For Evangelicals, same-sex marriage is not an “agree to disagree” issue. (By Ed Stetzer, The Exchange). Marriage, as Jesus defines it in Matthew 19—where a man leaves his father and mother and joins with his wife in covenant marriage—is a core evangelical belief. It might not seem that way these days, when we hear of…
A Review of Inclusive Marriage Services: A Wedding Sourcebook By S. Donald Fortson*. Several mainline writers have collaborated on a recent book, Inclusive Marriage Services: A Wedding Sourcebook.[1] Contributors to the short volume, not surprisingly, come from denominations such as the UCC, TEC, ELCA and PCUSA – bodies that no longer confess Christian teaching on human…
By Greg Sheridan, The Australian. The Presbyterian Church will halt all co-operation with the state on the matter of marriage if same-sex marriage is legalized. It will refuse to conduct any state marriages and some of its pastors will encourage Presbyterians to live outside the legal institution of marriage. They would live in de facto…
By Samuel Smith, Christian Post. A public health expert and Seventh-day Adventist pastor was fired by Georgia’s Department of Public Health after public officials were assigned to watch and review the content of his sermons on YouTube, official government documents indicate. On Wednesday, The First Liberty Institute announced that it filed a lawsuit on behalf of…
By Mateen Elass, on his personal blog. Five years ago, I wrote a blog about the PCUSA decision to normalize homosexuality and predicted that one of the fall-outs of this error would be the inability of PCUSA missionaries to reach the Muslim world. Since Muslims are taught within their own Scriptures that homosexual behavior is…
By Mark Tooley, Juicy Ecumenism. Recently 14 United Methodist bishops in Africa, collectively representing 5 million United Methodists in Africa’s growing churches, spoke out remarkably on the topics of terrorism and marriage. Their words were very different from rhetoric typical of the long declining U.S. church. Speaking well before the recent Paris terror, the African…
The Kiskiminetas Presbytery approved an overture seeking to change the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s definition of marriage to once again reflect that marriage is between “one man and one woman.” That definition was changed March 17 of this year when a majority of PCUSA presbyteries ratified the vote of the 221st General Assembly (2014) to change…
By Rachel Williams, Juicy Ecumenism. Back in March of this year, the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted to change the definition of marriage from “one man and one woman” to “two people, traditionally a man and a woman.” This allows clergy to now perform same-sex marriages and also states those clergy who are personally opposed to…
Grace and peace be with you through our Lord Jesus Christ. I wish to thank all of you for voting against this amendment. The finally tally is 121-48 with 2 not taking any action (Dakota and Western Kentucky). An inaction by presbyteries automatically defaults to a No vote. For a measure to pass, a yes…
For those who think that nothing has changed for Presbyterian pastors and sessions since the Presbyterian Church (USA) began allowing for same sex weddings, think again. Scrolling through the lead on virtually every page of The Presbyterian Outlook website reveals a thorough transition. The home page on 7/16 features “The Gift of a Wedding” by…