Renewalists say sexual practices’ compromise a ‘false, cheap peace’
The Layman Online, November 22, 2005
Renewal leaders in U.S. and Canadian Protestant churches say several of their denominations are approving sexual behavior practices that “offer a false, cheap peace.”
But, they add in an open letter from the Association for Church Renewal, “we urge you not to let go of the true and costly peace won by Jesus Christ.”
They point to a “shifting strategy” that is offered as “a compromise” or a “third way” in which homosexual activists and their allies seek “to undermine and ultimately to set aside the historic Christian teaching that affirms God’s good gift of sexual intimacy solely within the marriage of man and woman.”
“The essence of the new strategy is this: to leave in church law books the orthodox standards calling Christians to fidelity in marriage and sexual abstinence in singleness, while inventing procedural devices permitting church bodies and officials to disregard the standards at will. This strategy has been proposed – and, in some cases, functionally adopted – in the Episcopal Church, the American Baptist Churches, the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Presbyterian Church (USA). Insofar as it succeeds in some of those denominations, the strategy will likely be replicated elsewhere.”
The PCUSA strategy is summed up in the report of the denomination’s Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity. The report does not recommend changing the denomination’s prohibition against ordaining practicing homosexuals. However, it does propose that presbyteries and sessions – the denomination’s ordaining bodies – decide on their own whether the constitutional “fidelity/chastity” clause in the Book of Order is essential.
“[W]e cannot be content with standards that remain on paper while being emptied of all force,” the renewal leaders said. “This false ‘compromise’ would be, in some respects, more damaging than a straightforward blessing of homosexual relations. Not only would it convey tolerance of sin in the important area of sexuality, but it would also set the church adrift more generally. This ‘third way’ would sever the church’s practice from its doctrine.”
The renewalists say the advocates “for this ‘third way’ make arguments that strain credibility to the breaking point. They claim that they are ‘proposing no changes’ to the church’s standards. But in fact they are seeking a radical change – to demote the standards to ‘non-essential’ status.”
They urge Christians to refute the claims of the “third way” movement: that contradictory interpretations of Scripture are equally valid.
“This approach is utter nonsense,” they said. “The Bible is filled with unavoidable yes/no choices: ‘I set before you life and death, blessing and curse’ (Deuteronomy 30:19); ‘Choose this day whom you will serve’ (Joshua 24:15); ‘He will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left’ (Matthew 25:33); ‘Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you’ (Revelation 3:20).”
Seven leaders of renewal groups in the Presbyterian Church (USA) signed the letter:
- The Rev. James D. Berkley, interim director, Presbyterian Action for Faith & Freedom.
- The Rev. Susan Cyre, executive director, Presbyterians for Faith, Family, and Ministry.
- The Rev. Thomas J. Edwards, executive director, New Wineskins Initiative.
- Terry Schlossberg, executive director, Presbyterian Coalition.
- The Rev. Michael Walker, executive director, Presbyterians for Renewal.
- The Rev. Parker T. Williamson, chief executive officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and editor in chief of its publications.
- Alan Wisdom, interim president, Institute on Religion and Democracy, PCUSA elder.
The letter was also signed by leaders of renewal groups in the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Episcopal Church (USA), the Church of the Brethren and the United Church of Christ.