Revised ‘Building Community Among Strangers’ adopted
The Layman Online, June 30, 1999
FORT WORTH – “Building Community Among Strangers,” a controversial document submitted by the PCUSA’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy and sent back to them by the 1998 General Assembly, came back to the 1999 Assembly having undergone significant revision.
The original study was sharply criticized for equating believers in the truth of God’s revelation with followers of “a jealous tribal God.” It urged Presbyterians to become “Christian humanists,” religious pluralists who believe that all beliefs about God are equally valid. The new document unequivocally states that “Jesus Christ is Lord of the world as well as the church.”
In addition to the changes made prior to this Assembly, commissioners incorporated several additional alterations, then adopted the amended document.