Quotidian Grace: LC Presbyterians vs. GB Presbyterians
… This week he shared a very interesting article with me written by Louis B. Weeks, former president of Union Presbyterian Seminary, titled "American Protestants Today: Thriving, Tottering, and Tinkering Together on the Mainline." That's some powerful alliteration, isn't it?
We're all too familiar with the labels for the different divisions within the PCUSA, but Weeks offers yet another major division: the Local Church Presbyterians (LCPs) and the Governing Body Presbyterians (GBPs). Weeks and a colleague, William Fogelman, first published this idea back in the 1990's. Their thesis is that when congregational leaders ask "how is my church doing?", they are "asking mostly about their own local church and others like it…Only a minority of Prebyterians thought first of the denomination." …
… Weeks says that most Presbyterians (and other mainliners) belong "first and foremost" to their local congregation and only a small percentage of these LCPs become involved in the wider denomination and become GBPs. He observes that this works well when a denomination is healthy as the LCPs provide money and a pool of potential members for the GBPs who in turn provide seminaries, pastors, curricula, hymnals and support for the LCPs.
But in times of decline, Weeks says that the different goals and values of these two groups create sharp conflicts. LCPs look at mission, evangelism and outreach from the perspective of their local congregation and do not want direction from the GBPs, especially if their goals and values differ significantly. Indeed, that is the case. …
Leave a Reply