Undercover Homosexual Methodist 'Pastors' Exposed

More than a hundred male and female American leaders in the United Methodist Church joined together this week to formally admit they've been falsely serving in local churches by concealing their claims to deviant sexuality.  Their announcement comes as the UMC quadrennial global General Conference begins in Portland, Oregon where these renegades will attempt to force their personal predilections upon the world-wide traditionally Christian denomination that believes homosexual behavior is incompatible with church teaching.

". . . this public relations campaign is designed to overwhelm our denomination’s infrastructure until traditionalists abandon their theological moorings."
-- Rev. Tom Lambrecht, Vice President and General Manager of Good News (representing UMC Christians who hold to Scriptural Authority)

For background, read how renegade UMC leaders recommend taking over the denomination by force.

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

New York Methodist Bishop Allows Same-sex Marriages

UMC Bishop Talbert Breaks UMC Covenant via 'Gay Marriage'

Renegade Methodist Clergy for Same-sex 'Marriage'

Methodists Ignore Own Rules re: Lesbian Pastor

African Methodists' Votes Halt Homosexualists' Rebellion

Also read Methodist Seminaries Train Pluralistic Clergy

And read Methodists Wonder Why Members Leave in Droves



-- From "Defying church ban, dozens of Methodist clergy come out as gay and lesbian" by Daniel Burke, CNN Religion Editor 5/9/16

Dozens of United Methodist clergy members came out as lesbian, gay or bisexual on Monday, defying their church's ban on "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" serving in ministry and essentially daring their supervisors to discipline them.

In a public letter posted online, 111 pastors, deacons, elders and candidates for ministry said church rules require "that we not bring our full selves to ministry, that we hide from view our sexual orientations and gender identities."

A spokesman for Reconciling Ministries Network, [a renegade UMC] LGBT advocacy group that organized the letter, said that about 80% of the 111 signatories are coming out to their supervisors for the first time. In addition to gay and lesbian clergy, the letter was also signed by intersex and transgender pastors, who are not technically excluded from ministry.

Monday's missive follows a similar letter issued by 15 Methodist ministers in New York, who also openly acknowledged that they are gay or lesbian.

A council of African bishops issued a statement last September urging Methodists to "submit to the teachings of Scripture that God designed marriage to be between man and woman."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "As United Methodists meet, 111 clergy come out as gay, defy church ban" by Greg Garrison, The Birmingham News 5/11/16

The United Methodist Church, the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination with 7.4 million members [in the U.S.], has debated homosexuality at its General Conference every four years for four decades.

While the U.S. membership in the denomination has declined, membership in Africa has expanded, and those members have an increasingly important voice in the General Conference debates. While the U.S. leadership has become more accepting of homosexuality, the newer African members have held the conservative line.

While the number of United Methodists in Africa grows by about 250,000 members a year, the number of U.S. United Methodists shrinks every year, by more than 50,000.

Africans will constitute about 30 percent of the 864 delegates to this year's General Conference.

Without the church's growing global membership, the United Methodists would very likely have taken a turn towards acceptance of gay marriage, like several other mainline Protestant denominations . . .

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "United Methodist lawmaking body to weigh LGBT issues" by Holly Meyer, The Tennessean 5/10/16

The United Methodist Church does not permit its clergy to officiate same-sex marriages, but that divisive issue and others regarding full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members are up for debate as the denomination convenes its top policy-making body this week in Portland, Ore.

Delegates from across the globe will consider more than 100 pieces of legislation regarding human sexuality at the General Conference, which meets every four years to decide the future direction of the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States. It counts about 12.8 million members worldwide.

The 864 delegates gathering at the Oregon Convention Center have the power to revise church law, pass resolutions on social and public policy and adopt churchwide budgets and plans. While LGBT concerns are in the spotlight, the General Conference is considering a plethora of issues. The gathering started Tuesday afternoon with a worship celebration and concludes May 20.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Good News responds to clergy coming out letter" by Jay Voorhees, Executive Editor, United Methodist Reporter 5/9/16

The Rev. Tom Lambrecht, Vice President and General Manager of Good News, an organization that has advocated for the retention of the current United Methodist teaching on homosexuality, released a statement this afternoon in response to the letter from 111 UM clergy identifying themselves as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer/Questioning, and Intersex (LGBTQI).

“Unfortunately, the statement comes across more like a manifesto for an orchestrated campaign to influence General Conference than a ‘Love Letter to the Church,’” Lambrecht wrote.

Lambrecht addressed the concerns raised by the letter writers about their need to hide parts of themselves as they carry out  the work of ministry:

The letter talks about LGBTQI persons being forced to hide parts of themselves in order to engage in ministry. No one is forcing LGBTQI persons to hide their identities. That is a choice that they are making. The church has always been straightforward about what is acceptable behavior for clergy. Having same-sex attractions or being LGBTQI is not a bar to ordained ministry. Engaging in sexual relationships outside monogamous heterosexual marriage is a bar to ordained ministry. The line is clear. It is LGBTQI persons who have chosen to cross that line and yet pretend to fulfill their ordination vows. Such an action constitutes a fundamental lack of integrity that undermines the doctrine, discipline, and unity of the church.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "United Methodists may never agree on LGBT issues. Can they stay together anyway?" by Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post 5/9/16

Disputes over human sexuality appear to many to be most pressing [for the UMC General Conference]. This is in part because United Methodists have not changed their stance on homosexuality, whereas much of mainline Protestantism has in some way. The United Methodist Book of Discipline – the group’s book of law and doctrine – calls homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching.” The church has also seen huge controversy in recent years as pastors have begun openly bucking the ban on officiating at same-sex weddings, and high-profile disciplinary trials have embarrassed many Methodists.

According to the United Methodist News Service, the conference will weigh more than 100 pieces of legislation on human sexuality. Delegates from dozens of countries will consider the possibility of full inclusion of LGBT people, the “agree to disagree” option, whether gay people can be ordained, the question of officiating at same-sex weddings, whether such weddings can be held in Methodist churches and whether the current Book of Discipline wording should remain.

The United Methodist News Service lists “church structure and powers” as the first of top, broad issues to be voted upon this month. The most broad is a measure asking whether Methodists “can create a global Book of Discipline that says: ‘Here’s what we agree upon worldwide,’ and then one for each area of the world to help us deal with our own cultures,” said the Rev. Tom Berlin, a delegate from the Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, Va. “The issue is: What questions belong to the whole, and what questions belong to the parts?”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Charlotte gay wedding defies United Methodist Church rules" by Tim Funk, The Charlotte Observer 4/24/16

. . . [Rev. Val Rosenquist, 59,] the pastor of Charlotte’s First United Methodist Church and a retired bishop [Melvin Talbert] who once did jail time with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. decided to go ahead over the weekend and preside at the wedding of John Romano and Jim Wilborne.

