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Articles by Peter SMith
Republicans pursue support from the Amish in Pennsylvania, where only a small minority vote in elections
LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — On a recent weekday afternoon, an Amish man in a horse-drawn buggy navigated through a busy intersection of auto traffic in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County, past a billboard proclaiming: “Pray for God’s Mercy for Our Nation.” The billboard featured a large image of a wide-brimmed straw hat often worn by the Amish.
United Methodists repeal longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — United Methodist delegates repealed their church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy with no debate on Wednesday, removing a rule forbidding “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained or appointed as ministers. kAms6=682E6D G@E65 eha\d` 2E E96:C v6?6C2= r@?76C6?46 — E96 7:CDE DF49 =68:D=2E:G6 82E96C:?8 :? 7:G6 J62CD] %92E @G6CH96=>:?8 >2C8:?
3 law officers killed, 5 others wounded trying to serve warrant in North Carolina, authorities say
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Three officers on a U.S. Marshals Task Force serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and five other officers were wounded in a shootout Monday at a North Carolina home, police said. Shots were fired at the officers by the wanted suspect as they approached the suburban home in Charlotte and they killed him in the front yard, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said at a news conference.
United Methodists prepare for votes on ending bans on same-sex marriage, LGBTQ clergy
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — United Methodist delegates are heading into the homestretch of their first legislative gathering in five years — one that appears on track to make historic changes in lifting their church’s longstanding bans on same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy.
United Methodists endorse change that could give regions more say on LGBTQ and other issues
United Methodist delegates have overwhelmingly endorsed a constitutional amendment seen by advocates as a way of defusing debates over the role of LGBTQ people in the church by giving rule-making autonomy to each region of the international church. kAms6=682E6D G@E65 dge\`ec @? %9FCD52J 7@C E96 “C68:@?2=:K2E:@?” AC@A@D2= @?
What to know about United Methodists’ first major meeting since its breakup over LGBTQ inclusion
Thousands of United Methodists are gathering in Charlotte, North Carolina, for their big denominational meeting, known as General Conference. It’s a much-anticipated gathering. Typically it is held every four years, but church leaders delayed the 2020 gathering until now due to the COVID-19 pandemic. READ MORE: A lifetime in the United Methodist Church, and the complicated process of breaking away This year, the 11-day gathering runs from April 23 to May 3.
Who was the revered rabbi whose New York synagogue was the scene of a brawl over an illegal tunnel?
The basement synagogue that was the scene of a brawl this week between worshippers and New York City police has a long and storied connection with a Brooklyn rabbi who led a global movement and remains revered three decades since his death.
Evangelical conservatives cheer one of their own as Mike Johnson assumes Congress’ most powerful seat
Evangelical Christian conservatives have long had allies in top Republican leadership in Congress. But never before have they had one so thoroughly embedded in their movement as new House Speaker Mike Johnson, a longtime culture warrior in the courthouse, in the classroom and in Congress. Religious conservatives cheered Johnson’s election Wednesday, after which he brought his Bible to the rostrum before taking the oath of office.
Most young Americans feel unsafe and support stricter gun laws, new survey shows
Geoff Bennett: Gun violence has killed more than 24,000 people in the U.S. this year, including over 1,000 people under the age of 18. Laura Barrón-López looks at a report that researchers say is the first of its kind to explore young Americans' attitudes about guns. Laura Barrón-López: The study surveyed more than 4,100 people between the ages of 14 and 30. Among the key findings, four out of five say gun violence is a problem in the U.S. and a majority support stricter gun laws.
Gunman who killed 11 in a Pittsburgh synagogue found eligible for death penalty
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The gunman who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 is eligible for the death penalty, a federal jury announced Thursday, setting the stage for further evidence and testimony on whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison. The government is seeking capital punishment for Robert Bowers, who raged against Jewish people online before storming the Tree of Life synagogue with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons in the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack.
United Methodists lose one-fifth of U.S. churches in schism over LGBTQ rights
More than 6,000 United Methodist congregations — a fifth of the U.S. total — have now received permission to leave the denomination amid a schism over theology and the role of LGBTQ people in the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination. Those figures emerge following the close of regular meetings in June for the denomination’s regional bodies, known as annual conferences.
Southern Baptist Convention bans female pastors, ejecting several churches in the process
PBS NewsHour
Southern Baptists refuse to take back megachurch with women pastors
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Southern Baptist Convention has refused to welcome Saddleback Church back into its fold, rejecting an appeal by the California megachurch over its February ouster for having women pastors. WATCH: Report details widespread cover-up of sexual abuse among Southern Baptist leaders Southern Baptist church representatives at their annual meeting here also rejected a similar appeal by a smaller church, Fern Creek Baptist of Louisville, Kentucky, which is led by a woman pastor.
Southern Baptists refuse to take back megachurch with women pastors
1 hour ago Delegates hold up their ballots at the Southern Baptist Convention at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Tuesday, June 13, 2023. (Scott Clause/The Daily Advertiser via AP) Scott Clause Southern Baptists Rick Warren, founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern …
Trial for accused gunman in Pittsburgh synagogue massacre begins
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The federal jury trial of the suspect in the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack got underway Tuesday morning, four and a half years after the shooting deaths of 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Twelve jurors and six alternates — chosen Thursday after a month of questioning of more than 200 jury candidates — are hearing the case against Robert Bowers. The jurors include 11 women and seven men.
