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Chicago Tribune
09-07-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Bethel Church removes teen from leadership role, outs him as gay to unaffiliated camp, family says
Bryce Fech said he had spent the morning of June 27 rushing around Wal-Mart with his mom and sister to buy toiletries and care-package items for a week-long stay at Twin Lakes camp. Over an Olive Garden lunch, Bryce, 14, told his mom how much he was looking forward to returning to Twin Lakes, a Christian summer camp in Hillsboro, Indiana. His favorite memory of summer 2024 was going to Twin Lakes Camp, he said, and he was looking forward to this year's camp because he would finally be able to participate in events in the same age group as his 17-year-old sister. 'I had just such a good time at camp. I made such good friends. I got along with each and every single person in my cabin,' Bryce said. Later that afternoon, Bryce said he was getting ready to go swim in the backyard pool of his dad's Crown Point home and texting his friends to let them know he would be out of pocket while at camp. As he was about to jump into the pool, his mom Nicole Fech told him the heartbreaking news: He was turned away from attending Twin Lakes Camp this summer because Melissa Anderson, the director of kids ministry at Bethel Church in Crown Point, where the Fech family used to attend, called camp officials to inform them that Bryce is gay. 'The thing that irks me is, we haven't talked to her in a year and a half, and she's a grown woman who decided to take time out of her day and call the camp because this was such a big issue to her,' Bryce said. Bethel Church officials and Anderson did not respond to multiple attempts for comment. Jim Patten, the director of Twin Lakes camp, did not respond to multiple attempts for comment. Rev. Leah Peksenak, who leads Marquette Park United Methodist Church and Hobart First United Methodist Church and is the president of Northwest Indiana Pride Fest Inc., said it is 'unusual' for church leaders to reach out to an outside entity, after the person left the church, to share information about them. 'What is really unusual is that this person would go above and beyond to contact the camp … to out this minor who isn't under their pastoral care,' Peksenak said. Bethel Church About 16 years ago, before Bryce was born, the Fech family started going to Bethel Church in Crown Point, Nicole Fech said. Shortly after joining the church, Nicole Fech said she started serving in the church's children's ministry, and even served while pregnant with Bryce. 'So he literally grew up in Bethel Church,' Nicole Fech said. When he was 3 years old, Bryce said he joined the church's youth group called Awana, in addition to attending service. Once he was older, Bryce said he became an Awana leader, and he really enjoyed teaching the children. 'It was a very welcoming environment. I never felt unwelcomed,' Bryce said. 'I felt really loved there, and I really enjoyed going.' The day before Easter in 2023, Bryce said he was watching a movie with his mom when he turned to her and told her he was gay. Nicole Fech said with a laugh that he just blurted it out. The two hugged and kissed, and nothing has changed, Bryce said. In November 2023, Bryce said he came out to his dad Matt Fech in the car after theatre practice. Matt Fech told his son he loved him and gave him a hug and a kiss. 'Nothing really changed with family dynamics at all. I'm very lucky,' Bryce said. On Feb. 14, 2024, Nicole Fech said she was scheduled to lead the church's Love Your Leader night, where she would lead about 300 kids in devotion and show love for their leaders. That afternoon, Nicole Fech said she received multiple text messages from Anderson that they had to talk as soon as possible. When she received the text messages, Nicole Fech said her motherly instinct was that Bryce and his sister Kenna Fech likely got into some adolescent trouble. She texted them asking if they knew what Anderson was reaching out about. Kenna texted back that she had no clue. Then, jokingly, Kenna texted back that it's likely a call about the fact that Bryce is gay. Nicole Fech said when she called Anderson to talk, Anderson opened the conversation with, 'This is going to be a hard conversation.' 'I immediately knew. Immediately,' Nicole Fech said. 'That's when I told her, 'It's not going to be a hard conversation for me. But we can have this conversation.'' Anderson said that children in the church were talking about how Bryce had a boyfriend, and she asked if that was true, Nicole Fech said. When Nicole Fech confirmed, Anderson asked if she could 'walk beside him and pray with him.' 'I told her, 'No, Melissa. That's not the way it works,'' Nicole Fech said. 