Thursday, January 31, 2008

What is in a Name?

Here is a list of the frequency of words in the name of PC(USA) 10,655 churches, 3,633 different words (longer than 3 characters):
#NameCount
1first2,745
2community355
3memorial271
4westminster209
5korean184
6trinity152
7covenant128
8church127
9hill103
10valley102
11grace98
12park97
13creek94
14faith90
15central83
15bspring(s)82
16christ77
17grove75
18hope73
19bethel73
20second65
21bethany65
22hills64
23calvary63
24west63
25lake62
26avenue59
27united51
28chapel49
29north49
30pleasant49
31john44
32northminster42
35shepherd39
36knox39
37andrew39
38ridge38
39good38
40south37
41heights36
42city36
43street34
44east33
45calvin33
46andrews31
47salem30
48zion29
49providence29
50river28
51highland28
52mountain26
53view26
54forest26
55rock26
56emmanuel25
57eastminster25
58island24
59southminster24
60third24
61federated24
62immanuel23
63fort23
64pine23
65center23
66washington22
67peace22
68bethlehem22
69ebenezer22
70hopewell21
71mount21
72unity21
73bethesda21
74buffalo21
75white20
76concord20
77james19
78university18
79college18
80liberty18
#NameCount
1first pc2,533
2westminster pc191
3community pc163
4upc130
5trinity pc124
6covenant pc79
7first upc72
8grace pc64
9central pc62
10second pc60
11faith pc59
12bethany pc58
13calvary pc56
14bethel pc55
15korean pc46
16christ pc42
17northminster pc41
18st andrew pc37
19memorial pc29
20st andrews pc28
21new hope pc26
22eastminster pc25
23southminster pc23
24hope pc23
25immanuel pc20
26hopewell pc20
27ebenezer pc20
28third pc19
29knox pc19
30good shepherd pc19
31providence pc18
32john knox pc17
33bethesda pc17
34emmanuel pc16
35st james pc16
36calvin pc16
37concord pc16
38bethlehem pc16
39highland pc16
40salem pc15
41st paul pc15
42university pc14
43unity pc14
44heritage pc13
45mt pleasant pc13
46peace pc13
47john calvin pc13
48north pc12
49st pauls pc12
50faith upc12
51fairview pc12
52church of the covenant pc11
53st johns pc11
54pleasant grove pc11
55zion pc11
56harmony pc11
57korean upc10
58new covenant pc10
59trinity upc10
60grace covenant pc10

Friday, January 25, 2008

Additions to website - Top 50

On my page List of Synods/Presbyteries/Churches I have added a list of the Top 50 PC(USA) churches (as of 2006) by reported worship size. I have the highlighted those that are leaving in orange and the one hold back per-capita in yellow.

Presbyterians have Bishops??

This article on Memorial Park Presbyterian Church in Christian Today (Australia Edition) has what I hope is a typo. I emailed the website.

"James D. Berkley, Director of Institute on Religion and Democracy's Presbyterian Action Committee, said those who allowed the ordination of homosexual bishops within the denomination had capitulated to the spirit of the age while ignoring the clear and consistent witness of the Scripture."

Friday, January 11, 2008

Statistics of PCUSA

Check out my Synod/Presbytery page for more info. Of course these are 2006 numbers. If you have suggestions for additional lies, errr, statistics let me know. I have the raw data in three CSV files: synods, presbyteries, churches. Here is a summary:
  • Synods: 16
  • Presbyteries: 173
  • Churches: 10,697
  • Mega: (>2000) 9
  • Large:(>300) 750
  • Medium:(>50) 5,683
  • Small:(<50)> 4,255
  • Members: 2,238,880
  • Worship: 1,176,884
  • C Ed: 1,159,140
  • Contributions: $2,318,909,951 (2.3 BILLION)
  • Avg/Worshiper: $1,977
Note: For some reason Dakota (Native Americian) does not report numbers! 21 churches

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Website Status Updated

I was finally able to get to start on the REAL website, instead of blog. Thanks to ibiblio for their patience with me.

Also, I have a complete list of churches in PCUSA, along with membership, worship attendance, CE enrollment, and contributions. I will be placing them on the new website when it goes live. Meanwhile, I will place the summary per presbytery. It looks like the average is $2,000 per worshiper.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Are Canadian Presbyterians Splitting Too?

