Texas Presbyterian megachurch to pay millions to exit denomination over liberal theology
Liberal theology and the deity of Jesus Christ has been noted by another megachurch which has announced that it will spend millions to officially separate itself from Presbyterian Church (USA).
Nearly 89 percent of the congregation at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas, voted in October 2013 to leave the denomination and to join the more theologically conservative Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians.
The church will need to pay $7.8 million in order to officially leave Presbyterian Church (USA) and keep its property, the Christian Post reported.
“At that time Grace Presbytery had already approved their end of the settlement, so when [the church] voted to approve the settlement it was binding,” Highland Park communications director Zach House told the Post. ”The primary reason was that after a lengthy process of discerning God’s direction on these issues, the session felt that settling was wise and was what our church was being called to do at this time.”
According to a statement from Presbyterian Church (USA), the $7.8 million sum allows for “a release of [Highland Park’s] obligations under the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s trust clause and ecclesiastical dismissal from the denomination.”
In a document published by Menlo Park last year, leaders described their reasons for seeking a split with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), noting that the church’s “evangelical identity around who Jesus is and our understanding of the authority of scripture are increasingly out of alignment” with the denomination as a whole.
The church expressed concern that many Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) leaders do not believe in the deity of Jesus, nor do they embrace salvation through Christ.
“The funds for the settlement must be paid to Grace Presbytery by Nov. 3, 2014. Our session leadership is highly confident that we will be able to raise the necessary funds,” said House.
“The session of HPPC is committed to raising these funds in such a way as to not impact our missions, ministry, or staff.”
“Specifically, the church expressed concern that many Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) leaders do not believe in the deity of Jesus, nor do they embrace salvation through Christ.”
Totally untrue. While they might find someone somewhere who said this, the constitution of the PC(USA) is explicitly clear on the above. It is about who is getting ordained. It isn’t about Jesus.