A widening rift is forming in the Presbyterian Church of the USA, and threatens to render it apart, as conservative elements continue to slam its decision to ordain openly gay clergy.

The most recent indication of the split came with the National Mexican Presbyterian Church of Mexico, which determined on a 116 to 22 vote to part ways with the PCUSA.

The NMPC parted ways due to the PCUSA decision last May to allow gay clergy who are involved in same-sex relationships to be ordained. The Mexican church is traditionally more theologically conservative than the PCUSA.

The PCUSA expressed sadness at the decision of the NMPC. On its website, it said it is likely the split will affect the work of U.S. missionaries in Mexico and along the U.S. — Mexican border.

The split will further affect some 24 partnerships that have been forged between PCUSA and NMPC, as well as short-term mission trips to Mexico that were slated in the near future.

The NMPC voted that the relationship with the PCUSA could only be re-established if the decision to ordain homosexual clergy with committed relationships is revoked.

Earlier, the NMPC also voted overwhelmingly against ordaining women by a vote of 158 to 14; and decided on a 103 to 55 vote against granting a grace period to presbyteries that already ordained women priests on their own.

“We have had initial conversations with Mexican church leaders since the decision, and together we shared a hope for healing and a renewed ability to engage God’s mission together,” Hunter Farrell, U.S. head of World Mission said in the PCUSA website. “But at this moment, this is not possible and it brings me great sadness.”

“Presbyterians do mission in partnership here and around the world, so we take the voice of the Mexican church very seriously,” Farrell said on the website.

The PCUSA, whose mission work included building clinics, hospitals and academic institutions in the U.S. and overseas, has a number of missionaries in Mexico and South America.

Conservative Presbyterians

The PCUSA is also hounded by a 2,000-member group of conservatives within the church who met last Aug. 24-25 in Minneapolis to discuss how they would respond to the decision to allow ordination of openly gay clergy.

The conference was organized by the umbrella group, Presbyterians for Renewal, and convened by the newly-formed group, Fellowship of Presbyterians.

The conference became a venue to examine ways that churches who oppose the new ruling can respond. Options include the possibility of forming a conservative group within the PCUSA, or to completely break ties and form a separate denomination.

The PCUSA has been facing a decline in membership for decades. At its peak in the 1960s, it had four million members. Today, its membership has fallen to almost half, at two million.

During the convention in Minneapolis Dr. Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, suggested the formation of a subset within the denomination, with the aim of returning the PCUSA to its original theological roots.

Mouw cited the example of the Catholic Church, saying, “[When] Catholics felt the church had gone astray, they didn’t leave. They formed special orders who took special vows according to their commitments. The commitment to theological orthodoxy for many of us should take the form of a special vow, to witness to the essential tenets and the power of the Reformed faith,” The New American reported.

Others, however, feel there is no longer any hope for the PCUSA. Rev. John Crosby of Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina, Minnesota, told the Huffington Post, “We have tried to create such a big tent trying to make everybody happy theologically. I fear the tent has collapsed without a center.”

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The 2010 Annual Church Profile report, submitted by LifeWay Research, indicated that while the number of Southern Baptist churches has increased, there has been a plunge in overall membership, attendance at worship services and participation in church activities,.

The report was released in preparation for the forthcoming annual Southern Baptist Convention which will be held in Phoenix on June 14-15.

Ed Stetzer, LifeWay president told The Tennessean, “This is not a blip. This is a trend. And, the trend is one of decline.”

The report showed that while there was a 1.59 percent increase in the number of churches in 2010 totaling 45,727, the number of baptisms has continued its pattern of decline.

The report noted that 332,321 baptisms were performed in 2010, a decline from the previous year by 17,416. The number of baptisms has continued to fall in the last 10 years, and is the lowest since the 1950.

Membership has also continued to fall in the last four years and is presently tagged at 16,136,044, The Tennessean said.

Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources told ABP that he is hoping that the upward trend of church planting, however, can help to stall the decline.

