Posted on 02/14/2013 8:23:17 PM PST by NKP_Vet
Like most Catholics, I woke on the morning of Feb. 11, 2013, to a different sort of alarm.
Nothing in my past — indeed, very little in history — had prepared me for what I found in the news that day.
To many people, the Pope resigning seemed an impossibility, like a square circle.
But that wasn’t my particular problem. As a theologian, I knew it could be done. In fact, the conditions had been publicly rehearsed by no less an authority than Benedict XVI in interviews with the media.
A pope’s resignation was not my problem. My problem was with this Pope resigning.
He has been part of my life since early in my adulthood. I discovered Joseph Ratzinger’s work while I was still a Presbyterian minister. His books were a secret pleasure, and they showed me (and later my wife, Kimberly) the way home to Rome......
(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...
PC-USA
Nope, he was never PCUSA. His pastorate was at a tiny independent Presbyterian church in Fairfax, VA, that broke off from the OPC. They’ve since closed.
Schismatic, huh? He must be so proud.
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A very personal testimony. Thanks for posting it.
Schism? The OPC is in schism from the PCUSA. The PCUSA is in schism from the Church of Scotland. The Church of Scotland is in schism from the Church of England. The Church of England is in schism from the Catholic Church. You must be so proud.
Wickedpedia says: 'Hahn started out as a Presbyterian minister and theologian with years of ministry experience in congregations of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America or PC(USA), and Professor of Theology at Chesapeake Theological Seminary.'
His own conversion bio says that he was ordained in the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Fairfax, Virginia. The PC-USA directory lists Trinity Presbyterian Church in Fairfax, Virginia as a PC-USA church...
so, would you say that the PCA and OPC are schismatic as well for splitting from the PCUSA?
“Schismatic, huh? He must be so proud.”
At least he’s not a supporter of heresy and doesn’t waste his time posting anti-Catholic threads on the internet all day. Clearly some people here could learn a lot from him.
If you look at their reference for that statement, it's Hahn's own bio, where he refers to the PCUSA as "my own denomination" when he was in high school & early seminary. And the "theologian with years of ministry experience" line (written by the Wikipedia author) is pretty misleading; Trinity was his first and only pastorate out of seminary.
The PC-USA directory lists Trinity Presbyterian Church in Fairfax, Virginia as a PC-USA church...
The church Hahn pastored closed, I believe in 1986. The PCUSA website does not list a Trinity Presbyterian in Fairfax. The PCUSA church in Fairfax is "Fairfax Presbyterian". There are "Trinity Presbyterian churches" belonging to the PCUSA in a couple of other towns in N. Virginia; maybe that's what you're seeing.
Also, Chesapeake Theological Seminary was founded by PCA ministers, according to its website, so it’s not PCUSA either.
You were right, and I was wrong. My eye conflated Trinity Presbyterian and Fairfax Presbyterian when I checked the PC-USA website.
During college I sat under Kimberley Kirk Hahn’s dad’s preaching at College Hill Presbyterian In Cincinnati. A more faithful and dynamic preacher could not be hoped for. I suspect Jerry Kirk was distressed at her conversion, but he loved his family and I seriously doubt he disowned her or his son-in-law. My point?
Unity overcomes estrangement, in Christ
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