Trial to begin for man who killed 11 at Tree of Life synagogue in 2018
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jury selection will begin Monday in the federal death penalty trial of a truck driver accused of shooting to death 11 Jewish worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. Robert G. Bowers, who is from the Pittsburgh suburb of Baldwin, faces 63 counts in the Oct. 27, 2018, attack at the Tree of Life synagogue while members of three Jewish congregations were holding Sabbath activities in the building.
Convenience store crimes: what, where, and why?
A gunman shot by an officer outside a Wawa in Reading. A clerk tied up and held at gunpoint at a Turkey Hill in Ephrata. A catalytic converter filched off a Sheetz maintenance van in Shoemakersville. Crimes at local convenience stores are on the rise. In 2019, 6.6% of all robberies occurred in convenience stores. In 2020, this rose to 10%, and FBI crime statistics from the same year show that convenience stores are the fourth most common locations for violent crime.
Pope apologizes for ‘evil’ school abuses committed against Indigenous peoples in Canada
MASKWACIS, Alberta (AP) — Pope Francis has apologized for the Catholic Church’s cooperation with Canada’s “devastating” policy of Indigenous residential schools, saying the forced assimilation of Native peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures, severed their families and marginalized generations in ways still being felt today.
U.S. report details church-state collusion on Indigenous schools
A new Interior Department report on the legacy of boarding schools for Native Americans underscores how closely the U.S. government collaborated with churches to Christianize them as part of a project to sever them from their culture, their identities and ultimately their land.
US Jews talk identity, Holocaust after Goldberg's remarks
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The uproar over Whoopi Goldberg's remarks about the Holocaust has catalyzed somber reflections by many American Jews about not only the legacy of the Holocaust but anti-Jewish discrimination in the United States and their sense of a collective identity.
By Luis Andres Henao Verified, Peter SMith, Peter Smith Verified, David Crary Verified, Peter SMith, Peter Smith
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The Minnesota Star Tribune
Verified
Jewish leaders urge worship attendance after hostage siege
By Peter Smith | Associated Press On the eve of her 100th birthday Saturday, Ruth Salton told her daughter she was going one way or another to Friday night Shabbat services at Congregation Beth Israel, just days after a gunman voicing antisemitic conspiracy theories held four worshippers hostage for 10 hours at the Fort Worth-area synagogue. “I want to support my people,” said Salton, a Holocaust survivor.
Jewish leaders urge worship attendance after hostage siege
By Peter Smith | Associated Press On the eve of her 100th birthday Saturday, Ruth Salton told her daughter she was going one way or another to Friday night Shabbat services at Congregation Beth Israel, just days after a gunman voicing antisemitic conspiracy theories held four worshippers hostage for 10 hours at the Fort Worth-area synagogue. “I want to support my people,” said Salton, a Holocaust survivor.
Jewish leaders urge attendance at worship services after Texas standoff
Peter Smith/AP Posted: Jan 22, 2022 / 07:55 AM CST | Updated: Jan 22, 2022 / 10:23 AM CST Police stand in front of the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, in Colleyville, Texas. A man held hostages for more than 10 hours Saturday inside the temple. The hostages were able to escape and the hostage taker was killed.
Jewish leaders urge worship attendance after hostage siege
By PETER SMITH Associated Press On the eve of her 100th birthday Saturday, Ruth Salton told her daughter she was going one way or another to Friday night Shabbat services at Congregation Beth Israel, just days after a gunman voicing antisemitic conspiracy theories held four worshippers hostage for 10 hours at the Fort Worth-area synagogue. “I want to support my people,” said Salton, a Holocaust survivor.
Jewish leaders urge worship attendance after hostage siege
On the eve of her 100th birthday Saturday, Ruth Salton told her daughter she was going one way or another to Friday night Shabbat services at Congregation Beth Israel, just days after a gunman voicing antisemitic conspiracy theories held four worshippers hostage for 10 hours at the Fort Worth-area synagogue. “I want to support my people,” said Salton, a Holocaust survivor. She said she told her daughter “if she doesn't take me, I'll go by myself, because I feel I belong there.
Jewish leaders urge worship attendance after hostage siege
On the eve of her 100th birthday Saturday, Ruth Salton told her daughter she was going one way or another to Friday night Shabbat services at Congregation Beth Israel, just days after a gunman voicing antisemitic conspiracy theories held four worshippers hostage for 10 hours at the Fort Worth-area synagogue.
Jewish leaders urge worship attendance after hostage siege
Jewish leaders throughout the U.S. are calling for a strong turnout at this weekend’s worship services in defiance of antisemitic acts such as last weekend’s hostage siege at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. “SHOW UP IN SHUL THIS SHABBAT ... IN DEFIANCE/JOY/TO SEE FELLOW JEWS,” tweeted Deborah Lipstadt, who is President Biden’s nominee as a special envoy to confront antisemitism abroad. Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh agreed.
Leaders renew antisemitism fight after hostage case
Although the FBI initially said the man who held four people hostage at a Texas synagogue was focused on an issue “not specifically related to the Jewish community,” the captor voiced beliefs that Jews controlled the world and had the power to arrange the release of a prisoner, survivors said after their escape.
Jewish leaders call for vigilance and solidarity after Texas hostage case
Jan 19, 2022 11:37 AM EST Although the FBI initially said the man who held four people hostage at a Texas synagogue was focused on an issue “not specifically related to the Jewish community,” the captor voiced beliefs that Jews controlled the world and had the power to arrange the release of a prisoner, survivors said after their escape.
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