Incomplete list of U.S. Christian shutdowns, layoffs and Rapture oddities for the Gregorian month of July 2017.

The President of the Philippines demanding that the United States return three church bells stolen by the U.S. during rebellions against U.S. occupiers in 1901.  The bells are now being used by the U.S. military as memorials to that occupation.  The bells were used by Filipino freedom fighters to signal attacks against occupying U.S. forces.

USA Today revealed that the demise of churches across the U.S., and the seeming Rapture of ‘christians’, can be blamed on gentrification, which in turn can be blamed on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT).  In other words it’s all about making profits, not prophets.

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg stated that the days of institutions like “churches and little leagues” are over, to be replaced by Facebook’s artificial intelligence.

The Mennonite Church USA (which has lost tens of thousands of members since 1998) announced it is divesting of all its for-profit investments in Israel, in protest over how the Israeli government treats Palestinians.   In the recent past the Presbyterian Church and the United Church of Christ also abandoned their investments in Israel.

The United Church of Christ blames puny humans for climate change, despite the fact that the Earth has experienced massive climate changes, and was much warmer than it is today,  when there were supposedly no humans on the planet.

Arkansas: Two men and a woman arrested for burning down the Mount Superior Baptist Church.

Arizona:  In Cave Creek, food insecurity has become so bad that Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church makes 4-hundred peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in one hour, as part of their new monthly Sandwich Ministry operations!  The sandwiches and other food items are then distributed by Phoenix Rescue Mission specifically for homeless people.  In Mesa, police arrested a 57 years old man for breaking into the Living Messiah Ministries church and stealing frozen chocolate coins.

California: In San Francisco, a volunteer with Iglesia Cristo Es la Roca is charged with sex crimes against two teen-aged boys.   In Newport Beach, the Episcopal Church is blocking its local Bishop from attempting to sell its Saint James the Great church.  The Bishop was warned in June not to sell the property until the Disciplinary Board reviewed it, but he went ahead and contacted a property developer anyway.  It’s not the first or second time the sale of Saint James the Great church has been blocked by church leaders.  The Cloverdale Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints boasted of growing membership, a whopping 130 members since the mormon church (ward) began in 1964.  Ward (a division of a Stake) members admitted their numbers vary based on the local economy/employment situation.  In Apple Valley, a teen-aged girl is charged with stabbing to death a 79 years old christian minister, and then stealing his car.

Colorado:  Near Boulder, things are so bad that the City on the Hill Church is offering drive through prayer service.   Near Colorado State University the former Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church is being replaced with ‘high-end’ (expensive) student housing.  The church’s reverend said they were looking to move anyway, due to the age of the building.  The Mancos United Methodist Church hiding illegal immigrants, the congregation is even taking shifts as security guards against ICE: “We are here in case someone should show up at night….”-Joanie Trussel

Connecticut: The Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal hiding an immigrant who’se been living in the U.S. illegally since 1993: “I am so grateful to have this support. I thank everyone who has stood by my side.”-Nury Chavarria, illegal

The Moodus village ghost town was bought by the local chapter of the Phillipines based Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ).  The church claims to have members from 130 countries and plans to turn the ghost town into a resort for their global congregation.  The 62 acre ghost town had been for sale for years, but suddenly sold to the church: “To hear, right out of the blue, that they’re going to close in eight-10 days from the time we heard about it, it took our breath away.”-Emmet Lyman, East Haddam First Selectman

Delaware: In Georgetown, the Providence United Methodist Church forced to take down a sign that read “It’s Adam and Eve not Steve”.

Florida:  A mom in Washington County discovered her son was involved in the Courts of Praise Church burglaries when she found the stolen items in his possession.  When he was arrested he named names of other teen-aged burglars, including a runaway.  A former pastor of New Salem Missionary Baptist Church funneled tens of thousands of dollars of member donations and federal taxpayer funded grants into his personal non-profits, which brought the church to ruin.

