What if the PCUSA’s long conflict is not a misfortune but the will of God? James Edwards turns to Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi, a border region where belief was tested, and calls the church to stay at its post through a protracted struggle, as it did against Arius.
What do you do when the church you love keeps being unfaithful? Faith Jongewaard retells Hosea’s marriage to Gomer and gives three reasons she will not leave the PC(USA): a call, imperfect alternatives, and a duty to those who cannot leave.
How should faithful Presbyterians answer a General Assembly that has blurred the church’s ordination standards? The Board of Theology Matters says it will speak out against false doctrine but will not leave the PC(USA), choosing to work from within for reform.
What would actually change if the proposed replacement of G-6.0106b passed? James Tony sets the current ordination standard beside the new text, sentence by sentence, and argues that it trades a specific standard of fidelity and repentance for vagueness.
How can a sentence use all the familiar words and still say something different? Paul Leggett likens the proposed G-6.0106b to a Watchtower tract and argues that it swaps obedience to Scripture for an unexamined pledge to an undefined Jesus.
What would Presbyterians lose if the whole Form of Government were replaced at once? This Presbyterian Coalition white paper weighs the proposed nFOG on Scripture, Christology, inclusiveness, checks and balances and local handbooks, and urges its disapproval.
What would the rewritten Form of Government coming to the 2008 General Assembly change? The Presbyterian Coalition sums up its white paper as a set of questions for commissioners, from the new “Foundations” section to local rules and handbooks.
Does the proposed new Form of Government protect the ordination of women as plainly as the current one does? Sylvia Dooling compares the existing constitution with the new Foundations and Ordered Ministry chapters and finds the clear “shall” language missing.
What does a Trojan horse have to do with the Presbyterian Book of Order? Robert Dooling warns that the proposed Foundations of Presbyterian Polity, left as written, could be read as controlling everything that follows, and he proposes a simple fix.
How might a declining denomination be reformed from the congregation up? This plan, presented at the 2007 Coalition Gathering in Houston, follows Nehemiah and sets twelve goals, from returning to Scripture and equipping elders to reforming presbyteries and synods.
Can a church keep the peace by tolerating every belief? Mark Patterson takes his title from Karl Barth’s reply to Emil Brunner and argues that the PC(USA) is dying of tolerance, because Progressive theology has replaced the gospel of Christ alone with a vague grace.
What does a church actually believe: its documents, or what is said from its pulpits? Philip Turner listens to the working theology of the Episcopal Church and finds radical inclusion standing where the cross, the resurrection and a call to repentance used to stand.