ARE THE MAINLINES DERAILING? RIFTS WIDEN IN MAJOR PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS

Feature by Ed Vitagliano

June 18, 2004

AgapePress

Many leaders in America’s oldest Protestant denominations are steering their churches toward schism—especially on homosexuality and abortion.

In April 2004, the United Methodist Church (UMC), Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA), and Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) co-sponsored the “March for Women’s Lives” in Washington, D.C.—a rally supporting legal abortion, partial-birth abortion included. Organizers included Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and the ACLU.

Shocking to many, the UMC’s General Board of Church and Society and United Methodist Women not only participated but used denominational funds to support the event. ECUSA and PCUSA were also listed as co-sponsors.

Don Wildmon, chairman of the American Family Association and a UMC minister, called it a “pro-abortion death-fest” and urged members to reconsider where their donations go.

Homosexuality: The Fault Line

While abortion may not fracture these churches, homosexuality is the breaking point.

In March 2004, a UMC clergy trial court refused to discipline a lesbian minister who admitted to a “partnered, covenanted, homosexual relationship”—despite clear church law prohibiting such appointments.

ECUSA ignited the crisis in 2003 by consecrating Gene Robinson, a practicing homosexual, as Bishop of New Hampshire. Conservatives responded by forming the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes under the American Anglican Council (AAC).

In Ohio, five congregations barred Bishop-elect Mark Hollingsworth Jr.—a Robinson supporter—from their churches and invited conservative bishops instead. The ECUSA House of Bishops condemned this as “defiance,” but the retired bishops retorted: “The 2003 General Convention repudiated 4,000 years of biblical teaching—that was true defiance.”

In Hackensack, New Jersey, St. Anthony of Padua Episcopal Church requested oversight from a conservative bishop, citing ECUSA’s embrace of homosexuality: “Many homosexual clergy live with partners on parish property. Blessings of same-sex unions are common. This culminated in your consent to Gene Robinson’s election.”

Voting with Their Pocketbooks

ECUSA giving plummeted after Robinson’s consecration—down over $3 million, or 6% of expected revenue. Dioceses in Missouri, Colorado, Tennessee, and elsewhere reported 10–30% drops in giving.

“The shortfall isn’t economic—it’s theological,” said AAC spokesman Bruce Mason. “People don’t want their money supporting a structure that abandons historic Christian teaching.”

Internationally, the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA) declared: “We do not want any money from ECUSA. We will not, on the altar of money, mortgage our conscience, faith, or salvation.”

Representing 50 million of the Communion’s 77 million Anglicans, African, Asian, and Latin American leaders have severed ties with ECUSA. In April 2004, CAPA demanded ECUSA repent within three months—or face discipline.

Trouble Brewing in ELCA

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is following suit. Three congregations—in California and Minnesota—defied church law by appointing sexually active gay pastors, though ELCA policy permits only celibate homosexuals in ministry.

Ten years ago, ELCA expelled two San Francisco churches for similar actions. Now, defiance is ignored. Former ELCA Bishop Paul Egertson predicted the denomination’s traditional stance will soon collapse: “It’s a fragile dam… it will either be taken down by courageous action or leak until it’s a sieve.”

The sound of breaking dams echoes across mainline Protestantism.