The two Charlotte men became the first same-sex couple in North Carolina to get married – at least publicly – in a United Methodist church.

They said the Saturday wedding was attended by more than 250 people – including about 30 supportive United Methodist clergy. Also in attendance: Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, who is a friend of the couple’s.

Last August, [Rosenquist] said, the leadership board at First United Methodist voted that any member of the church could get married in the sanctuary, even if that defied the [UMC] Book of Discipline.

The 81-year-old Talbert, a retired United Methodist bishop based in Nashville and a one-time leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, spent three days and three nights in a jail cell with King in 1960. He called his disobedience of Methodist rules against same-sex marriage an act of “biblical obedience.”

On Sunday, Talbert delivered the sermon at First United Methodist Church, telling about 150 people in the pews that, like African-Americans, women and other past victims of discrimination, LGBT persons are being ridiculed and ostracized “simply because of the way God created them.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Methodists call themselves the ‘church of the big tent.’ Why one minister is camping outside." by Julie Zauzmer, Washington Post 4/5/16

[His daughter Sarah] was the inspiration for [UMC Rev. Michael Tupper's] activism – and the first lesbian bride he married.

[Sarah] and her wife met at the preeminent evangelical university Wheaton College — despite the fact that Tupper, suspecting that his teenage daughter was lesbian, told her that if she were lesbian she should not go to Wheaton.

Tupper reached a sort of out-of-court settlement in the United Methodist Church’s judicial system. He knew when he agreed to officiate [the same-sex wedding] that he might be defrocked for it . . . But Tupper was cleared to continue ministry at his church near Kalamazoo, Mich.

Then he performed his second gay wedding, that of a fellow United Methodist minister who was banned from his pulpit when he came out as gay. Tupper expected, after he helped officiate Benjamin Hutchison’s wedding, that he would face a church trial.

But the trial never came.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Female Methodist pastor admits she's gay during church service, stunning worshippers" by Czarina Ong, Christian Today 1/19/16

Nobody was prepared for Pastor Cynthia Meyer's coming out declaration during the Edgerton United Methodist Church's first sermon this 2016, but the 53-year-old Kansas pastor decided then that it was the best time for her to serve "with full authenticity and as my genuine self—as a woman who loves and shares my life with another woman."

Meyer risks being sacked because of her pronouncement, but she insists that her conscience is clear because she keeps "faith with the church by challenging it to keep faith with the Gospel."

Conservative Methodists, on the other hand, are not condoning Meyer's vocal support of same-sex relationships and marriages.

They wrote: "We simply cannot abandon the Bible's teachings on the practice of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Your proposal would put us, who believe that same-sex relations are sinful, in the position of having to deny our consciences. This new policy is simply asking us to do something we cannot do."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "New York United Methodist Body Says It Will Ignore Church's Rules on Gay Clergy" by Michael Gryboski, Christian Post Reporter 3/3/16

The New York Annual Conference's Board of Ordained Ministry released a statement Tuesday noting that they will no longer consider the sexual orientation or gender identity of an ordination candidate.

The Rev. William B. Pfohl, chair of the NYAC BOOM and chief signatory of the statement, told The Christian Post that the . . . final vote on the released statement took place on Feb. 20, with a supermajority of the New York board approving the standards via secret ballot.

NYAC is not the only conference in the UMC that has recently announced its decision to ignore the denomination's ordination rules regarding homosexual practice.

Last month the Board of Ordained Ministry of the Baltimore-Washington Conference announced that they recommended a married lesbian to a provisional deacon position.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Liberal 'Churches' Continue to Wither as well as Liberal 'Churches' Conforming to Decadent Culture

In addition, read President Obama's National Cathedral is the Seat of Apostasy

For myriad attacks on the Bible and Christian faith, read CBS Gives Voice to Atheists, Heretics, & Apostates

Student Walk-out vs Gay Agenda: N. Carolina Prayer

Christian students at East Wilkes High School in Ronda, North Carolina walked out to demonstrate God's disapproval of the Gay Agenda "Day of Silence" — when public schools across America indoctrinate students with deviant sexual behavior.

“If they can press up on the young people in our schools to be quiet and be silenced for a whole day of school, surely to God, we as God’s people can lift up our voices to an almighty God.”
-- Rev. Curtis Ponder, Maple Springs Baptist Church, Ronda, NC

“We’ve got slammed for hating on homosexuals and that’s not true, God loves everyone. We think homosexuality is wrong, which in our beliefs, it is. But, it’s not the people, it’s the lifestyle.”
-- Ben Calloway, freshman

For background, read about 'Day of Silence' indoctrination.



-- From "Prayer vigil held in response to LGBT day of silence outside local school campus" by Michael Hennessey, WGHP-TV8 (Greensboro / Winston-Salem, NC) 4/15/16

About 100 people joined in, on the outskirts of the East Wilkes High School campus in Ronda, including students from the school.

“A gang of youth that walked out of class, walked out of school, to show their support and to show their love of their God,” said Curtis Ponder, pastor of the Maple Springs Baptist Church in Ronda.

The discussion and prayer continued for about 15 minutes, with Ponder saying that was the amount of time allotted to the students by East Wilkes Principal Jodi Weatherman.

“My heart and my intentions of being here today is not controversial, it’s not a show of anything mean, anything lewd,” Ponder said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Parents Threaten 'Walk Out' Over Middle School's LGBT 'Acceptance Week'" by Samuel Smith, Christian Post Reporter 4/4/16

Parents at Windmere Ranch Middle School in San Ramon, California [a suburb of San Francisco], have launched an online petition against the school's LGBT acceptance week, which is scheduled to begin Monday, April 11.

The petition adds that the parents "are not against the LGBTQ" but there are a number of concerns with the acceptance week that have not been addressed.

The petition further explains that the parents want to be assured that the lessons being taught during LGBT acceptance week will not include "condemnation for differing religious values or practices."

The parents fear that the school will use LGBT acceptance week as an outlet to indoctrinate their children.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

To read previous articles, click "Day of Silence" label.

Evangelist Wins Lawsuit vs. San Fran. Police, ESPN

Gino Emmerich and a Christian law firm will be paid $10,000 because Emmerich was forced by San Francisco police and sports TV outlet ESPN to cease holding a “John 3:16” sign outside of the Giants ballpark in July 2014.  Emmerich was singled out for holding a Christian sign among a plethora of signs and expressions of free speech by others in a crowd.

For background, read FOX Censors John 3:16 NFL Super Bowl Commercial

Also read Court Forces Maine City to Pay $56,500 for Muzzling Pro-lifers

-- From "Minister carrying sign before Giants game settles suit" by Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle 3/22/16

A traveling minister who carried his “John 3:16” sign to Willie Mays Plaza at AT&T Park before a Giants game, and said he was told to leave or face arrest, has settled his lawsuit for $10,000.

