Recently,
I read an article that documented the dying of mainline churches in
America. It was prompted by the recently
held General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA). Hundreds of delegates of the 1.7 million PCUSA
members voted authorizing their clergy to conduct same-sex unions, reaffirming
its commitment to largely unrestricted abortion rights, and supporting their divestment
from three firms doing business with Israel.
The delegates gleefully bounced scores of red balloons in the air; and at
another point, they collectively broke into dance.
The PCUSA’s
redefinition of marriage, by a 71-29 % vote, got the most attention … although
it was anti-climactic. Sexual liberalism
captured the denomination in 2010, when the PCUSA voted to abandon its
expectation of monogamy in marriage and celibacy in singleness for its clergy. Since then, hundreds of congregations have
quit or organized conservative resistance.
By the 2012 General Assembly of PCUSA, they had lost nearly 200,000
members – a rate, which (if continued) would mean no more PCUSA in less than 20-years. More than likely, the exodus from the PCUSA
after this marriage vote may well increase for congregations and individuals. Many exiting PCUSA churches have joined the
Evangelical Presbyterian Church, while others helped create a new denomination
called the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians. Despite the impact on denominational finances,
PCUSA elites, committed more to the ‘Left’ than to the church’s health, seem
mostly indifferent.
Those
elites mostly backed divesting from three firms doing business with Israel,
namely Hewlett-Packard, Caterpillar, and Motorola, which ostensibly facilitate Israel’s
‘occupation.’ The PCUSA has voted for
anti-Israel divestment before, in 2004, which created such controversy,
internally and externally, that it revoked its stance in 2006. Anti-Israel zealots inside and outside the
church were relentless; and in 2012 divestment fell short by only 2-votes. This General Assembly passed it by only 7-votes
… a remarkable margin … given the ongoing exodus of conservative church
members. The PCUSA is now the only major
U.S. denomination divesting against Israel, with even the Episcopal Church and
far-left United Church of Christ having declined the distinction.
Getting
far less attention was the PCUSA General Assembly’s overwhelming rejection of
legislation that urged a “season of reflection” on the denomination’s support
for abortion-rights, including its long-time membership in the Religious
Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) … which opposes any restrictions on
abortion.
Essentially,
the PCUSA, by its recent votes, have resolved to become even smaller. It represents the faded vestige of a once
distinguished religious body that indelibly shaped America.
But PCUSA
is by no means alone. Liberal Mainline
Protestantism, starting in the 1960s, began its first major break with
traditional Christian ethics by embracing abortion rights, discarding
traditional notions about sacred human life in favor of radical autonomous
individualism. The mainline’s support
for abortion and implied hostility to large families, now compounded by its
redefinition of marriage have all helped to create a culture where the typical mainline
congregation is dying. Although church
liberals love to insist their policies appeal to the rising generation, all of
the available evidence indicates just the opposite. Liberalizing churches don’t attract young
people, who, even if liberal, tend to flock to churches they respect for not
pandering to them. The same is true for
racial minorities, who largely avoid liberal Mainline Protestantism in favor of
ethnic or Evangelical churches.
Mainline Protestantism
… at least in the old mainline … has abandoned its historic Christian moral principles
and core doctrine; and, therefore, is largely over. Rest in peace, mainline Protestantism; and
thanks for the memories.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
No comments:
Post a Comment