Rich Lusk is an American author, minister, and theologian. [1] [2] His book Paedofaith: A Primer on the Mystery of Infant Salvation and a Handbook for Covenant Parents [3] is a book-length discussion of Christian infant faith. [4] He is currently the pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
He received his B. S. in Microbiology from Auburn University and a M.A. in Philosophy from University of Texas at Austin.
In early 2005 Lusk came to pastor Reformed Heritage Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama, from Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church in Monroe, Louisiana. Peter Leithart, a Cambridge-educated theologian was a former pastor of the church. Yet Lusk's transition affected the Church's denomination, name, and liturgy. [5] The church moved out of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and into the Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC) in October 2005 (see Douglas Wilson; Peter Leithart)., [5] [6] since the Evangel Presbytery would not accept Lusk's transfer from the Louisiana Presbytery based on the "status and nature of covenant children [which] was the real focus of the discussion". [5] One elder from the church spoke to the examining body and: " pointed out that these doctrines were not new or strange for the congregation even if they were unique in the presbytery; indeed, they had been believed and taught for quite some time at Reformed Heritage (going back to Peter Leithart’s tenure as pastor in the late 1980s and early 1990s, if not before). It was also pointed out that this was a transfer exam, not an ordination exam, and all [Lusk's] positions had been acceptable in Louisiana presbytery. Catholicity and intra-denominational brotherhood demanded they receive [Lusk]." [5] The Evangel Presbytery declined the transfer. The elders from the church asked for a formal reason for the decision but this request was denied them. [5] Lusk states: "I think the Evangel committee’s decision against recommending me was borne out of a lack of confidence to play the part of judge in the so-called “Auburn Avenue” or “Federal Vision” controversy." [5] He went on to state, however: "I regarded, and continue to regard, all the men who served on Evangel’s committee as exemplary Christian men. They are faithful pastors and servants in Christ’s kingdom. Our disagreement over covenant children does not outweigh the many truths we hold in common." [5]
After Lusk's arrival the church session voted to change its name to Trinity Presbyterian Church. [5]
He is married and has four children.
Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. Infant baptism can be contrasted with what is called "believer's baptism", which is the religious practice of baptising only individuals who personally confess faith in Jesus, therefore excluding underage children. Infant baptism is also called christening by some faith traditions.
The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Reformed in theology and presbyterian in government. It is characterized by a blend of Calvinist practice and broad evangelicalism.
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" of doctrine in the Church of Scotland and has been influential within Presbyterian churches worldwide.
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) is a confessional Presbyterian denomination located primarily in the northern United States. It was founded by conservative members of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) who strongly objected to the Modernist theology during the 1930s. It has had an influence on evangelicalism far beyond its size.
The Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) is an American church body holding to presbyterian governance and Reformed theology. It is most distinctive for its approach to the way it balances certain liberties across congregations on "non-essential" doctrines, such as egalitarianism in marriage or the ordination of women, alongside an affirmation of core "essential" doctrinal standards.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States was a small Presbyterian denomination based in the United States that merged into the Vanguard Presbytery. The RPCUS was established in 1983, subscribes to the unrevised Westminster Confession and upholds biblical inerrancy. The denomination self-identified as theonomic.
Infant communion, also known as paedocommunion, refers to the practice of giving the Eucharist, often in the form of consecrated wine mingled with consecrated bread, to young children. This practice is standard throughout Eastern Christianity, where communion is given at the Divine Liturgy to all baptized and chrismated church members regardless of age. Infant communion is less common in most of Western Christianity.
Douglas James Wilson is a conservative Reformed and evangelical theologian, pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, faculty member at New Saint Andrews College, and author and speaker. Wilson is known for his controversial work Southern Slavery, As It Was, which he coauthored with Steve Wilkins. He is also featured in the documentary film Collision documenting his debates with anti-theist Christopher Hitchens on their promotional tour for the book Is Christianity Good for the World?.
