Board member tells Coalition to face the fact
that divisions in PC(USA) are deep and lasting
But most evangelicals reject calls for leaving the
denomination
by Alexa Smith, Presbyterian News Service
INDIANAPOLIS -- November 7, 2000 -- Although the
Presbyterian Coalition opted last year in Dallas to stop threatening to
leave the denomination and to start talking seriously about reforming it
from within, it hasn't decided how to go about it.
The question is no longer whether to stay but how?
"I don't know what will happen in the years
ahead," said the Rev. Tim Snow, of Seattle, WA, a new member of the
Coalition's board. "There are schisms. Deep divides. Without
miracles, I don't see it getting much better ...
"I do think we can go to scripture. That's a
power far greater than us, even when we don't know exactly what to
do," Snow said, adding that healing can only begin when a problem
is properly diagnosed.
These days, he said, that means to stop proclaiming
unity when real divisions run deep.
"Let's face (this) in the depth of pain that it
is," he told about 400 evangelicals and conservatives who gathered
recently for the Coalition's annual meeting. "And pray. And
hope."
Snow's approach was one among many held by leaders and
members of the Coalition, which met here over Halloween weekend. The
organization was formed in 1993 to oppose the ordination of sexually
active gays and lesbians, and has had no small amount of political
success doing so.
Four years later, presbyteries in the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.) overwhelmingly voted to change the church's constitution
to expressly forbid such ordinations, and to explicitly forbid sexual
activity by single heterosexual clergy. Since then, the Coalition has
had a task force eyeballing judicial cases that challenge the ban, and,
to work for the passage of other ideologically similar legislation, such
as this year's Amendment O, which says church officers may not
participate in same-gender blessings or allow church property to be used
for such ceremonies.
For some, the political battle is enough. But for
others, it is not.
The Rev. Jerry Andrews, of Chicago, the Coalition's
chair, opened the gathering with a "State of the Church"
address in which he reported, "We're not doing so well." He
blamed evangelicals, among others, for the fact that about 11,000 PC(USA)
congregations take in only 11,000 new members each year.
Andrews urged evangelicals to not abrogate their ties
with 'colleagues in ministry' who disagree with them, and to listen
carefully to scripture, because Christ's word, in his judgment,
"cannot be separated from he who spake it."
He admitted that that's easier said than done.
Andrews is one of the Coalition leaders who has backed
dialogue with the church's left wing something that has been scarce in
30 years of wrangling. Andrews hosted the first of several scheduled
Bible studies involving Presbyterians from left and right, including
such diverse organizations as Presbyterians Pro-Life, which opposes
abortion; More Light Presbyterians, a gay and lesbian advocacy group;
the Presbyterian Lay Committee, a staunch crowd of theological
conservatives; and the Covenant Network, the left- leaning counterpart
of the Coalition.
Andrews said he's waiting to see what the outcome will
be. He is hoping it'll be more than just talk.
"We have to remember our ordination vows require
us to be friends with our colleagues in ministry," Andrews told the
Presbyterian News Service. "We need to talk."
Andrews admitted that talk won't get the church past
its current polarized condition.
"But I cannot imagine that we can get past this
without talk," he said. " ... I do think we've drifted apart
for a whole generation. ... We've gone to different seminaries, read
different books. We read 'The Book' differently. We talk to ourselves
and we think we're 'the church.' We need to be remembering that we are
colleagues in ministry ... and we need to know the truth about each
others' beliefs."
Clear boundaries
Of course, there are some members of the Coalition who
think they know what their opposing "colleagues in ministry"
believe. The latest denominational fight occasioned by remarks made by a
speaker at a peacemaking conference last summer indicates that some
ordained leaders not only interpret scripture differently, but dare to
suggest that Christ may not be the only way to salvation.
One response has been a demand that church officials
do a better job of examining candidates for ministry and ministers who
are moving between presbyteries to see who is orthodox and who is not.
The Rev. Jack Volkers, of Rushville, IL, and the Rev.
Phil Keevil, of Philadelphia, offered a workshop on 'gatekeeping' at the
gathering. Keevil told his audience that some would-be ministers
"need to be caught before they become candidates."
Doing so is relatively simple: Ask specific questions
and demand specific answers that root out dishonesty. To do so,
conservatives must either serve on presbytery examining committees, or
lobby such committees hard.
In a document handed out during a workshop, Coalition
members were advised to see that very concrete questions are asked of
candidates for ministry. Instead of a general question, such as "Do
you believe Jesus rose from the dead?", ask instead: "Did the
historical Jesus or Jesus of Nazareth (not Christ) rise from the dead in
the body in which he died?"; or, "Do you understand the
resurrection of Jesus as a literal, historical event?"
