#Presbyterian Church in America

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

I just want to say, as a member of the PCA, Revoice is an utter ugly stain on my denomination and everyone involved in its inception should’ve been put under discipline a long time ago, and the leaders expelled from ministry. they are wolves in sheep’s clothing. “Spiritual Friendships” are a trap set by Satan.

[theexodvs]

I am a deacon in the PCA. What happened with Scott Sauls solidified a position I already held, that I will never vote in favor of the pastoral salary of any graduate from Covenant Theological Seminary, and that the entire leadership of both the seminary and the Nashville Presbytery should be placed under discipline.

In the aftermath of the American Civil War, there were two major bodies of Presbyterians in the US. For clarity's sake, they will be referred to as the Northern and Southern Presbyterian Churches. In the early 20th century, the Northern Presbyterian Church started slipping doctrinally and its more Biblical orthodox ministers left under the leadership of JG Machen to found the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) in 1936. This nascent denomination had its own problems, with two major factions represented. The ones that were chasing trends in American evangelicalism at the time (being teetotalist and dispensationalist) left to found the Bible Presbyterian Church (BPC) the next year. 19 years later, the BPC established Covenant Theological Seminary.

Wherever evangelical trend-chasers in northern Presbyterianism went, they somehow kept taking CTS with them, and in the late 1970s it was in the hands of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod (RPCES). In the meantime, the doctrinal issues that motivated the formation of the OPC made their way south, leading the more Biblically-oriented pastors of the Southern Presbyterian Church to found the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) in 1973. This denomination spent the first several years of its existence lacking a seminary and taking various measures to establish a presence in the northern US and in Canada. This led to entering merger talks with the OPC, the RPCES and another denomination called the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America (RPCNA), all of which had a northern and Canadian presence, and had seminaries. The PCA retracted its invitation to the OPC because it was embroiled at the time with a controversy over the doctrine of justification (see p. 97), and the RPCNA declined the invitation (see pp. 100-101), leaving only the RPCES, which was successfully absorbed into the PCA in 1982, bringing CTS with it.

The next year, a number of churches left the PCA to form the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the US (RPCUS), citing the denomination's unfriendly attitudes to postmillennial eschatology. The merger was doubtless a contributing factor, as the BPC was founded to promote premillennialism, still promoted it when establishing CTS, and there was a substantial share of premillennialists in the RPCES at the time of merger, including, most notably, Francis Schaeffer.

The merger, and the ensuing departure of postmillennialists, combined with the substantial number of former Southern Baptists in the PCA's existing membership, helped propel, for good or for ill, the PCA towards the mainstream of American evangelicalism, particularly in comparison with other Presbyterian bodies. This is why many PCA congregations have contemporary worship, Passover seders. seeker-sensitive models, are friendlier to dispensationalism and, in recent years, have become more tolerant of sexual antinomianism.

In the early 2000s, a controversy erupted over the doctrine of federal vision in the PCA. Many ministers who promoted it left or were expelled. Notably, federal visionists tend to hold to postmillennialism and hold more strictly to the regulative principle of worship, and their absence from the PCA propelled it even further towards the evangelical mainstream.

Recently, a conference taking place on PCA church grounds, using church funds, called Revoice has promoted unbiblical views of human sexuality. Steve Warhurst criticized the conference, and 181 ministers of the PCA came out of the woodwork to condemn him, including 80 graduates of CTS. In addition, another CTS graduate, Greg Johnson, used his office to further promote unbiblical views (but thankfully left the denomination). More recently, one of the men on the list, Scott Sauls, was known to have promoted a hostile work environment and promoted unbiblical views of church offices (but also thankfully left the denomination).

This leaves the denomination as effectively two in one trenchcoat, classical Presbyterians, and effectively Baptists who happen to sprinkle babies. This year's general assembly will see a number of overtures assessed that will bring the denomination either closer or further away from Big Eva. It has yet to be seen whether the departure of men like Johnson and Sauls will be enough to stem the tide towards trend chasing.

