Presbyterian Leaders Try to Make Sense of Dwindling Membership

“Rev. Wellman said he sympathizes with his church’s liberal stances but that it often shortchanges the importance of religious faith.  ‘I’m pro-gay rights, but I actually believe Christ is important,’ he said.”
 
How important?  Important enough to forsake the notion that His Father approves of homosexual behavior, when in His Word He says that it is sin (Lev. 18.22; cf. Mt. 5.17-20)?
 
Or is Christ only important as a mascot for Theologically Liberal causes?

Thom Oden’s “Systermatic Theology,” Volume 3, “Life in the Spirit”
has a thoughtful model [p 263] that describes 3 models of church.
One is Evangelical and views its integrity as Christ Against Culure. The second is liturgical and focuses on sacramental life
and its integrity is expressed in terms of Christ Above Culture.
The third model is liberal protestantism, political theology, social action, reconciling community with strong commitment to social action. The brand’s integrity is an example of Christ Transforming Culture.
When I look at the state of the PCUSA and the advocacy of the theological faculty as I read them, the commitment is to the third way – Liberal Protestantism and social action. “The world sets the agenda of the church.”
Indeed, there may be vibrant congregations but the denomination as a whole does not appear to be healthy.

“Rev. Sorge said, and there is one uptick in the measure of Presbyterian commitment: Giving was up 6 percent despite the lower membership”

WOW, that’s Parson line, and you know at the end of the day, that’s really what this all about extracting as much money from departing churches as possible, because this money is coming from somewhere just ask the 200 member Bellefield Pres. who has to cough up $700,000 to go to the EPC. The fact is they can blame people not wanting to join churches or the change in culture, but churches like the PCA. EPC and even ECO, are growing just fine, although ECO is growing by churches leaving the pcusa, it’s like they still don’t get it, or more likely they won’t admit it

A common theme repeated by the PCUSA management/leadership of all stripes and tribes is that the great membership collapse, depopulation, extinction level event, hollowing out of the organization, death process, is in essence a non-event, not worthy of commentary, thought or reflection. You see this mind-set reflected in the organizations publishing organs and mouth pieces, PNA, “Presby. Today”, “Outlook”, where is all fluff, soft news, movie reviews, “positive” commentary. Blogs and stuff, Negative or other viewpoints have no editorial standing or integrity.

Nor does the ongoing situation seem to be of concern to Portland, as it was so in Detroit and Pittsburgh.

What they have done is accept the defense mechanism and behaviors associated in cultist practices in choose a metric, any metric, in this case money, and if that remains constant or up then all is well. An odd and pathological ‘group think’ takes places that denies all other realities than the narrative that gives aid and comfort to their preconceived notions of reality and purpose. Lost does not begin to describe Rev. Sorge and others.

I was talking to a group of leftist activist PCUSA members the other day and told them I was worried about the direction of the PCUSA and some of its new liberal views. They thought I was a right wing Nazi extremist. It’s not the first time I’ve had liberals exhort knee jerk stereotypes about more orthodox Protestants. Even though I’m more orthodox, I have a life history of actually being ‘moderate,’ with generous giving to the poor and sick, including serving on non profit boards and donating time. It’s just people like me draw the line at a different point, according to our interpretation of scripture. Our modern culture and news media, along with social media, has pushed and cemented inaccurate stereotypes and increased divisiveness in most cases.

James H., I can’t speak to the description of other mainline churches, but having served in the PCUSA for most of my ordained life, I’d say it is not accurately described under the rubric of Christ Transforming Culture, but the reverse: Culture Transforming Christ, were such a thing possible.

Sheldon Sorge’s comment, “I grieve the numbers, but I don’t think it’s the whole story,” betrays either an unquenchable pollyannaish outlook or a calculated rallying cry like that of the commander of the Light Brigade, “Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!” he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Sheldon’s comment seems to me a bit fatuous. Of course the unending membership slide is not the whole story of the PCUSA, but as every afficianado of good novels knows, a great read weaves together numerous subplots within the overall narrative of the main storyline. To fixate on a subplot and miss the main narrative is to fail to understand the point of the novel and the intent of the author. Sheldon of course is welcome to fix his attention on the commitment of the dwindling membership (the PCUSA is now roughly 33% of the size of the its two mother denominations, the UPCUSA and the PCUS (which merged in 1983 to form the PCUSA) when they were at their acme in 1965. But it seems to me a bit like saying, “We’re sure pleased with the fire-resistant nature of this small grove of trees,” while ignoring the fact that the rest of the trees of the forest are either on fire or already burned, with the winds blowing the conflagration inexorably toward the lone remaining unburned grove. The forest fire isn’t “the whole story,” but it’s the main story, and to ignore it is to imperil what remains of the forest.

Timothy; Nazis and KKK are everywhere. I saw three KKK wannabes on televison in California who were beaten up last year by a crowd of hundreds. And once I saw a real Nazi on 60 minutes CBS, somewhere in South Carolina or Mississippi. And another time I saw some white teens with buzz haircuts; they sure looked like racist extremists, but I talked to them and discovered they were well groomed, well mannered high school athletes. True accounts here, but ‘tongue in cheek’ sarc to agree with you on the outrageous broad stroke stereotypes/misconceptions many leftists sadly promote.

“Rev. Wellman said he sympathizes with his church’s liberal stances but that it often shortchanges the importance of religious faith. ‘I’m pro-gay rights, but I actually believe Christ is important,’ he said.”

Well, I’m sure Christ is just pleased as punch that Rev. Wellman thinks He is important.

