Tall steeple pastor sets aside PCUSA ordination
By Parker T. Williamson, The Layman, September 30, 2011
The Rev. T. Douglas Ferguson, senior pastor of one of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s mega churches, has “set aside” his denominational ordination. In a Sept. 26 letter to the Grace Presbyterian Church congregation in Houston, Texas, Ferguson announced that after six months of prayerful “wrestling with God” he has concluded that he can no longer remain a part of the PCUSA.
“In recent weeks it has become clear that God is calling me to a future beyond Grace Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA). Therefore, I have decided to resign from my position as Pastor of Grace and, after 18 years, set aside my ordination in the PCUSA,” he said.
“I still love and am called to serve the local church,” said Ferguson, who has accepted a call to Mountaintop Community Church in Birmingham, Alabama. “Some call us independent while others say nondenominational,” says Mountaintop’s website. “We’re not much into labels, but prefer to be seen as a New Testament church. To call us that is the highest compliment you could pay!”
Mountaintop’s published statement of faith is unequivocal with respect to Christianity’s core beliefs. It affirms Jesus Christ as God incarnate, “the only mediator between God and man,” whose death on the cross is the only atonement for our sins. It states that a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ necessarily results in a life of “obedience and holiness,” a life that is made possible by the Holy Spirit. Mountaintop declares that the Bible is “the sole basis for our belief” and is “an infallible guide for hearing God’s voice and learning obedience.” ”There are no other writings equally inspired by God,” it declares.
These core Christian beliefs that the Birmingham congregation affirms with certainty are often called into question by leaders and official church councils of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Ironically, it was in Birmingham that the PCUSA’s 2006 General Assembly publicized a watered down statement on the Trinity and declared sexual behavior standards for its ministers optional, a forerunner to its abolition of those standards in 2011.
Ferguson was called to Grace Church in Houston in 2005. The congregation has 3,601 members whose overall contributions are $6,320,055 according to the PCUSA’s 2010 statistics. Before moving to Houston Ferguson served as executive pastor of the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California. He also served as pastor of the Heritage Presbyterian Church in Mount Pleasant, S.C., and associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge, La.
Ferguson’s exodus from the PCUSA comes at a time when several of his tall steeple colleagues are struggling to find a way to stay in the denomination without compromising their Christian convictions and many local churches are obtaining legal counsel in order to protect their property from threats of denominational confiscation if they sever their ties to the PCUSA.