Yes, and The Persecuted Church
Posted By: Hattie on 2006-08-09
In Reply to: Christians are persecuted all over the world. sm - MT
While persecution is not exclusionary to one set of beliefs at the present time Christians are the most persecuted people in the world especially in the Arab world and in communistic countries such as China and dictatorial countries like Iran and North Korea.
persecutedchurch.org
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Running from church to church is not the answer...sm
There are problems and controversy in every church. I do not agree with things that go on in my church nor everything that my pastor says or does. I have found that some churches problems are greater than the ones in your own church, so some times you have to be still.
Here's one for ya....Me along with plenty of other Americans don't agree with what our current President Bush has done in terms of running our country, starting a war, making history by putting every state in this country in a negative deficit, and I could continue to go on, but the point is even in our disagreement with him, we have not jumped up and ran to another country and we wonder why; running is not the answer. First off it is not our place to condemn one, but since someone is being condemned for what was said, condemn the Rev. Wright, not Obama.
I don't believe Islam is being persecuted. nm
.
Islamists are not being persecuted. sm
Many MANY Iraqis do want it democracy. You really can't generalize that the country doesn't want it. That isn't true. As far as Islamists, Iran's ruler has said that the time is very near to them using a nuclear weapon and that when the smoke has cleared, the world will be converted to Islam. This is a prophecy of Islam actually. They are far from being persecuted and, in fact, the entire non-Islamic world should be better educated as to the real goal of radical Islam. There are over a billion non-violent Muslims in the world who have existed in peace through the centuries. These are not the ones to be concerned about. I heard an Iraqi teacher speaking about Democracy in Iraq on television. What he and his colleagues say about Democracy is totally the opposite of what you have said. Whose voice then do we discount?
In general, they are being persecuted.
People rarely speak of the majority you mentioned. Invading Iraq was a huge mistake since Iraq and Iran were basically enemies, working against each others interests. Now, thanks to US, the area has been split wide open with positive Iranian influence now present in Iraq, something Saddam Hussein had fought.
Ah, the persecuted Christian argument. Please.............
Christians are persecuted all over the world. sm
ESPECIALLY in intolerant Muslim countries. Voice of the Martyrs is a very good source for this information.
that church is concerning to me
it SHOULD be concerning to everyone.
This is why I don't go to church
Is this what is going on in the churchs now? Fear tactics that we are all doomed to he**? Our society is morally based. Go walk around the Middle East for a day and you will appreciate just how moral we are. The public schools aren't there to raise our children and at least they can go to school. You don't have to put your child in the public school system, that is also the beauty of choice in our country. Try having your child dodge bombs instead or be taught to strap bombs to themselves and die in the name of God. I'll take the science class any day over that. You can teach your children to have faith and to read books based on opinions and science. We aren't stupid, we can make our own decisions. I love the fact that my son can argue all points of view. He was taught evolution, so what? He is smart enough to make his own decision, just like you! All opinions should be presented to grow and learn. If there was only one point of view, how would we know how to chose?
If he didn't go to church, then what would you say?
He can't win; if he goes he's wrong, if he doesn't what? The fact remains: Clinton lied, nobody died. Bush lied and 3 YEARS, billions of dollars later, 2300+ died...and yet we're being told how much **progress** is being made. Get over Clinton and wake up!
obama's church
OBAMA'S CHURCH
Subject: TRINITY UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
During this campaign for the Presidency, It's interesting that so much had been made of Mitt Romney's Mormom religion, while we heard/hear so little of Barack Obama's, outside of the denials of his being Muslim.
However, if you look more closely at Trinity United Church of Christ, Obama's church, it sounds more like a racist cult than anything else, with a committment, not to America, but to Africa. Scary, when you consider this man could be the President of this United States.
Please go to this church's website and read what is written there. It is very alarming. Barack Obama is a member of this church and is running for President of the U.S. If you look at the first page of their website, you will learn that this congregation has a non-negotiable commitment to Africa. No where is AMERICA even mentioned. Notice too, what color you will need to be if you should want to join Obama's church... B-L-A-C-K! Whites attend, I have also read, but are not members. Doesn't look like his choice of religion has improved much over his (former?) Muslim upbringing. This guy desires to rule over America while his loyalty is totally vested in a Black Africa! It is so important to pass this message along to all of our family & friends. To think that Obama has even the slightest chance in the run for the presidency, is really scary. This is the web page for the church Barack Obama belongs to:
www.tucc.org/about.htm
and then I saw/heard him speak yesterday and only see young white people always arround him....where are these black folks who are supporting him? The whites on TV clamoring around him far outweigh the number of blacks ALL the time that I see, I do not get that....it should be mixed in my mind wherever he speaks/goes to.