The Westminster Presbyterian Church in the United States (WPCUS) was a Presbyterian denomination, founded in United States in 2006, by Rev. Brian Schwertley, formerly affiliated with Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church and other pastors formerly affiliated with other Presbyterian denominations. The founders were particularly concerned with the perceived spread of liberal teaching within Presbyterianism in the United States and in particular with Federal Vision theology, which they believe supplies a different understanding of doctrines such as justification and the perseverance of the saints.
The Federal Vision is a Reformed evangelical theological conversation that focuses on covenant theology, Trinitarian thinking, the sacraments of baptism and communion, biblical theology and typology, justification, and postmillennialism. A controversy arose in Reformed and Presbyterian circles in response to views expressed at a 2002 conference entitled The Federal Vision: An Examination of Reformed Covenantalism. The ongoing controversy involves several Reformed denominations including the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA), and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States (RPCUS), and the Protestant Reformed Churches in America (PRCA).
The Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), formerly the Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches, was founded in 1998 as a body of churches that hold to Reformed (Calvinistic) theology. Member churches include those from Presbyterian, Reformed, and Reformed Baptist backgrounds. The CREC has over a hundred member churches in the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia, Hungary, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Belarus, Poland, and Brazil. These are organised into seven presbyteries, named after figures in church history: Anselm, Athanasius, Augustine, Hus, Knox, Tyndale, and Wycliffe.
Peter James Leithart is an American author, minister, and theologian, who serves as president of Theopolis Institute for Biblical, Liturgical, & Cultural Studies in Birmingham, Alabama. He previously served as Senior Fellow of Theology and Literature as well as Dean of Graduate Studies at New Saint Andrews College. He was selected by the Association of Reformed Institutions of Higher Education to be one of the organization's 2010–2012 Lecturers. He is the author of commentaries on the Book of Kings, the Book of Samuel, the Books of Chronicles, the Book of Revelation, as well as a Survey of the Old Testament. Other works include books on topics such as Dante's Inferno, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and a biography of Constantine. He is also the author of a book of children's bedtime stories titled Wise Words based on the Book of Proverbs.
David Steele, Sr. was a Reformed Presbyterian or Covenanter minister.
James Burrell Jordan is an American Protestant theologian and author. He is the director of Biblical Horizons ministries, an organisation in Niceville, Florida that publishes books, essays and other media dealing with Bible commentary, Biblical theology, and liturgy. It adheres to biblical absolutism including Young Earth Creationism and is committed to the concept of biblical theocracy.
The Covenant Presbyterian Church (CPC) is a Protestant, Reformed denomination, founded in United States in 2006 by a group of churches that split from the Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly for supporting paedocommunion.
Robert Adam Holliday Lusk was a Reformed Presbyterian or Covenanter minister of the strictest sort, in a century which, according to Presbyterian historian Robert E. Thompson, was marked by increasing relaxation into less stringent manifestations of doctrine and practice amongst all branches of Presbyterianism. His career crossed paths with many prominent ministers and he was involved in numerous ecclesiastical courts at pivotal moments in the history of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Amongst Reformed Presbyterians, he was an "Old Light," and amongst "Old Lights," he would lay claim to be an "Original Covenanter." He was descended from a long line of Scotch-Irish, and the Lusks had fled from Scotland to Ireland, escaping religious persecution; many of them settled in America prior to the American Revolutionary War.
ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians is an evangelical Presbyterian denomination in the United States. As a Presbyterian church, ECO adheres to Reformed theology and Presbyterian polity. It was established in 2012 by former congregations and members of the Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA). Dissatisfaction with the declining membership of the PC(USA) along with growing denominational disputes over theology—particularly ordination of practicing homosexuals as pastors and gay marriage—and bureaucracy led to the founding of ECO. In 2018, ECO has over 383 congregations, 103,425 covenant partners and over 500 pastors. ECO churches are egalitarian in beliefs and ordain women as pastors and elders.
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Evangel Presbytery is a Presbyterian denomination, formed in 2019, by four churches. Two independent churches, one church formerly from the Presbyterian Church in America, and one reformed baptist church formed the presbytery to protect the individual freedom of the churches regarding the doctrine of baptism, thus allowing the adhesion of churches paedobaptists and credobaptists.