Reasons for decline

Two reasons were cited for the decline by Stetzer. First, Southern Baptists are aging, resulting in fewer children who are growing up in the church. Second, the church is not working hard enough on evangelizing, The Tennessean said.

Stetzer told The Tennessean, “Baptists love to talk about evangelism as long as someone else is doing it.”

Frank Page, president of SBC’s Executive Committee, told Baptist Press, “I am saddened to see this report which seems to indicate a lack of passion for winning our world to the Lord. That will turn around when we repent of our sins and seek the power of our Lord in our evangelistic efforts.”

Page told BP, “I am convinced that we are doing many good things but will see this situation change only when the churches and people of the SBC return evangelism to the top priority of our Kingdom activities.”

Last year, Southern Baptists engaged in an internal restructuring and launched the Great Commission Resurgence program, which essentially channels more money into evangelizing efforts.

Rainer told The Tennessean that it will take time before the efforts of The Great Commission Resurgence can be determined. He noted however that in the 1950s, when evangelism was a priority, the ratio of baptisms was one for every 20 Southern Baptists. “Now, it takes 40 of our members to baptize one person.”

Page told The Tennessean that denominational leaders also provide insufficient teaching on how to effectively evangelize.

“You can talk about having a vision all day long, but you have to show people how to put that vision into action,” he said.

There is also a need for SBC to engage more efforts in attracting minorities. To date, only 19 percent of SBC churches are minority parishes.

Rainer told The Tennessean, “We’ve got a long way to go for more ethnic diversity. We are still a very white denomination.”

The report also noted a decline in donations for missionary work, The Tennessean reported. The SBC International Mission Board announced that only $145.6 million was raised for the yearly Lottie Moon missionary offering, far short of the targeted $175 million.

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A study by the United Methodist Church was conducted recently to learn what factors determine whether or not a church is healthy and vital.

The study, which cost several hundred thousand dollars, surveyed more than 32,000 Methodist respondents. It included bishops, churchgoers and district superintendants from Methodist churches in North America. The objective was to discover the facets that contribute to making churches more robust, Religious News Service said.

The study, made with Towers Watsons consultants, applied a “vitality index” by which each congregation was measured. It was conducted in response to a weak economy which has contributed to an ailing church budget. It is hoped that the survey findings will guide Methodist churches on a more energized pathway, RNS said.

Among the church survey findings were:

• All types of Methodist churches were deemed healthy with no specificity to size, ethnicity or setting, RNS said.

• Four characteristics that were found to promote church health are: Programs for small groups; pastors who focus on counseling and nurturing churchgoers; praise and worship services that combine modern and traditional styles with relevant teachings; and a focus on developing successful lay leaders, RNS said.

• Church health depends upon the combination of all four abovementioned characteristics. One cannot isolate any one or two of them and still be deemed a healthy, vital church, RNS said.

• It does not make a difference if a minister has a seminary degree, or whether ministry is his second career. Neither does it matter how much experience a minister has had on the job insofar as determining whether or not a church is healthy and vital, RNS said.

• Having a lot of outreach programs, whether global or local in scope, does not affect the vitality and health of a church. What is important is that the church has at least one or two outreach programs, RNS said.

The United Methodist Church has some 7.8 million members nationwide, with its strongest growth taking place overseas with a current additional membership of 3.3 million, RNS said.

One foreseen problem that may affect future UMC growth is the fact that both clergy and church members are getting older. As a result, there has been fewer baptisms and less attendance at church services. This is one of the factors that led researchers to do a more widely comprehensive study on church vitality, RNS said.

A second problem is the rising cost of infrastructure, which is negatively impacting on the church funds. The third problem cited was a shortfall of relevancy. This was indicated by the fact that church membership among younger people shows little growth, RNS said.

According to RNS some parallels could be seen between the UMC survey and that of The Faith Communities Today survey which was commissioned by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. That study revealed that 64 percent of congregations had changed to more contemporary worship music in the past five years. This had resulted in an increase of church attendance by 2 percent or above, RNS said.