I am not a racist so please do not attack me.....
Catholic Church
Nancy Pelosi's big mouth is the last problem the Obama campaign wanted to contend with.
In its newly ratified platform, the Democratic Party reinvigorates its commitment to abortion.
This time Nancy Pelosi has truly gone too far -- which isn't good news for Joe Biden either.
Found at spectator.org. Other info at wnd.com
The Church Lady
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61wj4tJICcc
If you go to church, has your pastor done this?
WEST BEND, Wis. (AP) - Thirty-three pastors in 22 states used their sermons to make pointed recommendations about political candidates today.
The effort was orchestrated by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund.
The conservative legal group plans to send copies of the pastors' sermons to the Internal Revenue Service with hope of setting off a legal fight and abolishing restrictions on church involvement in politics.
Critics call it unnecessary, divisive and unlikely to succeed.
The Reverend Eric Williams of Columbus has organized 55 religious leaders across the nation to file a complaint about the ADF's challenge.
The minister with the liberal United Church of Christ says churches should stand apart from the government.
I am surprised! You went to Church?....
.
you have never been to my sister's church
and she is not going to look for a different one either. You don't speak for God and neither do they.
These churches have their own agendas. Anybody can be brainwashed if they do not question authority.
But did he attend church
There is a difference you know. One can claim to be a member of a church and never set foot in it. Perhaps this is how he did it.
Because there's more than one church, one viewpoint?
Until we all think and behave exactly like them, some Christians won't feel they got their way?
And Reps want the church to tell me what to do.
nm
What is the reason for church
I don't go to church either. There is a church on every corner in my town and yet I don't know any of my neighbors? The only time a neighbor knocks on my door is when they are trying to convert me. What about all the kids who can only eat when they go to school? What about when someone gets their electric bill shut off in the winter? Can't the church help that person out? Or is it more important to fund the Sunday Pot Luck, Mens Camp or build a new wing - great use of tithing! What about the child who is being abused right under our nose? What is the church for and who do they care about? Members only? A church on every corner and yet my city is crumbling. Self-rightous do-gooders who don't do much and then complain if the government has to step in and help out. Judgemental people who can't see what is right next door. Stupid projects like sending red envelopes. I'm sure you will be blessed 10-fold for that one. I am Pro-choice and I am a foster parent who is trying to improve a real life and I don't believe in going to modern day churches filled with people who are more concerned about what the rest of the world is doing wrong. I can't be concerned with that because I do enough wrong on my own. So this weekend, while your sitting around feeling so self-rightous, go talk to a perfect stranger and ask how they are doing. You will be amazed at the difference you can make in a life when it isn't Sunday morning at church.
If a church - see message
doesn't want to hire you based on whether you were married in the church - well you probably don't want to work there in the first place.
I was married in the town hall by the Mayor of one of the cities in Denmark. Would they not consider that a marriage?
My belief is marriage is marriage. Call it what you want, it's still marriage. Two people love each other they should be able to be married no matter what gender, race, or anything. Calling it something else is discrimination - plane and simple.
Obama was a member of a church ...
where God Dam* America was preached. And it was in 1994 either. HE taught Saul Alinsky's methods. Saul's son said Obama learned his father's lessons well. I'll say. Already wanting to employ redistribution of wealth. That is a threat NOW.
The Church of the Self-Righteous Has Spoken
I don't care what anyone believes or practices - freedom of religion
It's the freaks who think THEIR religion is the ONLY RIGHT religion who scare me.
Even Jesus was a liberal.
Since I believe in SEPARATION of church & state,
Save it for Sundays in church, Sarah!
Religious people go to church
Religious people who go to work check their religion at the door. The constitution specifically instructs Congress to do the same. "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This means keep religion out of federal legislative codes. Implied therein is the concept that the nation is not theocratic in nature.
The original poster is well understood in the expressed wish that this not be forgotten and remain unchanged. It is difficult to understand what is meant by the statement that religion will be in the White House under any leadership. Clearly, religious people, some to a greater degree than others, will inhabit the White House and the chambers of Congress. However, religion is constitutionally prohibited from entering the body of our laws and does not provide a foundation for our governmental institutions. The constitution has given indivuals immunity from federally mandates on religion. Wise men of great vision, our forefathers.
