By Viola Larson
Putting away the event of the 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church would probably be the best of all worlds as far as my emotions go, but neither my emotions nor those seeking information will allow that. I woke up this Sunday morning thinking about the letter from the Palestinian Business Committee addressed to Kristine—a commissioner who was a member of the committee on Middle East Issues. It was handed to her as she began participation in the consensus part of plenary, the part having to do with divestment. My thought, as I awoke, was it had to be a staff person or GA helper, who handed her the letter because no one else was allowed in the area.[1] And then as I entered our courtyard at church this morning a friend asked about my perceptions of General Assembly. So let me lay it out in a more structured way than I have in other postings.
This GA was lawless and chaotic and here are the reasons:
Marriage: As so many have already written, the GA voted on an Authoritative Interpretation that should never have been voted on because rather than being an interpretation it was a redefinition of the Directory of Worship’s definition of marriage. It contradicted not only the Directory of Worship but also the Book of Confessions which alongside of the Book of Order is our constitution. That makes the action unlawful.
Read more at http://naminghisgrace.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-221st-ga-my-final-thoughts-and.html
3 Comments. Leave new
thank you for the helpful words.
the part about not being in control of whether we stay or go is true, from my own experience i feel like i had almost nothing to do with leaving, however, we all have free will. if the Holy Spirit tells us to leave the PCUSA it’s up to us to take that action, no matter how difficult or what ties we may have to leave behind.
mine went back to baptism, and both sides of my family; grandparents, both parents the product of a PCUSA college, brother a PCUSA deacon, niece and nephew raised PCUSA, best friend is an elder in PCUSA. it took several years for me to leave the PCUSA, even after i knew exactly what the Holy Spirit was telling me to do. and even to this day it’s impossible for me to turn my back on those left behind. following Christ has never been easy, perhaps even more now than ever. He warned us not to love anyone or anything more than Him. difficult as it may be, we are called to save our own souls first and foremost.
although your words make human sense to me, sound very logical and correct, i just wonder how sympathetic Jesus is going to be when the remaining PCUSA members are standing in front of Him, alone, trying to rationalize all of this.
frankly it’s a relief at this point, knowing i’m not going to be one of them.
Thank you, Viola. Guest commenter: you are right. We must be very careful not to stay out of laziness or moral apathy. I urge anyone planning to stay to know exactly why they are staying. Each person staying should make a firm decision to stay for a specific reason–whether it is to wake up their local congregation, complete tasks set before them, stand as an orthodox light in the darkness–but they need to know how easy it is to be lulled into complacency by the “go along” crowd.
could you verify that a committee attempted to present a motion to general assembly stating
there are more avenues or ways of approaching God than through Jesus Christ?
thanks for all of your information.
In Christ.
doug