Posted on 03/18/2015 7:07:50 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have voted to make the 1.8-million-member, 10,000-congregation denomination the largest Protestant group to formally recognize gay marriage allow same-sex weddings.
The Presbytery of the Palisades in New Jersey cast the necessary 86th vote Tuesday night to establish that a majority of the churchs 171 regional presbyteries now support an amendment to the church constitution that redefines marriage, the Associated Press reported.
Marriage involves a unique commitment between two people, traditionally a man and a woman, to love and support each other for the rest of their lives, the churchs Book of Order will read, effective June 21, according to an announcement on the Presbyterian Churchs website.
Gradye Parsons, the stated clerk of the churchs General Assembly, posted a video pledging that nothing in the amendment would compel those members who do not approve of same-sex marriage from participating in the weddings.
The approval allows teaching elders wider discretion whose wedding they may conduct and sessions wider discretion whose weddings they may host, Parsons said. That discretion could include same gender marriages in states where thats permitted.
The Assembly approved the language last summer, but activists who have been pushing for the change for years had to sweat out the votes among the churchs districts.
So many families headed by LGBTQ couples have been waiting for decades to enter this space created for their families within their church communities, Rev. Robin White, a leader of More Light Presbyterians, told AP.
Yet 41 of the regional bodies have voted to disapprove the measure, according to AP. The church approved gay ordination in 2011 and 428 congregations had either left the fold or disbanded two years later, the outlet noted.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Get your bag of popcorn and watch the exodus.
Waiting for a new GLBT rendition of the Bible —edited with a few pages missing. Don’t mess with God’s Word—The Almighty will not be mocked nor usurped.
Already posted: http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3269070/posts
D. james kennedy left the Pc-USA many years ago and the church elders had to purchase the church and property from the Pc-USA. This will be the end of many this denominations churches and many people will leave the church denomination and go elsewhere
My heart is breaking that my former church has gone this far off track.
Once you deny Scripture it is a short trip to total apostasy.
I tell you....if we're not in the falling away, not sure I want to be here when we do fall away.
Church shopping by any other name....
Fixed it.
My Presbyterian Churches in America (PCA) church has grown over tenfold in the last decade due to its conservative bent. Here’s a good comparison between PCUSA and PCA.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3171810/posts
Salient quotes:
The PCUSA is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S. PCUSA has approximately 10,038 congregations, 1,760,200 members, and 20,562 ministers. The denomination has been steadily losing members and churches since 1983, and has lost 37 percent of its membership since 1992.
The PCA is the second largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S. The PCA has approximately 1,808 congregations, 367,033 members, and 4,416 ministers. The denomination has been one of the faster growing denominations in the United States, growing tenfold since 1983.
Exactly.
Yep. Brought that up to my kid a couple of years ago.
So many families headed by LGBTQ couples have been waiting for decades to enter this space created for their families within their church...”
It is a space created for God’s people you apostate!
By far the largest branch of Presbyterianism, at least in America.
For the moment.
I predict the formation, soon, of another branch of Presbyterianism ...
And I bet there are more PCA congregants sitting in the pews on Sunday than there aer with the (supposedly) much larger PCUSA.
The triennial Episcopal Church General Convention meets this summer and trial language for gay marriage is expected to be approved.
I affectionately remember in the 50’s and before when the Episcopal Church was known as the “Republican Party at prayer.”
the modern era has destroyed so much that was good - so sad!!!
When measured in multiplicative terms, small groups necessarily grow "faster" than large groups.
Consider a group of ten persons, that over the course of a year adds ten more. It has grown 100% in that year.
Consider a competing group of twenty persons, that over the course of a year adds ten more. It has grown by "only" 50% in that year.
Both groups added the same number of members.
When the larger group is larger by orders of magnitude, the comparison in growth rates is even less meaningful.
How ECO Began
In the summer of 2010, seven pastors from the Presbyterian Church (USA) spoke of finding new ways to encourage each other in faith, ministry, and mission.
Looks like it already happened.
At the turn of the century, the PCUSA had 2.5 million members. In 1982, when the Northern and Southern mainline Presbyterian churches united, the membership was 3.2 million. The other mainline Protestant churches have shown similar declines since the 1960s.
From strictly a marketing standpoint, liberal theology does not attract membership. Those who have only a vague belief system and are not committed to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord can and do find better things to do on a Sunday morning, especially if the weather is good and the fish are biting.
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