Free Republic

A Dunedin pastor recently won a sabbatical grant so she can learn from the ancient Celts and American Indians, according to media reports The Rev. Victoria “Vicki” ByRoade, of the First Presbyterian Church of Dunedin, received a $49,470 grant from The Lilly Endowment Inc. for spiritual learning and renewal that it believes will better her congregation. ByRoade and her congregation are among 158 religious groups across 40 states that learned in October they would win awards through the Lilly Endowment's National Clergy Renewal Program

The pastor of First Presbyterian Church on B Street is breaking away from the congregation to start his own non-denominational house of worship that will focus on helping people connect with God through a music-filled service, Bible teachings that apply to contemporary life and community meals. Dave Weidlich, 56, spent seven years leading First Presbyterian, but says he encountered a vision of church elders that was different from the one he had. Now the backpacking and blogging pastor is launching his own church, called The Vine, that will meet in an office building near Auto Row.“The Vine will be different...

Most Fremont Presbyterian church members thought the turmoil in their congregation would end after they voted 427-164 to leave the national denomination in October.Now that vote – and the future of the church – is being challenged.Local Presbyterian leaders have called for an investigation of Fremont to determine if there is a schism, or significant opposition to the vote, within the church. Members voted to leave the Presbyterian Church USA to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. If Sacramento-area Presbyterian leaders find there is a schism at Fremont, they would also decide which faction is entitled to the valuable church property.This...

Cochrane's Knox Presbyterian Church held its last service Sunday.The membership of the Church has declined over the years to now only being a handful, most of which commute from out of town.The lack of members resulted in difficulties with maintaining the building regularly, which lead to the collective decision to relocate.Although a snowstorm lefts road conditions difficult to drive, over a dozen people were present for the emotional and historical time.Members of different churches were present for the service in support of their fellow Christians.Speaker Clint Sheehan gave a sermon about 'Great and Sovereign Grace', sharing personal memories and related...

Four of 60 Presbyterian churches in the Miami Valley recently left their national denomination. Their ministers pointed to changes in the denomination’s constitution that paved the way for openly gay people to become ministers or church leaders, as well as changes to the way the church is governed that could provide for a more top-down leadership in the future. ..“We were concerned,” said Peter Larson, head pastor at Lebanon Presbyterian Church, “that some might see this move as creating a church that’s anti-gay people, or homophobic.” Larson’s church voted to leave the denomination. “That’s just not true. Every person is...

Next Thursday, as the rest of us tuck into our turkey feasts, hundreds of needy families in Southern California will open "Boxes of Love." Delivered by several churches led by Pacific Crossroads in Santa Monica, Calif., the boxes contain ingredients for a Thanksgiving meal for six. They allow impoverished families to skip food lines and neighborhood pantries and enjoy the holiday in their own homes. What's unusual about the Pacific Crossroads congregation—and what underpins efforts such as Boxes of Love—is its theologically conservative raison d'être. A member church of the Presbyterian Church in America, Pacific Crossroads is committed to Reformation...

In Oregon, two Salem churches (First Presbyterian Church and First Congregational United Church of Christ) have opened their parking lots to local Occuppy Wall Street protestors. The Presbyterian Church is trying to make room for the daily “Occupation Tango” dance that the protesters do. Protest organizers in Boston, New York, and Chicago have made sure that religion and faith communities are an accepted and welcomed part of an economic protest that began in cities nationwide a few weeks ago. In Boston, organizers established a “Sacred Space” tent where protestors can gather, sans shoes, for spiritual reflection regardless of religious affiliation....

The 9th annual Taiwan Gay Pride Parade, held on October 29th, 2011, started from Ketagalan Boulevard with a huge rainbow flag held by the 30 people leading the parade. The theme of this year’s parade is “ LGBT Fight Back, Discrimination Get Out!” Just like last year, Tong-Kwang Light House Presbyterian Church actively participated in the parade and walked behind the rainbow flag with the troop.Tong-Kwang Light House Presbyterian Church also actively took part in the preparation of the parade and was in charge of administrative affairs. To ensure that the flyers containing the idea of appealing for equal rights...

Editor’s note: In light of recent decisions by other denominations to approve openly homosexual individuals for ministry, to sanction the blessing of same-sex unions, and because of the public debate on legalizing same-sex marriages, it is appropriate to publish the position of the Presbyterian Church in America on these issues. Here is a brief overview of actions of past General Assemblies and summaries of these actions: In 1977 the following was adopted: That the Fifth General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America affirms the biblical position for our denomination which states that: 1. The act of homosexuality is a...