'She basically told me that because it conflicts with our theology, and with our doctrine and our rules, he can't serve.' Nicole Fech said that Bryce was a leader at the time, so he was supposed to go to the church later that evening to participate in the Love Your Leader program. When she got home after work, Nicole Fech said she told Bryce about her conversation with Anderson, stressing that what Anderson said didn't reflect how the Lord felt about him. The whole family decided not to attend the Love Your Leader program that evening, Nicole Fech said. They haven't returned to Bethel Church since the phone call, she said. Bryce said it was hard to hear that he couldn't serve anymore because he was gay, and he felt hurt by it. But, Bryce said he was happy that his sister immediately said she wouldn't attend the leadership program if he couldn't go. 'I was hurt by the church, but I felt very loved at home and by all my friends,' Brye said. 'It was very bittersweet.' Twin Lakes In June, about a year and a half since the Fech family stopped attending Bethel Church, Nicole Fech said that Anderson reached out to her because the church received a list of children registered in the church's name attending Twin Lakes. Bryce, who attended the camp in summer 2024 and registered as a Bethel Church parishioner, was on the list for this summer, Anderson said. Nicole Fech said that Anderson asked if the home church could be changed. Because Bryce and his sister had been attending the camp for many years, previously under Bethel Church, when she registered them again for this summer, a lot of the information was pre-filled out, Nicole Fech said. Nicole Fech said she texted Anderson to let her know that she didn't realize that her children were still listed as Bethel Church parishioners, but that she had called the camp and given officials the children's new home church. But Nicole Fech said Anderson kept calling her. In a text message, Anderson said she wanted to talk about Bryce 'because I know from our last discussion that Bryce was involved in a same sex relationship and chose this lifestyle with your approval.' 'We have an obligation to let the camp know as this would go against their Biblical standards and policies. Is Bryce still living in this lifestyle? If so, I would like to request that you call the camp and let them know and talk to them about it,' Anderson wrote, in part. Nicole Fech texted back that the family no longer belongs to Bethel Church, so Anderson doesn't have anything to worry about. Anderson texted back that she would like Nicole Fech to call camp officials to inform them that Bryce is gay, or that she would call to 'let them know of (her) concerns.' 'I want you to know that I would be doing the same for any child that is attending camp where I am concerned that the camp should be aware of something. This gives the camp the ability to be best prepared for what is needed for the child and for the camp,' Anderson wrote. Nicole Fech texted back that there was no concern because 'Bryce loves the Lord and is going to have a wonderful time.' She reminded Anderson that Bryce has attended the camp for years. 'If you call, Melissa – how disgusting,' Nicole Fech wrote back. 'What is your goal here, Melissa? That you block Bryce from going to church camp? That you isolate him from being able to participate in learning more about the Lord and making new friends?' Matt Fech, an attorney, said he wrote a cease and desist letter to Bethel Church to stop them from contacting the camp on the family's behalf. On Friday, June 27, two days before Bryce and Kenna were supposed to leave for camp, Nicole Fech said she got a phone call and Twin Lakes flashed on her screen. She said she immediately knew what the call was about. Patten, the camp director, was on the other line and asked if she had a moment to talk. Nicole Fech immediately asked if he was calling to tell her that Anderson had called him and now Bryce can't come to camp anymore. Nicole Fech said she asked Patten what his concerns were about Bryce attending the camp. After 'beating around the bush,' Nicole Fech said Patten told her Bryce would be put 'in a situation of temptation' if he attended camp because he would be sharing a cabin with other boys. When she heard that, Nicole Fech said she became upset about the conservative, Christian stance that being a member of the LGBTQ community is all about sex. Ultimately, she said she hung up on Patten. 'I was not nice. I probably lost some of my Christianity on that phone call,' Nicole Fech said. But, Nicole Fech said her heart immediately dropped because, after spending the morning getting all the final items they needed for camp, she had to tell her son – for the second time – that he's being excluded for being gay. The aftermath What perplexes her, Nicole Fech said, is that Anderson went out of her way to call the camp a year and a half after the family left the church. To her, it feels like a violation of Bryce's civil rights, Nicole Fech said. 'I can't believe this is happening,' Nicole Fech said. 