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In a move that some are calling “defiant,” delegates at the annual meeting of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church last Saturday declared themselves a “One Church Plan Conference in spirit.” The One Church Model, which was voted down by the UMC General Conference in February, would have allowed individual churches and regional annual conferences to decide whether to ordain and officiate at the marriage of LGBT members. The General Conference instead endorsed the Traditional Plan, which bans the ordination of gay pastors and forbids pastors from officiating at same-sex marriages. During its 75 years, Grandview UMC...

Here is a brief summary of the accomplishments of the special called 2019 General Conference of The United Methodist Church held in St. Louis. Given the opportunity to support the full court press of the majority of North American bishops in their advocacy of the One Church Plan, a decisive majority of delegates instead chose the Traditional Plan. By a vote of 438 to 384 (53.3 percent), adopted the Traditional Plan, parts of which will not be able to go into effect because they are unconstitutional. Parts that willgo into effect are: • Expanded definition of “self-avowed homosexuals” to include...

After passionate speeches, prayers and tears, the “one, last shot” for the One Church Plan was defeated by a vote of 449-374 at The United Methodist Church’s 2019 General Conference. The Rev. Tom Berlin, Virginia Conference, spoke for a minority report for the One Church Plan that was submitted last night. A minority report is a substitution for the report of the legislative committee. Delegates opposed the bishops’ recommended One Church Plan by a vote of 436 to 386 on Feb. 25. That vote was 53 to almost 47 percent. “I have a love of the church that sometimes I...

After approving the Traditional Plan in the morning, General Conference delegates spent the afternoon debating and ultimately voting against the One Church Plan. Delegates opposed the bishops’ recommended One Church Plan by a vote of 436 to 386. The vote was 53 to almost 47 percent. The votes mean the Traditional Plan moves forward to plenary Feb. 26. The One Church Plan could still come back, but as a minority report. An amended version of the Traditional Plan, which delegates did not fully take up, also could come before the body Feb. 26. Also heading to the plenary are two...

n 2016, the frontline of the war against the legitimacy of the Jewish state isn’t Gaza or Israel’s northern border — or even the Golan Heights. It is the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to terminate the Jewish state by delegitimizing it in the world community. This ugly campaign plays out on our nation’s college campuses, including most recently at the University of California-Irvine, where campus police had to intervene to save (mostly) Jewish women from “activists” protesting a film about Israeli soldiers. BDS-ers, crafting their efforts as “pro-peace,” have had considerable success with mainline Protestant...

The top policy body for the United Methodist Church is struggling to avert a split over gay rights. The Methodist General Conference voted 428-405 to delay all discussion of church policy related to LGBT people during a meeting in Portland, Oregon. Delegates created a commission Wednesday to review all relevant church law on the subject over a period of at least two years, then hold a special meeting to discuss the way forward. …

On March 23, 2016, the Methodist Federation For Social Action posted an anonymous blog that made even the most jaded among us blush.Titled “#HandsOffMyBC” and authored by a United Methodist clergyperson, the blog made an emphatic case for universal access to birth control while also including these admissions: I chose to go on birth control because I didn’t want to get pregnant and I wanted to have sex. Because I am a clergy woman in The United Methodist Church, and I’m single, that information could get me brought up on charges, and I could lose my ordination.Luckily, I can access birth control...

A devout Mormon and an evangelical street preacher exchange words near Temple Square. Next thing you know, they're dining together on roadkill In 2007, Bryan Hall was almost finished filming his documentary, Us and Them: Religious Rivalry in America. He still didn't know how to end the film. A devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the now-42-year-old from Orem, thought about the protesters on Temple Square. He finally said, "Let's go talk to those crazy street preachers." There he met the outspoken leader of the street preachers, Ruben Israel, a 53-year-old Whittier, Calif., native who...

SNIP Teach of faith to keep all the commandments of God, knowing that they are given to bless His children and bring them joy. 4 Warn them that they will encounter people who pick which commandments they will keep and ignore others that they choose to break. I call this the cafeteria approach to obedience. This practice of picking and choosing will not work. It will lead to misery. To prepare to meet God, one keeps all of His commandments. It takes faith to obey them, and keeping His commandments will strengthen that faith. Obedience allows God’s blessings to flow...

