Its members have stated their commitment to work to change their home denominations from within rather than establishing new ones, even if they are unable to regain full influence.
The Confessing Movement places particular weight on the role of evangelism and traditional Bible teachings concerning the deity of Christ and holds conservative, historical Christian views on sexuality, especially homosexuality.
Although tension between theological modernizers and traditionalists in American Protestantism has existed for generations, the formation of the Confessing Movement was triggered by changing positions on sexual orientation and especially the ordination of "practicing homosexuals" as clergy.
Other issues influencing some groups were the ordination of women, and the decline in attendance of many of the mainline denominations from the 1960s to the 1980s in the US, with leaders of the Confessing Movement arguing that the shrinking of mainline church membership resulted from conservative members leaving for growing evangelical churches rather than liberal members disengaging.
The ELCF was organized in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in February, 2002 by about 60 pastors and laypersons who belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The goal of the movement is to remain faithful to the orthodox or traditional teachings of the church, especially with regard to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, the unique Lordship of Jesus Christ, the authority of scripture, and human sexual intimacy.
According to their initial press release, a primary goal is to head off apparent movement toward formal recognition and ordination of homosexual clergy.
[6]Leaders have included Thomas C. Oden, Maxie Dunnam, Bill Hinson, John Ed Mathison, Karen Covey Moore, William J. Abraham, and James Heidinger.
The movement was successful in maintaining doctrinal standards and traditional United Methodist positions on theology and practice at the General Conferences in Cleveland (2000), Pittsburgh (2004), and Fort Worth (2008).
It includes Anglican Communion-recognized provinces in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, South Sudan, Uganda, and Uruguay.
GAFCON also encompasses as full members provinces in Brazil, Europe, and North America that are not recognized by the Canterbury-aligned structures of the Anglican Communion.
In February, 2002 more than 800 laity, pastors, deacons, and elders gathered in Atlanta, Georgia for the first National Celebration of Confessing Churches.
Participating churches affirm that Christ is the only way of salvation, that the Bible is infallible in its teachings, and that sexual relations are exclusively for marriage.
[1] In the United Church of Christ, a denomination in the Congregationalist tradition, the first confessing movement founded was the Biblical Witness Fellowship, formed in 1977 after a General Synod sexuality study that, to the founders, seemed to take a decidedly permissive attitude toward non-marital sex and homosexuality.
Under the leadership of executive director David Runnion-Bareford, a Candia, New Hampshire, pastor, this movement has presented reformation initiatives before each of the last five Synods of the UCC, including a successful reaffirmation of the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the denomination's historic symbol, the "Cross Triumphant," in 2005.
Generally speaking, the F&W movement is perceived as less strident than the BWF, which has close relationships with established para-denominational evangelical organizations such as Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts.
It is thus likely that laypeople and clergy espousing the aims of BWF, FRM, and F&W will remain small minorities in the denomination for the foreseeable future.
2003 in response decision by the UCA's 2003 Assembly not ban outright on the ordination of practicing homosexuals,[15]) and the Evangelical Members within the Uniting Church in Australia (EMU) (est.