One-World Church Congregation in Manhattan

Rutgers Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.

Rutgers Presbyterian Church in Manhattan is on the radical side of the one-world church. It brings together Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, Jews, New Agers, even atheists around the themes of social justice and saving the earth (“What Draws Atheists, Jews and Catholics to a Presbyterian Church,” New York Times, Sept. 6, 2019). The congregation is involved in such things as climate change activism, homosexual rights, and Black Lives Matters. Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags adorn the church, and visitors can choose from a variety of buttons to wear declaring their “gender identity: he/him, she/her, they/them.” One female attendee, Clare Hogenauer, appeared some years ago in Times Square topless to protest the death penalty. She told the New York Times that she does not consider herself a Christian, but she does “believe Jesus was a good guy.” When she shares her health issues with the congregation, she doesn’t ask for prayers. The one-world church is a big house with many rooms, and the walls are permeable. Evangelicals are in a different part of the house, but they share some fundamental things with Rutgers, particularly an emphasis on social justice and kingdom building and a judge not philosophy. A Rutgers’ member said that the church is constantly thinking about “ways to make the world right,” and, “It’s not just through proselytization and pointing fingers, but by working.” They all misinterpret Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” (See The Judge Not Heresy, a free eBook available from www.wayoflife.org.)

(Friday Church News Notes, September 27, 2019, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

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