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Topic: Pastor of 4th Largest Presbyterian Church
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Ntercesser
Advanced Member
Member # 332
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posted
WOOOOO!!!! It makes my heart glad to see people stand up for Christ if I knew how to spell it i would be typing halelu... over and over and over and over and over... in all caps even!!! ![[Smile]](smile.gif) awesome!!!
i think thats a rebuke against that church for having the pastor leave b/c of what they are doing, ya know
Posts: 66 | From: in Texas,wanting the UK, praying for Home | Registered: Aug 2002
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abidinginhim
Advanced Member
Member # 620
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posted
Joel, please forgive me that sounded so harsh when I posted it. I didn't mean it as hateful.
I "know someone" who talked about a Pastor and man he really suffered because of it!
Please forgive me.........
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It's All About Him!
Posts: 137 | From: The Mountains of NC | Registered: Nov 2002
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abidinginhim
Advanced Member
Member # 620
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posted
Brother Joel, be careful don't talk about God's anointed. I learned that a long, long time ago!
David and Saul -- remember the story?
1 Chronicles 16:22 "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm."
Sometimes the battle is just too much. I understand that being in the prolife ministry. The evil one hates me because I help to save babies. But he is a defeated foe, he is under my feet, I am the head and not the tail, I am first and not last.
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It's All About Him!
Posts: 137 | From: The Mountains of NC | Registered: Nov 2002
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njclary
unregistered
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posted
IF he was a good conservative Pastor , HOW did the Church wind up so liberal?? Would he not have set the tone??? This is a little confusing, as to how thisparticular Church dropped to this level. But the sad part is that He quit. Instead of fighting the good fight, he quit. Instead of standing his ground ,he quit.
Now this saddly liberal body will have no Bible teaching influence, in it's body.
IF we are to take this world for Christ, we can't quit! we must look at the mess and then CLEAN IT UP>
God Bless
Joel
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Lost
Advanced Member
Member # 343
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posted
it's too bad about the pastor. i wonder if anyone made the connection that his morals and values protrayed in his sermons is probably what made his church attendance jump. a sad part of the story is how so many churches are closing down. it's probably due to the fact that they are trying to compromise with secular viewpoints and are thus losing the impact they should have. people go to church to learn about God and figure out what's wrong with the world. but when the church starts to look and sound like the world then who cares to go. my $0.02. please pray that the churches in this nation would take a stand on the Bible as the inerrant Word of God and not bow down to "science" or something else.
lost
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The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. - Rev 22:17
Posts: 115 | From: Los Angeles/San Diego, CA | Registered: Aug 2002
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Miguel
Advanced Member
Member # 47
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posted
There will be more of this type of approach; the putting to death to the child (s) of God will increase in this land tremendously.
Keep and eye on it and you will see how raptly will these take places.
Luk 21:36 But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
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Romans 9:11-24
Our Eschatology may vary even our Ecclesiology may be disputed among us but our Soteriology most assume a singularity and exclusivity which in biblical term is known as Quote; "The Narrow Way" and Quote!
Posts: 2792 | From: Stockton,Ca | Registered: Jun 2002
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Kindgo
Advanced Member
Member # 2
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posted
Pastor of 4th Largest Presbyterian Church (USA) Steps Down: Won't Bless Gay Unions
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...ome%2Dheadlines
Longtime Orlando pastor resigns
By Mark I. Pinsky | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted December 5, 2002
The Rev. Howard Edington, who in two decades as pastor more than tripled the downtown congregation of First Presbyterian Church of Orlando, announced his retirement Wednesday in the wake of a controversy sparked by his conservative views on the role of gays in the denomination.
The 60-year-old Edington's vocal opposition to ordaining gay ministers and blessing same-sex unions -- together with a sermon opposing the Orlando City Council's recently passed ordinance protecting gays from discrimination -- had roiled his congregation.
At least two elders resigned. At one point, the minister was urged to take a six-month sabbatical, an offer he rejected.
Yet most church members said they were surprised, shocked and saddened by Wednesday's sudden announcement.
"He has been a magnificent leader for our church," said Marilyn King, an elder and a member of the church's governing body. "He's made incredible contributions, not just to our church, but to our community as well."
Another elder and longtime member agreed.
"He's going to be sorely missed," Dick Magee said. "His impact will be felt for years. I supported him and continue to support him. It's a sad day for First Presbyterian Church.
Edington did not dispute that his involvement in conservative causes, especially those involving sexual orientation, has led some members of the congregation to leave in recent months for other Presbyterian churches.
"I'm certain that's probably happened," he said in an interview Wednesday in the church's sanctuary.
But he added that "our denomination is in trouble" because of "the watering down of the theological standards of the church as a whole." The official stance of the 2.6 million-member Presbyterian Church (USA) denomination is that all ordained ministers must be in a heterosexual marriage or celibate, and that the church will not bless homosexual unions. However, Edington and others have charged that in practice the denomination does not discipline congregations that violate these policies.
"It is being defied by some churches, individuals and presbyterys," Edington said.
