A fair-play challenge
The Layman April 2002 Volume 35, Number 2, April 8, 2002
The whole of the Presbyterian Church (USA) – not just the evangelicals – owes a debt of gratitude to the Presbyterian Coalition for its contributions to the ongoing discussion about the denomination’s constitution.
The Coalition has carefully and prayerfully reviewed our constitutional documents, the decisions of the highest court in the denomination and General Assembly interpretations in preparing a comprehensive report for the sessions of more than 12,000 congregations.
In two letters, the Coalition board and its executive committee cite constitutional warrant for 1) confessional statements by sessions, 2) advocacy of peaceful separation from the PCUSA and 3) withholding or redirecting per-capita gifts.
Those are critical issues. On the matters of peaceful separation and withholding per capita. Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick has said ministers and elders violate their ordination vows if they advocate either. That is a serious threat, heavy with implications that those who exercise their constitutional rights could be ex-communicated.
In reality, few evangelicals are suggesting departure from the denomination and most dutifully pay their per-capita apportionments, although there have been two high-profile separation cases in Findlay, Ohio, and Circleville, N.Y.
On the other hand, the sessions of dozens of congregations have essentially renounced the jurisdiction of the PCUSA by publicly declaring that they violate – or will violate – the constitution. As the Coalition rightly points out, the constitution respects their right to leave the denomination without being schismatic, the term Kirkpatrick used in his Jan. 3 letter to stated clerks of middle governing bodies.
Essentially, the Coalition is advocating a level playing field for everyone – and not a double standard that favors the denomination’s left flank.
The PCUSA Constitution tells Presbyterians what we believe and how we live out our faith.
The Coalition summons us to live it out with constitutional integrity. Its letters appeal to reconciliation without dissolution of constitutional authority. There is no rancor in its examination of constitutional issues. There is no name-calling. Rather, the letters are a call to restore a foundering denomination so that Presbyterians can once again become known as people who take seriously their Reformed heritage.