| Conservative Presbyterians in U.S. launch new denomination |
| Written by Daniel Burke | ||||
| Saturday, 21 January 2012 22:12 | ||||
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(ENInews) Conservative U.S. Presbyterians launched a new denomination on Jan. 19, saying the Presbyterian Church (USA) is too consumed by internal conflicts and bureaucracy to nurture healthy congregations.
"This 'new Reformed body' is intended to foster a new way of being the church, just as traditional, mainline denominations rose to serve in their day," wrote leaders of the new Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO), Religion News Service reports.
More than 2,000 people attended the ECO's meeting in Orlando, Fla., this week, but a straw poll indicated that most have not yet decided whether to leave the PC(USA), according to the Presbyterian Outlook, an independent magazine.
The creation of the ECO follows the PC(USA)'s churchwide vote last year to lift its longtime ban on gay clergy. Though homosexuality is not mentioned in the ECO's founding documents, its stated commitment to conservative theology and the inerrancy of the Bible indicates that gay clergy will not be tolerated.
The ECO also hopes to distinguish itself by creating peer review systems for churches, promoting leadership training and instituting a less hierarchical form of government than the PC(USA), according to a statement.
Incoming congregations will be given the option of pursuing joint membership in both the PC(USA) and the ECO, or joining the ECO as full members, which would require dismissal from the PC(USA).
Several dozen congregations have already started to leave the PC(USA) to join another conservative denomination, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Unlike that denomination, the ECO says it is "fully committed" to allowing female clergy.
Though still the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S., the PC(USA) lost more than 500,000 members between 1998 and 2009, according to church statistics, and now has about 2 million members.
In a joint statement, eight PC(USA) elders pleaded with conservatives not to leave the denomination, even as they acknowledged tensions over the gay clergy decision. "Do not allow one-sided presentations to be all you consider as you seek to discern God's call to you and your congregation," the elders wrote. Your Responses (2)
Richard Hoffman
said:
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Saratoga Springs, New York I have been following the developments of the Evangelical Covenant of Presbyterians. In the proposed polity, the following is said about the rights of ministers in validated ministries (like yours truly): e. Pastor in a Validated Ministry – Pastors may be authorized to serve in validated ministries outside a local congregation. Validated ministries might include service in a presbytery, educational institution, hospital, or a variety of mission fields. The presbytery shall validate and annually review the pastor’s ministry. Ordinarily, pastors in validated ministry will also be expected to take part in the life and ministry of a local ECO congregation. Pastors in validated ministries have voice and may be granted the right to vote if serving as a part-time assistant pastor. It seems like congregational pastor is really the only valid ministry according to the Polity Paper. A presbytery may grant voting privileges if a chaplain also serves as a part-time assistant pastor (so much for Sabbath-keeping, who would have the time?). So, if I were to consider membership in an ECO presbytery, I (along with other evangelical chaplains) would be excluded from full rights as a presbyter, not on theological grounds but based on poor polity (that does not seem to have proper theological grounding). Are clergy in specialized ministries to be so feared as to not be allowed to vote? How sad! |
Harold McKeithen
said:
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Williamsburg, Virginia Shortly before his death, Jesus prayed for his disciples, "Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one." (John 17:11) He wanted all who embrace him as Savior and Lord to manifest to the world the power of that confession to hold them together in spite of the many differences of feeling and opinion and conviction among them. When we separate ourselves from brothers and sisters who share one Lord, one faith, one baptism we disappoint the One to whom we all belong. |
