"Shawn Hearn" <srhi@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:srhi-A0295E.12204422052004@news-60.giganews.com...

In article <bd9f1f6b.0405220739.2309eeeb@posting.google.com>,
papajack37@sbcglobal.net (papa jack) wrote:

There may be more strength in giving all/most of the
religious authority to individual congregations -- as
was done in the first century after Jesus' death. This
allows for variations in beliefs without major splits.

I have a friend who is an ordaned Methodist minister. Even though her
ordination is through the Methodist church, my friend has told me
several times that it really does not matter which church you are
affiliated with. What matters is living by God's Word and accepting
Christ as your savior. Christ does not care which church his people are
aligned with as long as they live by His word and his standards in life
and accept Him as his savior. The Bible is the same no matter which
church's people read it. At least that's what my friend preaches.

Too bad she doesn't practice what she preaches. The Bible forbids women from
holding positions of authority in the church.

rfischer@bolt.sonic.net (Ray Fischer) wrote:
in message news:<c8p62m$o9l$1@bolt.sonic.net>...

papajack37@sbcglobal.net (papa jack) wrote:

Papa Jack citied:
On May 22, 2004, the NY Times posted an article by
Laurie Goodstein and David Kirkparrick titled:
"Conservative Group Amplifies Voice of Protestant
Orthodoxy."

This is a 3 page article, so I suggest the readers go
to the following URL and read the entire feature.

Excerpts:

"As Presbyterians prepare to gather for their General
Assembly in Richmond, Va., next month, a band of
determined conservatives is advancing a plan to split
the church along liberal and orthodox lines. Another
divorce proposal shook the United Methodist convention
in Pittsburgh earlier this month, while conservative
Episcopalians have already broken away to form a dis-
sident network of their own.

"In each denomination, the flashpoint is homosexuality,
but there is another common denominator as well. In
each case, the Institute on Religion and Democracy,
a small organization based in Washington, has helped
incubate traditionalist insurrections against the
liberal politics of the denomination's leaders.

"With financing from a handful of conservative donors,
including the Scaife family foundations, the Bradley
and Olin Foundations and Howard and Roberta Ahmanson's
Fieldstead & Company, the 23-year-old institute is now
playing a pivotal role in the biggest battle over the
future of American Protestantism since churches split
over slavery at the time of the Civil War.

"The institute has brought together previously discon-
nected conservative groups within each denomination to
share resources and tactics, including forcing heresy
trials of gay clergy members, winning seats on judicial
committees and urging congregations to withhold money
from their denomination's headquarters.
[...]

"Although the institute has an annual budget of just
less than $1 million and a staff of fewer than a dozen,
liberals and conservatives alike say it is having an
outsized effect on the dynamics of American politics
by counteracting the liberal influence of the mainline
Protestant churches. Together, the Methodist, Presby-
terian and Episcopal churches have 12.5 million members,
and for decades they and other mainline denominations
have provided theological backbone and foot soldiers for
liberal causes like abortion rights, racial and economic
equality, the nuclear freeze, environmentalism and anti-
war movements.
[...]
"For their part, the institute and its allies say they
are saving the denominations from themselves by agitat-
ing for a return to Biblical orthodoxy. They argue that
the churches' liberalism has contributed to their steep
decline over the last 30 years even as more conservative
evangelical churches have grown.
[...]

Papa Jack comments:
This is an interesting article, and the few quotes above
don't do it full justice. Please go to the URL and read
the entire article.

Perhaps one of the lessons to be learned is the inherent
weaknesses of larger hierarchy -- whether religious or
secular....

Ray Fischer wrote:
That's why Jackass wants the government to have control over
a woman's body.

Papa Jack wrote:
...There may be more strength in giving all/most of the
religious authority to individual congregations -- as
was done in the first century after Jesus' death. This
allows for variations in beliefs without major splits.

Perhaps one of the lessons to be learned is the inherent
weaknesses of larger hierarchy -- whether religious or
secular.