expectations of congregations or denominations that embrace such a secularized identity should look...

The United Church of Christ elected its first female general minister and president on Monday at its 34th General Synod in Indianapolis. The Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson’s election also makes her the first woman of African descent to lead the mainline denomination. “Today, United Church of Christ, we created a first together. It won’t be the last first,” Thompson, dressed in white, told delegates afterward. Those delegates overwhelmingly approved Thompson’s nomination to a four-year term as general minister and president of the UCC on Monday morning, breaking into song and applause as the results of the vote — 626 yeses...

A church in Enfield was having a Pride celebration during their Sunday morning service when two men disrupted the ceremony with hate speech. Pastor Greg Gray of Enfield’s Congregational United Church of Christ wants to make it very clear: this is not okay. The church is decorated with rainbow banners, balloons, and flags to show support for the LGBTQ+ community. “Hate has been strong in this blue state of Connecticut. Hate is strong, and we’re going to love louder,” said Pastor Gray. ... Gray says the church is vocal about its support for the LGBTQ+ community. Because of that, he...

A diverse 2024 desk calendar published by a woke Christian church is apparently not woke enough, since the image of a white, blonde-haired girl is displayed at the top of the cover. Now, the president of the United Church of Christ is issuing a formal apology for featuring the blonde child at the top of a circle of children of various races holding hands, with a Bible quote stating: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." "I write to apologize for the ways in which the most recent edition of the UCC desk calendar failed to live up to our...

On today's radio broadcast, Glenn warned about dangerous Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) language being smuggled into routine legislation in REPUBLICAN-led states. This is unacceptable, and as Glenn said, we can't let this legislation pass as it now stands. The legislation being used to smuggle in this CBDC language is the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), a routine piece of legislation passed on the state level that helps standardize commercial and business transactions. However, a new round of UCCs being deliberated RIGHT NOW amongst a swath of Republican-led states anticipate the use of "electronic money." In a public letter sent to...

After the Ohio Supreme Court allowed the law to take effect, 'there were multiple carpools of individuals from Akron, Canton and over into Youngstown that drove people to Pittsburgh or up to Erie to be able to get abortion care,' said Rev. Terry Williams of the United Church of Christ.AKRON, Ohio (LifeSiteNews) – Two groups of Ohio pastors and clergy have helped organize carpools for women to get out-of-state abortions in the wake of the state’s heartbeat law going into effect. Women are traveling to Pennsylvania for abortions with assistance from Ohio Clergy for Choice, a group of pro-abortion pastors,...

A United Church of Christ pastor from Ohio boasted about driving women across state lines to abort their unborn babies last week after the state heartbeat law went into effect. The pastor claimed to be helping women, but mothers and their babies deserve better. Abortions do not heal or save; they harm and kill. Ohio began enforcing its pro-life law, which protects unborn babies by banning abortions once their heartbeat is detectable, about six weeks of pregnancy, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday. As a result, abortion facilities had to cancel numerous abortion appointments –...

An increasing number of individuals who identify as “gender non-binary” have emerged among the clerical ranks in mainline Protestant denominations. Following the ordination of transgender clergy in the United States, non-binary clergy appear to be the next wave of sex and gender revisionism. While clergy already ministering within Christian communities have come out to their churches as non-binary, a number of non-binary identifying individuals have made headlines as the first to be ordained openly within their denomination. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, non-binary is relating to or being a person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that is...

Another day, another left-wing hate hoax crime. Michigan – Nikki Joly, a biological woman who transitioned into a man, is accused of burning down ‘his’ own home, killing 5 pets in a hate hoax crime. Joly’s home burned down in 2017 and the FBI investigated it as a hate crime because Joly was a transgender man and gay rights activist in a conservative town and reportedly received threats over ‘his’ activism. It turns out Nikki Joly was frustrated that the ‘Jackson Pride Parade’ and festival held just days before the home was set ablaze, hadn’t received more attention or protests....