As the SNL church-lady would say, "Well now...
Not.
I went to a very moderate Baptist church as a ....sm
child and teenager, and no drinking alcohol or dancing was allowed whatsoever.
Separation of church and state.......... sm
is actually not described in the Constitution in the manner in which it is interpreted today. The First Amendment actually reads, in part, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ." One of the reasons America came to be was to flee government-instituted religion such as in England. It was more to keep government out of religion than the other way around. Today, however, it has come to be interpreted, especially by those who would eschew religion in all manners, as religion should be kept out of the government.
The phrase "separation of church and state" is more accurately traced to a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Dansbury Baptists, a religious minority in Connecticut who were concerned about the dominant position of the Congregationalist Church there. They were concerned that the Congregationalists would "take over" the religion in much the same manner that the Church of England had taken over in England. He wrote: "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their "legislature" should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between church and State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties." In other words, Jefferson was assuring the Dansbury Baptists that their religion would be safe from any government-imposed religion and that they would be free to worship and express their religious beliefs. It says nothing about constricting their religion to their churches and their homes.
Maybe this is one of the things that Obama would relate to his belief that the Constitution is a "living document" as opposed to a static document. Who knows?
and a Bible study is not a church either sm
There is a difference. Its about CHRISTIAN persecution!
IRS to Church: Support Iraq War or Lose Your
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-allsaints7nov07,0,592419,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Antiwar Sermon Brings IRS Warning
All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena risks losing its tax-exempt status because of a former rector's remarks in 2004.
By Patricia Ward Biederman and Jason Felch
Times Staff Writers
November 7, 2005
The Internal Revenue Service has warned one of Southern California's largest and most liberal churches that it is at risk of losing its tax-exempt status because of an antiwar sermon two days before the 2004 presidential election.
Rector J. Edwin Bacon of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena told many congregants during morning services Sunday that a guest sermon by the church's former rector, the Rev. George F. Regas, on Oct. 31, 2004, had prompted a letter from the IRS.
In his sermon, Regas, who from the pulpit opposed both the Vietnam War and 1991's Gulf War, imagined Jesus participating in a political debate with then-candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry. Regas said that good people of profound faith could vote for either man, and did not tell parishioners whom to support.
But he criticized the war in Iraq, saying that Jesus would have told Bush, Mr. President, your doctrine of preemptive war is a failed doctrine. Forcibly changing the regime of an enemy that posed no imminent threat has led to disaster.
On June 9, the church received a letter from the IRS stating that a reasonable belief exists that you may not be tax-exempt as a church … The federal tax code prohibits tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from intervening in political campaigns and elections.
The letter went on to say that our concerns are based on a Nov. 1, 2004, newspaper article in the Los Angeles Times and a sermon presented at the All Saints Church discussed in the article.
The IRS cited The Times story's description of the sermon as a searing indictment of the Bush administration's policies in Iraq and noted that the sermon described tax cuts as inimical to the values of Jesus.
As Bacon spoke, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a co-celebrant of Sunday's Requiem Eucharist, looked on.
We are so careful at our church never to endorse a candidate, Bacon said in a later interview.
One of the strongest sermons I've ever given was against President Clinton's fraying of the social safety net.
Telephone calls to IRS officials in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles were not returned.
On a day when churches throughout California took stands on both sides of Proposition 73, which would bar abortions for minors unless parents are notified, some at All Saints feared the politically active church had been singled out.
I think obviously we were a bit shocked and dismayed, said Bob Long, senior warden for the church's oversight board. We felt somewhat targeted.
Bacon said the church had retained the services of a Washington law firm with expertise in tax-exempt organizations.
And he told the congregation: It's important for everyone to understand that the IRS concerns are not supported by the facts.
After the initial inquiry, the church provided the IRS with a copy of all literature given out before the election and copies of its policies, Bacon said.
But the IRS recently informed the church that it was not satisfied by those materials, and would proceed with a formal examination. Soon after that, church officials decided to inform the congregation about the dispute.
In an October letter to the IRS, Marcus Owens, the church's tax attorney and a former head of the IRS tax-exempt section, said, It seems ludicrous to suggest that a pastor cannot preach about the value of promoting peace simply because the nation happens to be at war during an election season.
Owens said that an IRS audit team had recently offered the church a settlement during a face-to-face meeting.