If the OPC had simply not had this controversy in the early 1980s, we wouldn't be in this mess. Thanks for nothing, Norman Shepherd!

[innovationatworkinterview]

PCA pastor protocol

Jeremy Cheezum abets lying and abuse. Visit: https://protectiveordervictims.com/2019/07/28/presbyterian-minister-jeremy-cheezum-and-family-complicit-in-11-years-of-lying-and-abuse/

[ronaldpdansby-blog]

When my father starved to death in 2016, I had been in court with a Jezebel, her husband, and a conspirator of theirs for some 10 months, 10 months during which I might have detected the gravity of my dad’s condition in time to reverse it or mitigate its threat to his life—or at least eased his suffering. https://thedevilsdocket.com/2022/10/14/god-damn-the-presbyterian-church-in-america/

[sangcounty]

Love in the Prairie State

[wutbju]

BREAKING NEWS: Bob Jones University employees were instructed that they have until the beginning of the 2024-25 school year to leave churches in the Presbyterian Church of America denomination and the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians.

Information is pouring in. Faculty are mad. Many, many faculty have found solace in churches that are outside BJU's maw. Churches that are not pastored by BJU graduates and churches that preach the Good News.

First Presbyterian, for instance, is part of the ECO and has a boatload of BJU graduates on staff. But you see, that denomination ordains women, so it's outside BJU's standard.

But the PCA is the more conservative of those two. I attend a PCA church, btw. I see BJU employees attending there all the time. They are in the choir and our orchestra. I'm glad they are hearing the Good News like I am.

Even Steve Pettit attended a PCA church when he was here. He attended Second Presbyterian.

And good ol' Sam Horn was consorting with the PCAers too.

But no more. No more non-BJU-approved churches.

The Black List is back, folks.

[minnesotafollower]

U.S. Criticizes Cuban Religious Freedom 

On June 27, 2024,  the U.S. State Department released its lengthy 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom. Surprisingly it did not contain an overall summary of this freedom in the world for 2023. [1] Instead it opened with a short Overview and Acknowledgements followed by the texts of the following sources of the law on international religious freedom: Appendix A: Universal Declaration…

[battleforgodstruth]

The American Mind in 1776 Pt 5/6 - Joe Morecraft Lecture on American History

The American Mind in 1776 Pt 5/6 – Joe Morecraft Lecture on American History Joe Morecraft is a preacher of the gospel (https://heritagepresbyterianchurch.com/) and a noted lecturer on contemporary political and historical trends in the United States. Joe was born in 1944 and is a native of Madison, West Virginia. Joe Morecraft earned a Bachelor degree in history from King College in Bristol,…

[bossymarmalade]

CBC video: Stolen Children | Residential School Survivors Speak Out

Since their first arrival in the “new world” of North America, a number of religious entities began the project of converting Indigenous Peoples to Christianity. This undertaking grew in structure and purpose, especially between 1831 and 1969, when the governing officials of early Canada joined with Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, United, and Presbyterian churches to create and operate the residential school system. The last federally-run residential school, Gordon Indian residential School in Saskatchewan, closed in 1996. One common objective defined this period: the aggressive assimilation of Aboriginal peoples.

[ legacy of hope ]

[apilgrimpassingby]

Roman Catholics and Orthodox have got to knock it off with "Protestants have brutalist corporate churches". A particular modern strain of Protestantism has hideous modern churches. It's a depressingly common strain, and arguably the dominant one in America, but it's either ignorant or dishonest to pretend as though all Protestants have ugly churches.

Behold:

Clockwise from top left:

St. Peter's Church, Geneva, canton of Geneva, Switzerland (Swiss Reformed)

Barnes Methodist Church, London, England, UK (Methodist)

Dutch Reformed Church, Newbury, New York state, USA (Dutch Reformed)

St. Jude's Church, Glasgow, Scotland, UK (Presbyterian)

[mariacallous]

Growing up in Lancaster, Ohio, I remember discovering a book in the local library that ultimately helped to change how I viewed my hometown’s history. The book, “Jewish Literacy” by Joseph Telushkin, had a small sticker on the inside cover indicating it was purchased through the B’nai Israel Synagogue of Lancaster Jewish Book Fund. This was surprising, as there hadn’t been an organized Jewish community in Lancaster for years.

