Calvinist Views on women preaching,leading and Homosexuality?

heymikey80

Quidquid Latine dictum sit, altum viditur
Dec 18, 2005
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It should be noted that while known as the most Liberal, the PC(USA) is not the only Presbyterian denomination which allows female teaching elders/pastors. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (the first presbyterian denomination to ordain a woman, in 1889) do as well.
The EPC removed itself from the PC(USA) in peaceful departure, being more conservative than that body, but as anyone conformed to Westminster knows, vow-taking is a serious matter. Under requirements by the UPC to appoint women as elders the churches had taken vows to their elders and pastors before God. Would any have them deny what they vowed to God?

Instead the EPC churches are carrying out their vows. Would that all churches would preserve the vows they have made before God, even to their humility or hurt.
 
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HiredGoon

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That is just a bit misleading. First off, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (maybe you meant Second Cumberland Presbyterian Church?) is Presbyterian in Government only. It does not hold to Reformed Theology.

Whether we like it or not, the denomination still goes by the name of "Presbyterian" and as far as I know practices a presbyterian form of government. I agree with you that a denomination that is not truly reformed is not truly presbyterian, as I've stated previously in various threads in SR. But the OP was about "Presbyterian" churches with female elders, so I was attempting to just add more information to the discussion.

As a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, i cannot speak for the church, the General Assembly speaks for the church. What is factual is that there have been four female Teaching Elders in the EPC. Two were pastors of congregations, one was a Missionary, the other was labouring out of bounds ~she was a chaplain at an Adventist Hospital~.

Presently there are no active female Teaching Elders in the EPC. One has left the denomination. The other three are retired.

As the denomination ages (it is relatively new, being founded in 1981), it has been compelled to deal with many issues. Woman's ordination is among those issues. While theoretically possible for a woman to be called to the office of Teaching Elder, It is the Presbytery who places the call into the hands of a candidate. It is highly unlikely that another woman will be called to pastor a particular congregation in the EPC.

That said, the EPC does have active female Ruling Elders. The individual congregation is free to select it's own leadership. At it's founding in 1995, my own congregation had two female Ruling Elders on it's session. Neither one serves at present. The last female Ruling Elder in my congregation was granted the position of 'Elder Emeritus' (see the EPC Book of Government for further details), and the congregational by-laws were changed so that the congregation will restrict the office to men.

Our experience is not unique. It is my opinion that female Ruling and Teaching elders will become extinct in the denomination, and eventually the General Assembly will forbid them.



Thanks for the insiders info on the EPC. It's good to hear that it seems to be going more conservative.
 
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