Whitlock: The message that needs to go out is ‘Let my people go’
By Craig M. Kibler, February 9, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. – “As Moses said to Pharaoh, the message that needs to go out is ‘Let my people go,'” the New Wineskins Association of Churches Convocation was told Thursday.
The Rev. Dr. Luder G. Whitlock Jr. told more than 500 people at First Presbyterian Church that, “I understand the things you are wrestling with and I empathize with you.” The key, he said, is “coherent Reformed theology and the grandeur of the sovereignty of God. Our heritage is rooted in the Word of God – what he has taught and called us to be and do.”
Whitlock serves as the executive director of The Trinity Forum, an organization that offers seminars, discussions and other events for thousands of leaders in North America, Europe and Asia. In 1975, he joined the faculty of Reformed Theological Seminary and, at the age of 37, was appointed president, a position he held for 23 years. Under his leadership, the seminary grew from a small regional school to one of the most innovative as well as one of the 10 largest seminaries in North America, with multiple campuses in the United States, as well as gateway extension programs in Asia, South America and Europe.
He also has served on the boards of the National Association of Evangelicals, the World Evangelical Fellowship (North America region), Mission America, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization and Greater Europe Mission.
In his presentation, Whitlock talked about the history of Presbyterianism in North America, and of how people left “their own countries and emigrated to this land.” After 100 years of settlement here, “Presbyterianism began to flourish on American soil. In 1706, the very first presbytery was established in Philadelphia. It probably took 100 years to determine if they could trust one another to form a presbytery,” he said to laughter from the audience.
Presbyterians also played a large role in The Great Awakening, Whitlock said, “a spiritual movement that left a lasting imprint on this country, so much so that G.K. Chesterton referred to America as the ‘Nation with the Soul of a Church.’ Presbyterians also led the way to independence. The only minister signing the Declaration of Independence was John Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minister.”
“And,” Whitlock said to more laughter, “as you may know, Horace Walpole announced to the British Parliament, ‘Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson.'”
He then sketched out the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy of the early 20th century, citing the Auburn Affirmation “as a major source of contention that created additional tensions and sparked a pattern of confessional decline.”
Still, as the century continued, in spite of these difficulties, Presbyterians continued to grow and make progress.
By the mid-1950s, Whitlock said, “there were more than four million Presbyterians in this country, the fifth-largest Protestant denomination. Presbyterians were highly esteemed and had an influence far beyond what membership figures would suggest. During the late 1950s, research on religion in American uncovered the fact that twice as many people wished to be Presbyterian than were already members. I don’t know how we kept them out,” he said to laughter from the audience.
“Given the fact that our population doubled since that time,” Whitlock said, “we would have expected a golden age of Presbyterianism with at least 10 million or more members by now.”
Instead, he said, there has been an “unrelenting hemorrhage of members that threatens to become an irreversible slide into extinction.” The reason? “Primarily because liberal, revisionist leaders have gained control of the denomination power structure and adroitly maneuvered to achieve their goals. Eviscerating Biblical authority, pursuing a left-leaning social-political agenda rather than evangelism and spiritual moral goals, they assured a very different kind of Presbyterianism would predominate.”
Whitlock then discussed the “turbulent social upheaval of the 1960s,” with the result being that “the Christian worldview that had prevailed since the Colonial period as the principal influence on American values and culture was smashed. In its aftermath, Presbyterians made a major shift to accommodate. The Confession of ’67 and a trail of other tragic developments soon followed and Presbyterians who were evangelical and orthodox found themselves marginalized, ideologically displaced and culturally homeless. Conflict between evangelical and liberal Presbyterians was rife, with hostility and distrust mounting steadily.”
“Now, there is frequent mention of a dying church. I have no doubt that the leaders who have inflicted us with these plagues are sincere but, in light of history and the Scriptures, they are sincerely wrong and they are taking a great denomination down with them,” he said. “The die is cast, the noose is slowly tightening and if the trend continues, the once-great PCUSA will fall into utter ruin.”
Whitlock said it is time to develop something “positive and visionary – a new mission-driven, ministry-focused Presbyterianism. It is high time we committed ourselves to emphasizing and experiencing the spiritual mission of the church so that our hearts may burn joyfully with passion as we serve the Lord together, share the Gospel and provide spiritual nurture to his people. After all, that is why the church exists. This is the most important thing for, without it, the church finds no justification. We need to make the main thing become the main thing again. It is time to put first things first.”
Craig M. Kibler is the Director of Publications for the Presbyterian Lay Committee and Executive Editor of The Layman and The Layman Online. He can be reached at cmkibler@www.layman.org.