Edington announced his retirement in a letter to church members, explaining that he will leave Jan. 31. He said he expects to be in the pulpit every Sunday except one until then. He said he has no firm plans after that, but that he hopes to write and speak publicly. He said he would not accept another pastorate.
Church stays downtown
Edington's success in turning First Presbyterian into a multimillion-dollar complex with about 5,600 members and nearly 200 specialized ministries drew praise from around the country. Bucking a national trend of churches moving their congregations out of downtowns, Edington decided in the 1980s that his flock would stay put in what he called the "Heart of the City." Since then, the church has grown into the FOURTH-largest congregation in the Presbyterian Church (USA) denomination.
But during the past several years, Edington had also founded, led and joined a number of conservative movements within the denomination. His actions had become increasingly dramatic.
"His leadership was of some significance" among conservative groups, said the Rev. Ernest Flaniken, interim executive of the Central Florida Presbytery, which includes 10 counties, with 32,600 members in 77 congregations.
In October, Edington's was one of five names affixed to a list of theological grievances taped to the front door of the denomination's Louisville, Ky., headquarters, in imitation of Martin Luther's action that sparked the Protestant Reformation.
Congregation in conflict
But it was Edington's role in a group called the Presbyterian Coalition that sparked the final confrontation with some members of his congregation and the Central Florida Presbytery, the region's ruling body.
Edington invited the coalition, made up of individuals from a number of dissident groups, to make its headquarters at his church. He asked a minister from north Georgia, the Rev. Carmen Fowler, to lead the coalition and to serve on First Presbyterian's ministerial staff.
But the appointment put him at loggerheads with some in his congregation and with the presbytery. In a series of procedural votes and committee findings during the past six months, the presbytery refused to accept Fowler's appointment.
Action confirms decision
Edington said the presbytery's action helped "confirm" his decision to retire.
None of Edington's opponents in the church or presbytery contacted Wednesday night would speak on the record, apparently content with news of the minister's surprise announcement.
But a letter Edington posted on the church's Web site in late October gave some indication of the depth of the dispute. In it, he acknowledged that an earlier letter he wrote caused many members to assume that the congregation's executive committee was "somehow working behind the scenes to remove me as the senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church." This, he wrote, was not true.
Despite the controversy, Edington was hailed Wednesday by religious leaders, particularly for his energetic Sunday morning preaching.
"Howard Edington is a giant in the pulpit, a giant among giants," said Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ and a congregation member for a decade.
Praise from fellow pastors
"He is a man of God, a man of high biblical standards, a man of integrity and principle. He is one of the pillars to this community, and will be greatly missed, not only in the church, but in Central Florida and beyond."
The Rev. Jim Henry of First Baptist Church of Orlando, which was once a neighbor of First Presbyterian's, agreed.
"I feel a keen sense of loss in this announcement; not only the community of faith, but for the wider community, for his ministry touched far beyond the walls of the church," he said.
"We have lost a voice of conviction that spoke eloquently calling us to the high ground of morals and values," Henry said.
"We have lost one of the best communicators of the good news of hope in all the land."
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Orlando, Florida -- Sodom of the South?
Orlando, Florida -- Sodom of the South?
City Council Ushers in Pro-Homosexual Human-Rights Measure
By Fred Jackson and Jody Brown
December 3, 2002
(AgapePress) - Christians have lost a battle in Orlando, Florida, to keep the city from granting special rights to homosexuals.
Church groups and other conservatives have been lobbying hard against the Orlando proposal for several months. It adds the words "sexual orientation" to the city's human-rights ordinance. Still, it passed by a 4-3 vote Monday night. Those opposing included Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood.
"I have not changed my opinion on what I feel is right for this community," Hood told The Orlando Sentinel. The mayor says she has not seen convincing evidence of discrimination in Orlando.
But the sponsor of the measure, council member Daisy Lynum, denies the vote is an affirmation of a sexual lifestyle. "It is against people who harm others because of their sexual lifestyle," she said.
The new law, which takes effect January 1 and applies only within the city limits, prohibits employers from denying jobs and promotions on the basis of sexual orientation. In addition, landlords of buildings with more than four apartments will now be forced to accept homosexual tenants. Churches, religious organizations, private clubs, and businesses with fewer than six employees are exempt from the law.
The Sentinel reports several hundred people showed up at last night's council meeting to speak to the proposal. Conservatives warned that in passing the proposal, it will now open the door to other pro-homosexual legislation as well as promotion of homosexuality in public schools.
The newspaper notes that Mayor Hood could veto the law, thereby keeping it off the books unless five council members agreed to overturn her veto. But Hood, who has never vetoed a council action during her ten-year tenure as mayor, stated after the meeting she would let the vote stand.
Orlando is home to several major vacation attractions for families, including Walt Disney World, Epcot Center, SeaWorld, and Universal Studios. According to The Sentinel, opponents of the legislation predicted the city's reputation as "the king of family vacations" will be replaced by one on par with those of Sodom and Gomorrah.
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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