Maryland

Baptist churches from the East and West ends of Baltimore have come together in a collaborative effort to bridge the gap between the two halves of the city and celebrate revival.

The 10th annual "simultaneous revival" is a weeklong event that kicked off on Sunday and expects to draw thousands of Baltimore residents and members from 17 Baptist congregations. Their mission is to draw lost souls as they demonstrate a spirit of unity.

"It sends a message that we are united," said the Rev. H. Waldon Wilson II, pastor of Israel Baptist Church in East Baltimore and president of the revival, according to The Baltimore Sun. “The church is only one church, and we want to not just teach it and preach it. We want to demonstrate it.” more >>

Maryland's highest court on Tuesday narrowly upheld the state's marriage law as a union between one man and one woman.

The state's Court of Appeals ruled in a 4-3 decision that the 1973 ban on same-sex "marriage" does not discriminate on the basis of gender and does not deny any fundamental rights. The 244-page decision on the case Conaway v. Deane also said the state has a legitimate interest in fostering procreation, encouraging the traditional family structure and promoting heterosexual marriages.

“We’re pleased that the Maryland Court of Appeals did not allow the demands of advocates of homosexual behavior to be furthered in this case,” said Chris Stovall, senior legal counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the Family Research Council (FRC). more >>

This fall, Maryland’s Montgomery County will begin teaching middle and high school students about homosexuality as a normal sexual identity amid an appeal by pro-family groups.

Montgomery's 8th and 10th graders will be taught in their health education courses that homosexuality is "innate," anal sex is just another sexual option, children who hold traditional religious views about homosexuality are labeled "homophobic," and that transgenderism is just another "sexual orientation," according to Thomas More Law Center.

The law center is assisting pro-family groups – Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, and the Family Leader Network – in a last-minute appeal against the Maryland State Board of Education's decision last month to approve the homosexual-friendly curriculum. more >>

Pro-family groups in Maryland have finally announced their intent to file an appeal against a Maryland school board’s support for a homosexual-friendly sexual education program.

The announcement Wednesday was in response to the Maryland State Board of Education’s 17-page opinion paper last month that said it found nothing illegal inside the new curriculum and that the board would not ban it from the Montgomery County school system.

The new policy, which would teach a favorable view of homosexuality and transgenderism as well as how to use a condom, has upset many faith-based and pro-family groups that see the act as indoctrinating children with negative influences. Parents opposed to the curriculum feel that they have a right as parents to decide what their child should learn, especially if it goes against their upbringing. more >>

Employees of a school district in Maryland have been accused of viewpoint discrimination for censoring and limiting the speech of a religious group on school grounds.

The Christian legal group Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) sent a letter to the Montgomery County school board on Monday to address the issue, stating that religious group Parents and Friends of Gays and Ex-Gays (PFOX) have a right to hand out materials to students on campus.

This is the same county that is currently in heated debate with parents over a new pro-homosexual sexual education curriculum that was recently passed. more >>

Several pro-family groups have been contemplating whether or not to file a federal lawsuit after members of a Maryland school board OK’d a new homosexual-friendly sex-ed curriculum.

The lawsuit would be an attempt to reverse the decision found in a 17-page opinion paper written by Maryland State Board of Education officials. In the document, officials explained that a new health education layout as part of the Montgomery County Board of Education that would teach about sexual orientation and condom use was legal and thus should not be thrown out.

Christian groups are arguing that the decision not only goes against what parents in the area want, but that the curriculum illogically violates parents rights in upbringing their children and that it is intolerant to those against alternative lifestyles. more >>