I later learned that the fund had been established by the remaining members of the synagogue after its sale in 1993, with the intention of ensuring that the tradition of Jewish education continued in Lancaster, even in the absence of a physical synagogue.

This discovery, along with other signs like a Star of David engraved next to a cross on the town’s war memorial and the presence of the building that once housed the B’nai Israel synagogue downtown, hinted at Lancaster’s former Jewish community. During its nearly seven decades of existence, B’nai Israel not only served its congregants but also hosted groups — including church youth organizations and civic societies — to educate others about Judaism. As in many small towns across the United States, the synagogue provided the only accessible resources for learning about Jewish culture, history and theology.

For the last several years, I’ve dedicated myself to documenting the Jewish histories of small towns in both my home state of Ohio and my adopted state of New York. I am drawn in by the realization that many of these once-active communities, despite their contributions, were in danger of fading into obscurity. As a volunteer, I have spent countless hours piecing together the stories of Jewish families, tracing their lives and legacies in over 20 small towns. In most of these places, the written record of their Jewish past was sparse, with local historical organizations often lacking the resources or staffing to fully explore these stories. These constraints also create opportunities for volunteers and community members to engage in uncovering stories still waiting to be told.

Small-town synagogues often function not just as religious institutions but as unique centers for education and community engagement. In Lancaster, the B’nai Israel synagogue opened its doors to various groups seeking to learn about Judaism. Its book fund ensured that, even after the synagogue’s closure, locals could continue to conveniently access resources devoted to Jewish culture and history.

Eighty miles to the south, in Portsmouth, Ohio, the Jewish community was also engaged in interfaith efforts from its earliest days. When Beneh Abraham, the local synagogue, was consecrated in 1858, Christian residents of the town supported the construction, and the First Presbyterian Church choir even sang during the dedication. Such partnerships went both ways, with Jews contributing to the building funds for nearby churches.

The local rabbi, Judah Wechsler, taught in both English and German. Wechsler’s leadership helped Beneh Abraham function as more than a religious space — it became a center for community engagement in Portsmouth. Portsmouth’s first synagogue, like many other historic religious structures in America, no longer stands today, but this early story from the town’s Jewish community reminds us of how intertwined religious groups in small towns can be. Beneh Abraham continues to exist in Portsmouth and is one of Ohio’s oldest Jewish congregations.

In Auburn, New York, the former B’nai Israel Synagogue played a crucial role in bringing neighbors together and fostering understanding. Throughout much of the 20th and early 21st centuries, B’nai Israel welcomed interfaith activities, particularly through its long-standing relationship with St. Luke’s United Church of Christ. This engagement included an annual exchange of pulpits, novel when it began in 1939, where the rabbi of B’nai Israel and the minister at St. Luke’s would preach at each other’s congregations. This effort, undertaken each year during the national Brotherhood Week campaign, continued for over 30 years, helping strengthen ties between Jewish and Christian communities in Auburn.

In both Auburn, New York, and Lancaster, Ohio, the B’nai Israel synagogues’ efforts to educate non-Jewish neighbors about Judaism often left lasting impressions, in keeping with studies showing that ​​the more people know about Jews, the less they embrace antisemitic tropes. With the closure of these small-town synagogues in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the physical presence of Jewish life in these towns has largely disappeared, raising questions about how this loss impacts interfaith understanding and broader cultural awareness.

As small-town Jewish communities across America continue to contract, preserving their histories becomes not just an act of remembrance, but also an essential part of understanding the broader American story. Though often small in numbers, small-town Jewish communities have played crucial roles in shaping the civic, cultural and economic landscapes of their communities.

As the physical reminders of small-town Jewish life — such as synagogues, social centers and long standing family-owned businesses — fade, there is a danger that their stories will disappear, a loss not only for Jewish history but American history. They remind us that America’s heartland is not as monolithic as it is often portrayed, and that diversity has long been part of the stories of many communities.

