Presbytery of the Pacific also approved gay ordination
I was a commissioner to the presbytery meeting at Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles on May 12 where the Presbytery of the Pacific also approved Amendment B:
http://www.presbyteryofthepacific.org/meetings/docs-may09/tda-may09.pdf
It was a very long and exhausting day, including having to go through a 2 1/2 hour "listening session" where those of us who are still obedient followers of Christ had to listen to homosexual activists and their PCUSA supporters tell us why PCUSA has to ordain homosexuals and why their victory is inevitable and we should just agree to it.
The latest "scriptural" argument they are now trotting out asserts that Abraham was the first person in Scripture "ordained" by God, and since his "ordination" preceded the giving of the Law, that therefore ordination is superior to Scripture. Yeah, I know it makes no sense (especially since Abraham was told by God that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, which means that God's condemnation of homosexuality also "preceded the giving of the Law"), but that is the kind of reasoning that has sway in PCUSA.
The vote itself was academic, because Amendment B has already been defeated nationally, although by a much narrower margin than prior attempts to validate homosexual clergy. The vote in presbytery was 100-90 in favor of the amendment (plus 3 abstentions, which are counted as no votes, technically making the final tally 100-93). There was some thought that some of those who could have shown up and opposed Amendment B did not do so, perhaps because they thought it didn't count any more or are just sick of dealing with the homosexuality issue over and over again. However, it now lets the homosexuals say that our presbytery is in favor of homosexual ordination and that will encourage further rebellious ordination of homosexuals as well as the continued unlawful performance of same-sex blessings.
I'd ask PB members to please pray for us who are still in the "faithful remnant." There are a lot of faithful Christians in PCUSA, but the liberals control the politics in much of the denomination, even as they are simultanously destroying it. The large churches in our presbytery are conservative and evangelical, but are outnumbered by all the dying churches with 75 or less members that make up a disproportionate percentage of the entire vote.
Another item on the presbytery agenda was this cheery presentation:
2009 General Mission Budget
The General Mission Council reluctantly presented
the General Mission Budget for 2009. The pledges
and expected income are down over $100,000
from two years ago so that a number of projects
had to be cut. As it stands now, the budget that was
passed contains no funding for the campus ministry
at UCLA, only a token amount for the campus
ministry at USC, and practically no support for the
Hispanic ministries at Fuente De Vida, Bethesda,
and the new church development in Wilmington. In
addition, the approved budget suspends the 2%
salary increases previously approved for the
Presbytery staff, and shifts 5% of undesignated
giving from the General Assembly to the Presbytery.
Both General Mission Council Chairperson, Sandra
Mader, and Administrative Committee Chairperson,
Tom Fleming spoke about the number of churches
in the Presbytery that do not support the work of
the Presbytery. Some make no pledge to mission
work beyond their community, and some designate
giving to the exclusion of the Presbytery. Council
members will be contacting the non-supporting
churches to try to recapture interest in and support
of the work of the Presbytery.
Just amazing how no one can connect the dots.
