Mike Simiele is pastor for the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Riceville, Iowa.
The United Church of Christ denomination itself warns people considering attending the First Congregational United Church of Christ that the church cannot be considered open and affirming.
Imagine that. Why would a church not want to be open and affirming?
The sticking point for Mike Simiele’s congregation is that it didn’t want to be thought to be welcoming to LGBTQ Americans. The church decided it would rather be thought of as unwelcoming than take the risk of having to be decent to non-heterosexual neighbors.
Michael Simiele is one of over 300 members of the Iowa Faith Leader Coalition, a shadowy network of Christian Nationalists who are doing everything they can to ensure that Donald Trump is elected President in 2024.
Their goal is not only to put Trump in office, but to use him as means to achieve their ultimate objective: To replace American democracy with a totalitarian Christian theocracy with Donald Trump at its head.
To find out more about this anti-democracy network, read the new book Donald Trump’s Army of God: Christian Nationalism in the Iowa Faith Leader Coalition.
The Iowa Faith Leader Coalition is a radical political organization that violates the law
Let’s make it our business to become aware of the radical preachers who are members of the Coalition.