Gino Emmerich sued the city of San Francisco, but the settlement funds — $2,500 to Emmerich and $7,500 to his lawyer — will come from ESPN, which was filming the pregame activities and hired city police to keep order, City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s office said Tuesday. As part of the settlement, the city agreed to review the status of the plaza and the extent of the public’s right to carry signs or express opinions there.

. . . an ESPN producer walked up with four uniformed police officers and told [Emmerich] he would be arrested if he displayed his sign.

After the producer left, Emmerich said he nevertheless held the sign up in front of an ESPN camera. One of the officers then grabbed him from behind and moved him out of camera range, where police issued another arrest warning and let him go. All the while, Emmerich said, fans were in the plaza, some displaying other types of signs, though none with religious messages.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "First Amendment Victory: San Francisco Settles Lawsuit Over Activist's Right to Peacefully Display Sign in Willie Mays Plaza in Front of Giants Ballpark" posted at The Rutherford Institute 3/22/16

A settlement has been reached in a First Amendment lawsuit filed by The Rutherford Institute against police officers who allegedly intimidated and threatened to arrest a man who was lawfully and peacefully exercising his First Amendment rights in the Willie Mays Plaza prior to a Giants v. Dodgers game by holding up a “John 3:16” religious sign in the public plaza in front of the San Francisco Giants ballpark. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of Gino Emmerich, alleged that police officers violated Emmerich’s right to free speech and assembly when they forcefully removed him from Willie Mays Plaza, surrounded him and threatened him with arrest if he did not cease displaying his “John 3:16” sign. Under the settlement agreement, the City and County of San Francisco have agreed to conduct an investigation about the status of Willie Mays Plaza in connection with the rights of citizens to exercise their First Amendment rights there.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Rutherford Institute Sues California Police for Threatening Man Who Was Peacefully Displaying a 'John 3:16' Religious Sign in Front of S.F. Giants Ballpark" posted at The Rutherford Institute 7/9/15

On Sunday, July 27, 2014, prior to the start of a Giants v. Dodgers baseball game, Gino Emmerich arrived at Willie Mays Plaza carrying a “John 3:16” sign, a religious reference to a central tenet of Christianity. Other people were in the plaza, some displaying signs and otherwise communicating messages. Also in the plaza was a makeshift broadcast booth put together for a live broadcast and discussion of the Giants v. Dodgers game for ESPN SportsCenter. . . . Emmerich stationed himself in view of the camera, behind the commentators, and held up his John 3:16 sign. While Emmerich was holding up his sign, a police officer grabbed him from behind by his shirt and neck and moved him out of the view of the camera. Once Emmerich was clear of the cameras, he was surrounded by four police officers and warned, “If you go over there and hold that sign again, we will arrest you and the sergeant will come over here and decide where we are going to take you.” Emmerich then left the plaza as to avoid the possibility of arrest and turned to The Rutherford Institute for help.

“Much of what used to be great about America—especially as it pertains to our love of freedom and our commitment to First Amendment activities—has been overshadowed by a greater desire for security and an inclination towards political correctness,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America: The War on the American People. “That this incident, with its police intimidation tactics, overt discrimination and censorship, took place in a public plaza dedicated to Willie Mays, a legendary baseball player who lived through an era of police tactics, discrimination and censorship, is a powerful indictment of all that is wrong with America today.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Click headlines below to read previous articles of censorship of Christians:

Florida Police Let Abortionists Prohibit Prayer in Public

Federal Judge Censors Pro-life Ads on Indiana Buses

NASA Bans Jesus, Threatening Employees' Freedom

Must Censor Speech, Say Most College Students

Opposing Sexual Deviancy Verboten in California School

Also read how prayer is being banned from Christian school sporting events.

And read how Christmas is being censored from public schools across America.

Ban Christians From Missouri Schools, Atheists Say

The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is demanding that Christian leaders be banned from several Missouri schools because a video at Hollister Middle School shows Robert Bruce, leader of a local Christian youth group called K-Life, joining student-led prayer in the cafeteria.

"It's not necessarily freedom from religion, but it's freedom of religion. . . . we are also not going to inhibit that religion."
-- Dr. Brian Wilson, Superintendent, Hollister R-V School District

"Our district received a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Madison, Wisconsin, asking us to investigate the possibility of policy violations, in regard to visitors discussing religion with students, in our schools. After speaking with the principals at the Junior High and High School, the schools in question, we found no evidence of any violation taking place between visitors and our students."
-- Dr. Brad Swofford, Superintendent, Branson Public Schools

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Atheists Force Michigan Schools to Ban Christians

School Agrees with Atheists to Restrict Christians in West Virginia

Wisconsin Atheists Want Christians Out of Oklahoma Schools

Atheists Say Too Many Christians at Ohio School

Also read Let us Pray in School: It's the Law in Missouri

Click for TV news report

-- From "Hollister schools fear possible lawsuit over school prayer" by Drew Douglas, KYTV-TV3 (Springfield, MO) 2/24/16

"There's not been a parent of Hollister schools nor a student that has issued a complaint. However, we did receive a letter out of Madison Wisconsin," says [Supt.] Wilson.

The superintendent says Christian students at the school have been initiating prayers during lunch, and that day, the students asked Mr. Bruce to participate in the prayer.

The school investigated and chose to continue to allow Mr. Bruce on campus despite the letter's explicit demand that Bruce and other adult K-Life representatives be barred from entering the district schools during the school day.

"We've communicated with Mr. Bruce and to the K-Life organization just as we would any other organization. We would like for them to adhere to all school policies and regulations," says Wilson.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Organization claims area schools violating church-state separation" by Cliff Sain, Branson (Missouri) Tri-Lakes news 2/26/16

The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued a press release stating that a representative from area youth ministry KLIFE has been allowed access to students at the Branson, Hollister, Reeds Spring and Bradleyville school districts.

Hollister Superintendent Brian Wilson said the situation pointed out by the Freedom From Religion Foundation has already been handled.

“(The middle school students) were beginning to pray at lunch,” Wilson said. “They sat around a table. It wasn’t disruptive. It grew to multiple tables. The individual from K-Life was asked to pray at the beginning of one lunch period for that group. That was probably where he overstepped the lines. At no time was it promoted by us. At no time was it done by the school.”

“We addressed the situation with them. We went over the proceedings with them. That's where we’re are at. We think that it is at a moot point. We are not trying to promote, and we are not trying to inhibit. We have taken care of the issue. My job is to educate kids and give the kids at Hollister schools the best education that they can have.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Hollister schools told to halt organized prayer, restrict ministers' access to students" by Claudette Riley, USA TODAY Network - News-Leader (Springfield, MO) 2/25/16

At this point, the [FFRF] — which posted the video on its website — has not ruled out the possibility of taking legal action.

