Other business items deal with speeding up the call process (7-19), returning to minister and elder terminology (7-04), reassessing the effectiveness of ordination exams (7-07), clarifying that candidates for ministry must be examined (7-20), giving United Methodist Church clergy blanket approval to officiate at the Lord’s Table (7-15)…

"I can't follow a church that is going to take scripture and adapt it to the way of the world," said 71-year-old church member Carolyn Swayze.

Ecclesiastical structures are power structures of a similar sort to the ones we have been discussing. And an ecclesiastical structure has a dominant culture, just as a nation or a corporation does. It sets up rules which tend to benefit those who are members of the dominant culture and which tend to perpetuate their tenure... Continue Reading

For the fifth time the General Assembly has asked presbyteries to ratify an amendment to the Book of Order’s Form of Government, Chapter 6, paragraph .0106, sentence b. What’s the difference? (Among other things) guidance replaces obedience: Currently, the express standard is that each and every ordained officer in the PCUSA “lead a life in... Continue Reading

Brothers and Sisters, I have a hard word for you today. But it’s a word spoken in love. I was originally ordained to the ministry in the PCUSA, but I left in 2002 for the PCA. There was a time when I was angry at my fellow Evangelicals in the PCUSA. Now I am not,... Continue Reading

The Presbytery of San Francisco’s newly-adopted dismissal policy pledges not to initiate pre-emptive civil litigation and offers its congregations the opportunity to leave the denomination with their property if reconciliation is no longer an option. Read more here.

Christian Newswire — An attempt to delete the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s constitutional requirement that its officers practice “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness” has been defeated. As of April 27, 2009, 89 of the denomination’s 173 local presbyteries had voted against the deletion, while only... Continue Reading

The Layman Online reported that the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) on June 28, 2008 approved an overture that will send the fidelity-chastity ordination standard to the denomination’s presbyteries for another round  [Editors note: the original URL (link) referenced in this article is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.] of... Continue Reading

  SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Layman Online reported  that on a 395-286-9 vote Thursday, June 26, 2008, delegates to the 218th Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly passed a resolution to provide up to $2 million "for the purpose of sharing the cost of legal fees defending our Constitution against the New Wineskins non-geographic presbytery... Continue Reading

  Editor’s note: This is an update on the action taken by the PCUSA GA regarding investigating the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.   The Layman Online reports that with no discussion and a voice vote Wednesday, June 25, 2008, the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) decided to begin an investigation into charges against... Continue Reading