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

Wheaton College Prof. in Muslim Garb for Christmas

A political science associate professor at a well-known evangelical college in suburban Chicago is wearing a hijab to class and everywhere else during Advent to show “religious solidarity with Muslims” and to launch a Christian movement with Islam by wearing the mandatory head scarf for oppressed Muslim women.

“I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.”
-- Professor Larycia Alaine Hawkins, Wheaton College faculty member since 2007

For background, read Leftist Teaching at Wheaton College

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

Teaching Christians Muslim Dress in Illinois School

CAIR Teaching Girls to Wear Muslim Hijab in California School

U.S. Schools Force Islamic Terror Singing, Posters

Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion

Pennsylvania School Staff to Mosque for Islamic Training

-- From "Christian college professor wears hijab in solidarity with Muslim women" by Joshua Chavers, WPTV-TV5 (West Palm Beach, FL) 12/13/15

“I don't love my Muslim neighbor because s/he is American. I love my Muslim neighbor because s/he deserves love by virtue of her/his human dignity,” Hawkins said in [her Facebook page last week showing herself wearing a hijab].

The professor says as part of the Advent season, she will wear the hijab “to work at Wheaton College, to play in Chi-town, in the airport and on the airplane to my home state… and at church.”

Hawkins notes that she checked first with the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR] to make sure it was not offensive in any way for non-Muslim women to wear the hijab and she invites other women to join her effort as a way to express support and unity.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Wheaton College Prof. to Wear Hijab During Advent to Show Solidarity With Muslims" by Samuel Smith, Christian Post Reporter 12/11/15

[Hawkins wrote:] "I stand in human solidarity with my Muslim neighbor because we are formed of the same primordial clay, descendants of the same cradle of humankind — a cave in Sterkfontein, South Africa that I had the privilege to descend into to plumb the depths of our common humanity in 2014."

"I invite all women into the narrative that is embodied, hijab-wearing solidarity with our Muslim sisters — for whatever reason. A large scale movement of Women in Solidarity with Hijabs is my Christmas #wish this year," Hawkins continued. "Perhaps you are a Muslim who does not wear the veil normally. Perhaps you are an atheist or agnostic who finds religion silly or inexplicable. Perhaps you are a Catholic or Protestant Christian like me. Perhaps you already cover your head as part of your religious worship, but not a hijab."

"I asked whether a non-Muslim wearing the hijab was haram (forbidden), patronizing, or otherwise offensive to Muslims. I was assured by my friends at CAIR-Chicago that they welcomed the gesture," she explained. "So please do not fear joining this embodied narrative of actual as opposed to theoretical unity; human solidarity as opposed to mere nationalistic, sentimentality."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Evangelical Christian professor dons hijab because 'we worship the same God'" by Harry Farley, Junior Staff Writer, Christian Today 12/14/15

. . . in a more recent post she explained she had received criticism "almost exclusively from other Christians."

She said her position was "one held for centuries by countless Christians (church fathers, saints, and regular Christian folk like)" and insisted that "asserting our religious solidarity with Muslims and Jews will go a long way toward quelling religious violence and enervating religionist fear of the religious other."

Hawkins' gesture has been welcomed by the council on American-Islamic relations [CAIR] . . .

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Hijab-Wearing Wheaton College Prof. Responds to Critics Who Question Her Devotion (Interview)" by Samuel Smith, Christian Post Reporter 12/14/15

Since her controversial Facebook post last Thursday, Hawkins said that at least ten other people, including students, friends and even a mother of one of her former students, have told her that they will be taking part in wearing hijabs this Christmas season. She is not certain if all of them plan on wearing the hijab throughout the entire Advent or just for a day or two.

"I think that is the kind of unity through religious diversity that I am trying to accomplish through this is to have unity with women who are easily targeted because they wear their religion on their head," Hawkins stressed. "I really find it imperative to think about what it means to coexist as religionists. There are Christian missionaries who uphold these models of the faith who are doing the same thing as a way of reaching out to Muslims even as they try to spread the gospel. I am not sure if we see this is a way of sharing the gospel or as an act of religious solidarity. I think people do it all the time, just not in the U.S."

