Penna. session calls for repentance

Williamsport, PA session calls for a "season of prayer and fasting" to repent of the "Particularist-Pluralistic Dynamic" advanced by Dirk Ficca in his presentation at the Peacemaking Conference.

One session is pursuing the discussion of Dirk Ficca's address to the point of calling on the PC(USA) to repent of its apostasy through a season of prayer and fasting.

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A copy of the following resolution by the Session of Northway Presbyterian Church, Williamsport, Pennsylvania has been sent to the Executive Director of the General Assembly Council, John Detterick. The Session requests widespread dissemination.

A Resolution Regarding the "Particularist-Pluralistic Dynamic"

Because the offices and officers of the General Assembly Council have sanctioned, sponsored, and supported the proclamation of a "particularist-pluralistic dynamic"¹ which:

inflates "personal opinion" and individual "interpretation" above the Scriptures and our confessions.

insists that Jesus Christ is neither "the truth in his person"² nor "the sole and only instrument of God's salvation."

indicates that the sovereign activity of God ministering grace through the Holy Spirit is sufficient for salvation apart from the sacrifice of Christ Jesus upon the cross.

imagines that a relationship with God is possible through some agency or means other than Jesus Christ.

implies that works alone are adequate to salvation, so that any who do as Jesus did - healing, forgiving, befriending, reaching out - are to be counted as citizens of the kingdom of heaven apart from faith in him as the Christ of God.

impugns the Church's calling "to tell the good news of salvation by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and Lord" in faithfulness to the Great Commission.³

Therefore, the Session of Northway Presbyterian Church, 1520 Northway Rd., Williamsport, PA 17701, resolves that we:

regret to acknowledge ourselves to be members of an apostate people of God.

rebuke the offices and officers of our General Assembly Council for leading the way into rebellion against God through the repudiation of Jesus Christ as God's one and only provision for our salvation; and not ours alone, but also that of the whole world.

reject this "particularist-pluralistic dynamic" as false teaching which is completely contrary to the testimony of the Scriptures and inherently incompatible with our confessions.

respect God's righteous judgment against the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), for - in dishonoring God and God's Christ by turning aside from truth to falsehood, from light to darkness, from life to death - we are weighed in the balance and found wanting.

rejoice in God's promise of forgiveness, renewal, and restoration should we choose to repent and reaffirm our faith in Jesus Christ as the one and only Lord and Savior of our lives.

renounce every attempt to claim this promise which refuses to implement the "church's exercise of authority given by Christ" for discipline "to correct or restrain" any who have advocated this "particularist-pluralistic dynamic," "in order to bring [them] to repentance and restoration; to restore the unity of the church by removing the causes of discord and division."⁴

recommend that - as an outward sign of inward conviction - the General Assembly Council and the entire Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) join with us in humbling ourselves before the Lord by observing a season of prayer and fasting, beginning on World Communion Sunday, October 1, 2000, and ending with a service of solemn assembly to be held in each local congregation on Christ the King Sunday, November 26, 2000.

recognize that the days to prepare for this season of prayer and fasting and this service of solemn assembly are very few and pledge the time, talent, and treasure of our own local congregation toward the development of suitable liturgical and devotional resources.

register our resolve on the broadest scale possible, in the hope that other Sessions and judicatories will take confirmatory action.

Notes:

1. Rev. Dirk Ficca, "Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a Diverse World," Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Peacemaking transcript. The assertions made regarding the "particularist-pluralistic dynamic" refer to statements made on pages 6, 7, and 8 of the transcript and, unless otherwise noted, all quotations are from these same pages.

2. Presbyterian Principles for Interfaith Dialogue, article 4.

3. Book of Order, G-3.0300a, b, c-1.

4. Book of Order, D-1.0101

Additional Supporting Texts: Daniel 5:23, 27; Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 8:38; Luke 17:1-4; John 3:16-18, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 10:9; Galatians 1:4, 4:8-9; Colossians 1:6-8; 1 Timothy 1:15, 2:5-6; Titus 2:11-15; Hebrews 12:22-27; James 4:4-10, 5:15-16; 1 Peter 1:18-21, 3:18, 5:6-10; 2 Peter 2:21; 1 John 2:23, 4:14-15, 5:11-12; 2 John 8-11; Jude; Revelation 2:4-5, 3:1b-3. Book of Confessions 7.170, 3.16, 4.018, 4.020, 5.077, 6.043-6.050, 6.079, 6.190, 7.020, 7.021, 7.146, 7.180, 8.10, 8.11, 8.12, 9.10, 9.11, 9.42, 10.4-lines 66 and 68. Book of Order: W-1.1002c; W-1.1003.

Rev. James D. Henkel, Moderator 09/06/00
Elder Marian Mecone, Clerk 09/06/00