The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) has invited members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) into a church-wide conversation on the identity and purpose of the denomination, and plans to share that information with the 222 General Assembly (2016) in June so it can “collectively discern God’s call for the church.”
In a news release from the OGA, Margaret Elliott, moderator of the COGA said that “In these changing times it’s imperative that the PCUSA dialogue in community about its identity and purpose … We’re inviting Presbyterians to dream big dreams, hope big hopes, and share them with their brothers and sisters.”
She continued that “The fruit of that dialogue will then be used by the General Assembly – an expression of the church’s core – when it gathers June 18–25, 2016, in Portland, Oregon. Together the body will discern a way forward for the church.”
The news release stated that there will be specific times docketed at the June General Assembly meeting for the commissioners to do this work, along with the usual General Assembly business.
Beginning Oct. 23, Presbyterians can share their comments online, but to be a part of the OGA process, they must first sign up in advance at this web site.
The PCUSA Church-wide consultation sign-up page reads:
“In a religious landscape that has been changing substantially in recent history, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and its agencies have been wrestling with what these changes mean for the church, its identity, mission, and focus. The Office of the General Assembly seeks new ways to faithfully carry out the direction given by the General Assembly in the 21st century. In the midst of these changes and this collective discernment, the important question arises as to whether the purposes and mission of the agencies that have served the church in the past are right for our future as a church.
“Because the responsibility for such discernment belongs in our ecclesiology to the General Assembly, the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly has called for a church-wide consultation that seeks to engage the whole denomination in a conversation about what the church is called to be and do, what it means to be a connectional church, and what is our shared identity, so that the 222nd General Assembly in 2016 will be substantively informed by the insights and wisdom of congregations, councils, and agencies when it gathers in Portland to ponder these things.
“The objective of this study is to provide a summary from this collective church-wide consultation for use by commissioners at the 222nd General Assembly to consider as they weigh matters of purpose, function, mission and ministry, and to provide opportunities for individuals and groups within the PCUSA to discern some consensus on what we are called to be and do as a denomination in the 21st century.
“Presbyterian Research Services will be collecting comments via an online form in late October. Sign up here if you would like to be added to the list of participants.”
COGA is also asking individuals, congregations, mid councils, seminaries, affiliated groups, and any other interested parties to conduct their own discussions about “the identity and purpose of the denomination.”
According to the COGA news release, a downloadable discussion guide will be made available on Oct. 23 to help facilitate the process, and GA Vice-Moderator Larissa Kwong Abazia will host several Twitter chats – dates and times also to be announced on Oct. 23.
Moderator’s ‘Call to the Church’
PCUSA Moderator Heath Rada highlighted COGA’s conversation in his “Call to the Church,” where he lamented the lack of the trust in the PCUSA and called for an urgent reform of the denomination.
Rada made his “Call to the Church” at the September meeting of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, saying that a major overhaul is not only being called for, “it is needed … We must take bold and immediate steps, and for us Presbyterians who love to discern and debate, it is essential that a resolution be found quickly.”
Rada said that the denomination can’t wait for the 2016 General Assembly to appoint a committee to study the issue for two years and bring the 2018 General Assembly a recommendation that would take two more years to implement.
“The people in the pews — as well as the ongoing health of our organization and our staff — says we cannot wait for four years to get this resolved. The need is immediate.”
Rada’s suggestion for COGA to take the lead on the issue, who he said was “already seeking to address this need. They see that they must address it in an organized but urgent way, with essential networking and information gathering from other agencies and bodies of the denomination.”
Layman accepts the call
In a recent article, Carmen Fowler LaBerge, president of the Presbyterian Lay Committee accepted the Moderator’s call to participate in such a process, she said “by raising up disenfranchised evangelical, conservative and theologically orthodox voices and concerns. We are initiating here ‘active engagement’ in the Moderator’s call with the hope of stimulating others to join in the conversation.”
“While The Layman sees the importance of hearing from people, this is the Church and hearing God’s authentic and authoritative voice through the Scriptures must come first,” said Fowler LaBerge. “Coming to one mind in the matters before the PCUSA is useless unless the one mind arrived at is the very mind of Christ.”