"I think woman wearing a cross or a man wearing a cross isn't necessarily deemed Christian but a woman wearing a hijab is always assumed to be Muslim, even though Jesus' mom wore a hijab. Mary, the mother of God, wore a hijab," Hawkins highlighted. " The context in the time is fortuitous to remind ourself that in some context, this is a cultural element of dress. Some of my friends who are missionaries in the Middle East wear the hijab while they live there everyday."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

UPDATE 2/10/16: From "Wheaton College 'Same God' Prof. Says Jesus Is Her Rock on Difficult Journey From Advent to Lent" by Samuel Smith, Christian Post Reporter

. . . Wheaton Provost Stanton Jones recommended last month that the school begin the termination proceedings for Hawkins, who was placed on administrative leave in mid-December after she asserted that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

On Saturday, it was announced in a press release that the school and Hawkins "found a mutual place of resolution and reconciliation." The statement added that the two sides "reached a confidential agreement under which they will part ways."

Although Hawkins issued a four-page theological statement on the matter days after she was suspended, the institution still felt that more theological discussion was needed before she could return to teach. Hawkins, however, made it clear to the administration that she would no longer have theological dialogue over the matter.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

UPDATE 2/10/16: From "Deal between Wheaton College, professor creates scholarship in her name" by Jessica Cilella, Daily Herald (Chicago suburbs)

[Wheaton College President Philip] Ryken said reconciliation is not always easy or perfect, but the college and Hawkins are "moving forward in genuine friendship, wishing each other well and wanting to bless each other in our work."

The debate over Hawkins' comments continues to resonate throughout the Wheaton College community. Even as Ryken and Hawkins stood together in Chicago, roughly two dozen students, alumni and religious leaders were gathering outside the school's Edman Chapel to announce the launch of a nationwide fast that calls upon the Wheaton community and other evangelical Christian institutions to "confess and repent of the sins of racism, sexism and Islamophobia, and recognize that all humans have dignity and are created equal in the eyes of God."

As president, Ryken said he is committed to restoring "what is lost and repair what is broken" on campus. To do that, he has asked the college's board of trustees to review ways the college can improve how it addresses faculty and personnel issues in the future, particularly when questions arise that relate to the college's statement of faith. He added that the school stands for religious freedom and against the repression of anyone, including Muslims.

Wheaton College theology professor George Kalantzis said Hawkins provided great spiritual and moral leadership, as well as a safe and inviting learning environment, on a campus that greatly needed it.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Christian Wheaton College 'Gay Alumni' Homecoming

Evangelical Wheaton College Sues ObamaCare

Wheaton College, a bastion of Christian conservatism in Wheaton, Illinois, has joined forces with dozens of Roman Catholic institutions to fight for religious liberty against President Obama's war on Christianity. Wheaton's president Dr. Philip Ryken says the ObamaCare mandate requiring the college to provide contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortifacient drugs to employees and students violate the Christian organization's freedom of religion.

For background, read ObamaCare Stakes Ground in War on Christianity and also read Supreme Court OKs Taxes for Abortion: ObamaCare as well as Wide-ranging Christian Leaders Sign Manifesto Opposing Obama Agenda

UPDATE 12/19/12: Federal appeals court holds lawsuit open to ensure Obama keeps promise to exclude Christian colleges from ObamaCare mandate by March 31, 2013

UPDATE 8/28/12: U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle dismisses Wheaton College lawsuit as premature because ObamaCare mandate doesn't fully deny religious liberty until August 2013

-- From "Wheaton College joins suit opposing contraception mandate" by Monifa Thomas, Chicago Sun-Times Health Reporter 7/19/12

On Monday, the west suburban evangelical college joined Catholic University of America in its suit, filed in May, against federal Health and Human Services (HHS) in the U.S. District Court for District of Columbia.

The suit opposes Health and Human Services “preventive services” requirement that most employers provide health insurance that covers the cost of contraception and sterilization procedures to their employees as part of the health care law Obama signed, or else face a fine.

