An LGBT Christian conference scheduled to be held this summer has been accused by some of pushing an LGBT agenda on conservative evangelical churches.

Known as the Revoice Conference, the multiday event is scheduled for July 26–28 at Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, Missouri, with hundreds expected to attend.

The Conference’s stated mission is to engage in “Supporting, encouraging, and empowering gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians so they can flourish while observing the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality.”

Revoice has already garnered criticism from some for what is perceived to be an effort to advance an LGBT agenda in churches at the expense of sound Christian teaching.

Stephen Black, executive director of First Stone Ministries, an organization that seeks to help people with what the group calls “sexual brokenness,” is one of the critics.

In an interview with The Christian Post, Black said he took issue with Revoice’s mission statement because he believed the conference was seeking “to manipulate the Church to embrace LGBT+ people as a victimized minority group…

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland will withdraw its membership from the Maine Council of Churches over concerns about LGBT advocacy after a new rule was implemented making it easier for the council to take public stances on societal and political issues.

The Portland Press-Herald first reported on the diocese decision on Tuesday, which follows a council vote in February to make it so that a majority vote among the council’s eight member denominations is all that is needed for the council to take official stands on public policy issues.

Previously, it was an unwritten rule of the council to only take public stands after a unanimous vote by its member denominations.

With the change being enacted, it means that the Catholic diocese was outnumbered on the council when it came to issues pertaining to LGBT rights by left-leaning members of the council, including the United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalists Association of Congregations, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Episcopal Diocese of Maine and The New England Conference of the United Methodist Church.

The Texas Home School Coalition has seen an increase in interest in home schooling following the recent school shootings.

Texas Home School Coalition says it has been busy for months with inquiries after this year’s shootings in Parkland, Florida and Santa Fe, Texas.

“When the Parkland shooting happened, our phone calls and emails exploded,” said coalition president Tim Lambert. “In the last couple of months, our numbers have doubled. We’re dealing with probably between 1,200 and 1,400 calls and emails per month, and prior to that it was 600 to 700.”

Parents say they are also concerned about the environment of schools.

“One of the things we’ve seen definitely an uptick in the last five years is the aspect of violence. It’s the bullying. That is off the charts,” said Christopher Chin, president of Homeschool Louisiana.

“I think what happens with these school shootings is they’re the straws that broke the camel’s back,” Chin said. “I don’t think it’s the major decision-maker, but it’s in the back of parents’ minds.”

Brian D. Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute in Salem, Oregon, says there are three main reasons why parents choose homeschooling: to provide religious instruction or different values, dissatisfaction with the school’s curriculum, and worries about the school environment.

“Most…

A regional body of the United Methodist Church that previously refused to enforce the denomination’s ban on noncelibate homosexual clergy has upheld the ordination standards.

In 2016, the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference of the UMC joined a few other regional bodies in refusing to enforce the UMC Book of Discipline’s ban on clergy who are “self-avowed practicing homosexuals.”

However, in a ruling given on Wednesday evening, Baltimore-Washington Area Bishop LaTrelle Easterling said that two individuals approved by the Board of Ordained Ministry for ordination and commissioning are ineligible due to violating the “practicing homosexuals” ban.

Bishop Easterling said in a statement posted to the Baltimore-Washington Conference’s website on Thursday that she believed “there are no winners here today,” adding that while she does not agree with the current Book of Discipline’s position on ordination standards, “it is the book upon which we order our work together, and live in covenant with one another.”

“In my opinion, when we pick and choose how and when we will uphold it, we begin the slippery slope…

Sharayah Colter, wife of Paige Patterson’s former chief of staff Scott Colter, has challenged several of the allegations that led to the former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary president’s firing Wednesday, which she revealed was unceremoniously executed by telephone in the dead of night while he was on assignment in Germany.

Writing in a post on SBC Issues Thursday, Sharayah Colter, who previously worked as a journalist, argued that her husband’s former boss, whom she considered a personal friend, is “not guilty of all of which he has been accused in recent days,” including encouraging a former student not to report an alleged rape. Seminary officials, she said, did not give him an opportunity to defend himself at the May 30 meeting where the decision was made to fire him.

The board of trustees of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary located in Ft. Worth, Texas, announced Wednesday that Patterson had been fired effective immediately and that they had cut all ties with him after new details, which they did not reveal, emerged…

Franklin Graham recently made some controversial comments about sanctuary cities in California.

According to The Christian Post, Graham has been involved in a 10-city tour through California, the purpose of which is to encourage Christians to stand up for their values and to run for political office.

Graham said that “progressive” is “just another word for godless.” He also said California, with its liberal policies and politicians is a “sinking” state. Graham even told conservative Fox News columnist and host Todd Starnes that sanctuary cities such as San Francisco are a “little picture of Hell.”

Relevant Magazine provides the full quote: “People are leaving the state. The tax base is eroding. They are turning their once beautiful cities into sanctuary cities, which are just a little picture of Hell. Just go to San Francisco and go to this once-beautiful city and see what has happened to it.”

Nevertheless, Graham asserted, “I haven’t talked to anybody in the parties. We are staying out of the politics part of it but I do want Christians to vote and I want them to ask God before they vote, who they should vote. But, I don’t think the Christians should be silent. The Christian voice needs to be heard.”

Photo courtesy: Getty Images

Publication date: June 1, 2018