Meenan doesn't close door to another church body By John H. Adams The Layman Online Revised April 6, 2006 at 12:15 p.m. Alan Meenan, the former senior minister of Hollywood Presbyterian Church who was forced by the Presbytery of the Pacific into resigning his post, has renounced the jurisdiction of the Presbyterian Church (USA). But he has not closed the door to being a Presbyterian minister. Meenan is now the pastor of Church of the Nations, a new independent congregation that meets in a Holiday Inn in Los Angeles. But he says he believes strongly in accountability and connectionalism and hopes the congregation's leaders will decide eventually to become a part of another denominational group. Meenan said he has mixed feelings about leaving the PCUSA. "I'm sad to leave the church that I loved and served, that I'm no longer a part of, where I have had so many friends and colleagues. On the other hand, I've got to say this is not the Presbyterian Church I remember 30 years ago." He told a story about the late John Leith, one of the denomination's most prominent theologians. "John was walking ahead of me and said, 'Alan, when I was a young man coming into this church, they considered me a liberal. Now they consider me the far right.'" Meenan said he understands what Leith meant. "The PCUSA is not the church it was." He said that, barring a miracle – "I believe a miracle can happen" – the denomination will begin to fold fast. "If it's not this General Assembly, it'll be another one," he said. "The problem is not homosexuality and ordination, but the authority of Scripture. If the devil can't get you converted, he will get you diverted." He said he worries about the future of Hollywood Presbyterian. He recalls that a consultant's report about the church in the mid-1990s said that Hollywood needed a membership of at least 3,000, weekly attendance of 1,500 and a budget of $3 million just to stand still. Otherwise, he said the report predicted a "domino-effect" that would require selling off property to be able to keep the doors open. Some of that is happening now. Hollywood recently sold some of its property to offset the deficits in 2004 and 2005. Many of the people who previously attended that service, which included contemporary music ministry, left to attend a midweek Bible study led by Meenan. It was not billed as a church and Meenan said he complied with the presbytery's order that he not solicit members from Hollywood Presbyterian Church. But some of the Bible study participants organized a nonprofit religious group called Whitestone Ministries. That became the umbrella group for Church of the Nations. Meenan said the purpose of the new congregation, which will have its official launching on Easter, is to provide "vibrant, meaningful, culturally relevant" worship; to seek to conduct its ministry under the authority of Scripture; and sponsor and organize mission throughout the world. Twenty people currently serve as a leadership team for the congregation's ministry, meeting weekly with Meenan. Five couples are members of a board that oversees the governance of the congregation. Meenan said about 350 people have been "coming and going" during the services – about 80 percent from Hollywood. He said he expects that number to increase sharply, beginning Easter Sunday. The congregation has begun promoting the services on Los Angeles radio stations.

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