Though Wheaton College has been concerned about the mandate for months, Wheaton College President Dr. Philip Graham Ryken said the decision to file the suit came after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act in June.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Wheaton College joins lawsuit over health care law" by Manya A. Brachear, Chicago Tribune reporter 7/18/12

Unlike Catholic Church teaching, evangelical doctrine does not oppose all contraception. But evangelicals do oppose prescription drugs such as morning-after pills that they believe cause abortions.

"Wheaton is an evangelical institution with a Protestant conviction that takes a clear pro-life position as a community," Ryken said. "This insurance mandate is against our conscience and our Christian conviction. We as yet have found no recourse but to file this suit."

The federal government's decision to define what constitutes a religious institution creates two classes of such institutions: those that enjoy full religious freedom and those that don't, he said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Wheaton College Joins Lawsuit Against Obama Birth Control Mandate" by Bernie Tafoya, WBBM-780 CBS (Chicago) 7/18/12

“Wheaton College and other distinctively Christian institutions are faced with a clear and present threat to our religious liberty,” Ryken said in the release. “Our first president, the abolitionist Jonathan Blanchard, believed it was imperative to act in defense of freedom. In bringing this suit, we act in defense of freedom again.”

Dr. Ryken says it would cost Wheaton College nearly $1.5 million in fines to disobey the law’s birth control and abortion coverage just for faculty and staff.

As for talk the Obama administration may exempt Wheaton College and other religious institutions but require their insurance companies to separately provide birth control and abortion service coverage, Dr. Ryken says, “We think that is a shell game that does not resolve the moral issue that we have”.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Wheaton College, Catholic University Jointly Sue Over Birth Control Mandate" by Napp Nazworth, Christian Post Reporter 7/18/12

[Ryken said,] "We have a respect for Roman Catholic institutions and in this case we recognize we have common cause with Catholic University of America and other Catholic institutions in defending religious liberty. We're, in effect, co-belligerents in this fight against government action. I think the fact that evangelicals and Catholics are coming together on this issue ought to be a sign to all Americans that something really significant for religious liberty is at stake."

"This is not a fight over contraception. Evangelicals, in fact, don't agree with Catholics on their opposition to contraception and birth control."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Wheaton sues to strike abortion drug mandate" by Michael Foust, Baptist Press Associate Editor 7/18/12

Illinois-based Wheaton is represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which said the suit was filed in partnership with Catholic University, a Washington D.C.-based school which previously filed suit against the mandate in May.

Churches are exempt from the [ObamaCare] mandate, but many religious organizations -- such as universities and faith-based ministries -- are not. The Obama administration has argued that under the mandate, the insurance company -- and not the religious organization -- would be the one paying for the drugs. But Wheaton, in its suit, rejected such logic. Subsidizing an insurance plan that would "facilitate access" to abortion-causing drugs violates its religious beliefs, even if the drugs themselves are paid for by the insurance company, Wheaton said.

"The government issued an administrative rule ... that runs roughshod over Wheaton's religious beliefs, and the beliefs of millions of other Americans, by forcing it to provide health insurance coverage for abortifacient drugs and related education and counseling," the lawsuit states.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Christian Wheaton College 'Gay Alumni' Homecoming

A recently formed homosexualist club of alumni of the Illinois college often referred to as "the Harvard for Evangelicals" showed up in force on homecoming weekend encouraging students to proudly declare their homosexuality.

“If you identify as GLBT and Christian, you do not have to choose,” said Ruth Wardschenk, an ’89 alumna who brought her daughter and partner to the event and sat on the panel. “You can have a partner or a spouse, you can have a family, you can have a church community.”

For background, read Homosexual Alumni Want Wheaton College to Change

UPDATE 7/1/13: Wheaton College Steers Back onto The Straight and Narrow Path

-- From "Wheaton College alumni: You can be gay and Christian" by Michelle Manchir, Chicago Tribune TribLocal 10/10/11

Hundreds of gay and lesbian Wheaton College alumni, students, staff, and supporters gathered at [St. Mark’s Episcopal] Glen Ellyn church on Friday night to kick off Homecoming weekend.