“I grieve the numbers, but I don’t think it is the whole story”.
The whole story has to do with the fact that
members and churches who are in chaos.
Those numbers represent division at every level of the denomination.
They represent a fractured vision and complacency.
In the midst of this, God is working out HIS purpose for HIS glory.
How can God’s glory be proclaimed in such a divided, messy church
where discernment and dismissal is real and challenging? In discernment we proclaim God’s truth.
When ever God calls us to let go of complacency, when God calls us to go, when God calls us to
Stand up and Understand the hope of the Gospel in the midst of our own failure ……God’s glory is honored.
Those numbers represent the churches failure at every level, both in the whole denomination and individually to take God seriously.
We should all take those numbers seriously in light of the commands God has given us to partner with Him in the great commission.
God is at work….that is the whole story!

I have seen the 6% increase referred to by others. What years are they comparing? Do the numbers include in the giving the settlements received from churches leaving the denomination? Do they reflect interest income? Are records kept on pledged and unpledged giving in local churches? I would appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction to find this information.

And crazier still, one of the only things I remember from HS is that when a group is in power & doesn’t want to change, they are technically conservative (right); those who want to change things are technically liberal (left). However, technically speaking only (dating back to the Fr. revolution origination of the terms themselves), left wing liberals become right wing conservatives when they stay in office and refuse or don’t wish to change. The long-winded point I make is to tell you that Nazis were really socialists (do these people you reference even know what the initials stood for) and right-wing/left-wing are just terms that have lost their meaning today. Either way, for them to attack you with words shows their ignorance and intolerance. You are a brave person to speak the truth.

In 1958, following its merger with the United Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh Presbytery had 232 churches and >300,000 members. The decline in PC(USA) and its predecessors membership (and funding) in the past six decades is appalling. Today the PC(USA) is “liberalizing” in an effort to attract members and it is just not working. Moral values and historic theology are being shrugged off so PC(USA) can appeal to someone, but that someone is not showing up at the doors, not contributing to mission and ministry, and is not responding to evangelical ministry. Analysts will have a field day examining the trends and trying to explain them, but it continues and the PC(USA) is declining. Nominating a Stated Clerk candidate grounded in social values and community action and not well-founded in Calvinistic reformed theology is another step toward oblivion by the in-crowd. Reduced financial support is reducing active mission work, so why are we even here if not for mission and evangelical ministry? It is time for the GA and the home office in-crowd to figure out what our direction should be and follow Christ’s message to go out into all the world.

Mr. Dechter,
 
The PC(USA) is not “liberalizing…to attract members”; it is “liberalizing” because it has convinced itself that this is the only way to retain its young people.
 
Theological Liberalism since its inception has been exceedingly attuned to the winds of change in the world about it.  Friedrich Schleiermacher in the early 19th century sought to recast Christianity into thought forms amenable to Modernism, hoping thereby to keep the “cultured despisers of religion” from leaving the pale of the Church.  And he and his spiritual heirs succeeded, but only at the expense of the integrity of Christian theology.  As long as the Modernist Age endured, the theologically compromised Church prospered and enjoyed the world’s favor.  The doctrinally orthodox were marginalized and excluded from positions of significant influence within the denominational structures of the Mainline denominations where Theological Liberalism held sway; but there seemed to be no detriment to this, as nominal Christians continued filling the pews.
 
But as Dean Inge famously wrote, “Whoever marries the spirit of this age will find himself a widower in the next.”  And so Theologically Liberal Mainline Protestantism, having prostituted herself by marrying Modernism, has found herself a widow in the Post-Modern Age.  The Post-Modern Age is deeply suspicious of organized religion, and it makes no distinction between religions rooted in revelation or tradition and religions willing to bend over backward in order to curry the world’s favor.
 
During the Modern Age, there was still a cultural pressure in much of the Western world to be thought of as Christian and to make at least some show of piety by attending church services at least occasionally.  Theological Liberalism offered Modernists a way to think of themselves as Christian without having to commit themselves to certain distinctive Christian doctrines, such as the Substitutionary Atonement or the Bodily Resurrection, that offended Modernist sensibilities.
 
But in the Post-Modern Age, there is no cultural pressure to be thought of as Christian anymore (except in certain pockets, such as the American southeast).  To be sure, there is cultural pressure to accept homosexuality and similar sexual perversions as morally justified by “sexual orientation”.  The old Mainline Protestant denominations, such as the PC(USA), long accustomed to compromising their core beliefs to the world’s way of thinking, have accepted them, believing that their young people would forsake Christianity altogether if did not accept them.  And besides, most ordained officers in the PC(USA) are possessed by the notion that Biblical doctrine is subject to the authority of the world’s “interpretation” (such as the authority of literary and historical criticism; see C-67 §9.29) and find it quite easy to tell themselves that God does not expect post-sexual revolution Americans to abide by the sexual mores taught in Scripture (although He did expect the licentious first century Corinthians to do so; see I Cor. 5-7).
 
Of course, there is no evidence to suggest that today’s young people who have been raised in the Church are staying because the Mainline Protestant denominations have adopted worldly attitudes toward human sexuality, but millions of Evangelical Christians have forsaken these same denominations precisely because of the doctrinal compromises the PC(USA) and others have made, including on doctrines touching on the sinfulness of sexual immorality.  But this, of course, has not persuaded the old Mainline Protestant denominations to amend their ways.

This all reminds me of the Monty Python “Dead Parrot” skit. The pet store owner protests that the dead bird just flinched, flipped, winked it’s eye. But, pounding it on the counter, the customer insists the obvious…”This Parrot is Dead!…”You sold me a Dead Parrot”. Please, quit trying to wire and tape it to the perch. The P.C.U.S.A. is fully deceased.