“According to the recently released Faith Communities Today study, half of the congregations in the United States have 65 people or fewer, while two-thirds of congregations have fewer than 100.” Continue reading →
This is the seventh session of Bob Godfrey’s Adult Sunday School series at the Escondido URC. In this session he explores the challenges faced by Christendom due to the Enlightenment and how it took shape in America. He argues that Christianity as . . . Continue reading →
In 1562, Jean Ribault, a naval officer under Admiral Gaspard de Coligny and a Huguenot, began a voyage to the land that is now southeastern United States. He established a colony on Parris Island, South Carolina called Charlesfort. The settlement failed in . . . Continue reading →
As always good, Presbyterian, fun was had with PCA Ruling Elder Brad “Chortles” Isbell and Wresbyterian on Presbycast last night as we discussed the Open Letter, the essay by the founder of the National Partnership, and the status and function of the . . . Continue reading →
Introduction There is what PCA RE Brad Isbell calls a “quiet crisis” in the PCA. PCA TE Jon Payne says “the future doesn’t look good for the PCA.” The presenting issue just now is so-called “Side B” or “Gay Christianity.” On this . . . Continue reading →
It is a deep animus that would seek to tie John Calvin (1509–1564) to the QAnon-fueled wackos who stormed the American capitol earlier this month but that is what Richard Hughes tries to do in a recent editorial in the Los Angeles . . . Continue reading →
A growing number of our ministers and churches are conforming to the world’s values, attitudes, and ideals, especially as it concerns homosexuality and the social gospel. The future doesn’t look good for the PCA. Frankly, the future looks pretty bad, and I’m . . . Continue reading →
Very few laymen are aware of the fact that over the last 15 years there has been a secret organization in our Church working quietly behind the scenes to gain control of the political machinery of our denomination. This group, composed mostly . . . Continue reading →
In 1923, a young assistant professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary named J. Gresham Machen published a scathing critique of the worldview animating establishment or “mainline” Protestant Christianity in Europe and America. That worldview, Machen argued in Christianity and Liberalism, . . . Continue reading →
One of the questions submitted to the Reformation conference last fall at the Lynden URC asks “in regards to the current state of the church, what is needed in terms of a Reformation?” That’s a great question. If we are talking about . . . Continue reading →
By TE David W. Hall Midway Presbyterian Church, Powder Springs, Georgia If broad churchmen were looking for a mandate to increase female ordination in the PCA, based on a concessive study, that didn’t happen on this issue at this PCA Assembly. The . . . Continue reading →
A friend and HB reader writes to ask about the validity baptisms administered in mainline (liberal) congregations. Should a NAPARC (North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council) affiliated congregation receive as valid a baptism performed by a minister in a denomination that has . . . Continue reading →
Perhaps as a result of the value they place on good sermons, church leadership and the style of worship services, many people – even in this age of technology – find there is no substitute for face-to-face interaction when seeking information about . . . Continue reading →
Now that the number of persons departing the denomination has increased from 89,296 to 92,433, and the statistical rate of decline has bumped from 4.83 percent to 5.54 percent, Parsons can no longer soothe fellow church bureaucrats in Louisville that decline is . . . Continue reading →
The multi-ethnic implications of the gospel should compel every church planter and church member to critically analyze their practice to see if they are putting up unnecessary barriers to diversity. Every Christian should desire congregations that closely resemble the diversity present in . . . Continue reading →
Before there was Recovering the Reformed Confession, there was Recovering Mother Kirk a seminal book for all Reformed confessionalists who are looking for a way between revivalism and fundamentalism or between QIRC and QIRE. Darryl Hart published Recovering Mother Kirk just over . . . Continue reading →
This is from a conference co-hosted by Providence Reformed Church (URC) and Grace Reformed Presbyterian Church (OPC) in DesMoines. You can see all the talks here. (HT: Presbyterian Blues)
We by no means desire to shake off our duty or allegiance to our lawful sovereign, but on the contrary, shall ever glory in being the loyal subjects of a Protestant prince descended from such illustrious progenitors, so long as we can . . . Continue reading →
This week a young denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, (PCA) will celebrate its 40th birthday. Reaching 40 years, without more schism than already witnessed, is a nice achievement for an American evangelical denomination as it reaches its generational benchmark. Here’s an . . . Continue reading →
Second, I was struck by the fact that the last chapter – on post-confessional, mainline Presbyterianism – indicated just how irrelevant Presbyterianism has become in its liberal forms. With dull preaching, and always appearing to be a day late and a dollar . . . Continue reading →