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 ...
Worse than the Church of Laodicea, the Church of Apostasy...
I’m a rocket scientist. I know how to multiply. Thanks.
The pink Bible crowd.
sad to see another church bend to societal pressure...please Lord, come quickly!
They have cut the expectation of natural fertility clear out of the definition of marriage.
Now it's formally just for the satisfaction of adults.
RE: I predict the formation, soon, of another branch of Presbyterianism ...
We already have the Presbyterian Church in America. That is the denomination that tries to obey the Bible.
Bragging about a small group being "faster growing" is still not terribly meaningful.
"The" denomination?
As in, exclusive of all others, the only one?
RE: “The” denomination?
OK, since you’re a stickler, let me rephrase that:
That is one large Presbyterian denomination that tries to obey the Bible.
The tiny tail continues to wag the massive dog.
Thank you.
Yup.
Traditional Christianity is falling apart before our very eyes. “Come out of her” has been the cry since Rome and her daughter protestant churches usurped Christianity from Jerusalem. And now the final fruits of this falling away are becoming evident....
The OPC and PCA came out of previous bouts of apostasy within the PCUSA, or one of their forerunners.
The EPC has absorbed a lot of former PCUSA churches, but they a just a bit squishy doctrine wise. I wonder what will happen if too many former PCUSA churches join them.
There is already a denomination of former PCUSA churches, can't remember the name, outh there. Problem here is many of the churches that are leaving the PCUSA right now are doing so because of the homosexual issue. The homosexuality issue is not the problem, but the natural outflowing of the theological liberalism. If these churches to cut that entire root they are on the same path again in 20, 30 or 50 years.
This point deserves further exploration. Sodomitic relationships, and widespread acceptance of them, are absolutely poisonous to friendship. Jonathan and David, to provide an example from Scripture, were great friends. Now come the sodomites, who want to claim that Jonathan and David were "butt buddies". That's preposterous, blasphemous nonsense. Whether from Scripture, history, literature, or mundane present day life, the sodomites point to examples of great friends and snigger. "Obviously, they're engaged in perversion behind closed doors ..." Second only to family, friendship is a fundamental building block of civilization. Sodomites seek to destroy both.
I understand your concern and I agree. I should have added the adjective “chaste.” Obviously friendships predicated on sodomy are false, just marriages predicated on sodomy are false.
Every book in the New Testament has warnings about false doctrine and teaching. From Matthew to Revelation. It is either specific or generic. When God repeats something, it is very important. God was using his apostles and Christ himself to warn repeatedly. What happened with the PC is prophetic. It is not sudden fall but rather gradual and incremental compromises with false doctrine over the years. The church is more concerned with pleasing men and those with itchy ears than following after Gods will. The is no fear of God and His word. But there is the fear of man.
Look how Christ treated the Pharisees. Christ did not hold anything back on them. He treated them as a judge would, a rightous judge would. I really pitty those in authority positions in church demoninations around the world who have compromised and edited the gospel and doctrine.....and redefined what sin is.
I agree. But that’s not really my point.
A natural, sexual relationship is widely accepted in our culture.
Thus it is assumed that if Tommy and Suzy are spending a LOT of time together, they’re “dating”. They’re “courting”. They’re “an item”. We take it for granted that their relationship has a sexual component, even if they’re not acting on it, and that marriage is a possible (even probable) next step for them.
OTOH, if Tommy and Jimmy are spending a LOT of time together, we assume that they’re really good friends. In a healthy, sane society, that is. We DON’T assume that they are, or want to, commit unspeakable acts behind closed doors.
Widespread acceptance of homosexual sodomite relationships would destroy that dynamic. Sodomites seek to recast the entire society in their perverted mold. They presume that Tommy and Jimmy AREN’T really good friends, but rather that they’re sodomites. They seek to destroy the POSSIBILITY of a proper friendship between two men or two women.
And this increases the awkwardness and distance between people who don't want to be pegged as sexualized couples.
PC-USA, yet another rapidly shrinking denomination. The shrinking will now accelerate.
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