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 Stephen McKinney-Whitaker. The post begins, “I recently officiated a wedding of two women, Jessica and Kirsten.” Further down the home page you can read, “Practicing the scales of love: Rethinking Christian marriage,” wherein the writer reveals her rejection of divine inspiration of the Bible when she says, “The truth is, no biblical writer could have ever imagined marriage the way we understand it now — an egalitarian commitment between two people who love each other and depend on one another for romance, sexual fulfillment, mutual support and happiness.” Now almost off the page with its July 7 posting date is Leslie Scanlon’s research based piece of journalism, “A new normal for Presbyterian weddings.” The piece is illuminating about what marriage has become from the viewpoint and practice of those interviewed. Notably, no one who is doing weddings exclusively “the old fashioned way” (between a committed Christian man and woman) is interviewed.
Over on the Outpost blog page of the site you can read through a litany of personal reflections by PCUSA teaching elders sharing their theology and practice of performing weddings. The “institution” is minimalized, God is optionalized, there are references to unicorns, luck, and hope but nothing about how the Confessions are guiding these people in their interpretation of the scriptures of the Old and New Testament being brought to bear in the lives of couples entering into holy matrimony.
This is not a criticism of The Outlook nor their contributors. I’m seeking to make an observation about the state of things.
In February I raised concerns about the trajectory of the denomination’s official publication, Presbyterians Today. Recently, they launched a blog site called “Reimagining the Church.” (Yes, I wondered aloud when I learned of it whether they had a conscious memory of the pagan celebration “Reimagining” conference in 1993. If they did not know, why not, and if they did know then the new site is a conscious choice.) On the blog site you can read disparaging remarks about traditional marriage and those whose interpretation of the scriptures lead them to consciously object to same sex marriage. But you can read equally disparaging remarks about “white folks.” The site is an equal opportunity platform for those with “subversive” ideas.
My takeaway? Those within the PCUSA who continue to espouse and seek to honor sincerely held religious convictions about human sexuality and marriage the are informed by and aligned with the Reformed theology of our Confessions, are now “out.” (A recent article by Princeton Theological Seminary President Craig Barnes makes my point, in case I failed to.)
If your session shares the concerns raised here, you might find this resource helpful.
16 Comments. Leave new
We are (pcusa) no long really a Christian church in the Biblical sence of the word, but more a religious organization, and all of our publications are showing it. Yet with all that the pcusa has changed, no one is beating our doors down on Sunday mornings because gay marriage is legal or because the pcusa has adopted a “anything goes” standard.
The shake- up of four people being fired by PMA and Ms. Valentine resigning also is an indication that the focus will be changing going forward.
Very problematic, I fear, for conservatives remaining in the denomination.
All of a sudden the tide is turning like a tidal wave toward progressive views and actions.
Good thing God has the last word!
Daily, the Lord causes change to occur.
Maybe you better explain that comment, Robert.
Carmen nmay not be wrting a criticism of The Outlook or its contributors here….but someone certainly needs to.
You mean, God is the final cause of all causality, but we must do the work of what we believe leaving the results with the Lord God in Christ??
**Yet with all that the pcusa has changed, no one is beating our doors down on Sunday mornings **
Why should they when in many cases there is no difference the Church of Christ and the world. The Church of Christ is not to take its orders from the streets, rather from the Holy Bible.
Dear James, your comment is pure bull based on nothing Christian, nothing forgiving, nothing loving, nothing accepting. You and your ilk just need to find another religion. One that condemns others and is hateful and unforgiving. Perhaps radical Islam might be a good fit for you so you can also bash women more openly too? -RB
None of us, including you, follows the holy bible to the letter. Not even close if you would actually take the time to fully read it. We are all long in non-comformance since it was compiled roughly 1700 years ago and re-edited some 400 years ago. Do you not see how un-compliant that you are? Women can’t have authority over men in church, men don’t shave, men have multiple wives, slavery is swell. Stoning people is just fine. Don’t you dare eat bacon or shrimp and on and on. It’s pretty crappy to claim we are ruled by the bible and then pick and choose the parts we want to enforce on ourselves and to judge others with. Oh yeah, what did the prince of peace have to say about judging? How do we dare to call ourselves Christians when we don’t even follow and obey his words? Why do we dare to dig in old Jewish history for rules and standards when we fon’t or won’t obey or at least try very hard to do what Jesus Christ said to do. That’s being Christian first and foremost….isn’t it? Do what he said first, tgat would be enough to make for a harmonious life and world. Instead we claim to be Christians and throw stones, accuse, hate, isolate, hoarde away and support wars and rampant nationalism. It just doesn’t fit together in the name of Jesus Christ. It’s just wrong to do it. Ever wonder why the so called liberals don’t speak up and attack back? Tgey don’t want to be like those who attack them. It’s simply not Christian. It’s quite human but that’s another matter altogether. God, please continue to forgive and love us all. None of us are deserving. Help us all to really do as Jesus Christ once told us. Nothing else would really matter or be needed if we just did those deeds. Amen. -RB
Remember that Jesus said that we cannot put new wine into old wineskins.
let us pray: “Our maker Sophia, we are women in your image: With the hot blood of our wombs we give form to new life … Our mother Sophia, we are women in your image: with nectar between our thighs we invite a lover, we birth a child; With our warm body fluids we remind the world of its pleasures and sensations.” —- 1993 Reimagining Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Robert Berry “Ever wonder why the so called liberals don’t speak up and attack back? Tgey don’t want to be like those who attack them.”
That’s such crap, your ilk has hijacked the entire pcusa from louisville all the way down, suing for churches that you didn’t pay for, going after orthodox pastors for not buying into the “big tent” crap. I don’t bash women, I have no problem with women pastors.
You’ve got a hell of alot nerve to lecture me after the damage your kind has done to the pcusa!
I can only speak for my own experience, but for me and my congregation, truly nothing has changed. We don’t like what the national denomination has done, but we continue to do what God has called us to do in our little slice of the Southern countryside. I am fortunate to serve in a Presbytery (Florida) where evangelicals are respected despite being in a distinct minority. At least, I have not felt condemned or discriminated against at all.
I deplore the times that is not true, where evangelicals are indeed marginalized one way or another, but for my congregation and me, that has not been the case. For us, things have not changed.
I remember that freak show in 93′, at least it was contained then, now it’s all over the pcusa.
Yes, James H., none of us do all that God requires. However, do we still recognize that XYZ (name your sin) is STILL a sin? If we change what a sin is (basically telling God that He should change), then we are in the wrong.
Copied from debriefing on declassified KGB methods of political psychology, for the purpose of creating a controlled population.
“By perverting the institutions of a nation and bringing
about a general degradation, by interfering with the economics of a nation to the degree that privation and depression come about, then only minor shocks will be necessary to produce on the populace as a whole, an obedient reaction or an hysteria.”