In today’s News:
LCMS may delay conventions
COVID-19 continues to impact both the world and the work of the church. Due to ongoing effects of the pandemic, some LCMS district presidents have expressed uncertainty that their district conventions will be able to convene at all during 2021. The LCMS Council of Presidents voted unanimously at their November 2020 meeting to encourage Lcms President The Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison to put before congregations a proposal as per LCMS constitution to delay the 2022 Synod convention one year to 2023, thus extending the window for district conventions to include the calendar year 2022. Harrison also consulted with The Synod Board of Directors. The participation of each LCMS congregation in this deliberation and decision is vital as the Synod navigates this historic vote. While congregations can begin considering the issue immediately, instructions on the electronic voting process will be sent to member congregations by mail early in January; the vote, which requires participation of at least one quarter of the synod’s congregations, will conclude Feb. 15.
A House body considers funding abortion
Today, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies is holding a virtual hearing to discuss the Hyde Amendment, which forbids federal tax dollars from being used to pay for abortion through the federal Medicaid program. The Hyde amendment is a rider that has been added to the House appropriations bill every year since it was first passed on Sept. 30, 1976. Every president since then has supported it, and it is credited with saving at least 2.4-million lives from abortion. Today’s hearing includes four witnesses, with only one being pro-life — Christina Bennett, communications director for the Family Institute of Connecticut.
Biden picks pro-abortion Cabinet Secretary
Presumed President-Elect Joe Biden has nominated California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to serve as secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services. Becerra, who has no experience in health care, is known for his hostility towards pro-life activists. As California’s attorney general, Becerra was preceded by Biden’s pick for vice president, Kamala Harris. Together, Becerra and Harris persecuted pro-lifers, with David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt as the most notable examples. As lead investigators for the Center for Medical Progress, Daleiden and Merritt exposed Planned Parenthood’s participation in the illegal trafficking of aborted baby body parts.
Hawaii court hears atheist case
A Hawaiian court has heard arguments in a lawsuit brought by two atheist activists accusing two churches of not properly compensating local public schools for using their facilities. Last Friday, Calvary Chapel Central Oahu and One Love Ministries went before a state trial court to argue that they lawfully compensated the schools they met in on weekends. The two churches were represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative law firm that has argued religious liberty cases before The United States Supreme Court.
