Bachmann Leaves Church at Pastor's Urging

The presidential candidate and her family renounced their membership in the Conservative Lutheran Congregation on June 21st.

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has left her church at the request of church officials, just days before she launched her campaign. The Rev Marcus Birkholz asked the Minnesota congresswoman to “clarify her relationship” with Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church after she stopped attending services for two years. Bachmann, who has long been a hero for conservative evangelicals, formally withdrew her family's decade-long membership on June 21st . Her church belongs to a conservative branch of Lutheranism called The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, which has been subject to intense media scrutiny for its controversial stance that the pope is the Antichrist. Bachmann has denounced this position, stressing that she “loves Catholics.” Her husband, Marcus, has also been criticized following reports that his Christian-based counseling centre practices “reparative therapy” to cure clients of their homosexuality. Though Bachmann has not specified which church she currently attends, we hear Rev. Wright's congregation may be accepting new members.