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The Religious Left has finally spoken out against the “violation of religious freedom” in Cuba. No, these church officials were not condemning Fidel Castro’s 47-year war on religion. Instead, they were condemning U.S. regulations on religious groups traveling between Cuba and the United States. In late May, officials of the National Council of Churches (NCC) and its $60 million relief arm, Church World Service (CWS), convened a press conference in Washington, D.C., to denounce U.S. travel restrictions on Cuba. Every year, thousands of American churchgoers raise several million dollars for CWS through its anti-hunger “CROP Walks” across the nation. In...

Long ago the prophet Yeshaya warned, "Your ruiners and destroyers will come from amongst you" (49:17). It is doubtful whether that the truth of those words has ever been more evident than today. Last week the leaders of the Presbyterian Church, meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, engaged in three days of searching debate over whether to rescind a 2004 resolution calling for divestment from Israel. Similar resolutions have been passed in recent years by the Anglican Church of England and the American Episcopalian Church. Divestment resolutions are of immense propaganda value because they embed in the public mind a connection between...

Presbyterians Adopt New Trinity Wording by UPI Wire Jun 30, 2006 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - June 30, 2006 (UPI) -- Leaders of the Presbyterian Church (USA), meeting in Alabama, have come up with 12 new phrases to describe the Christian doctrine of God in three entities. Instead of "Father, Son and Holy Spirit," worshippers may substitute "Compassionate Mother, Beloved Child and Life-giving Womb" or "Rock, Cornerstone and Temple," the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. Delegates to the group's 217th General Assembly voted 282-212 to "receive" those substitutions and 10 others written by a panel of pastors and theologians who felt the...

LOUISVILLE — The Presbyterian Church (USA) has launched a campaign to slow the rate of decline to 5 percent, according to the denomination. "People at the grass roots need hope and motivation," says a spokesman. "This is a positive goal we can all get behind." The Minus 5 Campaign aims to lower the attrition rate in spite of the denomination's continued struggle with moral issues, which has led to even greater exodus of members. Instead of losing 12 to 15 percent of members every decade, the group will now "work in great unity and joy to lose only five percent."...

The Presbyterian Church USA has ended its two-year policy of divesting from companies doing business with Israel and adopted a new resolution which does not single out Israel as a target for divesting funds. The new policy was approved Wednesday by the general assembly of the church gathered in Birmingham, Alabama, winning an overwhelming 483-28 majority. According to the new language adopted by the Church, investments in the Middle East should be done "in only peaceful pursuits" and will be subject to the same scrutiny as any other investment. The term "divestment" is not included in the resolution. The Church's...

The movement to divest in firms doing business in Israel is collapsing. Even leftist-governed mainline Protestant denominations are backing away from the idea. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly abandoned its support for anti-Israel divestment this week. Discredited ideas survive the longest in academia and in liberal church bureaucracies, both of which are ideologically insulated from reality. Anti-Israel activists lost steam on left-wing university campuses several years ago, when charges of anti-Semitism persuaded otherwise politically correct faculty to relent. That left only the declining mainline Protestant denominations as a last recourse. Influenced by vestiges of liberation theology, the religious left...

In Wednesday's post I suggested that the recent vote of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA, one that makes a bit of room for the ordination of people who have sexual relations outside of marriage, may be the beginning of the end of this denomination (my denomination, by the way). Throughout the day on Wednesday I received more e-mails in response to this post than I have on one day in response to anything I've ever put up on my blog. Among these 75+ e-mails there were a number of common themes. Some objected to my notion that...

This is a blog post I was hoping and praying I wouldn't have to write. It looks like my denomination, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., felt envious over the recent attention given to the Episcopal Church as it faces the possibility of schism. Thus we decided to get our fair share of the spotlight by acting rather like the Episcopalians. Even as recent actions by the national leadership of the Episcopal Church has brought that denomination to the brink of division, so have recent actions of the General Assembly of the PCUSA. Today's General Assembly cast two historic votes. The combination...

A Denver businessman who promised a record $150 million donation to the Presbyterian Church (USA) failed to pay his homeowners association fees, dental bills and mortgage payments, and he owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to jilted creditors he persuaded to help keep his business afloat, according to public records. While Presbyterians meeting in Birmingham, Ala., last week gave Stanley W. Anderson a standing ovation for his gift, Anderson's modest Arvada home sits in foreclosure and his assets are frozen because of an unsatisfied court judgment. Anderson, 62, said Tuesday that he is working to pay off his debts and...

