n Alabama pastor who shocked his congregation with admissions of drug-taking and having sex on church premises has been barred from his church by court order.

Rev Juan D McFarland is pastor of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Montgomery. He made headlines when made a series of lurid confessions to his his congregation, including telling them that he had AIDS. He refused to accept an 80-2 vote calling for him to be dismissed and retained the support of many in the church: Shiloh’s missionary president said: “He’s a man of God, but he’s a human being. It’s not that we condone what our pastor has done, but we need to have compassion. We not supposed to assassinate our brothers and sisters. We’re not supposed to judge.”

However, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Charles Price was obliged to do just that. He barred McFarland from attending the church and even being on the premises in response to a suit filed by the church’s board of deacons and board of trustees. The suit accused the pastor of believing in “sexual ungodliness” and “engaging in such acts in the church building.”

It also said he had attempted to alter the church’s bylaws in January 2013 to prevent his termination “in the event the church members discovered his debauchery, sinfulness, hedonism, sexual misconduct, dishonesty, thievery and rejection of the Ten Commandments”.
He was also accused of changing the locks at the church and changing the names on church bank accounts.

Price said that the plaintiffs had “met their burden of showing an entitlement to a preliminary injunction”.
He ordered McFarland to return all church keys to Shiloh’s chairman of trustees, Lee Sanford, to return a Mercedes Benz that belongs to the church and change the names on the church bank accounts back to their original state: “The Defendant Juan D McFarland shall immediately inform the manager of the Adams Avenue branch of Regions Bank that all bank accounts of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church shall be placed back in the names of the same individuals as they existed on October 1, 2014.”

“It was extremely reluctantly that we took the action that we did, but we have to look [out] for the spiritual welfare of the members of Shiloh Missionary Baptist in moving forward,” Sanford told the Montgomery Advertiser after the ruling. He said that the church has always acted in a spirit of forgiveness towards its former pastor.

The final hearing will be on December 1.

Source and Original Content by Christian Today

New Life Covenant Church in Chicago and Alliance Defending Freedom severely criticized the subpoena of various pastors’ sermons in Houston, Texas, due to their objection to an LGBT discrimination city ordinance that was passed recently.

“It’s a sad day in the United States of America, in the land of the free, when the First Amendment rights of religious leaders are being trampled on by a mayor for political gain and/or exposure,” Wilfredo De Jesús, senior pastor of New Life Covenant Church in Chicago, Illinois, said in a statement.

Houston’s mayor, Annise Parker, has denied she knew about the city’s attempt to subpoena the sermons and correspondence with their congregations of five pastors. But one of those pastors, Dave Welch, who is the executive director of the Houston area U.S. Pastor Council, told The Christian Post earlier that the mayor herself initiated the action in response to a legal battle over the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

“As an evangelical pastor, I have the responsibility to my church and the body of Christ to share the Gospel,” De Jesús said. “These pastors have the same responsibility. I understand that what we preach may not be popular, it may not be politically relevant and it may offend people. Jesus is our example. He understood His call and proceeded to preach/teach the Good News until he was brutally crucified on the cross for His message.”

The subpoenas were issued by Houston’s city attorney in response to a lawsuit filed by opponents of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, that allow men and women who identify as transgender or opposite sex to use the facilities such as restrooms of their choice.

What is not acceptable is a government body deploying “bullying tactics that perpetuate an environment of hate toward Christians and bigotry toward our Christian beliefs,” Pastor De Jesús said, calling on all pastors to demand that the City of Houston and Mayor Parker “disengage from these frivolous subpoenas and issue a formal apology to help bring forth reconciliation… Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN 1

Faith Driven Consumer’s grassroots effort supporting Houston’s pastors-despite initially being blocked by Twitter after it launched last Thursday-continues to gain momentum as leaders around the nation call on city officials to reverse course

Faith Driven Consumer™, the group that emerged on the national stage last year with its #IStandWithPhil campaign that played a leading role in Phil Robertson’s return to Duck Dynasty, has surpassed 10,000 signatures for its latest petition campaign, despite being initially blocked by Twitter. The petition-#HoustonWeHaveAProblem at HoustonProblem.com-asks that the City of Houston immediately “cease and desist all bullying and other offensive actions” against a group of pastors who are victims of aggressive harassment efforts at the hands of the city government.

Last week, dozens of media outlets reported that the City of Houston had demanded that a group of pastors turn over any sermons-including personal correspondence such as emails-“dealing with homosexuality, gender identity or Annise Parker, the city’s first openly lesbian mayor.”

“Thousands of concerned citizens are signing up in support of this important cause-harnessing the power of social media and keeping the pressure on Houston’s governmental leaders. Faith Driven Consumers and people of conscience across the nation-including leaders at the local, state and national levels-are joining the call for the mayor and city officials to unequivocally reverse course and end their harassment of five respected area pastors and ultimately Christians throughout Houston,” said Chris Stone, founder of Faith Driven Consumer. “We will continue to rally greater levels of grassroots support until tolerance and equality for people of faith are restored in the nation’s fourth largest city.”

Faith Driven Consumer serves as an advocate for more than 41 million consumers-one in every six American adults-who spend $2 trillion annually. The #HoustonWeHaveAProblem petition campaign reminds everyone that “pastors have been at the very center of American society since even before our founding as a nation, and they remain an integral part of the lives of untold millions of Americans today,” that “our First Amendment protects freedom of speech and religion” and that “we…live in a society that values equality, including the notion that everyone has the right to publicly express deeply held beliefs without fear of persecution or reprisal.”

Signers at HoustonProblem.com express the desire that “the City of Houston, in its quest to provide protection for LGBT citizens, to equally and explicitly acknowledge and ensure the equal rights of people of faith to live and express openly their deeply held religious beliefs.”

Source and Original Content by BCNN 1

After Mark Driscoll’s highly publicized resignation from the church he founded nearly two decades ago, former Mars Hill leaders and members are calling for a return to worship Sunday.

Kevin Potts hasn’t attended a service at his old church in Ballard for 7 years.

“I’m not exactly sure what’s going to happen when I show up to church tomorrow morning,” he said. “My purpose isn’t to show up and say, ‘Ha ha, Mark’s gone, we won.’”

Potts joined Mars Hill when only a couple hundred people attended 14 years ago. He served as a worship coordinator as Sunday crowds grew to several thousand.

In 2007, he left as Driscoll, he says, took control unlike ever before.

“Do what we say because we said it,” he described the attitude at the time.

In a Change.org petition just posted online, former pastors call for a repeal of the Mars Hill 2007 bylaws, calling them the “crippling of Mars Hill Church” by consolidating power from 24 elders to Driscoll’s executive lead.

It’s when Potts decided to quit.

“The abuse of authority by its leadership,” he remembered. “They expected unquestioning submission to their authority.”

Potts never expected to return. Now, he’s one of a handful of former Mars Hill leaders changing their mind.

“Hopefully helping that church rebuild into something that glorifies Christ.”

Potts and a half-dozen others are calling for a return to Mars Hill… Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN 1