'The fact that she did this a year and a half later, when we have no affiliation with the church, is absolutely, jaw-droppingly, astoundingly inappropriate in all the ways.' Actions like this, Nicole Fech said, lead to people feeling church hurt and excluded from religion. But the message of all this, Nicole Fech said, was best summed up by a friend who said, 'Jesus doesn't practice selective grace, he embraces radical inclusion.' Matt Fech said what bothers him is that Bethel Church didn't raise an issue last year when Bryce went to camp. 'This is a conscious decision by them to take affirmative steps to make sure that Bryce doesn't get to go to camp,' Matt Fech said. 'One of the things that I have been so proud of Bryce is the maturity with which he has handled all of this. It's really been incredible. You always want your kids to handle adversity with grace and dignity, and how Bryce has handled this situation over the last year and a half has been incredible to watch.' Peksenak said it's 'commonplace' for conservative Christian church officials to remove LGBTQ members from leadership positions once they are made aware of how a person identifies. When it comes to disclosing information about a minor, Peksenak said church leaders are held 'to strict confidentiality' unless the minor expresses harm to themselves, harm to others or reports abuse. 'You are expected to hold that sacred,' Peksenak said. 'The bar is so high, you don't break confidentiality unless you have a good reason, and this isn't a good reason.' Unfortunately, church officials police themselves so it's unlikely any action will be taken by Bethel Church against Anderson, Peksenak said. The impact of such actions, Peksenak said, is that people in the LGBTQ community and their families 'don't want anything to do with the church anymore.' Bryce, who was interviewed July 4, the day he should've been returning from camp, said he wanted to share his story to remind those in similar situations that they are not alone and they are loved. 'I don't need a pity party for this. I want people to just know what happened and know if this has happened to them, they are not alone, and this happens a lot, which is very unfortunate,' Bryce said. 'Gay people are nothing more than a beacon of light and love.'
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Influencer gets emotional admitting she has to shop at H&M amid financial struggles
Influencer B. Simone is facing mockery for getting emotional while talking about downgrading from Bloomingdale's to H&M amid a financial downturn. The 35-year-old comedian who boasts nearly six million followers on Instagram shared how her expenses have changed during an episode of her podcast, Let's Try This Again, which aired on June 17. Speaking to her best friend, Shekinah Yon, B. Simone confessed she's been having trouble managing her money. 'It's just my finances,' she said, with tears in her eyes. 'The budgeting. You see how I am. Nitpicking every little thing. I've never been like that.' She then got emotional about how her shopping habits have changed, continuing: 'We were in Bloomingdale's yesterday. I'm like, 'We have to go H&M.' And I notice it in me. Just nitpicking.'' Simone, whose real name is Braelyn Simone Greenfield, explained that she no longer has the 'liquid' assets she once did as she's investing in her app, the LTTA APP. 'I got the money. [Just] not yet, it's coming,' she explained. 'I have it in assets. I have it in jewelry. It's the liquid. I'm used to seeing a certain amount in my account.' A clip of the podcast has gone viral on X, with people criticizing B. Simone for getting upset about going to H&M. 'Tearing up about having to shop at H&M when conversing with someone who, in the same conversation, talked about getting EVICTED and being on FOOD STAMPS,' one wrote. 'Is this girl okay??' 'Most of us shop at H&M. Most of us live check to check. That's life. I can rock a Wal-Mart fit with confidence because it's in YOU not on you,' another added. 'The real root is materialism. There's the part of the heart God is trying to show you to fix. You don't need certain brands to be cool.' 'Oh my god.. get a grip.. I've been shopping at H&M for most of my life, and it's really not life or death like that,' a third added. Others mocked B. Simone's disappointment about going to the popular retailer. 'This is a damn tragedy. Ok folks, it's time we set up a GoFundMe. H&M? No way, sweetie,' one quipped. 'God forbid you have to be like a normal person,' another tweeted. B. Simone has previously opened up about the financial changes in her life. During an appearance on the Assets Over Liabilities podcast in 2023, she claimed that after being 'canceled on social media,' she went from making $1 million in one month to $10,000 the next month. The former Wild'n Out cast member drew major backlash in 2020 when she told Nick Cannon that she wouldn't date someone who had a 9-5 job. She said she wanted to date someone who 'was a hustling entrepreneur,' not a man who had to 'clock in and clock out' of his job. In June of that year, she also faced serious allegations of copying pages from bloggers for her self-help book Baby Girl: Manifest the Life You Want. She publicly apologized and halted sales, saying it was now 'a legal matter.' 