The gathering could be the first of many for the group, formed in early April to support current Wheaton students struggling with questions about their sexual orientation and as a networking resource for alums.

Kendall Park, a current Wheaton College student, said she attended the discussion because she has many gay friends and equality issues are “near and dear to my heart.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Wheaton's (Unofficial) Homecoming for Gay Evangelicals" by Elizabeth Dias, Time Magazine 10/7/11

. . . José Vilanova graduated from Wheaton College in 1989 . . .

Like most Evangelical colleges, Wheaton maintains that homosexuality is not God's design for humanity. That's why Vilanova felt like he couldn't come out at the suburban-Chicago college.

Fast-forward 22 years and Vilanova is not only returning to campus — he's organizing a group outing. Literally. On Oct. 7, he and his partner of four years will meet up with 50 or so lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) alumni, along with their spouses, partners and children, for Wheaton's annual homecoming weekend. And during the group's inaugural gathering, its members won't be looking to blend in with the crowd. At the football game against Elmhurst College on Oct. 8, Wheaton's LGBT alums and their supporters will be wearing matching T-shirts emblazoned with the group's name, OneWheaton, and a rainbow.

OneWheaton's highly visible presence on campus puts the college in a difficult position. On the one hand, Wheaton students can still get kicked out for being openly and unrepentantly gay — administrators declined to tell TIME how many students had been asked to leave because of their sexual orientation — and reparative counseling is a common option before dismissal.

[Wheaton College President Philip] Ryken says he will not attend either of these OneWheaton events, he does plan to mingle with its members at the football game. Some student groups have already reached out to OneWheaton members.

. . . A handful of current faculty members and administrators have privately expressed a more affirming view of homosexuality, but declined to be named in this article since their beliefs would put their jobs on the line.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Gay and Lesbian Graduates to Make a Statement During Wheaton College's Alumni Event?" by Herbert Pinnock, Christian Post Contributor 10/7/11

The challenge for the Illinois Christian college is to be able to embrace all members of its alumni community while at the same time hold firm to its historical teachings on sexual morality.

In an email addressed to his Chicago campus community, Wheaton President Phillp Ryken said:

“Members of any family have areas of agreement and disagreement. This is true of Wheaton College’s relationship to OneWheaton, a group comprised of alumni but not affiliated with the College. As I have shared in an earlier campus communication, the College agrees with OneWheaton’s stated desire to ‘affirm the full humanity and dignity of every human being, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.’”

Ryken Continued:

“We also remain committed to the Bible’s teaching on sexual morality, which has anchored the church throughout its history and is described in our Community Covenant.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Homosexuality NOT Fixed, Change Possible (a study by Wheaton College Provost Stanton Jones)

Homosexuality NOT Fixed, Change Possible: Study

Many people who work in the field of psychology argue against the idea that a person can change their sexual orientation. But a new study published in the October edition of the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy reveals that some homosexuals who seek to change their sexual orientation may be able to do so with the help of religious mediation.

For background, read 'Gay Marriage' Heralded by American Psychological Association and also read Psychologists Suggest Homosexuals Change Churches as well as Normalization of Pedophilia Urged by Psychiatrists

UPDATE 9/4/12: Most Homosexuals Who Want to Convert Report Change

UPDATE 11/29/12: Legislators outlawing therapy to overcome same-sex attractions

UPDATE 12/28/11: Homosexuals Can Change, Says Jewish Experts

From "Study supporting gay conversion challenged" by Madison Park, CNNhealth.com Writer/Producer 10/4/11

[The study showing change is possible has] been challenged by other researchers who say that the bulk of the existing evidence indicates that sexual orientation does not change. Gay advocacy blogs have also disputed the findings.

The American Psychological Association declared in 2005 that homosexuality was not changeable. The association had also stated that there was no evidence that conversion or reparative therapy aimed at changing sexual orientation was safe or effective.

Eli Coleman, professor and director of Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota Medical School was skeptical about the [new] findings.

“We’ve been through this over and over,” he said. “You can get behavioral changes, but that’s not orientation change. You can get short-term behavioral change. It’s not sustained.”

