Dave

Mark said, “Do you think this issue is likely to split the Pressie Church? I sure hope it doesn’t and that people can attempt to work out these issues while still loving each other within the denomination. What is your opinion?”

I guess Cheryl has shared something of her own experience. When I decided our church should look at the issue and preached on the topic of women in ministry and the home we had a family leave. Our church was particularly small when I started as the pastor and this was the first family that had come to our church since I had arrived (before which there were no families 🙁 I had become very good friends with the husband, and they made the decision to leave suddenly half way through the sermon series. There was no room for discussion. I might add that they had recently returned from a conference at Mark Driscoll’s church in Seattle where they were told very strongly, by a very influential person (big church = influential) that complementarianism was the only way to go. CBMW and the Resurgence both appear to hold the gender issue as a non-negotiable.

So yes, I believe that the issue has caused and will continue to cause fracture at the local level. Will it split the Presbyterian Church of Australia? Not yet! I pray that it doesn’t. We really should have that coffee!