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 […]
SPRING CITY, Pa. – A United Methodist minister from Pennsylvania has been given an ultimatum before the Eastern Pennsylvania Methodist Conference to repent of officiating same-sex ‘weddings’ or lose his ministerial license. As previously reported, Frank Schaeffer, 51, who oversees Zion United Methodist Church of Iona in Lebanon, was found guilty on Monday of “conducting a […]
SPRING CITY, Pa. – A United Methodist minister from Pennsylvania has been found guilty before the Eastern Pennsylvania Methodist Conference for officiating his son’s same-sex ‘wedding’ against the denomination’s prohibitions against it. As previously reported, Frank Schaeffer, 51, oversees Zion United Methodist Church of Iona in Lebanon. In 2007, he traveled to Massachusetts to officiate […]
PROVO, UT — The former president of Fuller Theological Seminary appeared at Utah Valley University on Friday, speaking to hundreds about his belief that Christians and Mormons should focus on common ground and “work together for the cause of righteousness.” Dr. Richard Mouw served as president of the California-based seminary for 20 years, until he […]
ROME — Pope Francis visited a cemetery in Rome last Friday in observance of the Roman Catholic holiday All Saints’ Day to pray for the dead and bless the graves of the departed. The occasion marked 20 years since a pope had visited a Roman cemetery for All Saints’ Day, and according to reports, Francis […]
A new report released by NPR outlines that a number of congregations across America are now using beer as a way to attract new members. The effort is an experiment in finding methods that will appeal to those who otherwise would not set foot in a church. Some beer-based gatherings are held right in the […]