Georgia: In Atlanta, a pastor wrote an editorial where he admitted he can’t deal with homeless and mentally ill people coming into his church on Sundays.  His ‘beef’ is that his church offers them help on any other day, but not on Sundays, and he finds it strange that so many helpless people show up on Sundays.  The obviously money focused pastor admits he is trying to target “college students and young professionals and young families” and that he’s tired of families “with young kids….ends up sitting right behind the reeking man from the street.”  Sounds to me like it’s time for Jesus to have a Come to Jesus meeting with this so-called pastor!  Let me, an Animist, remind you what your Jesus said: Yeshua [Jesus] said to him, “A certain man made a great supper and he called many.  He sent his servant at the time of the supper to say to those who were invited, ‘Behold, everything is ready for you; Come.’ And they began each and every one of them to make excuses; the first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I am compelled to go to see it. I beg of you, allow me to be excused.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine them; I beg of you, allow me to be excused.’ Another said, ‘I have taken a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ And that servant came and he told his employer these things; and the owner of the house was angry and he said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the marketplaces and to the streets of the city and bring here the poor and the afflicted and the feeble and the blind.’“-Luke 14:16-21, Aramaic Bible

Guam: In the U.S. Territory, divided Catholics temporarily settled their differences over the removal of their Archbishop due to sex crimes charges brought by officials in Vatican. Protesters say they’ll hold-off on demonstrations until after the Vatican court makes its decision.

Idaho: On 20 July 2017, mormon Mitt Romney co-founded wunderkind Staples announced they will shutdown their Pocatello location in August.  They blame “customers” for shopping online.

Illinois:   A man who shot and killed his mother (in 2013) in the parking lot of the Burr Ridge Coptic Christian Church was sentenced to 55 years in prison.  During the trial it was revealed the man was frustrated because he was being investigated for immigration fraud by helping Egyptian Christians get into the United States.  The man stated in his call to 9-1-1 that he shot his mother, but after being arrested said his mother killed herself.  A boy drowned in the Fairhaven Baptist Church swimming pool despite two adults and six other children being the pool.   Springfield’s Fifth Lutheran Church shutdown after 129 years, officially because it’s too expensive to maintain the old building. In Oak Forest, food insecurity has become so bad that the Redeemer’s Lutheran Church has built a Blessing Box food cupboard in front of the church, for anybody who’s hungry or anybody who can donate.

Indiana: A classroom at Crosspointe Baptist Church and Christian Academy mysteriously caught fire, investigators blamed it on a faulty power-strip.

Louisiana: Mandeville Baptist church caught on fire and investigators think its arson.  The church has only 15 members.

Maryland:  Donald Trump hating, Seventh Day Adventist founded Kellogg Company (Kellogg’s) shutting down its warehouse in Hagerstown, 76 jobs gone by August!

Massachusetts:   336 years old Unitarian Old Ship Church forced to sell-off its larger parish house and three acres of land.  It’d been for sale for about 14 months, but finally sold for $4.8-million USD. Church leaders claim they could no longer afford to maintain the property.  The new owner of the parish house wants to replace it with apartments.

Michigan: In Flint, the Lincoln Park United Methodist Church announced that the economy is so bad they can’t help the poor anymore: “The lives of people have changed and they don’t think of church like they used to. And the church is going to go down….”-Ira Wells, church trustee

‘Like a thief in the night’,  the Abundant Life Christian Center was burgled by a thief who ignored the audible alarm.  The thief stole a laptop and broke open what he thought was a donation box, then escaped: “We forgive you. If you need prayer or help, we’re here for you. The doors of the church are open.”-Tommy Thompson, deacon

Mississippi:  After only one year pastor Matt Brooks suddenly resigned from the First Baptist Church of Jackson: “This resignation comes not because of moral failure or financial mismanagement but because of differences in leadership philosophy with the leadership of First Baptist.”-church statement

New Jersey: A man who served time in prison for  sex crimes will now be tried for volunteering with the Eternal Life Christian Center.  The state Supreme Court ruled it was essentially a crime for ex-con sex offenders to work in youth programs.  The 124 years old Church of the Ascension was torn down after the Episcopal Diocese declared it structurally unsound, for now it’s just an empty lot.

New York: The Our Lady of the Rosary Church is up for sale.   A teenager arrested for setting fires to storage units is now also charged with the March arson attack on the Milford United Methodist Church.  It should be noted that back in March investigators said the church fire was caused by a faulty electrical system.  God was powerless to stop the assassination of one of ‘his’ NYPD policewomen, city taxpayer dollars were used to spiff up The World Changers Church, in Bronx-NYC, for the funeral.  In Buffalo, the massive historic sandstone Delaware Avenue Baptist Church is for sale, not because membership is crashing, the other way ’round. There’s not enough parking for the growing membership, and it’s too expensive to maintain the unique building.