Canadian Press Story: ORO, Ont. - Trinity Presbyterian Church in Oro, south of Orillia, is working to rebuild its congregation after losing members to a rival church. About 200 people attended the first service following the departure of more than 1,000 worshippers to former minister Rev. Carey Nieuwhof's Connexus Community Church, reports the Presbyterian Record on its website. Guest ministers will lead Sunday worship over the next few weeks. The congregation is also providing a children's program and developing a youth program, church officials told the magazine. Givings have been strong, said Rob Ward, an adherent active in the revitalization of the church. "We are seeking His kingdom and He is building His church," said Ward. Preparing a budget that will permit the congregation to meet its operating costs is the most immediate challenge, he said. Ed: Should I add this church to my list? Are there other churches in Canada splitting? I added a link to the new church "website", blog

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Dismissial Negotiations Fail - Sessions calls for Disaffiliation

From the Pittsburg Post-Gazette Story: Church goes to court in bid to switch its affiliation.

Layman Story:

Friday, January 4, 2008

Convenant PC, Ft. Myers, Fl Calls for Vote

The Session of Covenant Presbyterian Church (Fort Myers, FL) by a vote of 21-1 has called for a congregational vote to dismiss to EPC on Feb 3, 2008. The next stated meeting of the Peace River Presbytery is Feb 28, 2008. The Church was founded in 1962 in the PCUS denomination. The PCUSA site list the members ship as 1,492 and worship size as 885. The synod is South Atlantic.

Interestingly, I only found out about this new development, because Charles Wiley (Coordinator, Office of Theology and Worship of the General Assembly Council, PC(USA) in Louisville, Ky.) complained about it in Presbyteran Outlook and was quoted in the Dec 24 blog of Presbyman (The Spoiled Dinner Party). Wiley's Post is also analyzed on the blog Recovering Presbyterian.

Found this 2003 Layman article about them no longer paying per-capita. So they have had integrity for some time.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Poll Results: What Is the 10% of the Proprerty for leaving?

  • 64% (41)Blood Money!
  • 15% (10)Proper Compromise.
  • 14% ( 9)Not Enough.
  •  6% ( 4)Never let them Go!

Now that this is a post, PLEASE leave a comment about why you voted the way you did even if you did not vote.

Presbylaw temporary site.

Announcement Policy

If you have comments, corrections, or updates to this website please email me: PRESBYLAW webmaster or leave a comment.

If you wish to make a church announcement of a vote or lawsuit, I will need to verify. You either need to send it via a email that I can publicly verify belongs to the church, or point to a website with a news story, or official church website. Contacting the layman may be a better route.

LINKS

TypeNameDescription
FEED PCUSA List Feed Atom Feed of Blog Posts
EMAIL PRESBYLAW webmaster Comments, corrections, updates
NEWS PRESBYWEB: Viewpoint PCUSA Property Trust History Disputed By Jeffrey C. Francis
PDF Memorial Park on Seperation Bulletin Insert for May 6th
Web Kirk's Legal Docs (pdfs) Kirk Of The Hills, Tulsa, OK
PDF PCUSA Articles of Incorporation Churches can't be a member of the PCUSA according to its own articles of incorporation
PDF Legal Strategy #1PC(USA)'s Legal Strategy for churches wanting to leave
PDF Presbyteries Process #2 PC(USA)'s Process for churches wanting to leave
Doc Secret Document #3 News about a third secret document
PDF Process Administrative Review Process from the Synod of the Northeast
PDF Presbytery Of New Covenant Process For Addressing Churches Seeking To Withdraw From PC(USA)
PDF Wabash Valley Presbytery Separatist Task Force
Doc PC(USA): Constitutional Musings: Note 12 Responding Pastorally to Troubled Churches
Doc PC(USA): Advisory Opinions: Note 02 Dissent and Defiance
Doc PC(USA): Advisory Opinions: Note 03 Administrative Commission
PDF PC(USA): Advisory Opinions: Note 11 Church Property
Doc PC(USA): Advisory Opinions: Note 17 Schism
Doc PC(USA): Advisory Opinions: Note 19 Implementing the Trust Clause for the Unity of the Church
Web Presbyterian Outlook Statement about resources prepared by the Constitutional Services Department and the Office of Legal Services at the General Assembly level of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Web Stated Clerk, GAC chief urge churches not to defect from PC(USA) We are better together in Christ's Unity
TypeNameDescription

