The Washington Times reports,
The [Evangelical Presbyterian Church] was founded in 1981 after a split with the mainline Presbyterian Church over the denomination’s increasingly liberal direction.
The EPC started with just 12 churches. In the years since then, it has grown to include 188 congregations and 75,000 members.
…
Most EPC churches are either newly planted or converts from other denominations, notably the nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
That church boasts 2.4 million members and 11,100 congregations but continues to struggle after three decades of declining membership. The denomination also has wrestled with disputes over same-sex “marriage” and ordination of homosexual ministers.
Sound familiar? You can read it allhere.
We, of course, don’t hear about the small denominations that folded or merged. Denominations that start from a tiny base – and have survived – more than likely are experiencing high growth. No doubt PCUSA has lost some members due to controversial issues – and gained or held onto others for the same reason. But what newspapers rarely mention, when pointing out the declining membership in the mainline denominations, is that conservative denominations tend to have higher birthrates, and in mainline denominations the birthrate hovers at or below replacement.
Besides, PCUSA isn’t merely following the times. It is following its moral compass – even if that means those more attracted to religion are turned off by the change in direction.