I Was Once Proud to be a Presbyterian

The PCUSA, the church that birthed me, nurtured, educated, sustained and ordained me is dying.  After serving 45 years as a pastor in seven pastorates in three southern states in influential congregations, I retired in July 2008 and have watched my church lose 50,000-65,000 members each year since.  Actually the demise of my church began in the 60’s, only to accelerate its membership loss in the last two decades. 

There was a time when I was shamelessly proud to be a PCUS/PCUSA Presbyterian in the south.  In the 60’s and for several decades following we stood (for the most part) united in the struggle for racial justice, for the rights of women and on the side of the poor.  We worked to allow children to the Lord’s Table. 

In those years many of us pastors began to worry about a growing disdain for evangelism -- leading others to know Christ as personal Lord and Savior.  The spiritual birth rate of our united church (southern and northern branches of American Presbyterianism) dropped dismally. 

Evangelism (living out the Great Commission given us by Jesus) has become an embarrassment for the Progressive Left wing of our denomination.  The call to start 1001 new churches in the near future is laughable.  Only the conservative wing of our church is serious about church planting and the number of pastors and members counted in the conservative wing is steadily diminishing as pastors and churches opt out of our denomination and move to conservative denominations such as the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.  The Progressive Left is gaining an even greater majority when the critical votes are counted. 

The demise of our church accelerates as our higher governing bodies annually approve and endorse gay marriage, the ordination of practicing gays and lesbians, abortion, the homosexual lifestyle and deny the Lordship of Christ and the authority of Scripture.

When the PCUS and the UPCUSA united in the early 80’s, we together formed a denomination of more than 4,000,000 members and the united denomination carried significant influence in our society.  Today, as 50,000-plus members leave the PCUSA each year, we are now a denomination of less than 2,000,000 and we have little or no influence in our culture.  To the contrary, the culture dictates our policies.

Those who study such things predict the death of our denomination in less than 40 years.  There will not be many members left who can turn out the lights!

Of course, there are many local PCUSA congregations that still stand strong against the cultural influence in our churches.  As I travel throughout the U.S. (60,000 miles in the last four years), I worship at various local Presbyterian churches.  I do hear sermons that challenge me to draw closer to Christ and be more serious and intentional about my discipleship.  But, sadly, I also hear sermons that are void of any passion about a personal relationship with Christ. 

I once was proud to be a PCUSA Presbyterian.  No more.