The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) can trace its roots all the way back to the reformation and John Calvin, who would likely be turning in his grave if he heard this PCUSA pastor opine that Jesus is not necessarily the only way to reconcile with God:
"When we insist that Christ is the only way and everyone else has to get in line, we're not a frightened minority huddled in an upper room trying to survive the Roman Empire," Rev. Eunbee Ham, pastor of Madison Square Presbyterian Church in downtown San Antonio, Texas, said in a recent sermon. "We are the empire."
Over the last 50 years the PCUSA has experienced one of the steepest membership declines among all Protestant denominations. Dr. Richard Land, president emeritus and theology professor at Southern Evangelical Seminary, says they, the Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and other mainlines started questioning the authority of scripture years ago.
"Once the power structure and their denominations was captured by liberals, they guarded it zealously, and they would not brook any interference," he tells AFN.
One exception to the trend is the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which has stayed true to the gospel and, for the most part, seen historic growth.
Land in part attributes that to the way those churches are governed.
"Each individual church owns its own property, calls its own pastors, ordains its own pastors, decides how much money it's going to give each year to the denominations, seminaries, and mission efforts," he explains.
When the SBC fought a battle over liberalism, known as the Conservative Resurgence, in the 1980s, Land says the conservatives won.
Southern Baptist ordination takes place at the local church level, so liberals and moderates cannot suppress conservative pastors from being ordained and called as pastors of churches.
"It also helped that nine out of 10 Southern Baptists believed in the inerrancy of scripture," he notes.
In a recent opinion piece, Dr. Land wrote that the mainline denominations are very entrenched in liberal and self-perpetuating bureaucracy that is adamantly opposed to conservative reformation.
"I fear that younger conservatives who find themselves trapped in such denominations would be better off seeking to minister to more like-minded believers, and to evangelize and disciple through them," he stated.
