The Office of the General Assembly has released the 2009 statistics of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The statistical material includes a comparative summary of the membership, a summary of receipts and expenditures for the past four years, and additional miscellaneous information.
As of 2009, the total membership of the PC(USA) is 2,077,138, which reflects a roughly 3% decrease, or 63,027 members, from the previous year.
The Reverend Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, said the latest statistics contain both good news and bad.
The purpose of this report is twofold. It is the review committee’s intention not only to fulfill the requirements established by the General Assembly but also to provide a resource that will educate our church on the goals of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCCC) and the nature of the church’s commitment to the NCCC. It is important to remind our church that the NCCC is not just a religious organization but also a council of which we as the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are members.
“As an expression of the one holy catholic and apostolic church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has never been able to live in comfortable detachment from other churches. Instead, we search for diverse patterns of the visible unity of Christ’s church, seeking concord in essential things: faith, sacraments, mission, and ministry. Such forms of communion are both signs of the church’s unity and means by which the church’s unity is achieved… The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), in gratitude for God’s grace and mercy, commits itself to faithful use of God’s gifts in the search for fuller expression of the visible unity to which we
are called.” Among the …
At the 212th General Assembly (2000), and in response to concerns voiced within the General Assembly Council (GAC), the General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical Relations (GACER) was
asked to design a process “for review of councils and other ecumenical alliances to which the PC(USA) belongs.” The 213th General Assembly (2001) approved the decision, and the 214th General Assembly
(2002) received the first such review document, which reported on the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. This year a review team will bring to the assembly the second in the series, a review of the
World Council of Churches (WCC). The team who conducted this …
During the years 2006-08, representatives of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Christian Reformed Church in North America and the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists met for a series of church to church conversations. Through exchange of scholarly papers and hours spent in discussion, the two churches reached a deeper understanding and appreciation of each other's beliefs and practices, removed many false stereotypes, and explored possible areas of cooperation. A deep level of friendship and fellowship developed as we acknowledged one another as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.
The 219th General Assembly (2010) approved a …
Comparison of PC(USA), NWAC, and Two Other USA Presbyterian Denominations
I still look forward to an opportunity for us to mcet face to face, but even prior to that time I need to seek clarification from you about several issues related to EPC's proposed "transitional
presbytery" and how that might relate to our churches seeking to be dismissed to the EPC through that presbytery. I obviously wish we were not dealing with these issues of division, but
since we are, I hope we can do it in ways that do not damage the relationships between the PCUSA and the …
This report comes in response to an overture from the Presbytery of Peace River to the 218th General Assembly (2008) of the PC(USA) that would have asked the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) to investigate the role of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) in persuading PC(USA) congregations to disaffiliate from the PC(USA) and be dismissed to the EPC. The assembly referred the overture to the General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical Relations, which appointed a task group to make recommendations.
The task group met with presbyteries in which congregations had departed the PC(USA), with pastors and members of congregations who had departed or were considering …
I want you to know that I was able to represent you all at the funeral service on Wednesday, December 13,
for Associate Pastor John Patterson at Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.
Several thousand people attended this service of remembrance and celebration of John's life, ministry and
resurrection victory in Jesus Christ. Please continue to remember Cherry Hills and John's family (Mary Ellen
and Elizabeth, Laura, John and Will) in your prayers. John and I first met twenty years ago. H e is one of the
most …
Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT) is a new forum growing out of a deeply felt need to broaden and expand fellowship, unity, and witness among the diverse expressions of Christian faith today. CCT is inclusive of the diversity of Christian families in the United States — Evangelical, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Pentecostals, historic Protestant, Racial and Ethnic churches.