"I don’t think we have anything really new here," said Coleman. "We have known for sometime that some people are able to shift their behavior and their perception of their sexual identity through these attempts at conversion."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Peer-Reviewed Study Adds Validity to Claims of Sexual Orientation Change" by Jeff Schapiro, Christian Post Reporter 9/30/11

The study, conducted by psychologists Stanton L. Jones of Wheaton College and Mark A. Yarhouse of Regent University, examined changes in homosexuals who sought the help of Exodus International in trying to change their sexual orientation.

Twenty-three percent reported a successful “conversion” to heterosexual orientation, while 30 percent reported “stable behavioral chastity.” Twenty percent of the subjects, however, gave up on changing and fully embraced the gay identity.

"Our study ... does not prove that everyone can change,” Jones said in an interview with The Christian Post on Friday. “It just proves that the reality is very, very complicated, and there seems to be some capacity for some people to shift their sexual orientation in a way that has personal meaning to them."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Change Is Possible for Homosexuals, Study Claims" by Andrea Marcela Madambashi, Christian Post Correspondent 9/30/11

Candace Chellew-Hodge, the founder of Whosoever, an Online Magazine for GLBT [homosexual] Christians, found firstly that the research was “suspect” as the researchers are from conservative Christian colleges. He showed his concern also for their conclusions being "overly optimistic."

Chellew-Hodge criticized the methodology saying the sample size was small and claimed that the results came from fear of the subjects. He said, “The single greatest motivator for these 98 subjects however most certainly was a fear-based one. In short, they were all living under the threat of hell.”

Jones responded to those, including the American Psychological Association (APA), who said that sexual orientation could not be changed, that no such research exists, and he wants to bring up that change is certainly possible.

“We were trying to address the basic question ‘Is change possible?’ The fact that anyone changed is what came out of this study,” he said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Homosexual Alumni Want Wheaton College to Change

The homosexual community is rallying around a group of Wheaton College (Illinois) graduates who are offering support for any current students wanting to openly participate in deviant sexual behavior, in response to the Christian college's position of celibacy in singleness.

-- From "Wheaton College group offers support for LGBT" by Jenn Zimmerman, Chicago Tribune Reporter 5/3/11

OneWheaton seeks to offer "a safe space" for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community, said group spokeswoman Kristin Winn. The LGBTQ community, according to Winn, is not widely accepted on campus because of the school's official position against "homosexual behavior."

[In response], Wheaton College President Philip Ryken sent an internal email to all students, faculty and staff that cited passages in the Bible that condemned homosexual behavior.

Ryken also wrote, "We stand with LGBTQ persons before God as persons created in God's own image, and also as sinful persons in need of God's forgiveness and love."

Ryken added that the overall desire of OneWheaton to "affirm the full humanity and dignity of every human being, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity" is something the college agrees with.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Wheaton College alumni group offers support for gay students" by Marco Santana, Daily Herald 5/4/11

Each year, Wheaton College sponsors a weeklong, theme-based lecture series at its three-times-a-week mandatory chapel service and this year chose the theme “Sexuality and Wholeness.”

OneWheaton members said they were spurred to action, in part, because of the school's inclusion in the series of a Wheaton College alumnus, Wesley Hill, who says he has chosen celibacy over homosexuality.

Group members say they wanted to let students know there were other options that could be just as rewarding.

OneWheaton spokeswoman Kristin Winn, a 2007 graduate, says she came out about six months after finishing school and moving to Los Angeles. “We want to show those students there is a community of love and support they will have,” she said.

"Our position is that the college is not intentionally trying to be malicious," she said. "They believe this is a way of loving homosexual students. I applaud them for talking about it." But she said the speaker series left out the possibility that their sexuality is not a sin and that they can still lead vibrant lives while "remaining true to who they are."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Wheaton College Alumni Rally Around Gay Students" by Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service (posted at Huffington Post) 5/4/11

"The recent chapel message on Sexuality and Wholeness and surrounding conversations may have left you feeling alienated, ashamed and afraid," reads the open letter [to students from OneWheaton]. "Many of us felt trapped and unable to respond honestly to these messages while we were students."