...and also shown on BYUTV

PORTAGE -- Two college students heading to Salt Lake City were hurt when a gun discharged inside their vehicle near the Utah-Idaho border. Four male students from Brigham Young University-Idaho were traveling south on Interstate 15 to attend the LDS General Conference in Salt Lake City, authorities say. Around noon, in the front passenger seat, a man identified as Sterling Glines, 24, of Arizona, was examining his .40-caliber Glock. The vehicle had just crossed the border into Utah, and Glines reportedly was explaining how the gun wouldn't fire if the slide was pushed back when the weapon discharged a single...

The scriptures are a blessing from the Lord, showing forth His power "to save and exalt His children," Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve said during the Saturday afternoon session of conference. William Tyndale gave his life in 1536, Elder Christofferson said, because of his desire to make the Bible accessible to people beyond the clergy. Tyndale was put to death because he translated and published the Bible in English. "Tyndale's work became the foundation for almost all future English translations of the Bible, most notably the King James Version," Elder Christofferson said. SNIP He pointed...

SALT LAKE CITY — For 5-year-old Ezra Hyde, it works just fine that Jesus delivers the candy eggs instead of the Easter Bunny. SNIP ...Keith Wilson, an associate professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University...surveyed approximately 500 people in six different LDS wards as well as scores of BYU students... "It's almost completely usurped by general conference..." The two-day event...happens to fall on Easter weekend this year, as it does about 23 percent of the time. "...in LDS remembrance, (the conference) totally overshadows Easter." Wilson said...Latter-day Saints could overcome both the general conference timing and the holiday's moves around...

Focusing on minor weaknesses of the Prophet Joseph Smith misses the mark, the man and his mission of restoring the gospel, said Elder Tad R. Callister of the Seventy. SNIP He noted that the first thing Joseph learned was that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ are two separate and distinct beings, a truth confirmed by the Bible. The second truth he discovered was the Father and the Son have glorified bodies of flesh and bones. Third, Joseph learned that the heavens are not closed, that God still speaks to man today. This is achieved by asking if...

Contact: Loralei Coyle, 202-905-6852 cell, lcoyle@TheIRD.org; Radio Interviews: Jeff Walton, 202-413-5639 cell, jwalton@TheIRD.org; both with the Institute on Religion and Democracy FT. WORTH, Texas, May 3 /Christian Newswire/ -- The United Methodist General Conference, the Church's governing body that meets every 4 years, overwhelmingly adopted several petitions affirming the sanctity of life during its quadrennial meeting in Fort Worth. Conference delegates voted to: "Affirm and encourage the Church to assist the ministry of crisis pregnancy centers and pregnancy resource centers that compassionately help women find feasible alternatives to abortion." "Respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother...

There has been much controversy here at Free Republic about a Mormon running for President. Mitt Romney has been questioned about his faith and many people here have posted things here expressing concern about what they consider to be "weird" doctrines. Today and tomorrow, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is holding their 177th Semi-Annual General Conference in which the leaders of the church address the membership around the world directly. In light of the many misconceptions regarding the LDS (Mormon) church here on FR, I offer the following links for those who have questions and concerns about...

Rev. 14 6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

PITTSBURGH — Conservatives in the United Methodist Church (search) proposed splitting the denomination Thursday, the latest sign of decades of disagreement over homosexuality that continued at a national meeting this week. The Rev. William Hinson, president of the Confessing Movement for conservative Methodists, said evangelicals were just beginning to explore the idea and that no break was imminent in the 8.3 million-member church. But he said he and others were convinced that no compromise could be found after yet another bitter General Conference debate over what the Bible says about gay sex. "We can't bridge that divide," said Hinson, former...

173rd Annual General ConferenceInternet BroadcastSaturday and Sunday, 5 and 6 April 2003 In order to serve a larger audience, video streams will only be available in the archives. The general priesthood meeting will be held on 5 April at 6:00 p.m. This meeting will not be broadcast over the Internet. Priesthood bearers are encouraged to attend the meeting at their local stake centers or other meetinghouses where the session will be broadcast. To listen to general conference, follow these steps: 1. Download and install a multimedia player. 2. Click on a link under Available Streams for the language in which...

The 172nd Semiannual General Conference of the Church will convene in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday and Sunday, 5–6 October 2002. The Saturday general sessions will be held at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Sunday sessions will be held at 9:30 a.m. (which includes Music and the Spoken Word) and 2:00 p.m. The general priesthood meeting will be held in the Conference Center on Saturday, 5 October, at 6:00 p.m. The First Presidency has invited all members and friends to participate in general conference by attending, viewing, or listening via television, radio, satellite, or Internet transmission...