Denomination

A jury of 13 Wisconsin ordained elders convicted a lesbian minister of performing a September 2009 same-sex wedding for a lesbian couple despite a United Methodist Church ban on the practice.

However, the jury acquitted the Rev. Amy DeLong on a second charge of being a “self-avowed practicing homosexual.” The vote was 12-1.

The United Methodist Church permits gay and lesbian ministers to serve as long as they remain celibate. The church does not permit clergy to perform same-sex marriage rituals. more >>

An openly lesbian United Methodist minister will face a jury of her peers on two charges of violating by-laws beginning Tuesday in Kaukauna, Wis.

The Rev. Amy DeLong faces two charges of breaking the denomination’s ban on homosexuality. DeLong reportedly conducted a ceremony in 2009 that wedded a lesbian couple in addition to her admission of a same-sex relationship. She has been involved in pastoral ministry for eight years, according to the United Methodist News Service.

The three-day trial before a panel of 13 of her fellow Wisconsin United Methodist ministers is described in the Church’s Book of Discipline as a last resort, according to the UMNS. more >>

An online prayer site that collects daily and monthly fees for prayers to be read out loud at services inside your choice of four Orthodox churches in Romania is being viewed critically by leaders of the centuries-old denomination.

The Romanian company charges $1.44 per day or $34 per month for prayers that fall inside categories that include health, good exam results, and forgiveness of sins for those alive and dead.

The Romanian Orthodox church did not approve the company or the site, according to news reports. Father Iulian Anitei of the Holy Protection Orthodox Church in Houston said he doubts the legitimacy of the company and the prayer service. more >>

On the opening day of the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, SBC president Bryant Wright addressed the convention, saying if there is one message God wants Southern Baptist individuals, churches and the convention itself to hear, it is that they have left their first love, as Jesus describes in Revelation 2.

Wright addressed on Tuesday five challenges Southern Baptists face on a daily basis that slowly pull believers away from Christ.

The first challenge he spoke about was materialism – which he says is the number one idol in SBC churches, pointing to studies that show evangelical Christians give less than 2.5 percent of their income to the Lord’s work. He said there’s a clear message in that fact. more >>

Modern day society tolerates any philosophy “except that centered on Jesus Christ”, the newly installed Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland warned Monday June 6.

Dr Ivan Patterson attacked society’s lack of tolerance towards Christianity, and warned Christians at the Church’s annual assembly in Belfast that Christians will undoubtedly encounter challenges for living out their faith.

“Jesus speaks about going extra miles; welcoming strangers; loving enemies; forgiving those who do us harm,” Dr Patterson said. “In our society Christians have had their wings clipped in our politically correct world.” more >>

The first of a series of ordinations are set to take place, which will see former Anglican clergy defect from the Church of England and become Roman Catholic priests, on Saturday.

Overall more than 50 former Anglican clergy will complete their defection over the next two weeks in a series of Pentecost ordinations.

The first of these will see seven former Church of England clergy be ordained in London by the Most Rev. Peter Smith, Archbishop of Southwark. The event will further establish the new Ordinariate formed by Pope Benedict XVI for Anglicans that wished to defect from the Anglican Church of England in protest against its moves to accept women bishops. more >>