[Supt.] Wilson said students can exercise their First Amendment right to pray in school, if they want to, and the district has communicated the rules governing activities during the school day to KLIFE and other community visitors. But, the district will still permit visitors and student groups that want to meet before and after school.

In the letter, the Wisconsin-based foundation demanded Hollister put an end to "organized prayer" during lunch, discipline any employees that allow the prayers to take place and bar KLIFE representatives from visiting schools.

The foundation also wrote letters to the Branson and Reeds Spring districts, demanding each investigate the amount of access it provides to "predatory evangelists."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.



Also read Judge Jesus Says 'Stop Praying' to California School

And read Christmas Holiday OUT, Lunar New Year IN: Public Schools

Town Council Prays to Jesus, Rabbi Fumes: Arizona

Despite a complaint about invocations at the Chino Valley Town Council meetings, council members encouraged the mayor to open meetings by praying according to his own personal faith.  At this week's meeting, as he began the invocation, and then again as he closed the prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Rabbi Adele Plotkin of Chino Valley's Beit Torah congregation loudly protested and was subsequently escorted from the room when she insisted on continued disruptions of the meeting.

“Our Bill of Rights protects us against the establishment of religion by the state, and yet it would appear that secular humanism with its mantra of political correctness has become just that, the state established religion which the First Amendment was supposed to protect us against.  Our oath of office requires that we defend the Constitution, and yet we are being asked to give up our right to freely worship according to the dictates of conscious.  As a nation, we have already lost a number of our freedoms:  The right to peacefully assemble and our protection against unreasonable search and seizure are already gone, and a number of others are being stripped away as we speak.  I can't speak for the rest of the Council, but I believe it is time to draw a line in the sand, at least for me it is. . . . Jesus was pretty plain[:] if you pray, ask the Father for anything in my name. It will be granted.”
-- Mayor Chris Marley, Associate Pastor, Miller Valley Baptist Church

“I want the citizens to be aware, us standing our ground, if this is challenged, it could cost the town money to defend it.  Personally, I'm willing to do that.  But we are representatives of the town, so speak up when you get a chance and we'll unite around this.”
-- Corey Mendoza, council member

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Coolidge, Arizona City Council Allows Only Christian Prayers

California Mayor Calls City Prayer Vigil to Seek Solutions

Mississippi Police Chief Thanks God at City Prayer Meetings

North Carolina Citizens Demand Prayer in Public School

Let us Pray in School: It's the Law in Missouri

Prayer Stays in Florida School, Opposing Atheists

Texas School Supt. Tells Anti-prayer Atheists to Go Fly a Kite

Also read Lone Jew, ACLU Stop Prayer in Pennsylvania Town and read 'Atheist Jew' Sues California Town Council for Praying



-- From "Rabbi ejected from Northern Arizona town meeting over prayer" by The Associated Press 2/11/16

[Mayor] Marley announced before the Jan. 26 council meeting that he would not perform an invocation until council members had a chance to discuss how they planned to conduct invocations after receiving criticism. He confirmed his intention to halt the prayers to media after the Jan. 26 meeting.

Marley said at the Tuesday meeting that he decided to continue with the invocation despite his previous comments because some council members said he should do so.

[Rabbi Plotkin] said her faith considers appearing to approve of worshipping Jesus as idolatry and that she has contacted the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] to contest the town's invocation policy.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Rabbi protests Christian prayer given at northern Arizona city council meeting" by Bob McClay, KTAR-FM92.3 (Phoenix, AZ) 2/12/16

[Mayor] Marley said he told the crowd they were not obligated to stand while it was being said and that the views expressed were his and not those of Chino Valley.

The majority of people who can be seen in a video of the meeting appear to be standing and joining in the prayer, which ended with Marley saying, “I pray all of these things in the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Later in the meeting, the city council decided prayer would continue to open the meetings, with a notice on the agenda announcing the invocation will happen in the first 10 minutes.

Marley said anyone who objects to the prayer can leave and re-enter the meeting after it’s over. Different Council members will take turns leading the prayer, so Marley said they may not all be led to pray “in Jesus’ name.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Chino Valley council prays in name of Jesus; rabbi ejected from meeting" by Ken Sain, Associate Editor, Chino Valley Review (posted at Prescott Daily Courier) 2/11/16

All seven members of the council spoke in favor of keeping the current [invocation] tradition.

Six of the seven Chino Valley council members identified themselves as Christians and one as a non-Christian. The non-Christian member was offered a chance to join the invocation rotation, but declined. Therefore, only Christians are currently giving the invocations.

[Rabbi] Plotkin contacted a Chino Valley Review reporter before the Feb. 9 meeting to confirm that no invocation was planned, saying she couldn't attend if they intended to pray to Jesus. She said she wanted to attend the meeting so that she could begin to build bridges with the council members on this issue, but would only do so if there was no invocation.

"He lied," Plotkin said of the mayor's reversal.

She said she had no choice but to protest because not doing so would have been one of the three cardinal sins, according to her beliefs.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Satanists to Lead 'Prayer' in Phoenix Government

And read Loud Muslim Prayer: Takeover of Michigan Town

Feds Fire Pastor for Public Baptizing in Calif.

Roger Holly, a Baptist minister, was fired from his job as maintenance worker at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park because he unnoticeably baptized a park visitor in the Pacific Ocean during lunch.  Holly has since filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of the Interior for being fired by the National Park Service, and for being told not to discuss religion with the public and being restricted from reading his Bible at lunchtime.

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

New Mexico Museum Seeks Atheists, Slams Christians

California City Official Yanked: Caught Reading Bible

California University Fires Scientist for Being Christian

Praying Bus Driver Fired at Rutgers: Safety Issue

Christians Can Forget Having Any Career at NASA

Atlanta Fires Fire Chief for 'Anti-gay' Bible Study

Iowa Newspaper Editor, Fired for Being Christian, Sues

Internet CEO Forced to Resign for Being Christian

Christian Sports Commentator Fired for Supporting Natural Marriage

Also read Christians Cause Workplace Conflict, Therefore Silence Them

-- From "Worker Claims He Was Fired for a Baptism" by Nicholas Iovino, Courthouse News Service 1/6/16

He says he was out of uniform at the time and simply helped dunk the visitor into the ocean.

"The religious 'ceremony' Holly performed did not include any outward, objective display of religion, such as reading sacred texts, public prayer, sermonizing or the like," the complaint states. "It simply appeared that two persons were swimming in the ocean, much like other park visitors."

