Open letter
Pastor is uncomfortable as a pastor in the PCUSA at this time
September 28, 2011
Pastor’s letter first published in church newsletter. Reprinted here with premission.
I would like to start out by saying that I love each and every one of you. Over the past six years, I have come to know most of you personally. I have also come to realize that we are all different; we have different personalities, different gifts, different likes and dislikes, but the fact remains that we are bonded together, by our faith in Christ, as the Body of Christ in this world.
I find myself very uncomfortable as a pastor in the PCUSA at this time. As most of you know, I consider myself a staunchly Biblical conservative. That doesn’t mean that I’m a Republican at heart, it means that I’m a fundamentalist when it comes to interpreting what God’s Word says. If God’s Word says that we should not be stealing, then if we steal, we are sinning against God. If God’s Word says that we should not be committing adultery, then if we commit adultery, we are sinning against God. If God’s Word says that we should be tithing 10 percent of what we earn, then if we are not tithing, we are sinning against God. If God’s Word says “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable,” then if we do this, we are sinning against God. God has given us His Word so that we know in our hearts and minds what is right and what is wrong, and if we continue to do that which is wrong, or support those who do wrong, then we are sinning against God.
I find myself very uncomfortable as a pastor in the PCUSA because of the simple fact that the PCUSA is now embracing un-Godly and un-Biblical doctrines. The PCUSA has compromised its commitment to the unique, saving lordship of Jesus Christ as well as to the authority of the Scriptures. Many pastors and church leaders within the PCUSA believe that there are many ways to salvation, that you don’t have to believe in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, even though Jesus Christ himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). In so doing, the PCUSA has tolerated, embraced, and even promoted the infiltration of theological pluralism, in direct opposition to our mandate from God as believers to hold fast to the faith and guard against its depravity by false teachers (2 Tim. 4:1-5). The creeping pluralism within the PCUSA has predictably altered the historical understanding of what constitutes sin, creating a conflicted witness to its members and to the world.
The changes that took place at the General Assembly meeting of the PCUSA last year (2010) have removed the chastity and fidelity requirements from the PCUSA Book of Order. This means that the door has been opened for unrepentant homosexuals to become pastors, elders and deacons in the PCUSA. This action has been denounced by many churches within the PCUSA as well as by other denominations and presbyteries around the world. First Presbyterian Church of Paullina has even received a letter from the Byzantine Catholic Church (universal) denouncing our denomination’s changes and calls for us to repent. The National Presbyterian Church of Mexico has renounced their association with the PCUSA. The Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) has also denounced the PCUSA’s pro-gay proclivity. As a pastor within the PCUSA, I find myself guilty by association with the PCUSA and I no longer consider the PCUSA a “Christian” denomination for the above reasons.
I can assure you that as long as I remain pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Paullina, we will adhere to the fidelity and chastity clause of the Book of Order before it was changed in 2011. In addition, we will unwaveringly be grounded in the Lordship of Jesus Christ as the one and only way to be saved. And we shall continue to uphold the Word of God, as revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures as the divinely inspired, unique and authoritative witness to Jesus Christ, the ultimate authority of the church universal. As is stated in the Presbyterian Book of Order W-2.2001, “The reading, hearing, preaching, and confessing of God’s Word is therefore the central focus of Christian worship.”
Being as uncomfortable as I am with the PCUSA, I’m not sure how much longer I can conscientiously remain in this denomination. This came to the forefront of my mind when I was recently on the PCUSA Facebook site and one of the PCUSA pastors from Minnesota quote a verse of Scripture to me from John 13:23 KJV, “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved,” and he quoted this verse knowing full well that this verse is a feeble attempt by the gay community to validate their sinful lifestyles, and at the same time imply that Jesus was gay. This is the sort of depravity that exists within the PCUSA today!
There are a lot of things wrong with this world. There are a lot of sins embraced by the world, which the world finds acceptable. But we, as the Body of Christ in the world, are called to separate ourselves from the world. The world and society are more and more accepting of unrepentant sinful lifestyles, but they have no place in God’s church. God has labeled sin as sin, and so, it is not acceptable in the eyes of God … especially for church officers, for leaders and role models of God’s church. I share in Christ’s prayer for each of you as found in John 17:9-19.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He cause His face to shine upon you. May He lift up His countenance upon you and grant you peace,
Pastor Andrew Hilla
First Presbyterian Church, Paullina, Iowa