The handout said situational questions are good, too,
such as: "A member of your youth group says, 'The Trinity is a
great way to think about spiritual things. Of course, we don't take it
literally, do we?' How would you respond?" Other pertinent
questions include, "How is a person saved?" and, "How can
I know my sins are forgiven?"
Volkers said clarification at the start helps avoid
crises later, by preventing messy matches that will require intervention
by the Committee on Ministry. He said clearly that Presbyterian theology
has room for ministers who are left of center, but such candidates must
appreciate theological boundaries, such as the great solas of the
Reformed tradition (Faith alone, grace alone, scripture alone, Christ
alone, to the glory of God alone), and the PC(USA)'s confessional
standards.
Volkers warned that a committee must be suspicious of
any candidate who uses such terms as peace, justice and love more than
three times in his or her faith statement, a document required of every
clergy candidate. "There's a problem," he said. "This
person will not understand spiritual warfare."
Getting out the vote
There was consensus during the Coalition's meeting
that the organization needs to gear up to secure passage of Amendment O.
"We've taken the lead in pulling together the
renewal network and engaging in a cooperative effort in developing
leadership resources for focusing the church on Amendment O," said
the Rev. Bill Giles, of Birmingham, AL, the Coalition's executive
director.
To that end, a subsidiary organization, Presbyterians
Together, has been formed by several renewal groups to organize O
supporters. Coordinators have been assigned nationally to help reinforce
the existing networks, some of whom met during a lunch break to
strategize.
Moreover, a 60-page resource analyzing O, laying out
arguments for its passage and including sample speeches, was included in
the conference registration packet. Additional copies are available from
the Coalition by calling its office in Birmingham, AL at 205-979-3313.
"We're pretty much building on what we have done
on Amendments A and B," said the Rev. Daryl Fisher-Ogden, of
Pasadena, CA, who led a conference workshop on passing Amendment O.
"... People have developed some good, solid collegial relationships
(in synods and presbyteries). People are saying things like, 'Oh, by the
way, we've added this nuance in our presbytery,' or 'Oh yeah, this is
what you have to do.'
"The conversation has more depth (than in the
past). People are a little more comfortable with the process,"
Fisher-Ogden said, noting that the anxiety about this amendment isn't
yet as high as it was during earlier campaigns. "People take this
seriously. No one is cavalier. This vote is not in anyone's pocket.
"But it is not as anxious."
The Anger Factor
Anxiety hasn't gone away completely, despite the
insistence of the Coalition's leadership that the organization means to
stay put in the PC(USA). Some members are still clamoring for an exit
strategy that might be used, for example, if Amendment O is not passed.
The Rev. Bill Stevens of Sacramento, CA, was the first
to reach an open microphone at the conference's end and he was asking
the board to put a policy in place for leaving the PC(USA), if it should
be necessary. Stevens identified himself as one of the 'angry young West
Coast pastors,' a coalition within the Coalition that has long been
pushing for a more serious look at splitting from the denomination a
position that was decidedly rejected by the majority of Coalition
members during last year's gathering in Dallas.
Andrews told him no: "The board doesn't have an
exit strategy, and I hope we don't have one," he said, admitting
that some members of the board want to talk about leaving. "We have
a strategy for Amendment O. ... We have a strategy for holding
together."
Those remarks were quickly seconded from the floor.
Elder Bob Howard, of Wichita, KN, the president of the
Lay Committee, reminded conference participants that "the tide is
turning," and said the worst possible mistake would be fore the
Coalition to "give up too soon." Another conferee said that,
while conservatives are not going to win every battle, they're winning
most of them now. "If you're ahead, you're ahead," he said.
"Now is not the time to hike."
Now, while the consensus is for staying, there are
several options to explore: providing fellowship for isolated
evangelicals in presbyteries; working on church renewal in a way that
doesn't duplicate what other renewal groups are doing; finding ways to
implement the Coalition's strategy paper for transforming the church's
ministries through task forces on mission, Christian education,
theological education, worship, church discipline and polity; or maybe
even honing the task forces down.
With the Coalition's track record, the way seems clear
for the latter two.
"The strategy paper was easier to write than to
implement," said the Rev. Hans Cornelder, of Oskaloosa, IA.
"But we are working on that. All this work is being done by
volunteers. We're not divided about what to do, but how much to do. And
it looks like the struggle is not going to be over next week."
The Rev. Carmen Fowler of Rabun Gap, GA, also a board
member, and one of the regional coordinators for the passage of
Amendment O, agreed. "I'd be lying to say that conversations about
leaving don't still go on," she said. But she said the bigger issue
for now is how to stay inside a denomination that is deeply divided.
"I know the left and the right are at an impasse. There's an
inability to more forward. I don't know if it is irreconcilable. God is
able to redeem anything and everything.
"But I don't see the path forward right
now."
