Okla. Megachurch Departs PCUSA, Cites Scriptural Issues
by Jim Brown
September 12, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A megachurch in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has left the Presbyterian Church (USA), citing unscriptural teachings, meetings, and even worship in the denomination. According to the church, the PCUSA has "walked away" from scripture.
Three-thousand-member Kirk of the Hills Presbyterian Church has voted overwhelmingly to sever ties with the PCUSA. Co-pastor Tom Gray says for the last 30 years, there has been a steady decline n the PCUSA's adherence to the strict teachings of scripture. But when the denomination made an authoritative decision in June to allow local churches to ordain homosexuals as pastors, Gray says he knew his congregation could no longer remain in the PCUSA.
The Tulsa pastor says "The Kirk," as the church is known, will be joining the Evangelical Presbyterian Church -- and he explains why. "They are evangelical in their blood; in other words, [they adhere to] the idea of the good news of Jesus Christ being preached forthrightly," says Gray. "They are a strong mission entity, as opposed to the denomination we left, which is systematically eliminating its missions."
In a sense, he says, the EPC is what "the denomination I was a part of used to be many years ago."
Meanwhile, Kirk of the Hills and the PCUSA are in a legal battle for possession of the church's property located in south-central Tulsa in the vicinity of Oral Roberts University. Gray says his congregation believes "morally and legally" that the property belongs to them.
"We've paid for every single thing about this church and in this church," he explains. "And in addition to that, we've given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the old denomination [the PCUSA]."
Pastor Gray describes the situation as feeling like it is a "run for the money."
"The denomination doesn't really care why we left, or what it was doing wrong," he shares, "but [it] is tremendously interested in us paying them for the property."
Gray has been at the Kirk since 1982. His co-lead pastor is Wayne Hardy.
Jim Brown, a regular contributors to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
