Screen shot of the church web site (http://www.lewespresbyterianchurch.org)
B y Nick Roth, The Cape Gazette (Delaware.)
Lewes Presbyterian Church has separated from the national denomination Presbyterian Church (USA). Local officials say the national denomination’s liberal interpretation of scripture is not in line with the local church’s more conservative approach.
Shortly after the official separation earlier this year, Lewes Presbyterian Church aligned itself with the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians, a denomination formed in 2012 by former congregations of the Presbyterian Church (USA). ECO, as it’s called, has grown to more than 200 congregations nationwide, with Lewes Presbyterian and White Clay Creek Presbyterian in Newark as its only Delaware congregations.
Issues that led to the separation vary from Presbyterian Church (USA)’s stances on political issues, such as same-sex marriage, to the organization’s bureaucratic structure.
Jim Miller, who helped negotiate Lewes’ deal to separate from PCUSA, said he’s seen the national denomination change significantly over the years.
“The purpose of a denomination is to support local congregations to connect with other churches,” he said. “[PCUSA] is a huge bureaucracy. It has changed over the years, from one of supporting the congregations to a top-on-down approach.”
Theologically, he said, the PCUSA also abandoned the basic beliefs of the religion. He said Book of Confessions, containing the creeds, confessions and catechisms the denomination is based on, is no longer central to PCUSA’s philosophy.
“It’s like when you buy a Chevrolet, you expect certain things,” Miller said. “There are no rules, basically. Even today the Book of Confessions is there and the organization does what it wants.”
10 Comments. Leave new
$700,000 worth of mutual forbearance!
My question is: what is the PCUSA going to use all of the hundreds of thousands of dollars they get in ransom money from departing churches for? Who pockets the money? Is there a specified use for the pay-off from all the churches choosing to depart from the PCUSA?
Meanwhile they are letting seasoned long time missionaries go
and fired the four leaders of the evangelical side of the national board.
The denomination values the property monetarily, but does not value the theology of these congregations.
The PCUSA policy on departing churches is very troubling. What rationale is offered for requiring a ransom? Surely they have some justification other than an arguable legal right.
As I have stated a number of times, for the PCUSA, money is more valuable than people, things over justice. Witness the silence of the PCUSA, and the complicity though the Medical plan, to the industrial slaughter of human beings by PP for the processing of body parts and tissue, much like the meat and cattle industry. Expect cattle are euthanized prior to processing, and its sites FDA inspected. Same cannot be said for planned parenthood.
Tells you all you need to know.
Considering the church was founded in the late 1600’s before any of the predecessor denominations of the PC(USA) kinda makes me wonder how the denomination can lay claim to any of its property, other than by a legal judgement that says the PC(USA) is hierarchical !!
Miller, who guided the church out to the ECO does not know that the ECO BOC is the same as PCUSA BOC? ECO also added the tenets – so actually more stuff – not less — “ECO is more in line with Lewes Presbyterian Church’s beliefs, Miller said. Whereas the Book of Confessions was several hundred pages, Miller said, ECO’s statement of theology is 20 to 30 pages.”
The historic Lewes Presbyterian Church was founded in 1692 and is one of the oldest Presbyterian Churches in what is now the United States.
http://www.lewespresbyterianchurch.org/Lewes_Presbyterian_Church/home/Entries/2011/8/13_History_of_LPC.html
The congregants of this historic congregation can no longer tolerate the deviancy from Christianity of the PCUSA. They have had enough.
The PCUSA has elevated the current popular culture above the teaching of Scripture. True Christians cannot abide this.
James wrote: “Anyone who choose to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4) I think that applies with equal force to denominations. The PCUSA has become an enemy of God. No wonder that congregations across the nation are trying to leave When congregations don’t on can’t leave, individual members do, so the average number of members per congregation is constantly shrinking.
The base of support for the PCUSA is constantly eroding, so there seems to be little hope for the PCUSA, which now seems to be largely sustained by trust funds, which were established in happier days.
The significant difference is that ECO officers actually live under the essentials of the Reformed faith, as found in the BOC and the Essential Tenets statement, whereas in the PCUSA they are given lip service but largely ignored throughout the denomination. The most recent evidence of this is the overwhelming decision to approved same-sex marriage by GA and high majority of presbyteries in spite of the fact that the BOC clearly speaks of marriage as a God-given institution created for one man and one woman in covenanted love. Further, the fact that the PCUSA has never been willing to give any guidance on what constitutes “essential tenets” has led to untold confusion, error and even heresy within the rank and file (not to mention the leadership) of the denomination.
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