Tuesday's News & Ideas - 11/21/2023

Hundreds more US United Methodist congregations disaffiliate amid LGBTQ+ tensions
The Guardian: The North Georgia Conference of the UMC voted to allow 261 congregations to disaffiliate after theological tensions over bans on same-sex marriages and the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy.
Baptist News Global: United Methodists will decide realigning church’s structure, authority in 2024

X loses ad sales, faces blowback after Musk antisemitism controversy
The Hill: X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, is facing yet another firestorm after a pair of recent scandals have reignited allegations of antisemitism and prompted advertisers to flee.

Pastor indicted in Georgia election case is ‘American hero’ to conservative Christians
Baptist News Global: A handful of churches, conservative Christian media outlets and a pro-family group claim Stephen Cliffgard Lee is a devoted Christian  and “American hero” who is an innocent victim and they’re praying and raising funds for his defense.

Carlton Pearson, influential Oklahoma megachurch founder who rejected hell, dies at age 70
AP: Bishop Carlton Pearson, the founder of a former megachurch in Oklahoma who was branded a heretic and lost one audience — but gained a new one — after he rejected the idea of hell and supported gay rights has died.

First woman steps into leadership of evangelical theological society*
Christianity Today: Wheaton professor Karen Jobes becomes president a decade after a study found “hostile and unwelcoming” atmosphere.

The Spark

The president once again pardons turkeys who did nothing wrong, but why?
The president makes a few jokes and lets a turkey go free in what became a formalized occurrence at the White House in the 1980s. But the turkey lobby's actual goal, as most likely know, is to get people to eat more turkey, NPR says.

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