Former professing complementarian Aimee Byrd has not only preached another sermon at a Presbyterian church, but she also gave the closing benediction. This is something she would have been forbidden from doing in her former denomination, highlighting the downgrade she’s been plying and vindicating many who have been warning about her drift for years.
Once part of The Mortification of Spin, a podcast she co-hosted with Carl Trueman and Todd Pruitt, she was sent packing and expunged from the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals due to dissatisfaction with her polemical publications, particularly after her views of complementarian went from hard, to soft, to non-existent, which is merely another example of how ‘soft-complementarianism’ is just another word for “egalitarianism.”
For years the Orthodox Presbyterian Church’s version of Beth Moore rebuffed any notion or concerns that she was on a progressive trajectory- a claim she categorically denied and then became upset that it was even suggested in the first place, despite ample evidence to the contrary. In fact, we noted our concerns with her four years ago, after we removed her book from our recommended reading list, two years before she was relieved of her duties on the show.
Byrd used to be far more conservative in her beliefs, hiding behind her denomination until she left it last year. During her discourses and online skirmishes, she would frequently point out her membership creds in the OPC as proof positive she’s sound in her beliefs. Then five months ago, she preached a very strange sermon to a mixed crowd during the Sunday morning service – something her former denomination expressly prohibited.
Now, she has preached another sermon- this time at The Crossing church in Columbia, MO, which is associated with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. This denomination is nowhere as liberal as the heretical PCUSA is, but they have compromised on several points, particularly on their acceptance of the ordination of women, believing it to be a “non-essential matter” that is left to individual churches to decide. If the church is fine with it, they can ordain whoever they want.
To add fuel to the fire, she also gave the closing benediction, something further prohibited by her former denomination. Byrd clearly has no issue with women preaching and closing out the service, much to the vindication of discerning conservative stalwarts of the OPC, such as the Genevan Commons. The latter were blasted and excoriated for warning about Byrd’s theological drift years ago, with big names within their denomination taking them to task for their lack of kindness and charity in how they treated her. What some OPC leaders failed to realize is that those sounding the clarion call weren’t being cruel, but rather saw a threat and had to fling it out by the scruff of it’s neck, understanding the destruction a little leaven can bring. It looked mean at the time, but was in reality a mercy.
Time has proven them, and us right.
Bonus. Byrd giving the benediction.
“Now may the God of Zion bless you and keep you, and we pray that his face would shine upon you this week. Have a good day. “