'I've never written a book. I've never been an author, so as an influencer, as a creative, as an entrepreneur, me and my team outsourced. We hired a team that we trusted that we thought could bring my vision to life, and they did a lot of things without my knowledge and I am here to fix it,' she said at the time. Sales of her book were paused due to the incident. Simone also launched a vegan and cruelty-free beauty brand, B. Simone Beauty, in 2019; however, the brand appears to be on hiatus.
Buzz Feed
29-05-2025
- General
- Buzz Feed
69 (Nice) Hilarious Photos
Finally, a reason to return to office. Okay, Michael Scott. Assie and Potato are both great contenders. Regina George, is that you? Well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions... Let's keep it moving, people. God hasn't got all day. This has a bit of an ominous undertone. A little bleak for a Valentine, but I'll take it! Can't argue with that. These coworkers are keepers. Nothing wrong with a little compliment to start your trip! ...Okay, I guess that makes sense. :/ I used to do this to people, and I can confirm that it also brought me a laugh. I'm glad this person specified. I think I'm okay with Wendy's real fresh beaver, but thanks. I understood that reference!!!! Good one, Eggies. Grandpa really phoned it in here. I wasn't planning on it, but I'll still try to be extra mindful. Vandalism and defacing property are fine if it adds humorous value. ...Okay, thanks for that, Google Maps. Once again, thanks, Google. If I were a thief, this would convince me! Hey, I'm still glad you made it home safely! From now on, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is what I will be writing when I don't know the answer to something. I don't think the teacher intended for their "pushing" to feel like this. "Sorry for the thing, first of all," is going to enter my vernacular now. Considering I still wake up with night sweats thinking of this terrible sound from my fourth-grade music class, I'd take one. How wholesome! SOYLENT GREEN!!! Phew. I'm sure glad I didn't bring my nuclear missiles here. SECURITY!!! GET HIM!!!! I hate that I laughed at this. I'm turning into such a Dad. Relatable. This is also my face when people tell me to smile. Good to know! I see what you did there. And there. Hey, how'd they know about my drawer??? He's not wrong. I think Mike misunderstood the he understood it way better than the prior two writers did, depending on how you look at it. Might as well call them "poors" at this point. This is a nice sentiment, I guess? I guess we'll go ahead and trespass, then! I see what you did there, Wal-Mart. This is a solid use of money. As was this. I might have to do this with my ex's number. I feel like they should've spent a *little* more time thinking about the design of this anti-drunk driving pencil, but maybe that's just me. Hm. I didn't realize Dr. Pepper was a form of payment. See #22. that's okay, I'm not that hungry. Now the crack looks intentional! Way to call Andy out. Leave them alone! They're preparing for Jurassic World Rebirth! Well, that's unlucky. Damn, imagine being burned by Google Photos. Super important to blur those wheels! I didn't think my pancreas hated me until now!!! Bags have feelings, too! I'm glad we cleared that up. Oh...I guess I don't want a popsicle after all. Or this corn. That's certainly one solution to macbooks removing their HDMI port... The perfect size for the giant up the beanstalk! ...OK? That's one way to advertise! Wow, it's amazing what nine years of study can do. And one, Netflix. H/T: r/Funny
Spectator
12-05-2025
- Business
- Spectator
China has won the trade war with Trump
This weekend, the United States struck a deal with China that will see American tariffs on Beijing's exports come back down to manageable levels again, while China will lower its levies on imports from the US. The giant container ports on both sides of the Pacific can now be re-opened. The factories across China can get back to work, and Wal-Mart and Target can start placing orders again. The global economy can start moving once more – but significantly, it will very quickly become clear who has won the tariff war: China. The deal that was announced this morning in Switzerland, where negotiations took place, by the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant appears very simple. The US will reduce its tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 per cent to 30 per cent, while China will cut its from 125 per cent to just 10 per cent. For now, it is just a 90-day pause, but it already looks likely that over the next three months a more permanent agreement will be worked out.
