At the Auburn Ave. Pastors’ Conference there were Presbyterians, Lutherans, Anglicans, Baptists, and various assortments of “Reformed” ministers. They all agreed that the status quo needs reform. When I went to the Augustine Conference at Fordham there were Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans, and a few Reformed people, and again, all agreed that the status quo needs reform. There are even voices of truth in the PCUSA and United Church of Christ.
We’ve got to have big-picture glasses.
The Church simply will not be the same in one generation. People are willing to look through other perspectives, and the desire to reduce every theological question to a historical battle is waining quickly.
If you don’t like your denomination, do not immediately freak out. Decide whether or not you trust your leadership, and if you are a minister, whether or not you can possibly hold a job. If the answers are positive, then I’d say make friends and plan for the long haul.
It just warms the cockles of my shriveled little ex-PCUSA heart every time somebody admits that that denomination contains believers as well.
That’s at least some comfort to know!
As you suggest, in one generation nothing will be the same.
But perhaps it will be even sooner than that… it depends how long the trust funds last and how much has to be spent on litigation to keep the errant faithful.
Or how many presbyteries, of course, the PCA wishes to dissolve for allowing people with the beliefs of St. Augustine or John Calvin to be members of Presbytery.
Could the whole picture be different in as little as 5 years in some cases?
As Drudge says “Developing…”