The expression “mainline church” is drawn from an old-money neighborhood in Philadelphia known as “the main line.” The mainline churches were what are sometimes called the “tall steeple” church along the mainline. Scholars of American Christianity sometimes speak of the “Seven Sisters . . . Continue reading →
Jeffrey Walton reports that the membership Presbyterian Church (USA), the mainline liberal denomination, declined by 51, 584 in 2021. That is a loss of about 4%.
Many Americans born after 1960 have trouble imagining that for much of the country’s history the Bible was a chief source of national identity. Older Hollywood directors sometimes get it right. Take “Liberty Heights” (1999), written and directed by Barry Levinson (born . . . Continue reading →
On June 9, 1886, a funeral was held in a church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The deceased, John Williamson Nevin (1803–86), was a pastor, professor, and theologian in the German Reformed Church. Friends and family were in attendance as well as several theologians and professors of differing fame and reputation. None of this was unusual for a theologian’s funeral in nineteenth-century America. There was, however, at least one irregularity: A. A. Hodge (1823–16) gave one of the eulogies.1 Hodge’s late father, Charles Hodge (1797–1878), and Nevin were involved in one of the most prominent sacramental controversies in nineteenth-century America, yet the younger Hodge eulogized the very man who contested with his father decades before. Even now, the controversy and the theologies that gave rise to it live on long after the death of the major figures. Continue reading →
During his 21 years as lead pastor of Grace Church in Greenville, North Carolina, Mike Meshaw has seen many people come and go in the transient area that is home to East Carolina University. Before COVID-19 shut things down in March 2020, . . . Continue reading →
Andrew Bertodatti and Rasool Berry, two pastors in New York City, have written a lengthy critique of a new book by Owen Strachan. My interest in this essay is not to engage with Strachan’s book, which I have not read, nor to . . . Continue reading →
Kathryn Post, writing for the Religion News Service (HT: Christianity Today), writes, “On New Year’s Day, 43 congregations of the Reformed Church in America (RCA) split from the national denomination, one of the oldest Protestant bodies in the United States, in part over theological differences regarding same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBT clergy.” This move, she says, “follows the RCA General Synod’s October decision to adopt measures for ‘grace-filled separation’ with departing churches and to appoint a team to develop a restructuring plan for those that remain.” These 43 congregations (so far) have formed The Alliance of Reformed Churches. Continue reading →
First, there is a new podcast in the Presbycast network of podcasts: Presbygirls. It features Sarah Morris, member of of Westminster PCA, Roanoke, VA and the author of an excellent essay at Ref21, “Brothers, We Are Presbyterian Are We Not?” and Zoe . . . Continue reading →
“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 →