North Carolina: In Springdale, the Associated Press revealed that the Word of Faith Fellowship (which already has a track record of violating ‘human rights’) is running a slave trade operation, trafficking humans from Brazil: “They trafficked us up here. They knew what they were doing. They needed labor and we were cheap labor, hell, free labor!”-Andre Oliveira, former slave of christian church

The immigrant pastor of the Evangelica Jesus de la Iglesias has overstayed his visa, but refuses to leave.  It was also revealed that he has developed a criminal history for himself since coming to the U.S. in the 1980s.  The leader of the largest Catholic church in the United States, Saint Matthew in Ballantyne, is going out to retirement by demanding the church let priests get married.   Henderson County Sheriff’s Office conducting free taxpayer funded security classes for local churches.  Apparently there is an increased need for christians in Henderson County to feel safe and secure (gee, don’t they have faith in their almighty god?).  Police arrested one of several people suspected of robbing the Lily Memorial Baptist Church, however, the homeless man arrested claims he was sleeping on the church property and was not part of the burglary, although he admits to knowing the burglars.  In Wagram, Spring Branch Mission Baptist Church members have no faith in their leaders after their pastor was forced to resign.  The church congregation went to the brink of civil war and the Scotland County deputies were called in. The church’s board of directors said the pastor lacked vision, and a drivers license(!), and voluntarily resigned (at their request), the congregation suspects a conspiracy.  Food insecurity getting so bad the Sycamore Hill Missionary Baptist Church began offering daily food handouts, and asked people who have enough to donate saying “…if we can touch one home with a meal, we are doing God’s work…”  A local news report described how most traditional ‘hymn driven’ churches are losing members (one church hadn’t baptized anybody since 1996) to other churches who’ve merged to create mega churches using computers and “a lot of video”.   (remember what Zuckerberg predicted?)  A ministry intern with East Tenth Street Church of Christ is now charged with sex crimes after allegedly admitting to having sex with ‘underage’ girls.

Ohio:  In Bartholomew County the Ohio Chapel United Methodist Church and the Triumphant Baptist Church were burgled, vandalized and even set on fire!  Homelessness has become so bad that two additional churches have joined Serving Homeless Alternative Lodging Of Middletown (SHALOM), meaning there are now 13 churches trying to deal with the growing number of homeless people, but apparently the program only runs during the Winter.  Members of Abundant Life Ministries held a meeting after their pastor was arrested for sex crimes, and to discuss the church’s debts.  The members were told by a Calvary Bishop that their church would not shutdown this month.  It turns out the arrested pastor has a criminal record extending from the mid-1990s to the past year.  German immigrant christian founded Kroger shutting down a grocery store in the Southland Shopping Center in Toledo, 115 jobs gone by mid-August!  Fair Hills Church considering selling its 16 hectare (40 acre) campus to Sinclair Community College.

Oklahoma: Oklahoma City based Evangelical owned Hobby Lobby was fined for illegally importing stolen archaeological artifacts, which implies that christian Hobby lobby was supporting Islamic State as that’s where most stolen artifacts are coming from.  Hobby Lobby’s christian owners said they didn’t understand import laws, which is a flat lie because the overwhelming majority of products sold by Hobby Lobby are imported into the U.S. by Hobby Lobby.

Oregon: Youth homelessness so bad that Saint Vincent de Paul of Lane County began remodeling the former Cascade Presbyterian Church, in Eugene, into a Youth House.  The $1.85-million USD homeless shelter project is partially funded by donations from locals. Teen-aged homelessness has become such a problem in Oregon that church member Paul Neville stated “Many of them end up couch-surfing with acquaintances, and some end up on the streets, where they are vulnerable to violence, drugs and a thriving human-trafficking trade the along the Interstate 5 corridor.”  Oregon public schools reported more than 21-thousand homeless students in 2016-17, with almost 2-thousand being pre-kindergarten age!

