Ashamed of The Gospel...And Proud of It

Chris Herlinger, Religion News Service recently reported on the leadership shakeup at Manhattan's famous Riverside Church. The church's roots go back to modern pragmatist Harry Emerson Fosdick. Fosdick's liberalism attracted financial help of John D. Rockefeller, who financed the construction of interdenominational church.

Brad Braxton, selected as pastor last year, (compensation package is a mere $600,000 ) was thought able "to invigorate the flagship pulpit of progressive Protestantism."

Now, it seems the congregation has grown weary of their rising star. Herlinger reports that "some parishioners found him a little too energetic. He talked a lot about Jesus and perhaps a little too much about scripture. Some critics even used the dreaded f word—fundamentalist—to describe him..."

"... (Braxton) asserting that he is baffled that a minister (Braxton) who has publicly championed gay marriage could be labeled a biblical fundamentalist. "

"...Anonymous e-mails made the rounds among some of the 2,400-member congregation, implying that Braxton was a theological conservative, even a fundamentalist."If you're impassioned and use the name Jesus, you're [seen as] a right-wing Christian," said one Riverside parishioner, a Braxton supporter who asked not to be quoted by name because tensions are still high. Most "old-style" liberal Protestants, she said, are simply "not comfortable with zeal."

Editor's note: Truly, the slow train of modern day church growth schemes on the tracks of biblical compromise has, as it's many destinations, churches that are headed where Riverside Church seems to be going, the final destination: apostasy.

See more on the Rockefeller motive and influence on American Protestantism here.