Holly says no other members of the public were involved or raised an issue about the baptism. He claims that one of his former coworkers, a Native American woman, is allowed to display spiritually symbolic feathers in her Park Service vehicle, but his supervisor, defendant Robert Kier, interrogated him about the baptism.

He is represented by Alan J. Reinach with the Church State Council, of Westlake Village.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Florida Student Failed for Being Christian, Lawyer Says

And read Wisconsin Prof. Threatens Student for her Christianity

Lesbian Mayor's Gay Agenda Defeated by Voters

Citizens of Houston, Texas, the fourth-largest city in the U.S., turned out in record numbers to defeat Prop 1, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance No. 2014-530 (HERO), by a margin of 62% to 38%.  The city's lesbian mayor Annise D. Parker, along with city bureaucrats, had pulled several legal tricks in attempts to negate the citizens' uprising against the Gay Agenda ordinance previously enacted by decree.

"No one's rights should be subject to a popular vote."
-- Annise Parker, outgoing mayor of Houston

"The mayor has never been able to produce a shred of evidence that’s credible of any need for this ordinance, other than everybody else is doing it."
-- Dave Welch, Houston Area Pastor Council

For background, read about the Houston Lesbian Mayor Agenda vs. Religious Liberty and read how Houston Became Ground Zero in President Obama's War on Christianity as the Houston Lesbian Mayor Subpoenas Pastors' Sermons

Also read Federal Government OKs Perverts in Employees' Restrooms Across America

And read President Obama Forces Boys into Girls' Showers in Schools Nationwide



-- From "Voters reject Houston Equal Rights Ordinance" posted at KHOU-TV11 (Houston, TX) 11/4/15

Opponents of the issue branded it "the bathroom ordinance," playing up the argument that it would allow sexual predators dressed as women to use women's restrooms. A television ad featured a little girl being cornered by a man in a restroom.

Supporters sold it as an anti-discrimination measure protecting a broad range of citizens from the elderly to veterans. The ordinance would have offered increased protections for gay and transgender people, as well as protections against discrimination based on sex, race, age, religion and other categories.

"The supporters of this proposition brought in movie stars and elites from Washington D.C. and Hollywood to try to force their twisted agenda on the good people of Texas," said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. "It didn't work and advocates of this ridiculous proposal are on notice tonight that the voters of Houston will not stand for this kind of liberal nonsense."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Houston votes to repeal LGBT nondiscrimination law" by Elliot Smilowitz, The Hill 11/3/15

It was favored by the White House, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton and tech giant Apple, but faced opposition from many religious leaders and Republicans.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, tweeted earlier this week against the ordinance: "HOUSTON: Vote Texas values, not @HillaryClinton values. Vote NO on City of Houston Proposition 1. No men in women's bathrooms."

The ordinance was originally passed by Houston City Council in 2014, but the Texas Supreme Court earlier this year forced it onto the ballot [following a citizen petition drive].

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Houston Equal Rights Ordinance fails by wide margin" by Katherine Driessen, Houston Chronicle 11/3/15

City Council passed the law 11-6 in May last year, but conservative foes launched an effort to force a repeal referendum that spanned more than one year of legal challenges. In July, the Texas Supreme Court ordered the city to either repeal the law or place in the ballot. By a 12-5 vote, City Council opted for the latter, officially unleashing two dueling campaigns.

Businesses that serve the public, private employers, housing and city contracting are all subject to the law and face up to $5,000 in fines for violations. Religious institutions, however, are exempt. The ordinance was in effect for only three months between extensive legal challenges.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Houston voters reject LGBT equal rights measure" by Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times 11/3/15

[The vote] came after an 18-month battle pitting gay rights advocates against those who believed they were defending religious liberty.

[Annise] Parker, the first lesbian mayor of a major U.S. city, had championed the ordinance, making it a personal battle about what she called “my rights.”

Conservative leaders who campaigned and spoke out against the ordinance included a coalition of pastors, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, former Houston Astro Lance Berkman and Houston Texans football owner Bob McNair.

Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values Action, a conservative group that opposed the ordinance, called the vote “a significant victory for common sense, safety, and religious freedom, not just in Houston, but for all of Texas.... This vote will impact the nation and shows, once again, that the people still support common-sense Texas values."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Bathroom Fears Flush Houston Discrimination Ordinance" by Alexa Ura, Texas Tribune 11/3/15

With the Houston vote garnering national attention, the loss for HERO supporters comes after a tumultuous year and half since the ordinance was first passed by the Houston City Council in May 2014.

Almost immediately, conservative activists and pastors began collecting signatures to petition a referendum or repeal of the ordinance. City officials later ruled that they hadn’t collected enough signatures, prompting a lawsuit from the opponents.

The ordinance had been in effect for about three months when it was put on hold as the legal challenge made its way through the courts. In April, a state district judge ruled in favor of the city, saying opponents of the ordinance had not gathered enough valid signatures.

The case went to the Texas Supreme Court, which in July told the city council it had to consider a valid referendum petition and repeal the ordinance or put it up for public vote.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Houston Voters Reject Broad Anti-Discrimination Ordinance" by Manny Fernandez And Mitch Smith, New York Times 11/3/15

In Houston, the ordinance’s proponents — including Mayor Annise D. Parker, local and national gay rights and civil rights groups and the actress Sally Field — accused opponents of using fearmongering against gay people, and far-fetched talk of bathroom attacks, to generate support for a repeal. The ordinance, they noted, says nothing specifically about whether men can use women’s restrooms.

The proponents’ defeat at the polls was a kind of personal blow to Ms. Parker, a Democrat. Houston became the largest city in the United States to elect an openly gay mayor when she won office in December 2009. Now in her third and final term, Ms. Parker had pushed hard for the ordinance and helped it gain endorsements from President Obama and corporate giants like Apple.

Opponents of the measure — including Mr. Patrick, pastors of conservative megachurches and the former Houston Astros baseball star Lance Berkman — said the ordinance had nothing to do with discrimination and was about the mayor’s gay agenda being forced on the city. They denied that they had any bias against gay people, and said the ordinance was so vague that it would make anyone who tried to keep any man from entering a women’s bathroom the subject of a city investigation and fine.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Houston Voters Reject LGBT Ordinance That Raised Bathroom Privacy Concerns" by Susan Jones, CNSNews.com 11/4/15

"While much of the debate focused on biological males using a woman's bathroom, many voters told us they understood this involved a lot more than bathrooms," Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said after the votes were counted.

"The mayor's efforts to disenfranchise voters and subpoena pastors' sermons and private communications demonstrated this law was ultimately about silencing and even stripping away the livelihood of those who refused to yield their beliefs to this new morality."

"Houstonians' religious freedom, freedom of speech, and the right to petition their government have won the day, but much more work remains to be done to safeguard these freedoms across the nation. No person should be punished by the government because of their beliefs," Perkins said.