In Lancaster and Auburn, the efforts of individuals and institutions to preserve local Jewish histories stand as models of how this work can be done. In its last years, members of Auburn’s former B’nai Israel synagogue donated many of the congregation’s religious artifacts, including the synagogue’s historic stained-glass windows, to the Cayuga Museum of History & Art, ensuring that the congregation’s memory would live on in a public space.

But in most of the communities I’ve studied, there was no such effort until recently. In some towns, synagogues were demolished or fell into disrepair, their histories largely unrecorded. It wasn’t until I began this work as an undergraduate  that the stories of these Jewish communities began to be gathered and pieced together, bringing their legacies back into the light.

Preservation alone is not enough. These histories must be shared and integrated into broader conversations about American identity. We not only honor Jewish families who helped to build and sustain so many small-town communities but also ensure that future generations understand the complexity and richness of small-town life in America.

In a time when debates about national identity dominate our public discourse, preserving the histories of small-town Jewish communities offers a crucial reminder: that the American story is, and always has been, one of diversity and change.

[mikkeneko]

I decided to make this its own post for two reasons: one, I didn't want to derail a post that is about Judaism with a discussion of a different faith and two, it was really only one of several posts I've seen recently that stuck out to me as being "man, this is way off-base."

This is not so much about "people are saying mean things about this religion and it hurts my feelings!" but it is definitely about "people are making statements that represent a wildly skewed and inaccurate picture of the reality, and I can't tell whether they're being hyperbolic on purpose or think they're genuinely telling the truth." This is not a question of whether any given church is good or bad; this is a question of whether there is or can be a distinct entity that serves as a single unified church or faith in American Christian tradition (spoiler: No.)

Here's the basic message: Any discussion of "the Christian god" or "the Christian faith" or "American Christianity" needs to be taken with a big honking asterisk that there is no single portrayal of God, or Christianity, or spirituality and faith that conveys accurate information about the entire breadth of American Christianity.

There is no single American Christian Church. None. The single biggest branch of American Christianity, Southern Evangelical Baptist, makes up at its broadest 30% of all American Christians (12% of the overall population.) The rest are split between Catholic, Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Adventist, Congregationalist, and a dozen other even tinier branches, before you even get into the more far-out variants that people have ongoing arguments as to whether they even really count as "Christian." (LDS, Unitarians, and possibly Mennonites fall into this category.) Most of the major branches share a lot of common ground, but there's an enormous amount of variation -- they disagree widely on concepts such as the existence or nonexistence of Hell; the mechanics of conversion or salvation; the requirements of baptism or confirmation; whether prostylezation is required, encouraged or even permitted; what kind of sexualities are or are not accepted; God as an active or non-active role in the world; how 'sin' works or if it's even a thing; the existence or not of saints; the divinity or not of Christ; or even the idea of an anthropomorphic God at all. Some are progressive, some are fundamentalist, some are fundamentalist in ways that are completely at odds with the popular perception of what those fundaments are. I personally know one Methodist pastor who also believes and teaches about God as a "oneness of the universe" and have met others who conceive of God as "that which spans the space between the limits of our understanding and the limits of our universe." You cannot categorically state that all American Christians share a common notion on any of these topics.

Other statements I've seen recently that just made me go "what? no?"

That the USA was founded by religious extremists and That's Why America is Like That. Only one or two of the original settlements were founded for this purpose. Some were founded with an explicit purpose of total freedom of (or from) religion; others were entrepreneurial ventures with nothing to say on the topic of religion at all. When the guiding documents of the American state were put together the clause of freedom of religion was included front and center precisely because they didn't want religious extremists to be steering the ship.

That the majority of USAmericans are in cults and don't even realize they're in cults. This requires both an extremely broad definition of “cult” (to encompass pretty much any branch of Christianity, not only the more extremely evangelical ones) and severely over-estimates how many people in the US are practicing Christians (less than half.)

