This time, Wheeler advocates telling the truth
By Paula R. Kincaid, The Layman Online, November 16, 1999
“So: how shall Presbyterians who disagree with the church about a serious matter (as it turns out, that’s a sizeable and very diverse group of us) behave?”
Barbara G. Wheeler, president of Auburn Theological Seminary in New York asked that question in her address to the 1999 Conference of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, Atlanta, Ga. on Nov. 6, 1999.
“First, tell the truth,” said Wheeler. “If the church is, indeed, constituted by grateful confession of true faith, then we have no choice but to say what, by the power of God’s Word and Spirit, we deeply believe to be true.”
A contrary opinion
Wheeler had a different answer to a similar question at the Auburn/Union Seminary Luncheon, held at the 210th General Assembly in June, 1998.
In the 1998 speech, later published in the Covenant Network’s official newsletter, Wheeler said “The Presbyterian Church has adopted policies on ordination that a substantial minority of its members think are wrong: … This minority of Presbyterians now faces a difficult, even tragic, dilemma: whether to defy the policies openly, a step that could well lead to disciplinary charges and removal from the ministry; or to acknowledge the force of these policies as church law while working to change them and perhaps quietly subverting them, tactics that weigh heavily on the conscience because they require – at least for the time being – countenancing actions that are wrong and possibly also “making statements that are untrue.” (emphasis added)
Moral equivalence
Titled “True Confession: A Presbyterian Dissenter Thinks About the Church,” Wheeler’s 1999 speech dealt with “how those of us who disagree with the church on any serious matter should behave.” The “serious matter” she discussed was homosexuality.
“I have a practical problem,” she began. “I joined the Presbyterian Church as an adult, in significant measure because I admire this denomination’s theology of the church and its processes for making decisions. Today I find myself in strong disagreement with the church about an important matter. How shall I conduct myself now that I think that my denomination has taken the wrong side on a serious issue?”
While saying her views about homosexuality were not the position of the Covenant Network, she told those gathered at the Network’s conference that “The denomination has declared that homosexual acts are invariably sinful. I think that homosexual acts are morally equivalent to heterosexual ones. In some circumstances, both may be deeply sinful. Under other conditions, both may be used in God’s service.”
She said she holds her position because of the Bible, not in spite of it. “In this case, I know that some passages put homosexual practices in a negative light, but these like the many precise Biblical injunctions that Presbyterians do not observe are overridden by much more blatant testimony.”
Say what you think
“It is time for us, the Presbyterians who have been specializing in tact, to say what we think, civilly and reasonably – diatribes accomplish nothing – but also persuasively,” said Wheeler.
She said those who haven’t made up their minds on the “pivotal issues” must frame their questions sharply, and those who have strong views about “ordination and polity” must state those views with clarity and precision.
“And those who think, as I do, that homosexuality is the basic issue and that the church is in error when it teaches that God abominates homosexual acts committed in the context of covenant faithfulness while blessing heterosexual ones in the same situation – those of us who think that need to speak up, in clear, reasonable and inviting terms that stand a chance of changing the church’s mind. Unity-and-diversity conferences are an excellent start, but the church must be sure that it gets around to talking about the full range of issues that divide us,” she continued.
‘Stay put’
After telling the truth, Wheeler advocates “stay put. Separation from the body in which we have grown into Christ should be almost unthinkable. Calvin was adamant on this point.”
Wheeler said that “On our side of the aisle, there are additional pragmatic arguments for staying put. The most compelling for me, given my concern about homosexuality, is the fact that this denomination, with its history, social status, and many influential members, has impact far beyond its own organizational boundaries. … If a small group of dissenters with views like mine decamps to another denomination or starts a new one, that will have limited and temporary effect on the social tragedy we have helped to create. But if the Presbyterian Church (USA), changes its official teaching on homosexuality, it will go a significant distance toward changing the message that moderate religion broadcasts to the world.”