They said if there was a confession of wrongdoing, they would not proceed to the exam stage. They would be willing not to revoke tax-exempt status if the church admitted intervening in an election.
The church declined the offer.
Long said Bacon is fond of saying it's a sin not to vote, but has never told anyone how to vote. We don't do that. We preach to people how to vote their values, the biblical principles.
Regas, who was rector of All Saints from 1967 to 1995, said in an interview that he was surprised by the IRS action and then I became suspicious, suspicious that they were going after a progressive church person.
Regas helped the current church leadership collect information for the IRS on his sermon and the church's policies on involvement in political campaigns.
Some congregants were upset that a sermon citing Jesus Christ's championing of peace and the poor was the occasion for an IRS probe.
I'm appalled, said 70-year-old Anne Thompson of Altadena, a professional singer who also makes vestments for the church.
In a government that leans so heavily on religious values, that they would pull a stunt like this, it makes me heartsick.
Joe Mirando, an engineer from Burbank, questioned whether the 3,500-member church would be under scrutiny if it were not known for its activism and its liberal stands on social issues.
The question is, is it politically motivated? he said. That's the underlying feeling of everyone here. I don't have enough information to make a decision, but there's a suspicion.
Bacon revealed the IRS investigation at both morning services. Until his announcement, the mood of the congregation had been solemn because the services remembered, by name, those associated with the church who had died since last All Saints Day.
Regas' 2004 sermon imagined how Jesus would admonish Bush and Kerry if he debated them. Regas never urged parishioners to vote for one candidate over the other, but he did say that he believes Jesus would oppose the war in Iraq, and that Jesus would be saddened by Bush's positions on the use and testing of nuclear weapons.
In the sermon, Regas said, President Bush has led us into war with Iraq as a response to terrorism. Yet I believe Jesus would say to Bush and Kerry: 'War is itself the most extreme form of terrorism. President Bush, you have not made dramatically clear what have been the human consequences of the war in Iraq.'
Later, he had Jesus confront both Kerry and Bush: I will tell you what I think of your war: The sin at the heart of this war against Iraq is your belief that an American life is of more value than an Iraqi life. That an American child is more precious than an Iraqi baby. God loathes war.
If Jesus debated Bush and Kerry, Regas said, he would say to them, Why is so little mentioned about the poor?''
In his own voice, Regas said: ''The religious right has drowned out everyone else. Now the faith of Jesus has come to be known as pro-rich, pro-war and pro-American…. I'm not pro-abortion, but pro-choice. There is something vicious and violent about coercing a woman to carry to term an unwanted child.
When you go into the voting booth, Regas told the congregation, take with you all that you know about Jesus, the peacemaker. Take all that Jesus means to you. Then vote your deepest values.
Owens, the tax attorney, said he was surprised that the IRS is pursuing the case despite explicit statements by Regas that he was not trying to influence the congregation's vote.
I doubt it's politically motivated, Owens said. I think it is more a case of senior management at IRS not paying attention to what the rules are.
According to Owens, six years ago the IRS used to send about 20 such letters to churches a year. That number has increased sharply because of the agency's recent delegation of audit authority to agents on the front lines, he said.
He knew of two other churches, both critical of government policies, that had received similar letters, Owens said.
It's unclear how often the IRS raises questions about the tax-exempt status of churches.
While such action is rare, the IRS has at least once revoked the charitable designation of a church.
Shortly before the 1992 presidential election, a church in Binghamton, N.Y., ran advertisements against Bill Clinton's candidacy, and the tax agency ruled that the congregation could not retain its tax-exempt status because it had intervened in an election.
Bacon said he thought the IRS would eventually drop its case against All Saints.
It is a social action church, but not a politically partisan church, he said.
Obama was a member of a church whose pastor said...
"God damm* America." Obama went to that church for 20 years.
Palin's husband was a member of the Alaskan Independence party several years ago, and this quote came from the head of the party.
I see absolutely NO difference. If you are going to condemn one, condemn both.
Keep it in church - it doesn't belong in government.
their unwavering belief, Christians are NOT the center-of-the-Universe.
small message, church lady...
The most significant thing to me in the entire video is "Vote your conscience." That speaks volumes.
Obama went to a racist church for 20 years...
and then, when it became detrimental to his drive to the Presidency, threw his pastor of 20 years and self-described mentor under the bus. And this inspires you that he is some kind of messiah-like figure interested in truth, justice, and the American way? You really believe that...with his history? Or do you even know his history...and better than that...even care about it?