That the "Christian God" is intended to function as a "Great Uniter" into which other faiths can be folded; This is not a Protestant thing. Most Protestant faiths are not syncretic to the degree Catholicism is (or at all,) since there wasn't a motivating political entity backing their creeds to make them so. Again: Not all branches of American Protestantism require, encourage, or even permit prostylezation.

On that note: Not all Christians are Catholic. This isn't news, right? People know this, right? This is one of those things that I always assumed was very common knowledge, and was very surprised to run into people who were not aware of this (who either think that all Christians or Catholic, or else that Catholics are not Christian at all, depending on which side of the equation they're approaching from.) Protestant and Catholic Christianity are very very distinct entities both spiritually and politically, and in the USA, Catholic Christianity is a minority religion and is mostly (though not exclusively) practiced in minority demographic communities. Of 46 presidents so far only one has been Catholic, and a lot of the opposition to JFK's appointment was people being suspicious of his Catholicism since it was thought that his loyalty to the Church might supersede his loyalty to the US. American Christianity is mostly Protestant, not Catholic, and Protestant Christianity does not function at all the way Catholicism does. We had a whole Reformation about this. Any take that refers to "The Church" in America as a single united entity that dictates theology to its outreaching branches is... off-base.

What certainly is true is that a number of individual churches in the US have organized around the aim of consolidating social and political power, have worked at advancing their members to positions of power in order to protect and promote their interests, and thus are over-represented and have outsized influence on the political sphere. The ones that do this, as well as the ones that put emphasis on proselytizing and on money-making, tend to self-select for being the most visible and infamous because their business model is expansive by nature. That's certainly the case for the SEB in the American South, or the LDS in Utah. I really get the feeling when people use these broad terms that they are thinking either of the SEB (again, not even a majority among American Protestants!) or of the Catholic church (even less so!)  But not only do not all Americans agree with those beliefs, they don't even agree with each other.

[theexodvs]

Today is the 50th anniversary of the Presbyterian Church in America. 🎉

Fun fact: the PCA congregation I attend was planted by Westminster Presbyterian Church, within whose sanctuary the PCA’s charter was signed.

[innovationatworkinterview]

Hypocrite

How to write about legal harassment. Visit: https://protectiveordervictims.com/2022/06/23/cheezum-strokes-his-flock-how-to-fight-lies-even-by-institutions-like-the-court-and-the-church-when-your-only-tool-is-words-part-1/

[joyfulapostate]

Thank you for your blog! It’s exactly what I need right now.

I’m currently trying to construct my beliefs after a lifetime raised in the PCA (Presbyterian Church of America). It’s such a mindfuck because I can see how hateful a lot of PCA beliefs are and how when their theology is applied consistently it inevitably leads to abuse. It seems like the only ppl not fostering abuse in the system have twisted the words of the Bible to mean the opposite (ex: “this verse sounds like it’s saying x but if you go to the Greek blah blah it’s actually saying y.” Or “yes that verse does say that but obviously they’re applying it wrong. It was never meant to be taken that far” etc)

But even seeing all of this my coping mechanisms under stress are all still based in God. He was supposed to be the one constant thing and i don’t know what to do with that gone.

I feel like my beliefs are currently so fucked up. Trying to write down everything I feel is true and it’s ludicrously contradictory:

- there is no God

- Jesus is God

- after we did nothing happens. It’s the same as the space before we were born

- God has a plan to redeem suffering. All the pain in the world can’t be for nothing. People who live their whole lives in extreme duress and then die must get a chance after death to live prosperous lives. I don’t need eternal life but I need to know others will have it.

- hell is ridiculous and not real. I don’t want ppl to suffer like that no matter what they’ve done so a perfect God can’t be more petty than me. All I truly want from ppl who abused me is for them to never speak to me again. The only “punishment” I might want for them is for them to realize the damage they did and that I only want so they don’t do it again to others. I’m not talking to them so I don’t care.

I’m sure there are more but that’s all I can think of right now. It’s so confusing and messy! Does it ever settle a bit? Will I ever have a set of consistent beliefs again?

The short answer is yes and yes. Things also felt messy for me at first, but I did eventually reach a point of stability.