The National Council of Churches (NCC) calls for the withdrawal of the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States. We believe he has disqualified himself from this lifetime appointment and must step aside immediately. We note several reasons for this. During his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge Kavanaugh exhibited extreme partisan bias and disrespect towards certain members of the committee and thereby demonstrated that he possesses neither the temperament nor the character essential for a member of the highest court in our nation. In addition, his testimony before the Judiciary Committee included...

Standing on the front steps of First Congregational Church of Oakland late last month, Nichola Torbett issued a declaration. "We can no longer tolerate the trauma inflicted on our communities by policing," Torbett, a white church volunteer, said in front of churchgoers who held photos of African Americans shot dead by law enforcement. The church, she promised, would never call the cops again in nearly every circumstance. Dozens of members had agreed to do the same. "How do police help? They often don't," Torbett later said in an interview. "So, especially as white people, why call them?"

A descendant of Gen. Robert E. Lee has stepped down as pastor of his North Carolina church after facing blowback from parishioners and others for his comments denouncing racism and lauding the Black Lives Matter movement. As a minister and newspaper columnist, Robert W. Lee IV, the fourth great-nephew of the Confederate general, has spoken and written countless words, but the five sentences he uttered during MTV's Video Music Awards last week were just too much for some members of his congregation. ... Lee, who was pastor at Bethany United Church of Christ in Winston-Salem, has long supported removing monuments...

Pastor Christopher Rodkey said he had heard rumors and he didn't sound exactly happy when it was confirmed for him Thursday evening. Matt Jansen, the Spring Grove school board member who drew national attention last year with a recorded phone rant to the pastor over a message board sign wishing "our Muslim neighbors" a "blessed Ramadan," is moving to Rodkey's neck of the woods -- Dallastown. Jansen confirmed Thursday evening he was resigning from the school board because of the move. "I'm not happy about it, but we're about to settle on a house outside the (Spring Grove) district," Jansen...

After I read the story entitled, “Methodist Churches Converting To ‘Virtual Mosques’ For Muslim Migrants,” I spent much of the day in mild shock. I couldn’t believe what was going on inside of a Christian denomination whose founding was so deeply influenced by the great man John Wesley. I had to know what Methodists thought of this. Surely they didn’t go along with it. At least not all of them or even a majority of them. My assumption, and hope, was that it was a very small minority of Methodists who thought that having worship of Allah in their building...

Bucking against conservative Christian tradition advising against extra-marital sex, the Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan, a married mother of three and associate pastor for ministry with families at Union Church of Hinsdale in Illinois, says single Christians can have sex as long as it's "mutually pleasurable and affirming." Citing 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, many Mainline Protestant and evangelical churches like the Assemblies of God Church, advise against sexual relations among single Christians. "Today within our society singles exist for one of two reasons — by choice, or by circumstance. In either case the Bible's mandate is clear for all unmarried individuals: they are...

...Shoebat.com reported on the threat three days ago. ISIS Muslim terrorists released a statement on their plan to attack Florida, and even put out a list with the names of people in Florida that they plan on killing. According to one report: “ A pro-Isis group has released a hit list with the names of more than 8,000 people mostly Americans. More than 600-people live in Florida, and one security expert believes that many of those targeted live in Palm Beach County and on the Treasure Coast. The “United Cyber Caliphate” that hacked U.S. Central Command, 54,000 Twitter accounts and...

The United Church of Christ (UCC), a major mainline Protestant denomination, published a Facebook post telling all whites that they are racist against non-whites, no matter what they do. An infographic posted to the church’s Facebook page over the weekend gives white people a series of 10 tips on how to cope with their white privilege. Suggestions include “Listen when people call you on your microaggressions” and “Stop contributing to gentrification.” But the tenth suggestion is the most notable one, telling white readers to “Recognize that you’re still racist. No matter what.”

VOL is publishing this story because the UCC is even more progressive than The Episcopal Church and therefore says a lot about the future of The Episcopal Church. The UCC is making big staff cuts, and there is an internal report forecasting an 80 percent decline in membership by 2045! The average age of an Episcopalian is now in the mid-Sixties. There are no millennials coming along to fill either pulpits or pews. Nearly half of all pulpits now cannot afford a full time priest. David Virtue If times are tough for oldline Protestant denominations, they are dire for the...