It's called separation of church and state - nm
x
Excuse me, it is not about separation of church and state...
which words, by the way, do not appear in the constitution of these United States. It is about tax exempt status, and the IRS withholding that if politics is spoken from the pulpit. There are many, many tax exempt entities in this country, and NONE of them are barred from talking politics inside their doors. NONE of them. THAT is discrimination. If you are going to tie it to tax exempt status, then you need to tie it to tax exempt status PERIOD, across the board. Not just on churches.
Your CHURCH doesn't belong in America's
***
Um we are talking about church stances on abortion
Therefore scripture becomes viable in this topic. If you don't like it, don't read.
I think I did answer...He could be attending a Christian church (sm)
and still be Muslim. We have no way of knowing. He may be Christian. We have no way of knowing that either. Only he and God and know.
I believe in God, never go to church, cannot stand priests, and not the Pope,
I am pro-choice up to the end of the 3rd month, I am against torture and against the death penalty.
Yep, sitting in Rev Wright's church sure proved that
@@
if you want to preach, go to church, I know better than you, see my lower posts...nm
nm
Yeah, all those faithful church-going doers of kindness like... uh...
a very religious man. 
I blame the Catholic church for allowing this to go on for so very long. SM
I have a lot of conservative friends and I seriously doubt they would condone this. I knew there was a reason I stayed away from these boards. As the poster above said, your post came up in a headline or I would never have come here.
Is separation of church and state blown out of the water?!?! sm
If Head Start is recieving federal funding, they SHOULD NOT discriminate for religious reasons in hiring. This is illegal no matter who supports it. Since Bush supports it, he is supporting an illegal, unconstitutional act.
This faith based organization wants to have their cake and eat it too. They want federal funding, which comes from all US Citizens, but they do not want to be inclusive of all US citizens. So they don't have a problem taking a non-Christian's money for funding, but they don't want to hire any non-Christians to work for them. That is hypocritical and WRONG.
US Constitution Article I:
*Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.*
United Methodist Church Calls For Withdrawal ...sm
Sweet Victory: United Methodist Church Calls For Withdrawal
It's one thing when former high-ranking members of your own Administration come out against your war. It's another thing when two-thirds of the country calls the invasion and occupation a mistake. It's really something when your own church issues a statement urging you to pull out the troops now.
Last week, the United Methodist Church Board of Church and Society--the social action committee of the church that both President Bush and Vice President Cheney belong to--resoundingly passed a resolution calling for withdrawal with only two 'no' votes and one abstention.
As people of faith, we raise our voice in protest against the tragedy of the unjust war in Iraq, the statement read. Thousands of lives have been lost and hundreds of billions of dollars wasted in a war the United States initiated and should never have fought.... We grieve for all those whose lives have been lost or destroyed in this needless and avoidable tragedy. Military families have suffered undue hardship from prolonged troop rotations in Iraq and loss of loved ones. It is time to bring them home.
The board also issued a strong statement against torture, urging Congress to create an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate detention and interrogation practices at Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is my hope and prayer that our statement against the war in Iraq will be heard loud and clear by our fellow United Methodists, President Bush and Vice President Cheney, said Jim Winkler, General Secretary of the UMC's Board of Church and Society. Conservative and liberal board members worked together to craft a strong statement calling for the troops to come home and for those responsible for leading us into this disastrous war to be held accountable.
With its bold stands against the Administration, the UMC is fulfilling the words of Martin Luther King Jr., who called for the church to be not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion but a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.
Bush has asserted that he entered Iraq on a direct order from God. Now, he has a direct order from his own church to leave. Is he listening?
What makes you think that everyone who believes in Jesus grew up in the church?
I most definitely did not, and it is an absolute MIRACLE that I even came to the Lord. My parents are as far from Christ as can be. I literally came to Christ "kicking and screaming". I did not want to believe in him. Mostly because I did not want to have to follow HIS rules. But I am here, and I am saved, and I thank God that I am! It is the best thing to ever happen to my SOUL.
God d*mn America is ok then? As long as you have good church programs? (nm)
x
The prior poster was explaining the church ministries
those ministries were consistent with Obama's life experiences, his political career and his current campaign platform. Voters like a consistent candidate with a consistent message, a concept that seems to elude many McCain supporters and certainly goes right over the heads of his campaign managers.
