Presbyterian Church USA Latest to Fall into Apostasy

Vivificat - From Contemplation to Action ^ | 18 March 2015 | ن Teófilo de Jesús ن (@vivificat)

[Teófilo]

Brethren, Peace be with you.

According to numerous news sources, the Presbyterian Church in the USA has changed its constitution and now will allow, celebrate, and bless same-sex "marriages." Of course, this is wrong and unwarranted in Scripture, but the fact of the matter is that Mainline Protestant church bodies don't care one way or the other about Scripture unless examined through the distorted genderist, Postmodern lenses dominating discourse in their seminaries.

Out of curiosity, I checked the Presbyterian Church's own membership statistics to see what's up, and I came with the chart below. If the trend holds, in ten years the Presbyterian Church will have less than 500,000 members. In other words, it will become irrelevant in the American religious landscape.

Why? Because if a Church compromises with the flesh, the world, and the devil, becoming instead a refuge for sentiments and feelings, why go to church? Stay home, watch a game, which is what many former Presbyterians seem to be doing.

Like its sister church, the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church is no longer a Christian body, but an organization with individual Christians as members. The distinctions may be subtle, but it is nonetheless real.

PC(USA) Congregations and Membership,2001to 2012 | Create infographics

[Teófilo]

Typos. Blunders. Mine.

[allendale]

Heresy devolves into neo pagan decadence. You would be very hard pressed to find Presbyterian clergy who really believe in the divinity and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

[LambSlave]

I would guess the membership statistics are highly inflated. I left my church, because of their position on homosexual clergy, two years ago as did many others. During the last services I attended, membership was down to about 40 persons attending the Sunday service. The church is still carrying me and all of the others who left as “active” members, despite the fact that we explained that we were severing ourselves permenantly from the church and would not return and have been gone for two years. According to their count, there are ~100 active members.

[mbarker12474]

Old news. Been that way for years.

The United Methodist Church, for example, at a recent General Conference, explicitly rejected the statement that the mission of the church is to “make disciples of Christ for the salvation of souls,” replacing it with the approved statement that the mission of the church is to “make disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world.”

In other words, the UMC formally declared itself to be a secular progressive political institution, and rejected an identity as a Christian body following the core belief of Christianity.

And, by the way, in all practical ways, the UMC is fully on board with the LGBTQQZA political movement, as it is with the Palestinian movement, the Islamic jihad movement, the socialist movement, the communist movement, the racist race-baiting movement, the global warming movement, and every other secular progressive, left-wing fashion in support of tyranny and at war with liberty. And Christianity.

[ecomcon]

I wonder if Francis and his buddies are very far behind. I am not encouraged; the Church leadership seems to be full of heretics, cowards, money grubbers and politicians.

[Sans-Culotte]

I would guess the membership statistics are highly inflated. I left my church, because of their position on homosexual clergy, two years ago as did many others. During the last services I attended, membership was down to about 40 persons attending the Sunday service. The church is still carrying me and all of the others who left as “active” members, despite the fact that we explained that we were severing ourselves permanently from the church and would not return and have been gone for two years. According to their count, there are ~100 active members.

Sounds a lot like my situation. However, my wife still attends and sings in the choir. As stated in the article, many see it as pointless to attend a so-called church that strives too hard to fit into the secular world.

[AppyPappy]

The UMC punishes pastors who perform same-sex marriages.

[AppyPappy]

That’s why you transfer your membership to your new church.

[Teófilo]

I don’t think like you do about Pope Francis. I respectfully differ.

~Theo

[Alex Murphy]

According to numerous news sources, the Presbyterian Church in the USA has changed its constitution and now will allow, celebrate, and bless same-sex "marriages." Of course, this is wrong and unwarranted in Scripture...

