Posted on 07/09/2008 4:32:10 AM PDT by johnstown
The Episcopal Church has been at the forefront of baptizing active homosexual lifestyle as God-blessed.
Since 1960, that denomination has decreased in membership by 48%.
The United Methodist Church has been roiled by those adamant on establishing homosexual lifestyles as Christian legitimate. In the fight for one side or another that denomination has decreased in membership by 25%.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) has likewise been embroiled in the tussle. That denomination has decreased in membership by 44%.
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has also been riddled with in-house fighting over homosexual lifestyles as anti-God or pro-God. That denomination's membership has decreased 74%.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America has permitted the fight to be more open, some in administration arguing homosexual lifestyles as okay with God. That denomination's membership has decreased by 31%.
The United Church of Christ (Congregational) has defended aggressively homosexual activity as totally legitimate in the definition of "Christian." In the last 40 years, that denomination has lost 40% of its original membership.
By contrast, denominations preaching the Bible as divine revelation, openly stating their love for homosexuals but their disdain for homosexual activity, have grown in membership and church attendance.
For instance, the Southern Baptist Convention has increased in membership by 76% according to the National Council of Churches statistics for 2007.
Read James L. Clark's "The Church Homosexual Problem" at http://www.postchronicle.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=75&num=153523
“I don’t think the ECUSA, UMC, PCUSA, DOC, ELCA or UCC have been teaching these doctrines since 1962.”
....I expect that 1962 was chosen as a starting point because it was roughly the start of the Civil Rights era...that was the beginning of social activism with the northern Presbyterian church...after the merger in ‘83 the old southern church came on board too....although many congregations pulled out....Presbyterians have gone from civil rights, to anti-war, to no nukes, to Sandinistas, to abortion, to diversity celebration, to economic “justice” to gay rights...losing membership all along the way...next up: global warming....the Left has captured the church the same as it captured the Academy.
.....and I can tell you the money is shrinking right along with the membership rolls...what’s growing is membership fatigue....fewer members to serve on committees, sing in the choir, give rides to the elderly....even simple things like getting 6 pall bearers for a funeral....I first began to sense something was going bad over 30 years ago when they revised the Hymnal and purged “Onward Christian Soldiers”....it’s only gotten worse since....I’m glad my grandfathers were not alive to see this.
How should a parent relate to a beloved child who is engaged in self-destructive activity?
Should the parent applaud and reinforce the self-destructive behavior? Would that be love?
Apparently by telling them that they're going to hell and cutting them off.
Post 15 is spot on.
We left the UCC church in Maine for similar reasons.
We had an interim pastor (from the PCUSA) who drove our attendance from 110 to 35 (average for Sundays)
And of course our former UCC church is very PC.
It also could be purposeful.
When you step back to the bigger conflict, the whole homo movement is about destroying the traditional values and the traditional family of the Western Culture.
Destruction of a few denominations of the church is a huge victory.
Also, a general comment -
it’s not just pro-SSAD (same sex attraction disorder) churches losing members,
it’s all the churches that require less of the members that are losing numbers, while those that require stricter adherence are gaining.
That’s just hilarious. You have to know that God has a sense of humor.
The liquidation of old mainline Protestant churches in affluent neighborhoods will accelerate in the near future as the members die off and the remnant, if any, is merged with another congregation or parish. This source of funds will fuel the apostate denominations in the 2010s and 2020s.
Your characterization is not reflected by any doctrinal statement from any conservative denomination that I am aware of.
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Wow, that’s quite a distorted view, but I think you’re just covering for something else.
Most anti-theists have some deep seated reason for being that way but cover it up with some strange, often “reason based”, excuse for rejecting theological truths that would be available to an open mind.
If you’re honest, do a “thought experiment” like Einstein, and ask yourself what you’d have to give up in your life if you chose to follow Christ. Then you’ll understand your own resistance more.
The article makes it clear that churches who welcome homosexuals inthe congregation seem to be shrinking in membership while those who do not seem to be growing. What constitutes 'not welcoming' would seem to be clear to me, but apparently there may be more to this than meets the eye. So enlighten me on how the doctrine of the conservative churches deal with homosexuality.
While we were there, we noticed that few members were wearing a strange looking symbol on they're clothes.
My wife asked one of the ushers what that was about. He said that they were an "open" congregation and that those people were "gay."
Not only does the UMC accept homosexuals, they openly promote it!
...”the church properties are not owned by the congregation, but by the diocese, presbytery...”
.....yes exactly...Presbytery not only owns the church but also the minister’s retirement fund and shares of stock that were given....I’m happy to report that rebellion is underway however in both PA and MO where congregations have gone to court to pull out and take their assets with them...same with several Episcopalian parishes in northern VA....gay marriage was the last straw for them.
...... Protestant denominations split in the 1850s over slavery...this time the tipping point appears to be homosexuality.
Ha Ha.
You might amend that statement to read "unchaste homosexuals" for accuracy.
You might want to recheck the statistics on Southern Baptist Convention.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-06-10-southern-baptists_N.htm
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91414826
Just as the homosexuals succeeded in underming the Catholic Church, so likewise they are doing in other churches by driving people away from Christianity. Their sickness is a disease and their master is the devil.
We've been over this before. The issue is not whether homos are welcomed or not. The issue is not whether homosexuality is a worse sin than other sins or not. The issue is that the pro-homo crowd insists that homosexuality is (no longer) a sin. If homosexuality (or adultery or fornication) are no longer sins, then nothing is a sin anymore and we have no need of a redeemer.
Once a church starts "accepting" the homosexual lifestyle is normal, they begin to endorse and celebrate it.
So the more conservative churches would welcome 'chaste' homosexuals? How will they enforce that?
Thanks for posting this.
“I don’t think the ECUSA, UMC, PCUSA, DOC, ELCA or UCC have been teaching these doctrines since 1962.
Especially since the UMC has only existed since 1968, the PCUSA since 1983, and ELCA since 1988.”
The Methodist and Episcopal churches didn’t really get into this mess until the 1980’s and the late 1980’s for the E’s.
I stopped going to the E conventions in the 1990’s due to the maggots turning every convention into a pro gay pride fest.
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