Report: Man face trouble over donation THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DENVER -- A Denver businessman and elder with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who promised to donate a record $150 million to the church owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to creditors and has had his assets frozen, according to public records reviewed by The Denver Post. Stanley W. Anderson, 62, said Tuesday he was working to pay off his debts and was confident he could pay the donation, the largest in the history of the 2.4 million-member Protestant denomination. A church official also expressed confidence in Anderson, a member of Central...

BIRMINGHAM -- The 217th General Assembly voted Tuesday afternoon to declare that ordaining bodies in the Presbyterian Church (USA) have the leeway not to comply with the constitutional prohibition against ordaining practicing homosexuals and adulterers. By a vote of 298-221, with one abstention, the commissioners of the national governing body approved an Authoritative Interpretation that included recommendation 5 by the Theological Task Force on Peace, Purity and Unity. That recommendation was the major dividing issue in the task force report. It provides guidance to candidates for ordination on how they may qualify for selection and installation as deacons, elders and...

This denomination has been going this direction for over 50 years!!!!!!!

We have figured out your problem. You're the only one here who believes in God." That statement, addressed to a young seminarian, introduces Dave Shiflett's new book, Exodus: Why Americans are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity. The book is an important contribution, and Shiflett offers compelling evidence that liberal Christianity is fast imploding upon itself. Shiflett, an established reporter and author, has written for The Washington Post, The Weekly Standard, National Review, The Wall Street Journal, and Investors' Business Daily, among other major media. He is also author of Christianity on Trial and is a member of the White...

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - The largest U.S. Presbyterian Church body approved a measure on Tuesday that would open the way for the ordination of gays and lesbians under certain circumstances. The new policy was approved on a vote of 57-43 percent among 500 church representatives at the biennial meeting of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. It gives local church organizations more leeway in deciding if gays can be ordained as lay deacons and elders as well as clergy, provided they are faithful to the church's core values. "It permits local governing bodies to examine candidates on a wider criterion than sexual...

217th General Assembly (of the Presbyterian Church USA) Birmingham, Ala. BIRMINGHAM -- "Persons who deal with same-sex attraction in a way that is faithful to Scripture are heroes of the church," Dr. Robert Gagnon said Monday afternoon, because they take "very seriously" the message of the Gospel. Gagnon, a professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the author of The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics, told more than 100 people packed into a meeting room at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex for the OneByOne luncheon that "it's a straightforward call to discipleship. 'Anyone who does not carry...

BIRMINGHAM -- Nearly 50 people -- including a former U.S. government official who served as a European ambassador and later directed the CIA - spoke during an intense hearing Friday on the divestment policy of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Nearly equal numbers opposed and favored the resolution of the 216th General Assembly that called for "phased selective divestment" of PCUSA holdings in corporations doing business with Israel. The majority of the overtures being reviewed by the assembly's Committee on Peacemaking and International Issues oppose the one-sided divestment policy that has spawned worldwide opposition from Jewish groups. A few favor the...

The divine Trinity — "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" — could also be known as "Mother, Child and Womb" or "Rock, Redeemer, Friend" at some Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) services under an action Monday by the church's national assembly. Delegates to the meeting voted to "receive" a policy paper on gender-inclusive language for the Trinity, a step short of approving it. That means church officials can propose experimental liturgies with alternative phrasings for the Trinity, but congregations won't be required to use them. "This does not alter the church's theological position, but provides an educational resource to enhance the spiritual life...

Presbyterians Weigh Worship Alternatives (AP) BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Delegates of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are to tackle whether to adopt gender-inclusive language for worship of the divine Trinity along with the traditional "Father, Son and Holy Spirit." A study panel said the classical language for the Trinity shouldn't be diminished, but advocated "fresh ways to speak of the mystery of the triune God" to "expand the church's vocabulary of praise and wonder." One reason is that language limited to the Father and Son "has been used to support the idea that God is male and that men are superior to women,"...

Presbyterians Think Of Changing 'Father, Son, Holy Spirit' POSTED: 5:09 pm EDT June 19, 2006 UPDATED: 7:11 pm EDT June 19, 2006 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The divine Trinity -- "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" -- could also be known as "Mother, Child and Womb" or "Rock, Redeemer, Friend" at some Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) services under an action Monday by the church's national assembly. Delegates to the meeting voted to "receive" a policy paper on gender-inclusive language for the Trinity, a step short of approving it. That means church officials can propose experimental liturgies with alternative phrasings for the Trinity, but...