The Faith of Barack Obama: A Review of Stephen Mansfield’s New Book

The Faith of Barack Obama: A Review of Stephen Mansfield’s New Book

Source: Nick’s Bytes

Author: Sometimes Saintly Nick (Nicholas Temple)

Date: 29 August, 2008

Have you ever attended a worship service at Trinity United Church of Christ? I have: one, many years ago. In The Faith of Barack Obama, Mansfield takes you to a Trinity service. More importantly, he introduces you to members of the ...

Faiths' beliefs on homosexuality vary

Faiths' beliefs on homosexuality vary
Source: Houston Chronicle - United States

Author:

Date: 20 August, 2008

United Church of Christ: In the 1970s the UCC allowed the ordination of the first openly gay man and the first openly lesbian woman. ...

Different readings of scripture lead Christians to accept homosexuality

Different readings of scripture lead Christians to accept homosexuality

Source: Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL, USA

Author: Bob Black

Date: 23 August, 2008

… We have a vibrant lesbian and gay membership in Spring Creek United Church of Christ, and we are members of a denomination that has had a place in American religious life since before the Revolutionary War. We have a special ministry called Maranatha, established to do ministry and outreach with the gay community. Our gay members pray for the sick, visit and take meals to the homebound, sing in the choir, teach Sunday school and serve in leadership roles. Like other Christians, they wrestle over the meaning of scripture and what it means to us in 21st-century America and the world, and struggle to discern God’s plan for them as Christians. In other words, they are pretty much what Paul called “saints of the Lord,” people walking the Way of Christ as they are able. …

Barack Obama, John McCain discuss faith, issues at Saddleback ...

Barack Obama, John McCain discuss faith, issues at Saddleback ...

Source: Los Angeles Times - CA, USA

Author: Maeve Reston and Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

Date: 17 August, 2008

But Obama, a Christian who until recently attended Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, was more revealing about his faith.

Explaining what it meant to him to be a Christian, the Democrat talked of "walking humbly with our God." "I know that I don't walk alone, and I know that if I can get myself out of the way that I can maybe carry out in some small way what he intends," he said.

Theocrat Rod Parsley Attacks Pastor Dan

Theocrat Rod Parsley Attacks Pastor Dan

Source: Street Prophets - http://www.streetprophets.com

Author: Pastor Dan

Date: 14 August, 2008

Schultz would be an obscure United Church of Christ pastor of a tiny congregation in rural Wisconsin if it were not for the power of the Internet and his own passion for new-media publicity. Under his pen name, pastordan, he has become ...

Here is pastordan’s reply, quoted at some length to preserve the context:

“This all sounds very nice, and I’m sure it’s well-intentioned. But it uses right-wing frames to build the discussion, then appeals to a center ground that’s actually skewed pretty badly...

congregationalists

congregationalists

Source: Aspiration Toward Inspiration (blog)

Author: relsdork

Date: 13 August, 2008

While many Christian denominations can be marked today by their tendencies to condemn, the United Church of Christ has adopted a much more inclusive stance. Congregationalist Christians’ beginnings as ‘puritans’ can help illustrate how much change has taken place within the religious institution.

The Politics and Religion of Fear

The Politics and Religion of Fear

Source: Healthy Liberal Christianity at Park Church, Elmira, NY

Author: Wayne E. Gustafson, D.Min.

Date: 7 August, 2008

My concern today is the totally inappropriate (dare I say, evil) use of Christian scriptures and beliefs to generate broad-based fear throughout the electorate ...

Some, if not all, of these statements find their way into the internet distribution system. One widely distributed post has a description of the antichrist that makes this ominous character sound just like Obama, including that he will be a Muslim. Of course, many people don’t seem to notice that the Islamic religion didn’t even come to being until several centuries after the biblical prophecies were written, or the fact that Obama belongs to the United Church of Christ and is not a Muslim at all...

Cross Is Central Symbol Of Christianity And Must Not Be Secularized By Government ...

Cross Is Central Symbol Of Christianity And Must Not Be Secularized By Government, Americans United Tells Court

Source: Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Author:

Date: 6 August, 2008

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, said he is offended by the claim that the cross is merely a secular symbol.

“The cross is the preeminent symbol of Christianity,” said Lynn, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. “For the government to claim that the cross is a secular symbol is deeply offensive and betrays a poor understanding of religion and our Constitution.”

What is a Liberal Christian?

Source: Accents In The Eye

Author: John14

Date: 1 August, 2008

Sometimes liberals are thought to be Christians who have backslidden; people who don't have enough faith, or are too "in the world." Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth. Liberal Christians are committed believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, who have thoroughly studied the scriptures and traditions of the Church, and have examined their faith in the light of reason and experience.

...mainline Protestant denominations: American Baptist Churches, USA; Disciples of Christ; Episcopal Church; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Presbyterian Church, USA; United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church...

The things that make for a conspiracy

The things that make for a conspiracy
Talk to Action blog: 02-06-2oo7

(by the Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer):

Churches can, and do, vote to leave my denomination: the United Church of Christ.

Churches vote to affiliate with my denomination.

Often, when I talk about the former, I refer to conspiratorial tactics. And when I do, I am asked why I don't allude to conspiracies when churches vote to leave their own denomination to join us.

Replacement Theology

Replacement Theology
Rapture Ready: 02-24-2007

Replacement Theology "is the view that the church is the new or true Israel that has permanently replaced or superseded Israel as the people of God."...Though the statistics are a bit dated, the following list may help to illustrate the predominance of Replacement Theology in the United States. The name of the Church / denomination is followed by the estimated number of U.S. adherents as of 2004:

The Roman Catholic Church - 66,407,105
The United Methodist Church - 8,251,042
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - 5,038,006
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - 3,407,329
The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod - 2,512,714
African Methodist Episcopal Church - 2,500,000
The Episcopal Church - 2,333,628
Churches of Christ, Corsicana, Texas - 1,500,000
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America - 1,500,000
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church - 1,430,795
United Church of Christ - 1,330,985
Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, Joplin, Mo. - 1,071,616

Faithfully Liberal

Faithfully Liberal
Faithfully Liberal blog: 02-23-2007

Aaron Krager and Mike Lee are students at Chicago Theological Seminary and have started this blog in an effort of public theology.

Faithfully Liberal is an open forum for politics, faith and the intersection of the two. It is dedicated to the practice of public theology as a way of calling our nation, our political and faith
leaders, and all global citizens to an agenda of social justice, equality, and the proper care of humanity and the world.

From the ashes: Can we create a world where we don't need to repent?

From the ashes: Can we create a world where we don't need to repent?
Des Moines Register: 02-21-2007

"The Rev. SHANNON MICHAEL PATER is senior pastor of Urbandale United Church of Christ and chairman of the board of directors of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa."

About Us

About Us
Trinity United Church of Christ: 02-20-2007


"Trinity United Church of Christ adopted the Black Value System written by the Manford Byrd Recognition Committee chaired by Vallmer Jordan in 1981."