“Additionally, for those within the PCUSA who now see The Layman as ‘outside of our denomination,’ we welcome the Moderator’s inclusive call that the disenfranchised not be excluded from the conversation about the positive possible future for the PCUSA. We look forward to being invited to participate in the process on behalf of those in the PCUSA who feel disenfranchised by a myriad of changes in the denomination’s theology, practice and witness over the past 50 years.”
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“We’re inviting Presbyterians to dream big dreams, hope big hopes, and share them with their brothers and sisters.”
What Louisville seems not to grasp is that there are essentially two groups whose “big dreams” and “big hopes” are fundamentally at odds with one another. One group seeks to be more relevant to culture by accommodating the world’s philosophies, biases, and ways of thinking in the life of the Church, whereas the other group seeks to be more faithful to Scripture, which requires the Church to repudiate these same philosophies, biases, and ways of thinking, which this group believes are leading the Church further from Scripture and ironically making the Church much less relevant to culture.
There is no common ground between these two groups, which is why the second group is departing the PC(USA) in such large numbers. For there to be fundamental unity in the PC(USA), one of these two groups must repent of its “big dreams” and “big hopes”. And for the record, I don’t think it should be the group seeking to be more faithful to Scripture.
Thanks for putting the situation so well in words. I delight when someone says it so clearly; there is no possibility of reconciliation here. Too many of us, who believe the Scripture and love the Living Lord Jesus, will have no true hearing in this fraudulent forum. it’s just another attempt to seduce us toward apostasy, and we’re wise to it now. Another coat of “whitewash” will not change the contents of the P.C.U.S.A. Tomb.
Compare todays secular world with God’s ideal world–The lion lying down with the lamb–The wolf lying down with the sheep. Which world you like to have? I think I know.
How about: Westminster Confession of Faith, XXV:3
“Unto this catholic visible church Christ hath given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and doth, by his own presence and Spirit, according to his promise, make them effectual thereunto.”
It’s been apparent for years that the PCUSA doesn’t know what its identity and purpose are. Members who know what they should be can’t be understood by those don’t because there is no common vocabulary and no shared worldview.
A similar “conversation” was held at the Presbytery of Wabash Valley years ago. One participant – a pastor who went on to be active in the New Wineskins and to eventually lead his church out of the PCUSA – reminded the commissioners that there came a time when Abraham and Lot could no longer do ministry together, a time when Paul and Silas could no longer do ministry together. He suggested that the PCUSA might be approaching such a time. The Presbytery’s representative responded with little more than a plea to “keep the conversation going”, as if there was nothing more important than endless, pointless chatter.
That’s been the PCUSA’s strategy for at least 20 years – keep the “conservatives” talking and hope nobody notices what the bureaucrats are actually doing. I wouldn’t expect any more from this project. Our (Presbyterians’) reputation for forming committees and task forces that accomplish nothing proceeds from such grandiose gestures.
Well said, all above ! I believe this call for conversation is 50 years too late. I also believe any input will be either disregarded or twisted to support what the national church wants to do when neither of those alternatives is intended or desirable. I guess this call is based on the assumption that whatever the church did in the past is correct and acceptable to all current members and responders to this conversation. Not so, in my opinion!
WCF I.4,9-10: “The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God. …
“The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself: and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.
“The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.”
Contrast this with C-67 §9.29: “The Scriptures, given under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, are nevertheless the words of men, conditioned by the language, thought forms, and literary fashions of the places and times at which they were written. They reflect views of life, history, and the cosmos which were then current. The church, therefore, has an obligation to approach the Scriptures with literary and historical understanding. As God has spoken his word in diverse cultural situations, the church is confident that he will continue to speak through the Scriptures in a changing world and in every form of human culture.”
These two statements contradict one another. Either it is “to be believed and obeyed … because it is the Word of God” or it is to be subject to the authority of secular criticism because it is “nevertheless the words of men, conditioned by the language, thought forms, and literary fashions of the places and times at which they were written.” Either “the infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself,” and “the supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined … can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture,” or else “the church has an obligation to (subject) the Scriptures (to the authority of) literary and historical (criticism).”
