Confessing Movement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



"I AM not afraid, that the people called Methodists, should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out."

~(John Wesley: Methodism Founder)~

Confessing Movement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: The Confessing Movement is an Evangelical movement within several mainline Protestant denominations to return those churches to what the members of the movement see as theological orthodoxy.





It relates and cross pollinates with other conservative Christian movements such as Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Holiness groups, Anabaptists, and Fundamentalists. Its members have a stated commitment to remain in their home denominations, unless forced out, to stay and work for reform from within, in contrast to what they see as other modern reform movements that splintered Protestantism into thousands of denominations. They acknowledge that full reform of their churches may not be achieved. Of particular concern to those in the Confessing movement has been a perceived lack of concern for, or non-evangelical approaches to, evangelism, to the deity of Christ, to questions of sexuality and homosexuality in particular.





The Confessing Movement should not be confused with the Confessing Church, a Christian resistance movement in Nazi Germany, nor the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, an unaffiliated group of pastors and theologians promoting a return to historic Reformation principles within the Reformed and Lutheran churches.



A large group of laity and a somewhat smaller group of clergy within the mainline churches have protested that their denominations have been "hijacked" by those who, in their view, have 'forsaken Christianity' and embraced what they consider moral relativism to accommodate democratic pluralist society in America. They reject church leaders such as United Methodist Bishop Joseph Sprague of Chicago and Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong as apostate.



Although many issues are longstanding, the trigger that led to the formation of the Confessing Movement was the acceptance or the possible acceptance of practicing homosexuals in positions of ecclesiastical authority, and to a lesser extent the acceptance or embracing of practicing homosexuals in any capacity. Other issues influencing some groups were the ordination of women, and the decline in attendance of many of the mainline denominations through the 1950s to the 1980s in the US, while many conservative churches were growing. Some of the difference may represent individuals moving from the mainline to the more fundamentalist or evangelical churches, while the rest simply reflects a general decline in organized religious participation. Leaders of the Confessing Movement claim the shrinking of mainline church membership as evidence of a wrong path taken.





Presbyterian



One of the fastest growing Confessing Movements is within the Presbyterian Church (USA). In February, 2002 more than 800 laity, pastors, deacons, and elders gathered in Atlanta, Georgia for the first National Celebration of Confessing Churches. Participating churches affirm that Christ is the only way of salvation, that the Bible is infallible in its teachings, and that sexual relations are exclusively for marriage.



More than 1,300 of the denomination's 11,000 congregations have adopted such declarations and become part of a loosely knit Confessing Church Movement.

Methodist

The Confessing Movement within the United Methodist Church quotes Methodism's founder, John Wesley, who said:

I AM not afraid, that the people called Methodists, should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.

 The movement has been very successful in maintaining doctrinal standards and traditional United Methodist positions on theology and practice at the General Conferences in Cleveland (2000), Pittsburgh (2004), and Ft. Worth (2008). At the 2008 conference for instance delegates voted to retain language in the Social Creed defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman.^[3] They also maintained the traditional teaching, that although homosexuals "are individuals of sacred worth", homosexual practice is "incompatible with Christian teaching."^[4]



Episcopalian/Anglican



The newly formed American Anglican Council states:

Here are the facts about the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) as it currently exists. It is a Church that is no longer in relationship with the majority of Anglicans worldwide. It is a Church that no longer turns to Holy Scripture for its guidance. It is a Church that has chosen the ways of man over the ways of God. It is a church that has undermined the institution of marriage. It is a church with which many worldwide Christian denominations have broken relations. It is a church that has lost its heart and soul and its commitment to making disciples and proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.