In an emailed response to the letter, Wheaton President Philip Ryken told students that the school considers gay people members "of the human family as created in the image of God himself," but remains committed to its covenant that condemns homosexual behavior.

"Many have experienced insensitive or callous responses in this community, for which we repent and seek forgiveness," he wrote, adding the school condemns violence and injustice toward gays.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Wheaton LGBTQ organization forms" by Lisa Klein, Windy City Times 5/4/11

. . . gay alum Wesley Hill April 1. Hill spoke to students about his struggle with his sexuality, telling them that he has chosen lifelong celibacy because being gay is "not something to be affirmed and celebrated, but a sign that we're broken."

OneWheaton, formed this year as a support group for LGBTQ students and alumni of Wheaton College (but not sanctioned by the school), distributed its response letter on campus and posted it on its website.

[Kristin] Winn recalled her days at Wheaton, saying the chapel messages she remembered made her and other LGBTQ students feel like something was wrong with them, "like you have a dark future ahead."

The group originally formed around the idea of LGBTQ alumni making a video for sex columnist Dan Savage's It Gets Better project, but ended up as a support group for both alumni and students of the school.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Leftist Teaching at Wheaton College, Illinois as well as Wheaton College Features Pro-Homosexual Speaker

Leftist Teaching at Wheaton College, Illinois

[T]he current document known as the “conceptual framework” of the education department at Wheaton College [includes] the father of the social justice movement, Brazilian Marxist, Paulo Freire and former Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers.

UPDATE 7/1/13:  College officially changes "conceptual framework" back to Christianity

UPDATE 9/12/11: College revises teaching, hopefully for the best

UPDATE 3/11/10: Teaching Social Justice at Wheaton College (from Illinois Family Institute)

UPDATE 3/5/10: Wheaton College's Promotion of Social Justice (includes link to audio quotes from the College)

UPDATE 3/2/10: Wheaton responds, but provides no evidence to refute the accusations below (post dated 2/25/10)

-- From "Billy Graham Meets Bill Ayers" by Sandy Rios, Culture Campaign (posted at Townhall.com) 2/26/10

There’s hardly an evangelical who doesn’t know about Wheaton College. Alma Mater of the Reverend Billy Graham . . .

So imagine the dismay of many to learn that, in an effort to educate its students, Wheaton has moved to the left, so much so that in a survey by the Wheaton Record, 60 percent of its faculty voted for President Barack Obama, the most pro-abortion, pro-homosexual agenda, spiritually confused president the nation has ever elected.

How can this be? Perhaps much of it can be attributed to a movement widely embraced by the campus known as “social justice.”

. . . Why would Wheaton College embrace such a philosophy? “…these are people you can learn from because they’re going to teach us Christians that maybe we have some blind spots here, that we’ve been oblivious to certain areas of injustice,” said President Duane Litfin.

Dr. Jillian Lederhouse, chairman of the department of education defended the conceptual framework by saying “we don’t teach our students to be afraid on an ideology as long as we give them a critical perspective. We do not have a list of people we do not read. Our goal is to produce a thinking Christian teacher.” And that is as it should be in an institution of higher learning, except for one thing. Lederhouse went on to admit that the people who were foundational to Wheaton’s conceptual framework were all on the far left.

To read the entire commentary above, CLICK HERE.

From "Wheaton College Invites Leftist, Pro-Homosexual Evangelical Jim Wallis to Speak" By Peter LaBarbera, AmericansForTruth.com February 2008

[Wheaton College's Center for Applied Christian, CACE, in September 2007 invited] homosexual “gay christian” activist Harry Knox to speak at a panel discussion on “HIV and Morality,” as a representative of the (traditional-Christian-bashing) homosexual activist group Human Rights Campaign.

. . . If I’m not mistaken, Harry talked about his relationship with his male partner at the Wheaton panel discussion, which was titled, “Thy Kingdom Come: Christian Moral Engagement in the World.”

