By Mark Tooley, Juicy Ecumenism blog A new Pew survey shows overwhelming majorities of Americans believe in the historical actuality of the Christmas story, including the Virgin Birth, the angels appearing to shepherds and the Wise Men following the star to Bethlehem. These majorities include young and old, Catholic and Protestant, black and white, male and female,…
By Mark Tooley, Juicy Ecumenism, the blog site of the Institute on Religion and Democracy Two liberal church groups responded immediately to the Ferguson grand jury verdict. Here’s the National Council of Churches: Washington, DC: The National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA expresses its deep disappointment with the decision of the grand jury, sitting…
By Mark Tooley, Juicy Ecumenism blog Pope Francis has offered counsel over the last week that culturally adrift Protestants and Evangelicals especially should heed the timeless truths regarding human life intrinsic to Christian faith and organic to nature itself, not based on Christian scripture exclusively but available to all creation. Yesterday November 17, the Pope,…
By Mark Tooley, Juicy Ecumenism, Institute on Religion and Democracy’s blog Recently United Methodist Bishop Scott Jones helpfully compiled a list of the various proposals aimed at solving our denomination’s more than 40 year debate over sexual ethics. What is striking is the implausibility of nearly all of them. First they are nearly all politically…
By Mark Tooley The stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Gradye Parsons, has released a verbose statement demanding an end to the “violence” between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. For emphasis, he even lists ALL the names of Gazans reportedly killed by Israeli air attacks, or 174 names. Not having seen any PCUSA official…
By Rebecca Downs The IRD has provided thoughtful coverage and insight on the Presbyterian Church USA’s (PCUSA) General Assembly voting to redefine marriage. In a press release, IRD president Mark Tooley asks, “[w]ho respects a church that only echoes the secular world?” Such a worthy question not only applies with regards to marriage as God…
By Mark Tooley At one point during this this week’s General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the hundreds of delegates, known as commissioners, gleefully bounced scores of red balloons in the air. At another point, they collectively broke into dance, confirming that most Protestants, especially if they’re old, white and Anglo, don’t look so…
By Mark Tooley The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), whose General Assembly starts this week in Detroit, is a case study in oldline Protestant decline. Its latest membership stats show a loss of 89,296 in 2013, preceded by a loss of 102,791 in 2012. Its membership is now down to 1,760,200, and at the current rate it…
Christian leaders across America are coming together with a pledge to show solidarity and a call to action for their imperiled brothers and sisters being persecuted in the churches of Egypt, Iraq and Syria – the same lands Jesus and the apostles shared the Gospel 2,000 years ago. The pledge, a grassroots effort released publicly…
By Jeffrey Walton WASHINGTON, D.C.– As the U.S. Senate considers legislation to raise the minimum wage, Religious Left groups including the lobby offices of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN) have advocated an increased wage level, with the Director for Public Witness of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) J. Herbert Nelson stating…