Calvinbeza
Puritan Board Freshman
The PC(USA) will lost additional 500,000 members in the next years according to the recent statistics. PC(USA) will shrink under 1 million? What do you think?
PC(USA) future
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Bill The Baptist
Puritan Board Graduate
I think it is ironic that the pursuit of liberal theology in the name of relevancy has only resulted in irrelevancy.
DMcFadden
Puritanboard Commissioner
My old standby . . .
The mainline has become the sideline en route to the flatline.
Christianity in America is facing some VERY tough challenges. The Dominical promise that the "gates of hell shall not prevail" is not a guarantee of success in any particular locale. 500 years ago the center of Christianity was in Rome, Wittenberg, and Geneva. Try to find a lot of vibrant Christian congregations in Europe today!
My move from broad evangelicalism to confessional Reformational Christianity was in recognition of the relative absence of the Gospel in the mainline and the frothy diversions from it in anthropocentric evangelicalism. If the dingy in my part of the world is going down, I want it to be a a faithful one. And, who knows, in the providence of God we may yet see a resurgence of faithful monergistic Christianity in America. I am constantly amazed at the growth of 5 pt. Calvinism at Southern Seminary under Mohler. Stats report something like 1/3 of the grads are soteriologically Calvinist. That will not cheer the Presbyterians among us (insofar as they are Baptists), but given the size of the SBC, it warms my heart to know that the Reformation still lives among the big hair and twang set.
The mainline has become the sideline en route to the flatline.
Christianity in America is facing some VERY tough challenges. The Dominical promise that the "gates of hell shall not prevail" is not a guarantee of success in any particular locale. 500 years ago the center of Christianity was in Rome, Wittenberg, and Geneva. Try to find a lot of vibrant Christian congregations in Europe today!
My move from broad evangelicalism to confessional Reformational Christianity was in recognition of the relative absence of the Gospel in the mainline and the frothy diversions from it in anthropocentric evangelicalism. If the dingy in my part of the world is going down, I want it to be a a faithful one. And, who knows, in the providence of God we may yet see a resurgence of faithful monergistic Christianity in America. I am constantly amazed at the growth of 5 pt. Calvinism at Southern Seminary under Mohler. Stats report something like 1/3 of the grads are soteriologically Calvinist. That will not cheer the Presbyterians among us (insofar as they are Baptists), but given the size of the SBC, it warms my heart to know that the Reformation still lives among the big hair and twang set.
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SolamVeritatem
Puritan Board Freshman
Gabor,
That's an interesting observation, and I wonder if the news in the below link has anything to do with the exodus?
34,000 Black Churches Leave PCUSA Over Same-Sex Marriage | The Christian Mail
In Him,
Craig
That's an interesting observation, and I wonder if the news in the below link has anything to do with the exodus?
34,000 Black Churches Leave PCUSA Over Same-Sex Marriage | The Christian Mail
In Him,
Craig
Bill The Baptist
Puritan Board Graduate
Backwoods Presbyterian
Puritanboard Amanuensis
I agree with Wayne in the next decade or so we will see a "United Reformed Church" like exists in England, which similarly saw Presbyterians and Congregationalists joining together as one.
United Reformed Church - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
United Reformed Church - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SeanAnderson
Puritan Board Freshman
I was disappointed, seeing the name of the denomination years ago, that a lot (perhaps all?) of the URC churches in England seem to be very liberal.
Sadly, there aren't any widespread strongly confessional Presbyterian (or even Reformed) denominations in this country. I know of the EPCEW (Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales) and the IPC (International Presbyterian Church), but their congregations are relatively few. I pray for their growth. I am encouraged that the USA still has the OPC and the PCA among others.
Edward
Puritanboard Commissioner
Well, the headline is certainly misleading and inaccurate.
Edward
Puritanboard Commissioner
Don't leave out the ECUSA. And the ELCA certainly is working on its candidacy, as well.
SolamVeritatem
Puritan Board Freshman
Edward,
Thanks for the correction brother!
I kept thinking to myself, I don't recall there being that many PCUSA churches?
After your prompting I read the article more closely and realized how misleading the headline actually is.
Thanks again. Much appreciated.
In Him,
Craig
Edward
Puritanboard Commissioner
And certainly not Black congregations in the mostly lily white country club liberal PCUSA. They have about 10,000 total churches. I couldn't find a breakdown of congregations by predominate race. But the 2013 stats showed them as being 91.31% White and 2.13% African American, 1.09% Black, and 0.5% African.
Well, I found the list for 2012, and have to count them up myself. 468 out of roughly 10,000 (Total slightly higher back then). (Feel free to check my count). More than I would have guessed, but not that far out percentage wise from the membership numbers.
https://www.pcusa.org/site_media/media/uploads/africanamerican/pdf/directory.pdf
Favorite names found: Martin Luther King Jr Presbyterian Church (NJ) and Kwanzaa Presbyterian Church (MN)
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