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I think the Methodist church is about to split over the gay issue...
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A buddy of mine is an "inside baseball" type of Methodist, and he says that, over the next 2 or 3 years, the Methodist church will likely split between conservatives and liberals.
Which, I guess, is sort of like every other mainline Protestant denomination.
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I have been watching this for a while. Will a church recognize an authority other than the changing mood of this moment in culture? That is the question theologically liberal protestantism is facing. I have well documented differences with Rome but hats off to them for saying "This is what the church believes, teaches and enforces as canon law. If you do not like it go somewhere else but you do so at peril of your soul."
For the protestant church it has been the Bible that sets out the matters of faith and obedience -- not the latest mob to shout "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians." Chasing the present moment is a fool's errand and many have pointed out that he who marries the spirit of the present age today is a widower tomorrow.
The PCUSA is going out of business -- losing roughly 80,000 members per year. The part of the Methodist church that caves in to affirm things which are contrary to the call of Jesus Christ is going with them. When the Pew Charitable Trust says that XY is vanishing they are in error. Almost-XY is vanishing. Christian-ish is vanishing and good riddance to it. If you worship a god who never disagrees with you, never challenges your convictions or behaviors you are just worshiping a larger version of yourself.
The only reason to go to a church is to know and follow Jesus Christ. People who reject the clear teaching of the Bible have said that they are not interested in that pursuit and are no longer a church -- regardless of what the sign out front says.