Pennsylvania:  God decided to strike ‘his’ Saint Agatha Roman Catholic Church of Meadville with lighting, damaging the phone system.   God powerless to stop ‘his’ Saint Monica Senior School bowling alley from being vandalized and burgled.  In Bethlehem, police caught two men dealing heroin out of the Trinity Episcopal Church.  It was the result of undercover work by police who, for some unexplained reason, had suspected the church was being used for drug dealing.  The former Ascension of Our Lord Church in Philadelphia has been revealed to be a heroin addict’s sanctuary.  The revelation was made by a utility manager who took pictures, saying “There were so many people in there it looked like they were waiting for Mass to start.”  It turns out the homeless drug addicts fled to the abandoned church after Philadelphia police drove them away from an active church that was providing them with food.  The Christ Centered Church reports that 75% of their members are former prisoners (mostly for drug crimes), the remaining 25% are relatives of the former ‘offenders’.  Church leaders boast that since 2011 only 5% of their ex-offender members re-offended!  A former youth minister with Southminster Church in Mount Lebanon is charged with fondling a teen-aged girl.  Police claim the former minister confessed.

Tennessee: Council of Bishops of Nashville based African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) stated “The NAACP boasts that it is the oldest civil rights organization in the country. While this is true and ought to make us proud, longevity alone is not proof of relevance. For the reality is that today the NAACP is smaller and less influential than it has ever been in its history as an organization. Today the NAACP intimidates no one. To be perfectly honest, the same challenges that face the NAACP, face mainline faith denominations. We are old, and have not structured or positioned ourselves to meet the times in which our congregants live. The Black Church is seeking to confront its own challenges and we call upon the NAACP to do the same.”  Donald Trump hating, Seventh Day Adventist founded Kellogg Company (Kellogg’s) shutting down its Rossville Eggo waffle factory, 117 jobs (some reports say 155 jobs) gone between September and December!

Texas: In San Antonio, KENS reported that “Cow tongue found stabbed through” the door of the Botánica de Sanación del Espiritu Santo (Healing Botany Of The Holy Spirit) church.  For some odd reason the paranoid church members thought it was a human heart, witnesses said even superstitious police thought it was some kind of human organ.   In Denison, an abandoned church on Armstrong Avenue and Hull Street was torn down under the guise of “Keeping Denison Beautiful and Moving Forward”.  It’s being replaced with for-profit apartments.   In Longview, after 99 years Kerns Bakery suddenly shutdown, selling everything off, after failing to find a buyer willing to continue the operation the frustrated owners blamed god: “God has closed door after door for us to move and expand the bakery.  Due to this we believe that He is pointing our family down a new path in life.” 

Utah:  A FLDS (fundamentalist mormon) leader was ‘re-captured’ and charged with welfare fraud, money laundering and failing to appear in court.  Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (mormon) announced that they will continue supporting, temporarily, the now homosexual accepting Boy Scouts of America.  LDS Church Public Affairs reporting that the number of mormons in Utah County increased by 37-thousand-475 between 2013 and 2016, and it’s a huge business opportunity: “The church has teams of realtors, architects, and legal counsel that go through the area trying to look for long-term needs.”-Michael Merz, Freedom Stake president

Virginia:  The Rocky Mount Town Council denied a request by Tabernacle of Praise Church of Christ to establish a church in an industrial zone.  The town council said “They’re not making any more land. Industrial property is extremely difficult to come by.”   In Virginia Beach, the old Hilltop Community Church was torn down, to be replaced by a Germany based  grocery store.

Washington: Adventist Health issued a shutdown WARN for its Walla Walla ops, 371 jobs lost by mid-August!

Wisconsin: Saint Matthew’s Church in Oak Creek was vandalized.  Christian agnostic Warren Buffett owned meat packer Oscar Mayer-Kraft shutdown its 1-hundred years old factory in Madison, as a result of the 2015 merger of Kraft-Heinz and Oscar Mayer.

2nd Quarter 2017 U.S. Christian Rapture: “no longer feasible”

“But the root of all these evils is the love of money, and there are some who have desired it and have erred from the faith and have brought themselves many miseries.”-1 Timothy 6:10 Aramaic Bible

“And Yeshua entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And he said to them, It is written: ‘My house will be called the House of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.’ “-Matthew 21:12-13 Aramaic Bible

“Yeshua said to them, ‘Give what is Caesar’s to Caesar and what is God’s to God.’ And they marveled at him.”-Mark 12:17 Aramaic Bible

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.-1st Amendment, U.S. Constitution

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Former employees of religious non-profits might not qualify for unemployment assistance (or even be counted as unemployed): “If the non-profit organization is a church, you may or may not be entitled to unemployment. It all depends upon state regulations for church employers. In many cases, churches are allowed to set their own rules regarding unemployment benefits, meaning the church can choose whether to offer benefits to former employees.”