Editor’s Note: This article spells out in language that a lay person can understand the issues at stake in church property rights, not only in Georgia, but in many other states where the ‘neutral principles of law’ are followed The Presbyterian Lay Committee (PLC) has filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief before... Continue Reading

On July 6, the Stated Clerk of the PCA released a statement of the PCA’s Position on Human Sexuality and Ordination. In May, The Aquila Report published a summary of the PCA position on Homosexuality. We have reprinted both documents below: The Presbyterian Church in America: Perspective on Human Sexuality and Ordination by Dr. L.... Continue Reading

The Crystal Cathedral would provide an instant, 3,000-seat architectural landmark at roughly half the $100 million that was estimated for construction of a new site in Santa Ana A new and intriguing prospect for the Crystal Cathedral emerged Wednesday when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange said it was considering buying the bankrupt church in... Continue Reading

An attendee from the Sudan agreed. “The PCUSA makes a big deal bringing us to these events,” he said, referring to Big Tent. “But the reality is not the case,” he added, pointing out the denomination had only made incremental moves in total diversity. Mainline Presbyterian churches are becoming more racially and ethnically diverse within... Continue Reading

Noblit noted that “probably” the most used and copied witnessing tool Southern Baptists have ever embraced is “Evangelism Explosion,” developed by the late Dr. D. James Kennedy, a Presbyterian and five-point Calvinist. Hundreds of Southern Baptists joined together last week for what was said to be a historic meeting on Calvinism. As leaders pushed for... Continue Reading

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, who started his ministry in an Orange drive-in theater more than five decades ago, has been voted off the board of Crystal Cathedral Ministries, which has been torn apart by debt and familial disharmony for the last several years. The church has not released information about the board meeting where... Continue Reading

“It’s about Jesus. It’s about a God who calls us by name.” Those words echoed throughout the opening worship service of Big Tent, a convocation of the Presbyterian Church (USA), last week at the JW Marriot in Indianapolis. In his keynote sermon, the Rev. Mark Labberton, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, urged the crowd... Continue Reading

In 1965, the denomination numbered 4,254,597 members. Today, the number is 2,016,091. Presbyterian Church (USA) statistics have been released by national church headquarters, revealing a massive membership hemorrhage. On December 31, 2010, the PCUSA recorded a loss of 61,047 members. At its current loss rate, the denomination will dead in less than 40 years. The... Continue Reading

“They hear a lot in Appalachia of, ‘Oh I want to help you,’ and then people show up for a week and never come back, and that is where a lot of disappointment and reluctance to open up comes from. So we have gone back consistently three to four times a year over the last... Continue Reading

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council on Inter-religious Dialogue (PCID) have released a statement on the ethics of Christian evangelism. “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct,” released June 28 at the WCC headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, is the result of a five-year... Continue Reading