Church Politics

Liveprayer.com, an interactive Christian website with over 2.4 million subscribers, is calling for a boycott of Christian TV network TBN, according to a press release.

Bill Keller, the leader of the site, issued the call after prominent Christian leaders such as Pastor John Hagee and David Barton expressed their support for Glenn Beck’s “restoring courage” campaign on the network.

“It is absolutely ridiculous for a supposed Christian TV Network, that purports to be propagating the gospel, like TBN, with major Christian figures like John Hagee and David Barton, to be supporting and advocating for a member of a satanic cult,” said Keller to The Christian Post. more >>

Clarification appended

A Calvin College professor claims that college administrators are being dishonest about the forced resignation of one of his colleagues over issues related to evolution and scriptural interpretation.

In a statement to the Grand Rapids Press, Calvin College, a liberal arts college in Grand Rapids, Mich., said that John Schneider, professor of religion at Calvin College for 25 years, “chose to request retirement on terms that reflected his love and respect for the college, the faculty, and the students, and his desire that his scholarship not cause harm or distraction. The college, with appreciation and respect for Professor Schneider's many contributions and faithful service as a scholar and teacher, agreed to grant such retirement as of June 30, 2011.” more >>

Several residents in the village of Trillingham, in rural Essex, England, have petitioned to have the vicar of their local church removed from her position.

Claiming that she is "inefficient" and does not cater to the needs of the community, 300 villagers have signed a petition to have Rev. Lorna Smith removed as the priest-in-charge of St. Nicholas Church.

Resident, Ray Keane, started the campaign, stating that many who live in Trillingham call her a "tart without a heart." more >>

An Illinois governor has signed a law that will mean members of fundamentalist group Westboro Baptist Church, known for its protests of military funerals, will have to stay away further from services.

Gov. Pat Quinn’s decree, signed Sunday at the Executive Mansion, pushes funeral protesters an additional 100 feet to 300 feet away, and bans them from the area entirely 30 minutes before and after funeral services.

The bill expands Quinn’s “Let Them Rest In Peace Act,” proposed in 2005, which former Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed in 2006. more >>

The founding pastor of Crystal Cathedral, the Rev. Robert H. Schuller, has been reinstated on the board of directors and given back voting rights as two members who called for his ouster last month are dropped from the committee.

The church, currently trying to wade its way out of a debt crisis, decided in a meeting last Friday to "expand and enlarge the board," according to a statement posted Wednesday on the Crystal Cathedral website.

Schuller, 84, is identified as Chairman Emeritus in the list of current board members. more >>

A Presbyterian minister on Long Island is bucking church protocol by saying she will marry same-sex couples.

The Rev. Elizabeth Simpson of the First Presbyterian Church of Glen Cove told WCBS radio that she will marry one of the same-sex couples that attend the church next March.

“I will make myself vulnerable to accusations or indictments, so to speak, from within the Presbytery,” she said, according to the radio station. more >>