The first confessional statement, written from a theocentric worldview, points to God; the other, written from an anthropocentric worldview, points to the world. The two groups which I previously mentioned hold to these two mutually contradictory statements, and each is acting in ways that logically follow from adopting one or the other premises. “And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” (Mk. 3.25)
That the PC(USA) has made remarkably bad decisions in recent years that bring it more in conformity to the world and the world’s way of thinking is clear evidence that it is most assuredly not being perfected in this life by the presence of the Holy Spirit. “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” (I Cor. 14.33) Rather, it is being led by the indwelling presence of the spirit of this ungodly age.
Idenity and purpose?
WOW: If they don’t know by now, they never will.
On second thought, if you sat 10 of them in a room and asked the qequestion,I suspect that you would get very disparate answers.
The purpose is to worship God and make Him know. The progressives in the PCUSA seem to think we always have to DO something. But we are saved by grace alone, not by our good works, not by PROVING how hip we are in the world to show people that we are still relevant. Doing things as a result of faith and belief is wonderful and there are tons of groups that people can get involved with to help our communities and our fellow humans. But to always seek a “purpose” and look past Jesus for some deeper meaning is not what we are here for.
Somehow I wonder if some of these people love the Lord but are just a little ashamed of looking uncool because the world criticizes Christians as a whole for any of a number of things. It’s like they think, “If we only prove to the world how great we are and how much we are helping people, they won’t make fun of us anymore in the movies or on TV or say we are prejudiced.” And all those pesky terrorists won’t want to kill us.
Faith is our purpose and spreading the Word – you need a convention to find something else instead?
I find the call to engage in this exercise disingeneruous and not helpful.
They use words like “consensus” and together we will find a way forward but there is no concensus and there is no way forward “together” in a Big Tent and no subscriptionism atmosphere! The two are counter productive.
The very idea that there needs to be a CALL is evidence of the chaos
resulting from a GA and leaders who have abandoned the “mission”
set forth by Jesus in the Great Comission and held up by the
Five Solas and the Confessions. However, now the majority is not going to promote common tenets, Scriptural obedience, and repentance with humility before God. There is no call to repentance here! There is only a call to unite forces to hold up the denominational structure of the PCUSA.
Every time a church enters discernment and presents their reasons
for doing so they are expressing their “call” to be true to God’s mission. They are clearly stating what the PCUSA has left which might be instructive to Heath Radda and OGA, PMB and all other entities.
As these churches express their REASONS FOR DISCERNMENT AND DESIRE TO LEAVE they tell COM members, ExecutivePresbyters, Presbytery Elders, other churches in that Presbytery a clear message about true mission. The reason churches are leaving is the disagreement about clear mandates within the PCUSA to Jesus mission which is to save souls through Evangelism and Discipleship.
Is it too late for the PCUSA and colleagues of Heath Radda to change direction now? Or is this really a futile exercise to give credence to the direction the last few GA and the Stated Clerk has steered the denomination? Will they heed the opposing voices for renewal. Or will they only shore up the direction they want to go.
If they would not listen to departing churches who very clearly express their
Understanding of true mission…..why would they change now.
Where is God’s voice in all of this?
I believe God has already set the agenda for this denomination and the only call for all of us is a call to repentance, complete surrender to God, openness to the Holy Spirit, obedience to Scripture. There needs to be desperation in praying for God’s acting in our midst, for God to raise up leaders, for open hearts to hear what God needs us to do in this time.
Renewal leaders are hearing a new call, an urgent call for this generation to be saved. Will Heath Radda and PMB, and those at the Presbytery level who decide on commissioners to GA and hear the voice of those leaving churches HEAR God’s call. Is it too late?
Only God knows and that is why true repentance and humility before God alone will be the only salvation for this denomination. That is the call I want to hear!
Lee – please tell us all – what do the others you talk about here need to repent from? What do you “believe” these folks have done that requires such an urget call to repent? The PCUSA affirms that it exisits to be a part of God’s mission in Christ in the world, by the power of the Spirit. It sounds like you believe the sole mission of the church is to proclaim hellfire and damnation – what say you Lee?