Boston Globe
06-05-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Sweet Paws Rescue to buy 69-acre Haverhill farm for its own ‘forever home'
But while the property is undeniably beautiful, it may seem at odds with Sweet Paws' deeply-held philosophy of never placing an animal in shelter. 'We are not a shelter,' executive director Cynthia Sweet said in an interview. 'I've never wanted to have a shelter. I don't think dogs or cats do well in a shelter environment.' Instead, every animal goes directly into a network of foster homes until adoption — a model built to prepare them for life as family pets, avoiding the fear, stress, and behavioral issues that often develop in a traditional shelter environment, she said. Advertisement So why the farm? While Sweet Paws' 'shelterless' model minimizes time on-site, a physical facility has always been necessary — and today, it's needed more than ever. With a sharp rise in abandoned pets , many now require extended stays for medical care, recovery, and behavioral support, far beyond the 48-hour quarantine required for out-of-state rescues. Historically, 97 percent of Sweet Paws' animals came from under-resourced areas in Mississippi and Alabama. To meet Massachusetts' quarantine requirements, the organization operated a small facility in Groveland, where animals stayed just long enough to clear quarantine before moving into foster care. Rapid turnover meant the building was often mostly empty. 'But now, 45 percent of our dogs are coming from Massachusetts,' Sweet said — a shift she says has accelerated dramatically over the past five years. Advertisement At first, they were 'COVID dogs' — pets bought for companionship during lockdown. More recently, the housing crisis has driven many to give up their pets, Sweet said, whether due to no-pet policies, relocation, or loss of housing altogether. The result: Shelters and rescues are overflowing, and animals are sometimes 'physically dumped on the side of the road,' according to Sweet. Sweet Paws is among the organizations local authorities now increasingly turn to for help. 'Fourteen years ago, when I started Sweet Paws, someone asked me why [we focused on the South],' Sweet said. 'I said it was because there wasn't a massive problem in Massachusetts. And that if there ever was, we'd pivot and shift our focus.' She laughed. 'But I didn't think it would actually happen!' The nonprofit, which has dozens of dogs listed for adoption on its Red Barron, a mixed breed, was given away as a puppy at a Wal-Mart in Mississippi. Sweet Paws Rescue Sweet said she has dreamed of moving to a farm 'for as long as I can remember.' But the timing has proved ideal. Rescue animals often need spay/neuter surgery, vaccinations, injury treatment, and time to heal before they can be adopted. Rather than a crowded shelter, the farm offers a peaceful, pastoral sanctuary where dogs and cats can recuperate in comfort. They'll still go into foster homes whenever possible, but when on-site stays are necessary, the farm's open fields will reduce stress and prepare animals for family life. To fund its new home, Sweet Paws has launched a $4.5 million Advertisement Sweet Paws announced Monday The campaign's first phase — securing the 69-acre Haverhill property — kicks off this summer; subsequent fundraising will finance an on-site veterinary clinic, expanded animal housing, and 'whatever new problems emerge in Massachusetts,' as Sweet put it. True to its 'shelterless' roots, Sweet Paws still won't become a traditional shelter. Instead, they'll utilize the farm to uphold their mission in these unprecedented times: equipping cats and dogs for their forever homes. Rita Chandler can be reached at