The ordinance would have applied to businesses that serve the public, such as restaurants and hotels, private employers, housing, city employment and city contracting. It would have allowed residents to file a complaint if they felt they had been discriminated against based on the various protected categories. Religious institutions would have been exempt. Violators would have faced fines up to $5,000.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

Pastors Lead Local Battles Against 'Gay Rights'

Sexual Deviancy Special Class Rejected by Charlotte, NC City Council

Arkansas City Votes Men OUT of Women's Restrooms

New Law Against 'Gay Rights' Ordinances Passes in Arkansas

Also read Hillary Clinton Promises to Codify More 'Gay Rights'

And read how the Gay Agenda attacks Christians one town at a time across America because the homosexualists have been unable to force the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) through Congress.

Smithsonian Favors Racist Eugenicist vs. Blacks

Curators at the Smithsonian Institution art and history museum are rejecting calls for the removal of a bust of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger.  Rather, the national historians say that the famous early 20th Century American eugenicist, who referred to the negro race as "human weeds" and "human waste," belongs in the museum's civil rights “Struggle for Justice” exhibit.

"We are paying for, even submitting to, the dictates of an ever increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all. . . . We don't want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population and the [colored] minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members."
-- Margaret Sanger (writing to birth control advocate Dr. Clarence Gamble in 1939)

"The last thing we need is a white supremacist sitting between the bust of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. That is a slap in the face of black folks and I hope the curator can understand that."
-- Rev. Johnny Hunter, chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation

For background, read Sanger's 'Extermination of Negros' Goal Censored by Media and also read Black Abortion Key to Reducing Poverty, Says Mayor as well as Minorities (mostly black) Targeted by Planned Parenthood for Abortion: Study

And read Illegal Abortion Clinic in Selma — Black Lives Matter



-- From "Conservatives Want Bust of Planned Parenthood Founder Removed From National Portrait Gallery" by Daniel White, Time Magazine 8/27/15

Conservative groups are calling on the National Portrait Gallery to remove of a bust of Margaret Sanger from the Washington, D.C. museum, the Associated Press reports. Sanger, who died in 1966, founded two groups that eventually became Planned Parenthood.

. . . a group of ministers lead by former Republican politician E.W. Jackson and the conservative non-profit ForAmerica say their opposition to the bust is based on Sanger’s support of eugenics, a social movement that sought to remove undesirable traits from the gene pool through sterilization and selective breeding.

. . . Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas have written a letter to lawmakers that calls the sculpture’s display by the museum “an affront both to basic human decency and the very meaning of justice.”

In a statement to TIME, Planned Parenthood acknowledged Sanger’s flaws, but dismissed the attacks as motivated by anti-abortion sentiment.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Conservatives target bust of Planned Parenthood founder" by The Associated Press - CBS News 8/27/15

[Birth control advocate Margaret] Sanger, who died in 1966, also supported eugenics, a now-condemned effort to discourage reproduction by criminals and others with undesirable traits. Brent Bozell, chairman of the conservative group ForAmerica, and a group of black pastors say Sanger favored using eugenics to limit the population of blacks, a claim that some Republican lawmakers have echoed but for which the evidence is contested.

"She will not be removed," museum spokeswoman Bethany Bentley said Wednesday. She said the gallery displays "significant people who represent the full spectrum of the American experience," including some with "less than admirable characteristics."

A Planned Parenthood spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the group's website describes Sanger as "one of the movement's great heroes." It says women's progress in education, jobs and politics "can be directly linked to Sanger's crusade and women's ability to control their own fertility."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Black Pastors Protest Smithsonian Bust of Planned Parenthood's Nazi-Like Founder Margaret Sanger in Civil Rights Exhibit" by Samuel Smith, Christian Post Reporter 8/27/15

Prominent black pastors and pro-life activists gathered in front of the National Portrait Gallery on Thursday to demand that the taxpayer-funded museum remove a bust of Planned Parenthood's white supremacist founder, Margaret Sanger, from the institution's "Struggle for Justice" exhibit.

Nearly 20 African-American pastors and pro-life advocates spoke at the rally and explained that Sanger, who established abortion organizations that eventually became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, did not advocate for abortion and birth control because she wanted to help "disadvantaged women," but because it was her goal to use eugenics to eliminate what she considered people of "inferior races."

In response to the letter sent by the coalition Ministers Taking a Stand earlier this month, National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet replied with a letter stating that the gallery will keep the bust because Sanger brought "medical advice and affordable birth control to disadvantaged women."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Black Pastors, Pro-Life Leaders Rally to Demand Smithsonian Remove Bust of Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger" by Penny Starr and Lauretta Brown, CNSNews.com 8/27/15

“The woman was a racist. She was a genocidal figure in America and in human history, and to honor her is to be complicit in her evil and her racism,” [Bishop E.W.] Jackson said. “That’s right. If you are honoring Margaret Sanger, you are joining together with her in her racist ideology.”

Rev. Johnny Hunter of the Global Life and Family Mission in North Carolina, said it was a “slap in the face to black folks” to have Sanger as part of the “Struggle for Justice” exhibit.

“Her association with the eugenics movement shadowed her achievements in sex education and contraception, making her a figure of controversy, one whose complexities and contradictions mirror her times,” Director Kim Sajet told the pastors in an Aug. 19 letter.

“There is no ‘moral test’ for people to be accepted into the National Portrait Gallery,” said Sajet.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "#BlackLivesMatter: Pastors Take on Controversial Legacy of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, Black Genocide in Scathing Letter" posted by Manny Otiko at Atlanta Black Star 8/10/15

Sanger worked to bring birth control to Black families in the south, but recognized her ideas would be met with suspicion. According to Factcheck.org, an organization that verifies media statements made by elected officials, Sanger wrote about the importance of gaining support from a black clergyman.

Considering its origins, the Black community has long viewed the birth control movement with suspicion. Many Black people felt that early experiments with birth control pills used Black communities as test subjects. And up until recently, some states still practiced elements of eugenics with mentally challenged people and other undesirables being forcibly sterilized. An Atlanta Blackstar story reported several cases of Black female inmates in California being sterilized without their consent.

Today, anti-abortion activists say the high rate of abortion in the Black community carries elements of eugenics. According to figures from the Center for Disease Control, while Black people make up about 14 percent of the population, 40 percent of abortions are carried out by Black women.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

America Protests Planned Parenthood, Media Ignore

Planned Parenthood Caught Selling Aborted Babies on Video

Planned Parenthood Reports its Abortions & Profits Increased Last Year

President Obama Asks God to Bless Planned Parenthood

Also read and view a vintage interview with Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger

Pastors' Hands Bloody: Abortion Parts Trafficking

Presidential candidate U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is pleading with all Bible-believing Christians to pray and call on their own local church leaders to engage the battle against abortionists and stop government funding of Planned Parenthood.  Yesterday, Sen. Cruz told thousands of Christian leaders via a conference call that they have the utmost duty to protect the unborn.

