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To: darrellmaurina
5 ... This is a big deal for the Presbyterian Church in America, which is by far the largest of the conservative Presbyterian denominations in the United States. It could also be a very big deal for fixing what is wrong with Scouting.

Selected U.S. churches membership (2010) reported in the 2012 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches.

Catholic 68,202,492
Southern Baptist 16,136,044
United Methodist 7,679,850
Mormon-LDS 6,157,238
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 4,274,855
Assemblies of God 3,030,944
Presbyterian (U.S.A.) 2,675,873
Lutheran - Missouri Synod 2,278,586
Episcopal 1,951,907
Presbyterian Church in America 346,814

The PCA is a tiny player on the national stage in terms of numbers.

Dr. Reeder pastors the largest congregation in the PCA, Briarwood Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, Alabama, and now that Dr. D. James Kennedy has died, Dr. Reeder is probably the most prominent politically active conservative among the pastors of large PCA congregations.

Briarwood was where the PCA was founded in the early 1970s when a schism took place in the Presbyterian Church. Briarwood PCA is 1 of several BIG fish Boy Scout troops in the tiny pond of the Vulcan District (southeast quadrant of Jefferson County/Birmingham) of the Greater Alabama Council. Briarwood is a mega-church. Its troop, at least 10 years ago, had 100+ youth members.

I am not unaware of issues at Briarwood Presbyterian Church. There are reasons why I am not PCA. However, Dr. Reeder is on the right side of this issue with Scouting and he deserves to get support, not only from conservative Calvinists but also from others who want to promote a Christian alternative to the homosexual agenda in Scouting.

Briarwood probably has an equal number of admirers and detractors in the local community. It will be very interesting to watch what decision the PCA reaches.

13 posted on 05/24/2013 11:42:29 PM PDT by MacNaughton
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To: MacNaughton
No disagreement on the PCA being small in terms of the church world, but it's far and away the largest of the conservative Presbyterian denominations. The PCA also has an influence in the evangelical world which goes far beyond its numbers.

While I am much more conservative than Briarwood Presbyterian Church, or the PCA in general, a movement to promote a Reformed alternative to Scouting needs to be led by a “big steeple” church in a major Reformed denomination. Dr. Reeder and the leaders of Briarwood PCA may be exactly the right people to do that.

My guess is that a lot of similar people are going to be standing up in the Southern Baptist Convention and the Assemblies of God to promote Royal Rangers and Royal Ambassadors as a place where disaffected Scouts and church-sponsored Scout troops can join.

14 posted on 05/24/2013 11:55:01 PM PDT by darrellmaurina
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