Professor explains purpose of group
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, November 7, 2006
GREENVILLE, S.C. – What is a Constitutional Presbyterian?
Being a Constitutional Presbyterian does not mean “you’re joining another organization,” said Michael Bush, one of the leaders of the group and a member of the faculty of Erskine Theological Seminary in Due West, S.C. “There is nothing to join – no board, no membership, no budget, just a set resources.”
Constitutional Presbyterians are not in favor of splitting the PCUSA, he added.
“Our goal is the unity and integrity of this church and renewal and reformation of this church,” Bush concluded.
“You cannot solve a theological problem with a political strategy,” Bush said. “You cannot solve it with a policy on the property. The only solution is good theology.”
Bush added: good theology plus people “recommitting ourselves to the plain text of the constitution we already have.”
He said 15 presbyteries have voted to make that commitment by approving resolutions saying they will abide by the “fidelity/chastity” ordination requirement. He also expressed misgivings about some parts of the PCUSA Book of Order.
He said he believes Chapter 8, which says every PCUSA congregation holds its property in trust for the denomination, should be eliminated. And he said he was wary about the authoritative interpretation approved by the 2006 General Assembly that says presbyteries and sessions may decide that the constitutional prohibition against ordaining practicing homosexuals is a nonessential.
Yet, he added, “It may well be that the General Assembly has not loosened our ordination standards. It may have made our standards stricter. That remains to be seen. We won’t know until the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission rules on a case.”
Bush’s comments about the status of the authoritative were made before the John Knox Presbytery’s Committee on Preparation for Ministry unanimously recommended that Scott Anderson, a member of the Theological Task Force, be accepted as an inquirer on track for ordination. Anderson is a practicing homosexual.
“The constitution itself provides ways for us to correct its flaws,” Bush said. Being a Constitutional Presbyterian means two things at least: 1) recommitting ourselves to the hard work of theological reflection and 2) recommitting ourselves to the hard work of following the constitution.”
Lewis Fowler, a retired presbytery executive, also urged Presbyterians not to leave the denomination. But he expressed concern about the “dark side of the church” and the GA”s authoritative interpretation, which he called “an authoritative misinterpretation.”
“I want to stay. Let the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission decide what transpirted. I want to stay because I, too, am a constitutionalist. This church needs to bring the peace, unity and purity … Finally, I’ll stay because the liberals want us to leave,” Fowler said.