Here is what the PCUSA is attempting to do: “The mission of God in Christ gives shape and substance to the life and work of the Church. In Christ, the Church participates in God’s mission for the transformation of creation and humanity by proclaiming to all people the good news of God’s love, offering to all people the grace of God at font and table, and calling all people to discipleship in Christ.” Donna – what are you doing?
All of us, myself included, should be In an attitude of repentance! However, there is a responsibility for Leaders who are guiding members and lower governing bodies to be aware of the place God put them and their need to seek God’s grace and mercy. I believe that what we all have done is failed to intentionally spend time in prayer to get direction from GOD.
Instead of being surrendered to God’s way forward, we discuss among ourselves what we want to do, say, and the direction for the church.
I am calling out the leaders of the PCUSA at every level who have orchestrated the chaos. If they acted in God’s will there would be peace, unity and purity and clarity of direction.
I could expound on the meaning of Shepherds and flocks, on parables of
Workers of the Land Owner’s field. The leaders need to go to the Great Shepherd …..to the OWNER……for direction.
What would happen if a whole hour of a presbytery meeting, a committee, a session meeting was devoted to prayerful listening and pleading with God for answers. At the GA there Is token prayer…..but is time given to concerted prayer. We are so proud of our accomplishments….but have we left God out? ‘
We need the prayer that calls on God to speak to us…….not prayer that tells God what we want to do.
Why do I make this kind of call in response to Heath Radda?
Heath sees the chaos, PMB sees the end of funds; division at all levels
of the denomination is real, ministry is stifled. Yet, the call is for more dialogue and reform of the institution. The leaders need to admit that
their actions have caused the chaos because they have orchestrated their agenda a part from God’s word, the confessions and even the orderly polity of the church. I could be more specific about how individually and collectively there has been an intentional movement of the denomination away from sound doctrine, but you can search your own heart in the matter. We need to go back to the underlying foundations of what it means to discern God’s WILL not just concensus of a group of people.
What posture, what attitude can the leaders guide us toward where we can HEAR FROM GOD. God wants to give us power and wisdom to do HIS
Will. The posture is one of repentance, surrender, belief,knowing our need.
If OGA, RADDA, PMB and Synod/ Presbytery Executives are wise they would lead us in this way. God wants us to be so desperate that we turn to HIM alone. Do you think the churches and the leaders of the PCUSA are desperate yet?
In my opinion coexisting within “the big tent” is simply not realistic no matter how open and sincere the dialogue is. There are 2 totally different churches living within the PCUSA. Nothing short of opening the door graciously to let those who want to leave go, with their property, will do. But that is not what we have seen and I doubt that is what we will see.
“The leaders need to admit that their actions have caused the chaos because they have orchestrated their agenda a part from God’s word, the confessions and even the orderly polity of the church.” — How so? I don’t find chaos in my congregation, Presbytery, or in the GA – there are probelms and change going on, but chaos is your particular opinion. THe call here is one brought up by change, and I find this change to be a call from God initself. Your attitudes that prayer at meetings is “token” in nature indicates a particular judgement that you are making. Prayer has its place, as all spirtual disciplines do, but it can also be a sptrtual issue for problems (go in your closet). I find your judgement lacking in substance and depth of thought – sorry.
Why does Heath Radda and OGA need to have a church- wide conversation about the identity and purpose of the PCUSA if everything is as great as you proclaim?
Brother Loren, as usual, poignant thoughts, brother: thanks!
“Your name, O LORD, endures forever, your renown, O LORD, throughout all ages.” Psalm 135:13
We rest in him, his settled word. Dale, Hope Presbyterian, Scranton
Thank you again, Loren, for your insightful words. Your comments put me in mind of J. Gresham Machen’s famous book, Christianity and Liberalism. Then as now the conflict was not between two different types of authentic Christianity, but between two very different and mutually exclusive religions each of which was claiming to represent authentic Christianity.
The Presbyterian Layman has been documenting the issues that are causing the near collapse of the PCUSA for decades. If these so-called leaders read the Layman, then they would know where the problems are.
It looks as though they finally realize that they are standing on a slippery slope on the edge of the abyss.