PC(USA) News Service

Presbyterian Google News

IRD Presbyterian News

The Christian Post

Denominations

Denomination NameParentLocationSizeYear
United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. - UPCUSA(N) PUSA & UPCNA New York City8,909/2,342,4411958-1983
Presbyterian Church in United States (Confederate) - PCUS(S) Presbyterian Church in United States Atlanta, Ga.4,250/814,9311861-1983
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) PC(U.S.A) UPCUSA(N) & PCUS(S) Louisville, Kentucky11,596/3,122,213June 10, 1983
Evangelical Presbyterian Church EPC UPCUSA(N) & PCUS(S) Livonia, MI67/19,000 (1982)1980/1981
Presbyterian Church of America PCA PCUS(S) Lawrenceville, GA260/41,232May 18, 1973
Orthodox Presbyterian Church Presbyterian U.S.A. Willow Grove, PA 300/20,417 1936
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Associate Presbytery/Reformed Presbytery Greenville, SC 250/40,392 1782

Links

LINKS

TypeNameDescription
News Crosswalk The Intersection of Faith and Life
News Church Report National business news magazine
NewsPC(USA) NewsPresbyterian Church (U.S.A.) News Service
NewsSave Hollywood PresLinks to news about PC(USA) Troubles
NewsThe Layman OnlineTHE News Source about PC(USA)
NewsLayman - propertyThe Layman - Property Issues Archive
Blog Reformed Pastor EPC Pastor - Church Planter
BlogFull Court PresbyPastor Lance's Blog to his Congregation about PUP etc.
BlogClassical PresbyterianBlogging for the Reformed Resistance in the PC(USA)
BlogAnderson SpeakCommentary on Faith, Christianity, and the PCUSA by Noel K. Anderson
BlogBayou Christian Bill Crawford, Pastor First Presbyterian Church of Thiboduax
Blogblog 137Pastor Dave Moody, Trinity United Presbyterian Church, Sparta, IL.
BlogTruth in Love NetworkA group of Presbyterian elders who are concerned with the direction of the PC(USA).
BlogMark D. RobertsProfessor & Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, CA
BlogInstitute on Religion and Democracy25 years of working to reform the social and political witness of American churches
Blog The Berkley Blog James D. Berkley, Director of Presbyterian Action
BlogTom's ThoughtsTom Gray, Co-Pastor, Kirk of the Hills, Tulsa, OK
WebStand to ReasonChristian Ambassadors for defense for classical Christianity
WebPresbyterian ForumWorking for reformation through overt political action
WebWiki:PresbyterianWikipedia's Presbyterian Overview
WebKirk Of The Hills, Tulsa, OKChurch in Tulsa, OK - Fighting for its Property.
WebKirk's Legal Docs (pdfs)Kirk Of The Hills, Tulsa, OK
WebKirk Docs (text)Kirk Of The Hills docs, Converted to text
PDFLegal Strategy #1PC(USA)'s Legal Strategy for churches wanting to leave
PDFPresbyteries Process #2PC(USA)'s Process for churches wanting to leave
DocSecret Document #3News about a third secret document
PicPresby Chart 1Chart showing the history of breakups and mergers (standard)
WebPresby Chart 2Presbyterian Church History-Lesson 13-An Overview of Contemporary American Presbyterianism
WebPresby Chart 3 (text)History of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
Web Presby Chart 4 Denomination Family Trees (Interactive)
WebPresby Chart 5 ARPC Denomination Family Tree
WebMaps of ReligionsList of Many Maps of 2000 Census Data on Religion
PicMap: CountyMap of Denominations by County
Pic Map: Presbyterian Map of Presbyterian's as percentage of Population
Web ARDA Association of Religion Data Archives
PPTReport on PUPNew Wineskin's Report on PUP
PDFReport on PUPNew Wineskin's Report on PUP
PDFBook of OrderOfficial PDF Copy of Book of Order for PC(USA)
PDFBook of ConfessionsOfficial PDF Copy of Book of Confessions for PC(USA)
WebAdvisory OpinionsPC(USA) Stated Clerk Advisory Opinions (not binding, nor authoritative)
WebPC(USA) Constitutional MusingsOffice of Constitutional Services - Unofficial Thoughts
WebPC(USA) Amicus Curiae BriefsStated Clerk & AC on Litigation - Friend of the Court Briefs
WebGAPJC PC(USA)PC(USA) General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission Decisions
WebPension Board PC(USA)PC(USA) Board of Pensions
WebFoundation PC(USA)Presbyterian Foundation, New Covenant Trust and New Covenant Mutual Funds
WebPC(USA) BOO AnnotatedPC(USA) Book of Order - Annotated
WebPresbyterian CoalitionWorking for a Revitalized Church
WebConfessing Church Movement1,314/434,697
WebNew WineskinsNew Wineskins Association of Churches(2001)
TypeNameDescription

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