It's not "The Presbyterian Church in the USA", it's "The Presbyterian Church (USA)", which is one of many (and by far is the most theologically and socially liberal) Presbyterian denominations in the US. It would be helpful if you'd try to get the name right, unless your intent is to slam all Presbyterians and all Protestants. Oh wait - that is your intent, as the rest of your quote demonstrates....

....the fact of the matter is that Mainline Protestant church bodies don't care one way or the other about Scripture unless examined through the distorted genderist, Postmodern lenses dominating discourse in their seminaries.

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

Please understand that the Presbyterian Church USA is the liberal Presbyterian branch and has been going downhill now since the 1950's.

There is an entirely different branch, PCA (Presbyterian Church in America)which split off from the liberal branch to satisfy a need to go back to the original Biblical based ideals of the Church. So please don't confuse the two!

The PCA believes:

• The Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
• There is one God, eternal and self-existing in three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) who are to be equally loved, honored, and adored.
• All mankind participated in Adam's fall from his original sinless state and is thus lost in sin and totally helpless.
• The Sovereign God, for no other reason than His own unfathomable love and mercy, has chosen lost sinners from every nation to be redeemed by the quickening power of the Holy Spirit and through the atoning death and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ.
• Those sinners whom the Spirit quickens, come to believe in Christ as Savior by the Word of God, are born again, become sons of God, and will persevere to the end.
• Justification is by faith and through it the undeserving sinner is clothed with the righteousness of Christ.
• The goal of God's salvation in the life of the Christian is holiness, good works, and service for the glory of God.
• At death the Christian's soul passes immediately into the presence of God and the unbeliever's soul is eternally separated from God unto condemnation.
• Baptism is a sign of God's covenant and is properly administered to children of believers in their infancy as well as to those who come as adults to trust in Christ. Jesus Christ will return to earth, visibly and bodily, at a time when He is not expected, to consummate history and the eternal plan of God.
• The Gospel of God's salvation in Jesus Christ must be published to all the world as a witness before Jesus Christ returns.

[mbarker12474]

The fact of the matter IS that the Mainline Protestant churches, i.e.,

Episcopal Church in the USA
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
United Church of Christ
United Methodist Church

ARE thoroughly secular progressive political organizations. Whether they are aware of it or not, the persons who fill the pews on Sundays are rank-and-file contributors to national and international lobbying bodies on the far political left.

[Teófilo]

Thank you. What are the stats on PC-A?

[Teófilo]

Fine, Alex, I missed the parenthesis and completely changed the meaning of what I intended...not.

Who puts a parenthesis in a name? Geez...

~Theo

[RnMomof7]

The church I attend currently left the PCUSA about 5 years ago.... It cost them over 500K to “buy out”

It is a sweet politically/theologically conservative congregation that i feel blessed to have found
They are now EPC

[Teófilo]

Thank you. Does the EPC provides member statistics on line?

[RnMomof7]

I think so

They are a good step for PCUSA because they leave non essentials to each congregation to decide .. Our church has a very reformed Pastor ..but women deacons..which some might have a problem with ..I can live with this

[Gamecock]

***Please understand that the Presbyterian Church USA is the liberal Presbyterian branch and has been going downhill now since the 1950’s.***

Try the 1900’s.

The Northern branch of what was to become the PCUSA was mired in theological liberalism a LOOOONG time ago.

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

Gamecock.... I would not doubt that you are correct. I guess I was speaking from my own observation...... growing up in a PCUSA church, it was not until 1963 (when I was in high school) that my family started to question some of the liberalism creeping in. Perhaps it was that in our little town we still had a good conservative preacher. But when I came home from Sunday evening Youth group telling my parents that we learned all about “situation ethics” the doubts became serious. In 1965 while I was in college my parents moved to Birmingham and became involved with Rev. Frank Barker, as he was starting Briarwood Church, which was sort of the flag-ship of the PCA.

[Teófilo]

I went to their website and saw the 3-tiered hierarchy of truths holds to. Interesting. No stats, though. I just wanted to see if there has been any growth there as the PCUSA wanes.

~Theo