Discussion questions online for ‘Two Faiths’ statement
The Layman Online, June 22, 2005
For the benefit of sessions, Sunday school classes and other church groups that wish to explore some of the reasons for the decline of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Presbyterian Lay Committee has published a list of discussion questions as a companion to “Can Two Faiths Embrace One Future?”
The questions were compiled to help church groups gain a deeper understanding of why evangelical denominations are growing while the PCUSA has lost nearly 2 million members since 1965 and nearly 1 million since the 1983 reunion of the Southern and Northern mainline Presbyterian streams.
They focus on some of the issues that are currently being considered by the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity, which will meet in Dallas July 18-21 and frame its own theological perspective on Christ, Scriptural authority and the ordination of practicing homosexuals.
“Can Two Faiths Embrace One Future?” and the questions for discussion are designed to help Presbyterians prepare for the task force’s conclusions, which will be presented to the 2006 General Assembly.