Posted on 10/30/2013 5:34:57 PM PDT by ReformationFan
The largest Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation in Texas has voted to leave the mainline denomination over theological differences.
Highland Park Presbyterian Church of Dallas, which has approximately 4,000 members, overwhelmingly approved a resolution recently that would involve the congregation seeking dismissal from PC (USA).
Eighty-nine percent of the members present at the Congregational and Corporate Meeting held at the church voted in favor of leaving PC (USA).
Last month, Highland Park Presbyterian leadership unanimously approved a resolution to begin the process of dismissal from PC (USA).
The Session recommended dismissal from the mainline denomination and membership into the newer more conservative body known as the Evangelical Covenant Order (ECO) of Presbyterians.
Monty Montgomery, elder and co-moderator of the Session-Appointed Discernment Coordinating Committee at HPPC, told The Christian Post that the process of joining ECO has already begun.
(Excerpt) Read more at christianpost.com ...
Has that become a new legal precedent? I thought it was a case by case basis and just decided on the whim of a local judge, but what you say sounds encouraging. I was wondering of the timing of this (we don't attend there any more as we moved away but am following this because we still really care for that church.)
I know. My mother and I always deprecated the homosexual community absconding with a PERFECTLY good word like gay. The "gay" caballero...remember that movie? I do. "Gay Paree"?
Those folks aren't GAY, they are homosexuals, a CHOICE they made some time in their early-mid teens.
I don't know what the specific trigger was. My brother-in-law, an RE in a conservative North Carolina PCUSA church, recently told me about a standard established for a congregation to leave the denomination with their property. The standard is high, but the PCUSA's ever-worsening apostasy is making that barrier progressively easier to reach.
We attend a Daughter congregation from Park Cities Presbyterian..PROVIDENCE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, in North Dallas. We are “busting at the seams” so to speak..many small Presbyterian Churches in Dallas have been started as Mission Churches from Park Cities..Soon, we will have our own mission Church starting from Providence Presbyterian.. other mission churches in the DFW area are doing the same as well..
Indeed. That’s one reason I chose to join a PCA church myself.
‘We attend a Daughter congregation from Park Cities Presbyterian..PROVIDENCE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, in North Dallas. We are busting at the seams so to speak..many small Presbyterian Churches in Dallas have been started as Mission Churches from Park Cities..Soon, we will have our own mission Church starting from Providence Presbyterian.. other mission churches in the DFW area are doing the same as well..’
That’s wonderful. Like you screen name and tagline. And since it’s now Oct. 31st, Happy Reformation Day to you!
The “Gay Blade”...was a term that we no longer hear....
I first heard the term used in the early 6o’s..and was stunned at how foolish it was.
“Gay” Blade..”gay” caballero..and “Gay Paree”...”replaced” by “Gay” “pride”
the Misnomer of all Misnomers
Good for them. It takes a couple of years to leave a denomination and affiliate with a new one. At one time PCUSA was conservative, but it has been taken up by radical liberals.
ECO is a good group. They adhere to traditional Christian teaching that is schripturally based. I church I used to belong to in Yakima recently made this change. They have it documented on their website, really interesting to read through all the steps they took to make the change.
PCUSA will not even condemn have pastors in the pulpit that are actively committing adultery.
Hooray
Glad to hear it.
the Misnomer of all Misnomers
No kidding! Homosexuals are sad puppies, IMHO. How can any individual be "gay" or happy at choosing a homosexual orientation in life?
My gawd, you sound like a Catholic!
Holy cow! What's next? Confession? Next you'll be talking about confession (also Judaic)!
From the Internet:
In Judaism, confession (Hebrew וִדּוּי Widduy; Viddui) is a step in the process of atonement during which a Jew admits to committing a sin before God. In sins between a Jew and God, the confession must be done without others present (The Talmud calls confession in front of another a show of disrespect). On the other hand, confession pertaining to sins done to another person are permitted to be done publicly, and in fact Maimonides calls such confession "immensely praiseworthy".
The August 2013 ruling by the Texas Supreme Court to disregard cannon law regarding church property is what triggered the action to leave PCUSA. As others correctly stated - originally Dr Bell was of the conviction to stay in PCUSA and fight efforts to move the denomination in wrong directions. After 20 years, HP Pres was finding it a) difficult to attract conservative ministers b) our mission partners were becoming uncomfortable working with a church part of a denomination proposing crazy things, and c) the local Synod was increasingly dictatorial - 1) it seized control of 1st Presbyterian in Longview, dismissed the pastors and disbanded the church session, and 2) was going to censor the list of ministers the church could consider for hiring as its Sr minister.
If you want to get in the weeds, unlike a lot of churches, when HP Pres was originally founded in the 1926, the founders set up a trust to own the land and buildings, and a separate corporation to operate the church. The property trust had an agreement to let the operating group use the property - and that operating group was the one that was affiliated with a Presbyterian denomination. Amazing how prescient the founders were 86 years ago.
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