"How did America become a country that harvests organs from unborn children? And who has the courage to stop it?"
-- Ted Cruz campaign ad

For background, read Sen. Ted Cruz Rallies Christians in Iowa for Religious Liberty and also read Planned Parenthood Caught Selling Aborted Babies on Video as well as Kill Baby to Save Mother? No! Says Gov. Scott Walker

In addition read Rev. Franklin Graham Says Pastors Cowering from 'Culture War' Deserve Hell and read Study Finds Pastors Conceal Culture Truth to be Successful



-- From "Ted Cruz Rallies Evangelicals In Campaign To Defund Planned Parenthood" by Don Gonyea, NPR National Public Radio 8/25/15

[Ted Cruz'] latest pitch to religious voters came in a conference call Tuesday with church pastors from around the country.

In the conference call earlier, and at every campaign event, Cruz attacks Planned Parenthood. He highlights the recent series of undercover videos from an anti-abortion-rights group accusing the organization of selling fetal tissue from abortions for profit.

Cruz argues that he can win the nomination — and the presidency — by motivating real conservatives and not worrying at all about winning moderates. That's something he and others argue imperiled Republicans' chances in the last several elections.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Cruz’s evangelical outreach shifts into high gear" by Katie Zezima and Tom Hamburger, Washington Post 8/23/15

More than 100,000 pastors received e-mail invitations over the weekend to participate in conference calls with Cruz on Tuesday in which they will learn details of the [defund Planned Parenthood] plan to mobilize churchgoers in every congressional district beginning Aug. 30. The requests were sent on the heels of the Texas Republican’s “Rally for Religious Liberty,” which drew 2,500 people to a Des Moines ballroom Friday.

Heading into the primary season, it wasn’t clear how significant a role social issues would play in the selection of the Republican nominee. But social conservatives and evangelical voters say they have been galvanized by a one-two punch this summer: first, the Supreme Court’s decision that same-sex marriage should be legal in all 50 states — and then, the release of hidden-camera videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the donation of fetal tissue in a seemingly cavalier fashion.

All of the Republican candidates have found themselves spending more trail time on both issues over the past few months. Those fighting most fiercely for religious voters have made them central to their campaigns. But few candidates have made the burgeoning “religious liberty” movement in opposition to same-sex marriage and the fight to deny funding to Planned Parenthood as much of their campaign centerpiece as Cruz has — and perhaps no one is as well positioned to benefit politically from a renewed focus on those issues.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Ted Cruz Teams With Pastors To Defund Planned Parenthood" by David Brody, CBN News Chief Political Correspondent 8/23/15

Dear Pastor,

The recent exposure of Planned Parenthood's barbaric practices of harvesting the body parts of innocent babies and selling them to the highest bidder has brought about a pressing need to end tax payer support of this institution.

As the son of a pastor, I know you bear a high and holy calling on your lives. I am urging you to confront this evil in our nation by praying and preaching with an unbridled passion until funding for Planned Parenthood ends, and this barbaric practice is purged from the land.

Over the next two weeks, with the support of your prayers and the impact of your preaching, I intend to lead an effort to end taxpayer support of Planned Parenthood.

The battle we face is not political. It is spiritual. To enter this arena in a prayerless condition invites failure. . . .

To read the entire E-mail from Sen. Ted Cruz above, CLICK HERE.

From "Ted Cruz tries to rouse evangelicals with campaign against Planned Parenthood" by Lauren Markoe, Religion News Service 8/26/15

Cruz is working with the American Renewal Project, a conservative group that encourages pastors to run for elected office on a campaign to defund Planned Parenthood.

“Our call to action primarily, number one, is to get the pastors to return to prayer on this and every issue,” said the Rev. Ken Graves, who spoke on Tuesday’s teleconference call.

Too many of of the nation’s evangelical pastors “have come to believe that we have no freedom, no right to speak,” said Graves, senior pastor at Calvary Chapel in Bangor, Maine, and a speaker on the 20-minute call. He encouraged his fellow pastors to exercise their right to talk about Planned Parenthood and other issues according to their understanding of Scripture.

And Graves said the pastors stand on firm legal ground. “The word is out that pastors have the freedom, that they’re not a lower caste of American people,” he said. They can both speak out and engage in the process.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Ted Cruz recruiting pastors in push to defund Planned Parenthood" by Bob Allen, Baptist News Global 8/24/15

The phone call is part of a larger 50-state campaign by Cruz to end taxpayer support for Planned Parenthood — a campaign likely to raise his profile in a Republican primary race where the vote of social conservatives is seen as up for grabs.

[Sen. Cruz] asked that pastors preach a message Aug. 30 “calling on your people to enter into this spiritual battle for the soul of their nation.” A link on the American Renewal Project points to an outline for a sample sermon titled: “The Cry of the Innocent for the Soul of a Nation.”

Finally, Cruz asked pastors to lead congregations in a “Day of Prayer and Fasting,” on Wednesday, Sept. 9, and use Wednesday night services asking God “to move in the hearts of men and women in government to vote to end the slaughter of the innocents.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Ted Cruz calls out pastors to fight abortion" by Jack Minor, World Net Daily 8/25/15

“Now more than ever it is the role of the church, as well as our pastors and faith leaders, to stand up and speak the truth with absolute clarity,” Cruz said in a telephone conference call.

“I would encourage every pastor on this call to preach the truth about what is happening with Planned Parenthood. I recognize these are topics that are not without controversy, and they invite criticism when faith leaders speak candidly about them,” he said.

“If we cannot speak about this, there is very little that we can stand up and speak about. Preaching from the pulpit biblical values on life and comparing those values, the teachings of Jesus, to this nationwide business of trafficking in the body parts of unborn children is a message that needs to be heard across this nation.”

Cruz urged the pastors to lift up America’s leaders in prayer as well as pray for action against the sale of human body parts by the abortion provider.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Urging Pastors to Register Their Flocks to Vote (David Lane, American Renewal Project)

Christian Prayer Outrages California City Council

Commissioners in Redwood City, near San Francisco, California, immediately suspended opening invocations at city council meetings after Pastor Stephen Converse of Grace Bible Church prayed to God Almighty for all citizens of the city and nation in a Biblical context regarding abortion and same-sex marriage.