The previous poster was implying that perhaps members of the congregation, both past and present, find value and purpose in those ministries and often choose to participate in the church ministries that service their immediate communities and benefit those who are in the most need wherein, according to Matthew's gospel, the Spirit of Jesus dwells. Some of us really like that about Obama and find it admirable that he embodies this decidedly Christian principle and understands that that we all will be judged by the measure of how we treat the least among us.
My best guess is that the previous poster does not necessarily believe that Christian evangelical pastors of any and all colors are exactly void of fanaticism, bigotry and hatred. Rev Wright certainly may have appeal to some members of that congregation whose core beliefs he reflects, just as John Hagee has a certain appeal to some of his congregation. Having said that, there is still no direct evidence that Hagee reflects McCain's core beliefs any more than there is evidence that Wright reflects Obama's...except in the minds of those who are in charge of the hate patrol.
Funny our church member interprets his "religion"
of Islam, as he was brought up to believe, as a religion that somewhere along the line got wrapped up in hate instead of love, and he knows exactly how to interpret the religion he was brought up in. He can tell me he was taught hate.... I can honestly say my teachings have never taught that.
Trinity Unity Church ministries list inside
Michelle and Barack Obama's association with Trinity Unity church dates back to around 1988 (Obama, age 27) when they were civil right attorneys in Chicago and engaged in voter registration drives in South Chicago. Being young, biracial and a recent graduate from Harvard Law School with international heritage and early life experiences, he was searching for the meaning of black identity in America. It seems like a black church would be a reasonable place for a Christian to take that search. Trinity Unity Church in South Chicago engages in the following ministry programs of common interest to both himself and his wife, who were active in that community at that time.
1. Seniors activities.
2. Adopt-a-student.
3. Economic development and health education in Africa.
4. Sports, career development.
5. Caribbean cultural education.
6. Social justice advocacy.
7. Bible study.
8. Individual, family, group and grief crisis counseling.
9. Children, youth, men and women modern dance, ballet and interpretive dance, including African roots of dance in worship.
10. Domestic violence support services.
11. Drama.
12. Drill teams.
13. Drug and alcohol recovery.
14. Fine arts and literary guild.
15. Food share.
16. Girl Scouts.
17. Health advisory for the prevention of physical and mental illnesses.
18. High school counseling.
19. HIV/AIDs education.
20. Housing seminars, including tax sales, avoiding foreclosure, purchase of HUD homes, finance mortgages.
21. Christian, cultural and social focus groups on "coming into womanhood."
22. Information technology, self determination for the physically, mentally and/or emotionally handicapped.
23. Legal counseling.
24. Marriage counseling.
25. Math tutoring.
26. Instruction in audio, visual, print, photography and telecommunications.
27. Men's groups and fellowship.
28. Development of spiritual, economic, social and political viability of the African American community.
29. Partnership programs across ministries.
30. Messengers of Faith high school choir.
31. Little Warriors for Christ choir for ages 6 years to 8th grade.
32. Men's Chorus.
33. Sanctuary choir for adult men and women.
34. Women's Chorus.
35. Walaika Choir for 3 to 5 year olds.
36. Newness of Life guidance for life's spiritual journey.
37. Prison ministry weekly visits to prisons to provide support for prison families and engage inmates in rap sessions and training programs.
38. Christian role models and mentors for boys and girls of elementary school age.
39. Reading/literacy program.
40. Sign language- Bible studies and other programs for the hearing impaired.
41. Singles groups for never married, divorced, widowed, single parents and same gender.
42. Women's groups.
43. New member orientation and financial aid for members enrolled in seminaries.
44. Tangeni adult dance rehearsals, seminars and retreats.
45. Taped worship services/visitation for members and extended family, who are hospitalized, shut-ins or in extended care facilities.
46. Computer classes.
47. Church usher program, all ages.
48. Women's guild volunteers for nursing home resident visitation.
49. Yoga physical, mental and spiritual fitness.
50. Young adults/teenage groups.
51. Christian character development of cultural and spiritual awareness.
52. Youth Christian education, music, prayers and crafts activities groups. With all this going on, and with the focus the Obamas had on community involvement and civil rights as attorneys, a 20-year membership makes perfect sense. Anyone who would attribute their "association" with this church, its members or its pastor to subversive, militant, Marxist/Socialist over-throw of the government apparently has their own subversive agenda to serve. The good deeds and actions that are manifested in these ministries far overshadow any hateful political smear campaigns, no matter how organized they are or how much hot air they expel.
Religion doesn't belong in politics, Church-lady.
.
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