The Morning Rant: Checking in on the Progressive Rot in Mainline Protestant Churches

A schism in the Methodist Church - long talked about - seems to actually be happening.

The New, More Conservative Global Methodist Church Just Launched [Tennessean – 5/06/2022]

Of course, pretty much all media discussions about the right/left tensions in mainline Protestant churches (e.g. Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Lutheran, etc) focus on “LGBT rights” and “gays in the pulpit.” The truth is that the gay clergy issue is just the most visible flash point in the battle of left-wing activism replacing the tenets of the faith.

The United Methodist Church recently accepted a gentleman named Isaac Simmons as a candidate for ordination. Simmons currently serves as an Associate Pastor at Hope United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Illinois where he preaches dressed as a drag queen using the name “Ms. Penny Cost.”

If you can ignore for a moment that Mr. Simmons preaches in drag, perhaps the more important issue is that he rejects the core beliefs of the faith. He is quite open – and vulgar - about it too.

Methodist Church’s First Drag Queen Pastor: ‘God Is Nothing’ [Spectator – 5/31/2022]

“God is nothing,” the self-described “dragavangelist” repeats throughout the poem, adding, “the Bible is nothing” and “religion is nothing.” In the end, he concludes God and the Bible are nothing “unless we wield it into something.”

He speaks of God not as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but rather as the source of queerness, describing Him as “nothing but a drag queen with a microphone of biblical f***ing proportions.”

About 20 years ago I left the Presbyterian Church (“PCUSA”) due to its left-wing politics and the fact that so many pastors preferred to discuss “faith journeys” rather than promoting actual Christian faith. It was clear to me that a great many pastors were not believers.

If Jesus was mentioned at all, it was to discuss how He would disapprove of my participation in the evils of consumerism and capitalism. On the other hand, I did learn that buying organic, “ethically sourced” coffee would help me along on my faith journey.

I was recently forwarded the agenda of the PCUSA’s biennial “General Assembly” meeting to occur later this month. Aside from sounding like topics of discussion in the faculty lounge of a loony left-wing college, there is nothing at all in the agenda relating to Jesus, the Bible, or the Christian faith.

In an ecumenical gesture, member churches will be asked to distribute a statement reading: “When Christians do not know the antisemitism and Islamophobia woven into our history, we are unable to come to our Jewish and Muslim siblings with repentance, and seek repair for this history.”

I’m not sure the Babylon Bee could even mock the actual agenda items at the upcoming Presbyterian hootenanny. Here are some of the items:

An overture from Grace Presbytery asks the assembly to “recognize that Israel’s laws, policies, and practices regarding the Palestinian people fulfill the international legal definition of apartheid.”

A mandate to “listen to the voices of those long silenced” regarding racism and oppression within the PC(USA).

Convene a new committee to “explore and expose where White supremacy institutionally and foundationally” in the PC(USA), and to examine the actions that previous assemblies have taken regarding racial equity, racism and White supremacy.

An overture from the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy asking the assembly to offer an apology to African Americans for the sin of slavery and its legacy, and to adopt a litany of repentance.

A recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy asking the assembly to create a task force on Reparative Justice.

A report from a task force examining disparities experienced by Black women and girls.

A recommendation that Presbyterians work to hold federal and state authorities accountable for failing to seek justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

A recommendation that the Presbyterian Mission Agency work to bring attention to the “disproportionately large number of black women and black infants who have died due to racial disparities in their healthcare.”

The LGBTQIA+ Advocacy Task Force is recommending that the assembly create a new LGBTQIA+ Equity Advocacy Committee as a permanent committee of the General Assembly.

But not one mention of Jesus. Or prayer.

Hurting people of every race and socio-economic group walk into churches seeking divine help and spiritual guidance - people who have experienced loss, heartbreak, tragedy, despair, remorse, hopelessness. The Word, along with love, fellowship, and prayer have pulled millions of Christians through the roughest of times, and then provided them the reward of helping others.

But at the PCUSA those hurting people are only offered guilt, shame, or victim status. By the way, membership in the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) has decreased from 3.1 million in 1984 to 1.2 million today. Go figure.

(buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com)

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 11:10 AM

| Access Comments