It was almost to the day of this union in 1958 that two Scotch-Irish Presbyterians joined together in 1858 to make up the United Presbyterian Church of North America.  Those two bodies which made up that union were the Seceders or Associate Presbyterians and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.  They had in the old country of Scotland left... Continue Reading

“We had a huge, huge victory today,” said Pastor Bill Devlin, who with Council Member Fernando Cabrera (D-Bronx) has headed up a group of pastors pushing for churches’ equal access to public buildings. “Here you have the most progressively leaning Democratic city council in the entire U.S. And they vote by a huge margin in... Continue Reading

These posts will be of interest not only to ARPs but also to those who seek a better understanding of how the ARPC differs from other American Presbyterian groups. … In the first installment of this three-part series we looked at the 19th-century theological identity of the ARP Church (then known as the Associate Reformed Church).... Continue Reading

One of the largest Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations in the United States is presently weighing the possibility of leaving the denomination due to theological differences. First Presbyterian Church of Houston, founded in the early nineteenth century and with an estimated 3,600 members, voted earlier this year to enter a discernment process over the possibility of... Continue Reading

The transition plan is expected to begin in September, with the search for replacements beginning Jan. 1, 2014. A new coordinator, it is believed, will be hired between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2014.  In a letter to MTW missionaries, Paul Kooistra said, “My desire and prayer is that we bathe this entire process, maybe... Continue Reading

At an ARP historical conference in 2003 I presented a paper on the theological and confessional history of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in the twentieth century.  … The article will, I think, be of interest not only to ARPs but also to those who seek a better understanding of how the ARPC differs from... Continue Reading

Kara said many churches are built on how together they are, how good they look, how together the members are. “Within our new congregation, four people have cancer, one woman’s aunt was murdered, another was robbed at gunpoint, five were in the fire and one woman lost her home. So, our little community has really... Continue Reading

Church commissioners backed his motion to “affirm the Church’s historic and current doctrine and practice in relation to human sexuality, (but) nonetheless permit those Kirk Sessions who wish to depart from that doctrine and practice to do so”. Today’s historic vote effectively means that the traditionalist position holds, but congregations will be able to choose... Continue Reading

While 85 percent of YEC pastors assert that “Christian disagreement on matters of creation and evolution is compromising our witness to the world,” 63 percent of TE pastors disagree with the statement. Meanwhile, 63 percent of TE pastors assert that “The church’s posture toward science prevents many non-Christians from accepting Christianity”, while 59% of their... Continue Reading

Redeem the time: We all have time in the car, doing chores, or relaxing after the kids are in bed when we can have some audio going in the background.  Providing sermons gives us more “meat” to listen to while doing those other activities.   A while back I reviewed the book SimChurch (part 1... Continue Reading