The following excerpt is taken from page 229 of “The Great Awakening” [by Jim Wallis, the Wheaton College CACE speaker of February 2008:]

“I support civil rights laws for same-sex couples. That, for me, is a justice issue. Many Christians, and I include myself, prefer the solution of ‘civil unions’ from the state, and even spiritual ‘blessings’ for gay couples (from congregations prepared to offer them), rather than altering the church’s sacrament of marriage as between a man and a woman, but those differences should not be fundamentally divisive. Gay marriage should not be the primary battleground in the fight for the health and stability of marriage and family in our society. In a pluralistic democracy, we should support civil and human rights for all our citizens, regardless of our different theological and biblical interpretations of the complicated and thorny issues surrounding homosexuality. New evidence and understanding around those issues could cause any of us to alter our views. But we should find common ground by supporting concrete practices and practical policies that strengthen families and nurture all our children.”

To read the entire commentary above, CLICK HERE.

Wide-ranging Christian Leaders Sign Manifesto Opposing Obama Agenda

The "Manhattan Declaration" signers include nine Roman Catholic archbishops and evangelical leaders ranging from Southern Baptists, to Moody Bible Institute, to Focus on the Family, to Wheaton College, to conservative leaders in mainline protestant denominations.

Click here to E-mail the writers of the declaration and signers (automated E-mail system takes less than 60 seconds).

-- From "Christian Leaders Unite on Political Issues" by Laurie Goodstein, New York Times 11/20/09

Citing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to civil disobedience, 145 evangelical, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders have signed a declaration saying they will not cooperate with laws that they say could be used to compel their institutions to participate in abortions, or to bless or in any way recognize same-sex couples.

“We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence,” it says.

The manifesto [click to see list of signers] is an effort to rejuvenate the political alliance of conservative Catholics and evangelicals . . .

They want to signal to the Obama administration and to Congress that they are still a formidable force that will not compromise on abortion, stem-cell research or gay marriage. They hope to influence current debates over health care reform, the same-sex marriage bill in Washington, D.C., and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. [. . . perhaps the new 'hate crimes' legislation?]

[The 4,700-word document is called the “Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience”] was written by Mr. Colson; Robert P. George, a professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University, who is Catholic; and the Rev. Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School, an evangelical interdenominational school on the campus of Samford University, in Birmingham, Ala.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.

Wheaton College Features Pro-Homosexual Speaker

From "Wheaton College Features Pro-Homosexual Speaker" by Jeff Johnson, posted 2/19/08 at OneNewsNow.com

Wheaton College is once again featuring a pro-homosexual activist as a featured speaker at its Center for Applied Christian Ethics.

Wheaton first came under fire for inviting self-proclaimed "gay Christian" activist Harry Knox to participate in a panel discussion during which he repeated the claim that his sexual preference is a "gift from God." This evening Wheaton will feature Jim Wallis, editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine and author of the new book The Great Awakening, in which Wallis claims the effort to legitimize homosexual relationships in the law is "a justice issue."

Peter LaBarbera, with Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, says the college is failing both its Bible-centered charter and its obligations to academic integrity. "We find it hard to believe that somebody who believes in the Bible -- and the Bible teaches that homosexuality is an abomination," states LaBarbera, "... could call support for so-called 'civil rights' based on egregiously sinful behavior -- how you can call that 'a justice issue'?"

One must wonder why on earth Wheaton College would give a man, who claims to be Christian -- yet openly advocates rebellion toward God -- a platform from which to influence its students. I can hardly imagine a circumstance under which they would invite a "Christian" who publicly advocates other sorts of sexual sin, such as adultery, polygamy, bestiality or adult incest. Is advocating the more politically correct sin of homosexuality somehow more permissible? Incidentally, Mr. Wallis also supports legalized abortion.

A person such as this should be considered a wolf in sheep's clothing and therefore dangerous to the flock. The only circumstances under which he should have been allowed to speak would have been one where he would have shared the platform with an able Biblical scholar who could have easily rebuked him.

In giving him a solitary platform, Wheaton College not only provided him a position from which to spread his particular brand of rebellion, it also lent him credibility in doing so.

We can only hope and pray that Wheaton College administrators will realize that they have made a very unwise decision and learn from it...

Read the rest of the article.