The Church’s Independence Clarified
The church’s independence is negative, not positive. That independence means freedom from undue command or interference by others, not power over them.
The church’s independence is inferred from the nature of its early operations, its instructions from Christ and the apostles, and from its unique nature as God’s chosen people on Earth. At no point did Christ or his disciples ever say anything to the effect of ‘and when you select elders to rule your churches, remember... Continue Reading
Courage in the PCA
I am of good cheer as I contemplate the future of the PCA, trusting in our victorious savior to lead us, even as I consider the inevitable tribulation that will come upon the PCA.
While Curtis Chang is not accurate when he claims that it was “the right-wing faction within the PCA” that was responsible for the political polarization panel being cancelled, it is likely that he is right when he says this “only encourages more of the same.” One can only say: by God’s grace, yes, may it... Continue Reading
Please Don’t Call Her Pastor
There is so much good ministry that women can and should be doing in our churches; we don’t help them at all by giving them an unbiblical and unnecessary job title.
When God’s good design for men and women is so under attack in our day, why would anyone who embraces that design deliberately add to the confusion by using such a loaded term for female ministry personnel? Our church is complementarian, which means that we value and embrace the God-given differences between men and... Continue Reading
Statement From Philadelphia Presbytery on Liam Goligher
Liam Goligher was immediately suspended from the sacraments and his office for his contumacy
Because of TE Goligher’s refusal to comply with the lawful proceedings of this court in defiance of BCO 32-6b, these proceedings are hindered and continuing without due repentance from TE Goligher for his contumacy poses a serious risk to the wellbeing of witnesses and victims named in these proceedings. In accord with BCO 34-4, TE Liam... Continue Reading
Complementarians And The Rise Of Second-Wave Evangelical Feminism
Over the last three decades, cracks in the complementarian movement have grown to the extent that two forms of complementarianism are now distinguishable.
For complementarians like these are emptying complementarity of any positive content, thereby aiding the project of the late modern West, which is warring against the sexual binary and any attempts to identify traits, features, customs, habits, or callings as characteristically—much less, exclusively—masculine or feminine. We don’t even have mothers anymore—only “pregnant people” and “birthing persons.”... Continue Reading
The Presbyterian Church Calendar
Presbyterians enjoy a rich and full worship life as we gather every Lord’s Day to declare that Christ has come, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again!
We do not celebrate church “seasons” is they often ask us to think of the Christian life as something we “do” instead of what Christ has done. Further, they cause us to think as if Christ has not already done anything. Roland Barnes, longtime Pastor of Trinity Presbyterian in Statesboro, GA, said the liturgical calendar... Continue Reading
The Reconsecration of Man
The road to consecration begins with the cultivation of a humble attitude of thankfulness for the gospel and for those who show forth that gospel in their own lives.
Can any other creature on the face of the planet be grateful? When I express gratitude to God, I acknowledge my personal dependency upon him, I also act as a person myself, and I am inclined to acknowledge his image as found in those around me. Gratitude is both profoundly theological and personally transformative. It... Continue Reading
Why the Global Church Still Needs the Creeds
The creeds are universal not because they’re disembodied and atemporal truths but because they’re a moment in the organic growth and development of a concrete body of Christ, his church.
The creeds emerged from the gospel’s encounter with a broader cultural context, through missionary expansion. The development of doctrine, as Alister McGrath notes, was “partly on account of the need to interact with a language and a conceptual framework not designed with the specific needs of Christian theology in mind.” Doctrine and creeds arise from... Continue Reading
Statements of Faith
Evangelicals concerned with keeping the whole counsel of God are driving a renewal of interest in confessions.
Pastor Justin Perdue launched Theology Night in 2022, believing that “under the shag carpet of contemporary evangelical teaching lies a beautiful hardwood floor of confessional doctrine and the ancient creeds of the church.” He says the church movements of the 20th century have produced a generation of people who are “frustrated and disenchanted with the... Continue Reading
Leading Together: Elder Teaming Together to Shepherd the Flock
An excerpt from “The Elder-Led Church: How an Eldership Team Shepherds a Healthy Flock” by Murray Capill
Team leadership of a church has some utterly unique dynamics. In this chapter, we will explore how a group of elders leads the church together. We will think about how the team operates, consider the relationship between the elders and the pastor or pastors, and observe the distinct differences between a shepherd- leader model and... Continue Reading
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