On Saturday, October 8th in Madison, Wisconson, Scott Anderson became the first openly gay ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church. This ordination is especially poignant for Anderson who came out to his California congregation when he was in his late thirties, over twenty years ago. He resigned as a result. Nancy Enderle, the interim executive director of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, told The Associated Press that the ordination was a glorious celebration that touched everyone, especially Anderson. “He’s a very dignified and poised person but you could tell he was deeply moved,” she said “The Episcopalians, the Lutherans, the...

<p>AP material must be excerpted to 50% of content, if the article is short.</p>

One of the oldest Presbyterian churches in Syracuse — First Presbyterian Church United – this month decided it will close in April 2012. The Near West Side church, founded in 1826 and located at 620 W. Genesee St. since 1904, will have its last service on Easter, April 8, 2012. The church has been steadily losing members over the years and is financially strapped, said Nancy Wind, associate for congregational life at the church. There are about 100 church members; of those about 40 attend worship services, she said. “We’ve been running a deficit budget for at least a decade...

Before returning to New England for the second time, I served two African American Presbyterian Churches. And during that time I never thought, two decades ago, that the entire church body would change its position on LGBTQ worshippers. But a historic yet bittersweet moment happened on October 8th in the Presbyterian Church (USA). And the moment didn’t happened without a long and arduous struggle against the church’s ecclesiastical heterosexism.After decades of open struggle with the church’s recalcitrant attitude and discrimination against its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) worshippers who wanted to serve as pastors, elders or deacons, the...

Members of First Presbyterian Church of Enid voted 131-69 to leave Presbyterian Church... The Rev. Roy Schneider, senior pastor of the church, announced the vote. Schneider said 200 of the 290 members of the church were present and voted. Prior to the vote, Schneider read a message from the Presbytery, the governing body, saying the vote is non-binding, and any changes in membership will be made after requested by individual members. ..The church had been in tense discussion for several months about issues it faced. Many members have been concerned about the reported liberal stances the national church has been...

A California minister says another Presbyterian church has withdrawn from the national group because the mainline denomination is departing from the Bible and biblical standards. Sacramento-based Fremont Presbyterian Church recently voted 427-164 to secede from the Presbyterian Church USA due to the group's stance on "gay" clergy. The church is now part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, a small denominational offshoot that is more conservative. It believes in the infallibility of the Bible, that homosexuals should not serve in the ministry, and that those who are divorced should meet with congregational leaders before joining the church. The church's pastor assures...

Several dozen people partook in a discussion about same-sex marriage Sunday morning at Westminster Presbyterian Church, settling nothing but sharing their opinions openly. It was a part of the church’s series of adult education forums; one last week focused on interfaith marriage. Always a controversial topic, same-sex marriage has become yet more prominent in New York this year since the Legislature passed a law legalizing it. The Ledyard town clerk objected to that law and declined to sign same-sex marriages licenses on religious grounds, thereby putting herself near the center of a nationwide debate and drawing a write-in election challenge....

The majority of members of First Presbyterian Church of Enid have decided to sever ties with the nation's largest Presbyterian denomination. About 200 of the church's 250 members cast votes on the issue Sunday, said James Bellatti, presbyter of the Cimarron Presbytery, a regional affiliate of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Bellatti said 131 church members voted to leave the denomination, while 69 voted to stay. The nonbinding vote was simply a tally to determine who wanted to stay and who wanted to go, he said. Two days later, the church's senior pastor, the Rev. Roy Schneider, resigned from his post....

After the vote, some church members wiped away tears. Others said they were relieved it was finally over. Members of Fremont Presbyterian Church – the largest Presbyterian Church in the Sacramento region – ended months of speculation Sunday when they voted to leave their national denomination and join one that church leaders said reflects more traditional beliefs...Church leaders said their denomination had strayed from biblical adherence, most recently in July when the national denomination permitted the ordination of openly gay clergy.The Presbyterian Church (USA) has about 2 million members and is one of a growing number of mainline Protestant churches...

Today we see an age of anomie—lawlessness. The laws of God are being ignored and His commandments jettisoned. Indeed, it is a lawless age in which we live—reminiscent of what Jesus said in parable about what would come when He went off to a far country. The citizens would hate Him, and they would cry out, “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14). The great question before the nations is: Will men and nations submit to having Jesus Christ, the Divine Creator of the world reign over them? God’s purpose in this world is to...

A Statement from Truth in Action Ministries, Oct. 14, 2011 "While having the deepest respect for the moral and ethical standards of the Mormon people and their church, we must sadly reject their teachings as false and not Christian." –D. James Kennedy, Ph.D. Texas pastor Robert Jeffress generated headlines last week when he told reporters that Mormonism is a cult—a belief system at odds with historic Christianity. Since then he has been accused of bigotry, called a “poster boy for hatred,” and a “moron.” Despite those harsh charges, Jeffress, who backs Texas governor Rick Perry for the GOP presidential nomination,...