By Fred Jackson and Jody Brown
June 1, 2001

(AgapePress) - The "Confessing Church Movement" within the Presbyterian Church (USA) is growing at lightning speed. Associated Press reports that in just the past few months, more than 250 congregations with almost 100,000 members have rallied behind the effort to return to Bible-based theology.

The Movement started in Pennsylvania on March 21 in response to a decision by the PC(USA)'s General Assembly Council not to require Presbyterian speakers at church-sponsored events to adhere to the denomination's biblical and confessional statements. That decision reportedly came after Dirk Ficca, a Chicago Presbyterian minister, asked during an address: "What's the big deal about Jesus?" Ficca also suggested there are other ways to God than through Jesus Christ. In addition, according to the website for the Confessing Church Movement, several of the denomination's publications have included statements that are "universalist in theology."

The website states that churches in PC(USA) Confessing Church Movement commit to three "essential doctrines": that Jesus Christ alone is Lord of all and the way of salvation; that the Bible is God's revealed and infallible Word; and that God's people are called to live holy lives. The third doctrine includes honoring the sanctity of marriage between a man and woman only, and that marriage is the only relationship within which sexual activity is appropriate. Organizers of the Confessing Church Movement in the PC(USA) say the denomination has strayed from those beliefs.

The author of the three-point confession is Pastor Paul Roberts. He told Associated Press that he sees God's hand in the explosive growth of the Confessing Movement. "The Confessing Movement is really ... the local church saying, 'Wait a minute! We do believe in the essential tenets of what it means to be a Presbyterian historically ... and we're going to reclaim that,' " Roberts says.

The Confessing Church Movement is meeting today at Pennsylvania's Grove City College, where the Presbyterian Lay Committee is sponsoring the annual Faith and Life Conference. The Committee has endorsed the Movement and its objective of encouraging commitment to the three doctrines.

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