The UMC report will be distributed to all Methodist bishops and select lay and clergy globally for their comments. They hope the study will serve as impetus in re-strengthening and reinvigorating the UMC, RNS said.

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The most powerful church in South Africa is a Christian evangelical church.

Rhema Church, headed by Pastor Ray McCauley, is not the largest church in that country. It has a membership of 45,000 according to their website. However the quality of membership is what makes the church stand out, The Independent says.

Their most esteemed member is President Jacob Zuma, along with many of ANC’s most senior figures and some of the country’s most powerful people, The Independent says.

Rhema’s influence in government has grown significantly since President Zuma held the reins of government. The church has become a source of advice for Zuma and is active on social issues, The Independent says.

Some 80 percent of South Africa is Christian with most people attending the African Zion Christian churches. Of the remainder, 15 percent have no religion. Some 1.5 percent are Muslim, 1.2 percent Hindu, 0.2 percent Jewish and 0.3 percent follow the traditional African belief in ancestral spirits, The Independent says.

According to their website, Rhema believes that God would like us all to grow in the full measure of Christ, and to build His kingdom. The church would like to play a role in making this happen.

Some are dismayed that an evangelical church holds such sway, especially regarding issues like the death penalty, abortion and gay marriage. South African liberals are concerned about this, The Independent says.

The church was founded in 1979. In their website they say, “Rhema has become a church that strives for excellence in all it does, whether in music, television ministry, church administration, social responsibility work or in all the ministries it runs…The scope of outreach at Rhema Ministries covers ministering to the sick, caring for the poor and lonely as well as feeding the hungry.”

Rhema is headed by Pastor Ray McCauley, 60, who is also president of the International Federation of Christian Churches, NewsTime says. He also heads the newly created National Interfaith Leaders Council which advises the government on social services and other things, The Independent says.

Born in Johannesburg, McCauley was once a bodybuilder and former Mr. South Africa in the Mr. Universe championships in London in 1974. He studied at the Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1978, NewsTime says.

McCauley started Rhema Bible Church in his family home in South Africa. It grew rapidly and by 1985 they had to transfer to a 5,000 seat auditorium in Randburg, NewsTime says.

Last year Rhema Bible Church celebrated its 30^th year anniversary, and festivities were attended by leading athletes, celebrities and socialites among others, The Independent said.

South Africa’s intellectual community is concerned that the evangelical church holds sway in government over social issues like abortion and gay marriage. They expressed dismay that McCauley’s was the only faith group consulted regarding a new bill cracking down on pornography, The Independent said.

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Protestant churches in Hong Kong have experienced a spike in annual growth rate to 6.2 percent over the last five years, up from the previous growth rate of 4.3 percent for the period from 1999 to 2004, Christian Today said.

The numbers came from a survey by the Hong Kong Church Renewal Movement, which surveys protestant church attendance every five years, Christian Today said.

Of particular note is the growth among young Protestants, which more than double in number from more than 11,000 in 2004 to almost 25,000 this year, Christian Today said.

The report cited the youth as a key focus group and noted that putting more emphasis in devising ways to reach out to them and lead them to conversion would be an efficient strategy, Christian Today said.

The number of practicing Protestants has also grown, approaching 300,000 compared to 216,000 in the last survey in 2004. In 1999 they numbered 176,000 Christian Today said.

The growth was attributed several factors.  One factor was the increase in large congregations with a membership of more than 1,000.  A large number of factors however had to do with youth ministry efforts including greater effort spent in youth development, on-campus worship services, and the integration of ministry with student outreach, Christian Today said.

Also noted was the work of small groups and the focus by church programs on the personal spiritual lives of believers. Prayer meetings and social activities also were responsible for the growth spike, Christian Today said.

Among churches with membership of 200 and more, the use of small groups was particularly effective with focus on spirituality. For churches with a membership of 200 or less, it was felt that growth could be achieved if more focus was lent to education and counseling, Christian Today said.

The city’s Catholic population is now measured at 353,000. Hong Kong’s total population is about seven million people.

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