In keeping with the journalistic tradition of looking back at the recent past, we present the top 50 stories of the year that were read on The Aquila Report site based on the number of hits. We will present the 50 stories in groups of 10 to run on five lists on consecutive days. Here are numbers 21-30.
In 2018 The Aquila Report (TAR) posted over 3,000 stories. At the end of each year we feature the top 50 stories that were read. The top story this year had over 11,600 hits.
TAR posts about 8 new stories each day, on a variety of subjects – all of which we trust are of interest to our readers. As a web magazine TAR is an aggregator of news and information that we believe will provide articles that will inform the church of current trends and movements within the church and culture.
In keeping with the journalistic tradition of looking back at the recent past, we present the top 50 stories of the year that were read on The Aquila Report site based on the number of hits. We will present the 50 stories in groups of 10 to run on five lists on consecutive days. Here are numbers 21-30.
The church, founded in the Willow Creek Theater in Barrington, Illinois, also remains an evangelical powerhouse—and a model for churches around the country. It boasts a worship attendance of more than 25,000, making it the sixth-largest church in Outreach Magazine’s list of America’s 100 largest churches.
We need to remind ourselves of the significance of what we are watching: this case will be a textbook case for decades on the failure of a church — its Elders, its Boards — to listen to women, to evaluate accusations, and to have policies in place for handling a one-of-a-kind world-influencing leaders. How the Elders handled this case will be subject to intense discussions. Seminaries around the world will discuss the “Willow Creek Case” for years.
- Back Rubs with Teen Girls Evolved into Sex; Another Former Modesto Pastor Accused
“I sinned and harmed the most important relationships in my life,” Les Hughey said in a statement issued after being contacted by The Modesto Bee. “Unfortunately, it’s impossible to undo what happened, so I instead accept and live with the consequences.”
On Nov. 7, Rev. Andy Wilson, a PCA pastor from Grace Presbyterian Church in Laconia, New Hampshire, published an online article titled “Dear Covenant College Students: Jesus Can Set You Free from the Yoke of Being Woke.” In it, he disagreed strongly with Jemar Tisby’s Reformation Day chapel lectures, accusing Tisby of setting up works-based requirements for believers beyond the Gospel. Wilson’s article is available online at The Aquila Report. We also emailed this letter to Rev. Wilson.
Admittedly, my usage of the word “trend” is highly subjective. I have no statistical support to prove these 4 practices are in fact “trends” among churches today. My list is based purely on my limited experience and limited observation. Additionally, in titling this post I intentionally chose the word “uncomfortable.” In my mind, these 4 trends are not practices that automatically make a church a “bad” church. However, these are trends I don’t quite understand.
So one must wonder how this RPCES report—which was still fresh at the Joining and Receiving—could have been a nuanced expression of biblical and Reformed orthodoxy in the early 1980s, while these same beliefs are denounced as heresy by some in the PCA 38 years later.
Bachmann moved from Chattanooga in 1991 to lead Covenant Presbyterian Church. At the time, the congregation barely had 40 members. Under Bachmann’s leadership, the congregation grew to more than 2,000. By the late 2000s, they were able to raise funds internally to build a $15.5 million sanctuary on a hilltop overlooking southwest Nashville…. Now, Bachmann, 63, is leading a new congregation[Westminster Chapel] that meets on Sundays in one of the city’s public elementary schools.
Overture 13 has not presented convincing reasons for the General Assembly to approve the proposed changes. And it should be noted, that adopting the proposed changes will have the effect of upsetting the healthy balance of church governance adopted by the PCA. I urge the ordained office bearers who will serve as Commissioners to the 46th PCA General Assembly to vote to answer Overture 13 in the negative.
White, 45, is an elder at Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Houston, a conservative congregation that is a member of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). In recent days, he has taken heat from other Democrats for being personally against abortion, though he has said he recognizes that abortion remains legal and that he would not try to change that if elected governor. According to online policy papers, PCA opposes same-sex marriage and “does not regard it to be in keeping with God’s intentions for marriage.
I know that every man is a sinner and that even my favorite pastors/theologians are almost certainly wrong about something. And we certainly shouldn’t dismiss every author out there because we disagree on a point or two. But is there a point at which the depth or breadth of the problems becomes significant enough that it’s time to rethink defending a man?
[Editor’s note: One or more original URLs (links) referenced in this article are no longer valid; those links have been removed.]
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