Park Slope Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn...

Presbyterians playing Anglican?

Presbyterians? Why are they vesting?

You can't even get half the Anglicans to properly vest these days (witness Smurf in chief Bob Duncan's wearing blue vestments out of season last year at ACNA's big inagural shindig) and now Presbyterians are aping them?

Goodness!

Kamilla

Kamilla

Think they look great... but then I am Anglican.

To be perfectly honest I'm not sure what is the purpose of this topic

Joseph,

I believe Doug was/has been suspect to many PCA folk for a variety of reasons - one of which is his forthright teaching on sexuality. Another would be his lack of pedigree - just an MA in philosophy and a somewhat circuitous route to pastoring a church of 1000 people (give or take) in a town of 20,000. And Credenda. And Logos School. And New Saint Andrews. And now taking Hitchens to the woodshed in CT when all the "philosopher types" have their refutations buried in dusty journals and the Presbyterians are, well, quiet. Do the math. Many find this intimidating.

Doug spoke at our church last April and a good number of folks who attended an evening talk came loaded for bear, only to discover that Doug was a perfect gentleman, full of pastoral sensitivity and biblical truth. They were duly impressed.

I'm inclined to say that the longer it takes the PCA to see this (unlike John Piper - another very wise pastor and leader - who invited him to his annual conference, detractors be damned...), the less hope I have for the PCA's future. Exhibit B would be the Strategic Plan.

>Just out of curiosity, has Doug Wilson (who has been effectively banned from the PCA for his unbiblical views on essentials like sola fide and election)

This is a bit rich coming from someone whose primary activity here has been running interference for egalitarian liberalism. Machen was right.

I think the Park Slope fetish with you guys is similar to how I can't change the channel when I flip by TBN, or when I pass a car wreck, or happen upon Hannah Montana...if the Bayly brothers weren't serious, it would be funny...but realizing they really hold these views, it's tragic...but never uninteresting.

Hi Brian. I live in Africa so, thankfully, I don't have to worry about Hannah Montana. TBN-type stuff is all over the place but I regard it as worse then pornography. Car wrecks are common also; we don't have a culture of driving here, so many are just learning and they didn't grow up sitting in the back seat watching their dad drive.

Jude 3 tells us to contend earnestly for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints. Joe Bayly, Tim and David's father (and Joseph's grandfather) was a Christian worker (early InterVarsity) and editor (HIS magazine) and writer (lots of books and a column for Eternity magazine that everyone in my generation [and that of my father] read first off when the magazine arrived). Mr. Bayly was the conscience of evangelicalism for his generation. Tim and David grew up in the back seat watching their dad write and take on the icons of his day: Bill Gothard, the ethical laziness and apathy of conservative Protestants in the face of Roe vs. Wade, etc.

They're both keen students of history and they've spent time outside the PCA. They know how true churches have had their lampstand taken away. What happened to the churches that followed the teaching of Arminius? They ended up in Arianism and unbelief. What happened to the French Reformed churches? They were hesitant to discipline Amyraut and ended up as duck soup for the Enlightenment ideas of the next century. What happened to the northern Presbyterian Church? Machen told us what would happen and now chaos reigns and we've got "justice love."

They're also pastors and this blog is part of their pastoral vocation. You know how tough it is when a couple comes to you and their marriage is in tatters and ask you to fix it. You plough in but inside you're saying, "if they'd come six months ago, maybe there would be some hope."

Back when I was young, there was a TV show called "Lost in Space." It was about a family, with a scientist (Dr Smith?) and his robot that got lost in space and the show chronicled their many adventures trying to get back home. Whenever danger would be present, the robot's arms would start flailing and he would speak out in his robotic voice, "warning, warning, warning."

That's what Tim and David are doing with this blog. They know that they often look like fools, crying, "warning, warning, warning," when the danger seems distant. But they know the signs and they're trying to warn us before things get too late to save the marriage. They don't want the PCA's lampstand to be removed.

So they're using all the tools they learned in the back seat to try and rouse us out of our slumber: humor, sarcasm, appeals with tears, scholarly writing with footnotes, ad hominem attacks, examples. And they do it with real grace, a lot more then I'd show. They've never told off the hip, emergent evangelical types who voted for Obama, "we told you so, you idiots. Now look what you've done!" I would have.

So please don't sneer at them when they decipher the code ("seats at the table," "non-ordained officers," etc.). Men like Pastor Keller and Mr Chappell have no idea what they're unleashing. At least, I want to believe they don't. It's always hard to remain teachable when you get old and grumpy. I know. Please listen to them.

Rev. Brian Prentiss,

Did you notice here we don't hide our conversations or names? Your Park Slope/Redeemer buddies must need a safe place to share their secrets. Incidentally, I filled in your name under your comment. I thought our readers might want to know who you are. And I linked to your church hoping the link will let people know who you are and what you don't stand for.

By the way, this post was tongue-in-cheek. Apparently you didn't see the humor. Which reminds me...

Q: How many feminists does it take to change a light bulb?

A: That's not funny.

Your obedient servant,