By Peter Johnson, guest writer at Juicy Ecumenism.
The Presbyterian Church(USA) has long boasted of their “big tent” approach to faith. To this end, the PCUSA has settled on a policy known as “mutual forbearance.” In a denomination where there are widely divergent theological ideas, “mutual forbearance” remains an almost universally accepted principle.
As divisive issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, ordination of gay clergy, and extramarital sex arise in the denomination, leaders issue statements like this one, which was issued by a North Carolina Presbyter: “One of the core values of being Presbyterian is the mutual forbearance that we can agree to disagree and still remain family.”
And in orderly Presbyterian fashion, the exact definition of mutual forbearance has been written into church’s Book of Order:
F-3.0105 Mutual Forbearance That, while under the conviction of the above principle we think it necessary to make effectual provision that all who are admitted as teachers be sound in the faith, we also believe that there are truths and forms with respect to which men of good characters and principles may differ. And in all these we think it the duty both of private Christians and societies to exercise mutual forbearance toward each other. Mutual forbearance means accepting differences and continuing to work together. Unity is of paramount importance. Not Fear! The Bible is not constricting but liberating. Study of God’s Word leads to the recognition that the WORD of God is larger and wider than any printed word. We should not, can not limit the power of God to bring love to all the world, to do less is to deny our basic Christianity.
Last month, when the last of the PCUSA presbyteries voted in favor of gay marriage, the PCUSA again demonstrated its adherence to mutual forbearance by including language in the Book of Order that would allow proponents of traditional marriage to avoid participating in same-sex weddings:
Likewise, the determination by a Session as to whose weddings a congregation will host remains solely with the Session. There is nothing in the [gay marriage] amendment to compel any Teaching Elder to conduct a wedding against his or her judgment, nor a Session to host one against its judgment.
The irony, of course, is that while the doctrinal tent poles of PCUSA continue to stretch the tent larger, there are less and less people in the tent: In the last 20 years the denomination has lost over half its membership.
Occasionally, though, leaders in the PCUSA appear to forget the denomination’s guiding principle. For example, after the recent Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage, the PCUSA’s Office of Public Witness released a statement, which began as follows:
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is celebrating the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that same-gender couples have a constitutional right to marry nationwide, striking down bans in 14 states.
How exactly does it demonstrate mutual forbearance to assert that the entire PCUSA is “celebrating” same-sex marriage, especially when last year’s General Assembly vote demonstrated that around a third of PCUSA congregations are still uncomfortable blessing same-sex unions?
18 Comments. Leave new
“Mutual Forbearance” is a joke, tell that to the churches that have tried to leave the pcusa with their property, all you can hope for is that the presbyteries are wearing protection while they and the parting churches are engaged in Mutual Forbearance.
Stop the presses, The PCUSA is a partisan political organization lead by ideological sycophants? Wait a minute here. Next you will tell me the Mission Agency is a model of open and honest governance.
That’s not fair: “One of the core values of being [an apostate] Presbyterian is the mutual forbearance that we can agree to disagree and still remain family.” This “core value” clearly means that if you try to leave the “family”, you’re toast. Sorta like a crime family. Badda bing badda boom!
This reporting is not factual in its entirety. National statistics on church attendance went down across the board, nationwide. Perhaps you could have been less opinionated in your reporting of the facts.
Well then why are the more tradional churches growing across the board?
“with their property” – the nerve of some people, trying to remain faithful to God in the buildings they built and paid for.
The decline is taking place in the Mainline churches. The evangelical churches are growing.
There is no ‘big tent but we’re all family’ within the PCUSA when they are voting on our money and where it goes. When a few people start deciding on divesting from specific industries and countries that they disagree with and they are taking my dollars to do so, there is no big tent, there is no tolerance, there is nothing but hypocrisy. Big tent my foot. Better to stay silent than to come out and proclaim untruths.
“On the other hand, there are some who think the writing is already on the wall. After all, if a denomination is guided, above all else, by the core principle of mutual forbearance, how can it not, eventually, accept some divergence on the central tenants of the faith?”
How can it diverge from the central tenants of the faith when they have none? They voted down creating and publishing the tenants at the last GA!
maybe because they are using the Bible, pure and simple, not just a “Sunday message.”
Interesting leftist tactic, concentrate on the one item in the story that may not be totally accurate, thus obfuscating the remaining part of the story which is very factual. Well played !!
OK … grammar police:
tenants – someone who rents a property
tenets – a belief or idea that is very important to a group
back to your point. Obviously the PC(USA) does not believe that having a list of tenets, of beliefs, is important.
How does that phrase go? If you stand for everything, you stand for nothing ??
Sorry, my bad tenets.
Stretching the “family” metaphor, agreeing to disagree, to cover the present “disagreements” is too much. The body of Christ is bound by the covenants, not by the accident of birth.
If we are faithful to God, we cannot approve of anything that he has declared to be evil–we cannot welcome into our fellowship anyone who prefers the practices that God forbids to those which he enjoins. We must listen to our Creator, and not to the world which despises him.
Good article….this is exactly why I was so offended by the “PCUSA is celebrating the ruling…..” statement that was put forth by the church….it is an intentional, hateful, and condescending slap in the face of those who still hold the Word above worldly compromising.
Good catch, Reformed Catholic. Do you suppose the congregations will ever catch on to what has happened and what continue to go on?
Mutual forbearance is wonderful for differences on the small stuff. However, apostasy is a long, long way from the small stuff. Those practicing apostasy, and allowing/promoting it within their sphere of influence are not “men of good character” at least as I see it. They are in open rebellion against the Lord. We must extract ourselves and as many as we can from the vile influence of those disciples of the worm.