Friends, It with deep gratitude (and no small measure of grief) that I write this final post for the Layman.org site. It has been a great privilege to serve as the President of this ministry for the past nine years and it has been my honor to see this effort to completion. God’s people are…
(By Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post). The Presbyterian Church (USA) and a conservative church created in response to the mainline denomination’s theological direction are working together to help facilitate a less divisive and more unifying dismissal process for congregations. Representatives of PCUSA and ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians met in late September for two days to discuss…
(By Gregg Brekke, Presbyterian News Service). The Way Forward Commission (WFC) of the Presbyterian Church (USA) met last night (Oct. 24) via a three-hour conference call to review progress on recommendations it plans to make to the 223rd General Assembly meeting next summer in St. Louis. Though still in process, and with input needed from more…
(By Dana Allin, ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians). This week, the Synod office has received some questions regarding the article The Presbyterian Outlook published about the recent meeting in Chicago between ECO and the PCUSA. We wanted to respond here in an effort to answer some of the questions many of you may have. Our Response…
(By Leslie Scanlon, The Presbyterian Outlook). Most congregations in the Presbyterian Church (USA) are small, but most Presbyterians attend larger churches. About two-thirds of those preparing to enter ministry – candidates and inquirers in the PCUSA – come from churches with at least 300 members, which means they may have little or no experience of life…
(By Bill Bumpas, One News Now). In an attempt to clarify its stance on human sexuality, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has appeared to muddy the waters even more. The denomination felt the need to respond to the beliefs on biblical sexuality laid out in “The Nashville Statement” by a coalition of conservative evangelical leaders – which…
(By Leslie Scanlon, The Presbyterian Outlook). The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) is considering what’s being described as a “joyous” budget for 2019 and 2020 – a budget that would include a per capita increase from $7.73 per member in 2018 to $10.11 in 2019 and $10.82 in 2020. That would amount…
The Presbytery of Twin Cities Area (PCTA) will petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review its property case against Prairie Community Church in Eden Prairie, Minn. In July, the Minnesota Supreme Court denied a similar petition from the presbytery to review the decision the Minnesota Court of Appeals in favor of Prairie Community Church of…
(By the Rev. Janet Edwards, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Written in response to the lament published by the Post-Gazette on 9/9/17 by Holly Lott, “A Presbyterian’s lament: Our church is forsaking core values with ‘reform’ that deforms.“). When I was ordained in September 1977 to the office of Minister of Word and Sacrament in what is…
The Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Office of Theology and Worship has declared the denomination “agnostic around issues of homosexuality,” in its response to the recently released Nashville Statement. Written and signed by more than 150 evangelical Christian leaders, the Nashville Statement upholds the Biblical standards that marriage is between one man and one woman and “homosexual…