“We pray for the leaders of this country and its leaders who have clearly turned from your ways, oh God.  We live in a society where the murder of human life in the womb has become commonplace and our country is being terrorized not by people from foreign lands but by the very people who are responsible to protect it. . . . Lord we know that no human has the authority to redefine morality, but we live in a country where the Supreme Court, this human court, has said that murder is not murder, marriage is not marriage, and family is not family.”
-- Pastor Stephen Converse

For background, read U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Allows Christian Prayer in Civic Meetings

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

Religious Liberty in Homosexualists' Crosshairs

Kentucky Forbids Pastors Calling Homosexuality 'Sinful'

Idaho Pastors Face Fines, Jail for Refusing 'Gay Wedding'

Pastor Arrested in California for Reading Bible in Public

Jesus Talk Outlawed in New Orleans, Arrests Made

Houston Lesbian Mayor Subpoenas Pastors' Sermons

Pastors Lead Local Battles Against 'Gay Rights'





-- From "Redwood City Suspends Invocations at City Council Meetings" by Jean Elle, KNTV-TV11 (San Jose, CA) 7/30/15

No one interrupted Converse, who also serves as the city's volunteer police chaplain. But Mayor Jeff Gee later said the comments do not reflect the council's views.

"While I appreciate everyone's viewpoints, I do have to say tonight's invocation was not something I appreciate," Gee said.

Redwood City and San Mateo County LGBTQ Commissioner Jason Galisatus said a government meeting should be a place where everyone feels welcome.

City leaders and the police department plan to meet with the Redwood City Clergy Network to review guidelines for the selection of police volunteers.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Redwood City Suspends Opening Prayers At Council Meetings After Pastor’s Controversial Words" by Mark Sayre, CBS KPIX-TV5 (San Francisco, CA) 7/31/15

Speaking for himself, Galisatus says he feels the city is doing the right thing by reviewing the invocation process.

“And ensuring that the city council chambers remain a place that is safe for everybody,” Galisatus said.

In a written statement, Converse said, “It’s unfortunate that one simple prayer offered in good faith and concern for the moral welfare of our nation and community by a local pastor has garnered such heated criticism from the Redwood City Council.”

The pastor went on to say that he didn’t intend to offend anyone, but said sometimes the truth itself can be offensive.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "City puts prayer on hold: Pastor criticized gay marriage, abortion in council invocation" by Bill Silverfarb, Daily Journal 7/30/15

It wasn’t the first time Pastor Stephen Converse, from Grace Bible Church, opened a council meeting with a prayer but the first time he offered what was called offensive remarks.

“It’s unfortunate that a simple prayer has garnered such heated criticism from the council. I was invited there by them. In all honesty, I was addressing God, not man, based upon my own personal beliefs. I prayed for council and divine protection for our own police and firemen,” Converse said.

He considers the city’s act to suspend the invocations, however, as a “bit of an overreaction” but said he respects the decision.

The city has led its council meetings with invocations for decades without incident, Interim City Manager Aaron Aknin wrote in a statement Wednesday.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read how President Obama and his federal government agencies are elevating the Gay Agenda above religious liberty.

In addition, read Gay Agenda will be Complete when Christians are Muzzled, Say Homosexualists as well as Senator Ted Cruz Says the Gay Agenda Ends Christian Liberty

KY Forbids Pastors Calling Homosexuality 'Sinful'

Attorneys for Pastor David Wells are demanding that the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) drop the religious test on volunteer counselors issued by the Warren County Regional Juvenile Detention Center that censors use of the Bible regarding sexual sin.  Wells was recently dismissed by the State because he refused to sign an agreement denouncing God's Word.

"Many juveniles are in DJJ custody because of sexual crimes.  Pastor Wells must be able to discuss what the Bible says about matters of sexuality with the juveniles he is trying to help. . . . DJJ 912 equates the teaching of biblical morality with ‘derogatory,’ ‘biased” and ‘hateful’ speech."
-- Mat Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel (representing David Wells)

UPDATE 10/15/15: Obama Plans to Ban Evangelism to 'Homosexual Kids'

UPDATE 8/2/15: Christian Prayer Outrages California City Council

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Religious Liberty in Homosexualists' Crosshairs

Pastor Arrested in California for Reading Bible in Public

Jesus Talk Outlawed in New Orleans, Arrests Made

Houston Lesbian Mayor Subpoenas Pastors' Sermons

Idaho Pastors Face Fines, Jail for Refusing 'Gay Wedding'

Also read how state legislators, governors and judges are forbidding troubled youth from seeking Christian counseling.

And read how President Obama and his federal government agencies are elevating the Gay Agenda above religious liberty.

In addition, read Gay Agenda will be Complete when Christians are Muzzled, Say Homosexualists as well as Senator Ted Cruz Says the Gay Agenda Ends Christian Liberty

-- From "State forbids pastors calling homosexuality 'sinful'" by Bob Unruh, World Net Daily 7/24/15

The policy states that DJJ staff, volunteers and others “shall not imply or tell LGBTQI juveniles that they are abnormal, deviant, sinful or that they can or should change their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Wells had volunteered more than 10 years at the facility under the prison ministry of Pleasant View Baptist Church in McQuady.

Liberty Counsel’s letter [to the DJJ] noted Wells was ordered to sign a form “promising to refrain from telling any juvenile inmates that homosexuality was ‘sinful.’”

The state demand “violates the First Amendment by prescribing an official state religious ‘orthodoxy:’ now, only a religious belief that homosexuality is not ‘sinful’ may be expressed in DJJ facilities.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Unconstitutional Restriction on Religious Speech - letter to Bob Hayter, Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice" by Liberty Counsel 7/23/15

Demand is hereby made that Mr. Wells and other volunteer ministers be immediately reinstated as volunteers at this facility, free from unconstitutional religious discrimination, Policy 912 notwithstanding,

.. [In the past, DJJ] children have asked Mr. Wells if there was any hope for them in this life, and in the life to come.  He has told them without exception that Christ can, and would, forgive them, if they would repent and believe the gospel.  This message has given them hope, and many have told him this personally and in written correspondence.  Despite these facts, Superintendent [Gene] Wade has told Mr. Wells, on the basis of Policy 912, that if a child now asks questions of him on issues involving sexual activity, he may not discuss the same with them: “You can give a scripture reference to the kids, and let them look it up, but you can’t read it in their hearing. You can’t say “sinful;” you can’t discuss sexual orientation – heterosexual or homosexual - period.”

. . . By restricting speech which volunteers are allowed to use while ministering to youth detainees, the State of Kentucky and the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice have violated the protections given to private speech through the First Amendment and the Kentucky Constitution.  Policy 912 requires affirmation of homosexuality as a condition of providing spiritual guidance to troubled youth, and singles out a particular theological viewpoint as expressly disfavored by the State of Kentucky. This the State cannot do.

To read the entire letter above above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Supreme Court Rules Bible as 'Hate Speech' in Canada

And read European Union High Court Rules Gay Agenda Trumps Christianity