It did seem to me that the actions of the 2006 General Assembly hastened the end of the PCUSA as we knew it. I was not prepared to leave the PCUSA, but was not ruling out the possibility. I considered whether or not this was adequate reason to leave the PCUSA, given biblical teaching on the nature of Christian community. In my 2006 blog series, I spoke of how the action of the Assembly broke trust with those of us who have been committed to the PCUSA. Any governing body was free to determine its own conclusion in the matter, thus opening up the door to the ordination of people who were sexually active outside of marriage, whether in straight or gay relationships. No longer would a candidate be required, according to this new guidance, to practice fidelity in marriage or chastity in singleness. But then, in a move that perplexed and distressed many Presbyterians, including me, the Assembly approved a report (the so-called PUP Report, for “Peace, Unity, and Purity”), that allowed the governing bodies that ordain church officers to decide for themselves whether a candidate for ordination needed to obey the stated rule or not. That Assembly reaffirmed the section of the Book of Order (the PCUSA guidebook for the church) that requires candidates for ordination to practice “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness” (G-6.0106b). In 2006, following the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA, I wrote a blog series entitled The End of the Presbyterian Church USA? In that series, I described recent actions of that General Assembly with respect to the issue that Presbyterians have debated for over thirty years. Let me explain why I’m raising this tired topic yet again. Today I want to begin to revisit the question of whether the PCUSA is in its own end times, so to speak. Two years ago I wrote a blog series in which I asked: Has the Presbyterian Church USA (my own denomination) come to an end? My answer was: “Well, maybe. įor all other uses, please contact me at Thank you. All I ask is that you acknowledge the source of this material. Note: You may download this resource at no cost, for personal use or for use in a Christian ministry, as long as you are not publishing it for sale. The End of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)? Revisited
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