ENGLAND — A cathedral in England recently screened the blasphemous film The Last Temptation of Christ. The Church of England Cathedral in Wells made the decision to show the controversial Martin Scorsese film during the Bath Film Festival despite protests from the Christian community. Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, warned that the film screening […]
STANFORD, Conn. — A retired United Methodist minister and former Yale Divinity School Dean is set to face a church trial in March for officiating his son’s same-sex “wedding” in 2012. Thomas Ogletree, 80, will stand trial on March 12 at First United Methodist Church of Stanford following complaints filed by fellow clergy who accuse […]
NEDERLAND, Co. — Mennonite Church USA has ordained its first openly homosexual pastor, reports state. According to Mennonite World Review, the Mountain States Conference, a division of the Mennonite Church USA, has approved the ministerial license of a Colorado woman who identifies as a lesbian. Theda Good, who is in a relationship with another woman, […]
SEATTLE — Two United Methodist ministers recently ‘wed’ each other in a ceremony in Seattle, Washington despite the possibility that they could face disciplinary action for violating Church law. Joanne Carlson Brown, 60, of Tibbetts United Methodist Church and Christie Newbill, 65, of Woodland Park United Methodist Church tied the knot at a ceremony at […]
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — A United Methodist Minister who was ordered last month to repent of officiating same-sex ‘weddings’ within 30 days or relinquish his rights to pastor within the denomination has been defrocked after refusing to voluntary give up his credentials. As previously reported, Frank Schaefer, 51, who oversees Zion United Methodist Church of Iona in […]
PHILADELPHIA — A United Methodist minister from Pennsylvania is refusing to give up his credentials after he was ordered last month to repent of officiating same-sex ‘weddings’ within 30 days or relinquish his rights to pastor within the denomination. As previously reported, Frank Schaefer, 51, who oversees Zion United Methodist Church of Iona in Lebanon, […]
AUSTIN, TX — A United Methodist Bishop for the San Antonio area has reinstated the candidacy of a lesbian woman who is seeking to be ordained in the denomination as a deacon. Mary Ann Kaiser serves as the youth director at University United Methodist Church in Austin. She initially became a candidate for ordination in […]
ROME — The pope met with the head of an international Islamic organization on Friday, a meeting that was characterized as the first-ever for the group. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), sat down with Pope Francis at the Vatican in an effort to create dialogue between the Muslim and […]
FORT WORTH, TX — Controversy is stirring over a recent news report surrounding a special prayer room at Texas Wesleyan University that was established at the request of a Muslim student group. The Rambler, the student publication for the university, published an article on November 19th about the prayer room, explaining its purpose, the story […]
HARRISONBURG, Va. — A Mennonite university in Virginia is considering making a change to its current hiring policy to allow faculty members to be in same-sex relationships. Eastern Mennonite University issued a news release on the matter last week, noting that it has decided to open up a 60-day listening period “to review current hiring […]