Congrats on being open to investigating and improving your worldview! That's such a cool and kind thing to do for yourself that many people never manage. I'm sure there's a lot to unpack, so I want to encourage you to treat yourself well while you're challenging your beliefs. Take breaks, seek support, and be patient.

Early in my deconstruction, I craved certainty because I believed that that's what truth felt like. I thought I would investigate my beliefs until I had a new and better set of beliefs on the other side of the process. But along the way I figured out that stability and consistency don't need to come from having an unchanging set of beliefs.

What I found was that having a good set of tools for seeking, analyzing, and integrating information into my life was more stable than having a static set of beliefs.

My beliefs used to be precious and protected, like trophies in a glass case, high up and out of reach. When I started deconstructing, that case came crashing down.

I felt ashamed that Christianity wasn't the only tool I needed to build a stable set of beliefs. For so many people around me, that seemed to be all they needed.

I began to question why I thought Christianity was true: love, belonging, fear, authority, loyalty, and stability were the main ones. But my beliefs didn't account for empathy, ethics, or epistemology and many other things. Heck, I didn't even know the word epistemology when I started this journey. I didn't know how to seek knowledge without running it through a Christian filter first.

I'd been told that CHRISTIANITY = TRUTH, so I hadn't considered that there were other methods to seeking, analyzing, and integrating new knowledge into my life.

But then I started exploring logic, philosophy, psychology, history, biology, and other subjects I'd been afraid would challenge my Christian beliefs. I started reading about other religions and comparing them to Christianity. And, most importantly, I started going to trauma-informed therapy. All of those things helped me break out of old patterns, learn how to update my beliefs based on new information, and how not to be afraid of that whole process.

Focusing on the tools I used to build my beliefs instead of the beliefs themselves, I was able to put together my own toolbox that helped me establish a more stable system of belief. I still go by my belief-shelf every once in a while, dust things off, admire beliefs that stood up to testing, and reevaluate beliefs that didn't. But that last part got rarer and rarer and no longer feels like the end of the world. Because ultimately, I'm still working with the same toolbox.

I used think that Christianity was a universal set of tools that worked for anyone in any situation, but now I see it as one very old tool that doesn't work for everybody. And, despite what I'd been told again and again as a Christian, the Bible is not a truth-seeking tool. It's a set of stories that can tell us about what the authors thought about themselves and the world. And, don't get me wrong, I love storytelling. I think it's very important. We can learn a lot about other people, their perspectives, and their philosophies. The problem comes in when people take their specific interpretation of stories in Christianity and try to apply them universally.

But we don't have to rely on the same old tools forever. We can try out new tools and figure out what will help us build the life that we want to have. Equipped with a variety of tools instead of one dusty one, we are more prepared to live and thrive in this constantly changing world.

Looking back, I'm glad my shaky shelf of beliefs fell apart. Because it gave me the opportunity to take responsibility for my beliefs instead of just protecting them.

I want to touch on one more point that you raised before I close, and that is the unbearable weight of suffering in the world. I struggled with this a lot during my deconstruction. It's a tough thing, to come from a worldview that has simple answers and adjust to the reality that reducing suffering is much harder than "let go and let God." My advice is to seek out good news, because it won't show up in social media feeds as much as bad news does. Find the people who are helping others, solving problems, and actively building community. Also, try to find some small way to do good, lessen suffering, or prevent harm if you have the ability and resources to do so.

That's part of why I run this blog, to try to help other people let go of harmful Christian beliefs with more joy and less suffering.

Thank you for sending me this ask. Messages like these inspire me. I see the effort and empathy behind your words and it gives me more hope than I had before!

[minnesotafollower]

U.S. Churches and Religious Groups Demand Ending of U.S. Designation of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism

In a May 9, 2024, letter to the U.S. Department of State 20 U.S. churches and religious groups called for the U.S. to end its designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.[1] This letter made the following points: “We write to express our deep concern regarding the plight of the Cuban people. The combined effects of failed U.S. foreign policies and Cuban economic policies have created…