103 articles from 57 issues, 1996 to 2026 · Page 5 of 9
What would the proposed rewrite of Chapter 14 of the Book of Order change for ordination? This Presbyterian Coalition analysis finds substantive changes buried in a long document, from advisory handbooks to presbytery power over pastoral relationships, and recommends defeat.
Is the church’s trouble a lapse in biblical authority, or something older? Eric Laverentz calls it “hyper-humanism,” traces its family line through Arianism, Pelagianism and Donatism, and argues for patience, plain witness and trust that Christ has already won.
Where is renewal taking root in the PCUSA? Five more reports, from Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Carlisle, Los Ranchos and Sheldon Jackson College in Alaska, describe regional gatherings, support teams and congregations responding to the PUP report.
How should a church speak before a vote that could change its destiny? James Edwards, at the 2006 General Assembly, answers four groups of Presbyterians on ordination, judging, division and weariness, and says the real question is whether doctrine matters.
What does renewal look like presbytery by presbytery? Nine ministers and elders, from Boston to San Joaquin, report how prayer groups, sister-session meetings, overtures and campus ministry are changing the PCUSA after the Peace, Unity and Purity report.
Why do so many Presbyterians want the church to be a harbor of peace? Susan Cyre argues that peace comes only when Truth reigns, that the church is called to a spiritual struggle until then, and offers practical steps for those who contend for it.
How does a divided church repent when each party is tempted to confess only the other’s sins? Jerry Andrews offers the Presbyterian Coalition a penitential self-examination: the church has neglected repentance, the Word and love for one another.
What can Presbyterians learn from a mainline denomination that lost nearly three million members in thirty years? James Heidinger of Good News offers five convictions from United Methodist renewal, from theological work to the courage to say no.
What would the Peace, Unity and Purity Task Force Report change in practice? Introducing the issue, the editors set out the renewal groups’ opposition, the proposed authoritative interpretation of G-6.0108, and a Task Force member’s answers at Shenandoah Presbytery.
Can a report that lets ordaining bodies set aside explicit standards serve the church’s peace? Leaders of Presbyterian renewal organizations, meeting in Chicago, welcome the Task Force’s affirmations but conclude its Report will promote neither peace, unity nor purity.
Is a “third way” on sexuality a real compromise? Renewal leaders from several North American denominations, gathered in Arlington, warn that keeping standards on paper while letting church bodies disregard them would empty those standards and set the church adrift.
What did the Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity actually propose, and what would it do to ordination standards? Jim Berkley, who followed its meetings, weighs the good in the report, sets out its flaws, and urges a response that is biblical, loving and united.
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