Eric Rassbach is an attorney with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public interest legal group that defends the free expression rights of all faiths. He said it is unlikely the government would try to force a pastor to perform a same-sex marriage, but churches that rent out their facilities to the general public... Continue Reading

For the unsuspecting churchgoer, the service’s liturgical program printed by the gay Lutheran groups hosting the worship,ReconcilingWorks and Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, was jarring.  The service’s “Thanksgiving for Baptism,” for example, invokes the “triune God” not under the formulation given by Jesus in the Gospels of “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost/Spirit,” but rather “Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit.”... Continue Reading

“We haven’t been able to leave,” said Proschold, who started as the parish associate in 2002 and has been New Life’s stated supply pastor since 2006. “The presbytery won’t even recognize our new name. We’re supposed to be brothers and sisters in Christ, and they don’t seem inclined to show us that respect.”   A... Continue Reading

Notice I do not say that they leave churches because they don’t love God, but that they leave the Church for that reason. Sometimes there are legitimate reasons for leaving a local church and, though this is not the place to discuss the subject in detail, I readily admit it may be a necessary step... Continue Reading

Contemporary worship leader, please know that I’ll benefit from some of your songs and won’t complain to any member of the church. But, please know that it’s not easy for me. I know I’ll never be able to play in the worship band again. And, no matter what you say, in my heart I know... Continue Reading

Gradye Parsons, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA), sat down with ruling elders from across the country to answer questions regarding the state of the church and the denomination. The question-and-answer session was part of the PCUSA’s Big Tent National Elders Conference workshop that took place Aug. 3 at the Kentucky International Convention Center... Continue Reading

That action by the Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) for the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii took place July 11, paving the way for Glenkirk and FPC-Covina to part ways with the Presbyterian Church (USA) as new members of ECO. The order from the PJC indicated that the stay of enforcement was removed in Anderson... Continue Reading

Bates called the presbytery’s interpretation of Wolf “nonsensical,” and said that the presbytery erected a “‘Stalingrad-type’ defense intended to financially force capitulation or to make victory by the small, 20-member Carrollton church as costly as possible.” Sanctions have been imposed on a Presbyterian Church (USA) presbytery in the amount of $390,000 after the court “unavoidably”... Continue Reading

On the one hand, the world will never be satisfied–until Christians completely renounce their faith.  More importantly, the Lord will never bless such unfaithfulness to Him and His Word. We see from the sad example of what’s happened to the ELCA–the biggest split in American church history–that whatever churches and other organizations such as the... Continue Reading

St. Giles’ decision to seek departure from the PCUSA revolved around the passage of Amendment 10A in May 2011. Amendment 10A deleted the explicit “fidelity/chastity” requirement from the constitutional ordination standard, and allows the PCUSA to ordain gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people as deacons, elders and pastors. It removed the requirement for ministers to... Continue Reading