My mother informed me that her church, Center Presbyterian in Grove City, Pennsylvania, was taking steps to separate from the Presbyterian Church, headquartered in my new home, Louisville, Kentucky. When I asked her why, she said it was over the denomination's vote to permit gay men and lesbian women to be ordained as ministers.
I did a little reading since and learned that Center Church, which has been Presbyterian since 1801, isn't the only seceding congregation. Between 2007 and 2010, 78 congregations have left the denomination.
"Presbyterian conservatives are drafting plans for a new denomination as an alternative to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), citing liberal trends over sexuality and theology in the Louisville-based denomination. The 'New Reformed Body' — the working title for the as-yet-unnamed group — would also be an alternative to the existing conservative Presbyterian denominations that broke with the main denomination in previous decades." (http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120107/NEWS01/301070073/Presbyterian-may-split-Conservatives-drafting-plans-new-denomination)
It's challenging to find much about the rebellion on the denomination's website. Past moderator of the General Assembly, Cynthia Bolbach, wrote a column in which she confessed, "I don’t want to suggest that all is sweetness and light. We are grappling with serious and divisive issues. It may well be that 2012 will bring about departures of some congregations to other denominations that they feel will better suit their theological perspective.
"But these last eighteen months as Moderator of the General Assembly have shown me that the PC(USA) is neither defunct nor dying. I have witnessed a community of faith called the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) where people are living out the gospel with integrity and courage, where people are proclaiming God’s Word authentically and effectively, and where people are coming together to discern where God is leading them." (http://www.pcusa.org/news/2012/1/6/alive-and-well/)
He's leading lots of them to the exits, apparently. "It’s too early to say how many congregations might join a new denomination. But the Orlando gathering is expected to draw representatives from more than 700 congregations, said an organizer, the Rev. Paul Detterman of Louisville, administrative assistant to the group Fellowship of Presbyterians. That’s equal to about 7 percent of the denomination’s total congregations." (http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120107/NEWS01/301070073/Presbyterian-may-split-Conservatives-drafting-plans-new-denomination)
Center church's website doesn't tackle the issue about leaving the denomination. But its larger sister church in this largely agricultural community midway between Pittsburgh and Erie does have something to say. East Main Presbyterian's website says, "We have always found solace in the idea that as long as our local church and presbytery remain true to the Scriptures, then East Main Presbyterian Church (EMPC) is insulated from the decisions of the denomination and it's theological direction. However, General Assembly's adoption of a recent change in ordination standards has, for some, become the last straw. The Session of EMPC (the governing body) has declared that at this point in history we need to thoroughly and prayerfully examine the issues and discern how best to respond." (http://www.eastmainpc.org/index.cfm/PageID/908/index.html/#context)
That doesn't sound like what Bolbach wrote on the denomination's website, that her months as moderator "have shown me that the PC(USA) is neither defunct nor dying. I have witnessed a community of faith called the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)...."
The fact is that protestant denominations were floundering like a fish on the bank of the River Jordan, even before the economy reduced the size of collection plates. I'm not sure what the General Assembly was thinking when it allowed gays to be ordained, a controversial decision debated for years. Those who voted yea must have known that even more Presbyterians would abandon ship. I applaud them for doing what they believe to be the right thing. But the right thing sometimes is the wrong thing.
As we are seeing in Congress, compromise is what keeps the wheels on the cart. The Presbyterians didn't get that memo.
The denomination has lurched from crisis to crisis, not the least of which is the question of gay ordination. The debate should be, how can we retain members and revenue. Conservative versus liberal is killing the denomination, just as it is killing our confidence in Congress. The Presbyterians would be well advised to take note and seek ways to build bridges, not moats.
4 comments:
But surely you also know that some things cannot be compromised. Like half-approving the killing of unborn babies or half-approving the denial of the inerrancy and absolute authority of God's word?
My wife and I left our Presbyterian church years ago for two reasons: (1) it had not yet LEFT the PCUSA and, more significantly, (2) the pastor's waning commitment to Gospel ministry against his pet building projects.
When some Presbyterian ministers tell their congregations on Easter that the resurrection was the supernatural resusitation of a corpse and other Presbyterian ministers tell their congregations that the resurrection should be understood as a metaphor for the way Jesus, though forever dead in the grave, continued as a living reality for his followers, there is no bridge for that. Those are moats created by those who no longer believe what Presybterians have always believed.
The question and debate is not "how can we retain members and revenue." It is what is authority (scripture or the voice in your head telling you everything ok, there is no sin), the role of unrepentant sin and those who refuse to repent of sin, and is Jesus Christ the only way. The problem comes in when pleasing the culture becomes more popular than pleasing God, when bucks, buildings and bottoms in pews becomes more important that a spiritual relationship with God, and when Scripture is poohpoohed as irrelavant.
"The debate should be, how can we retain members and revenue."
I don't think you get it! Something else is smoldering here too.
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