Hunter Farrell
Hunter Farrell’s prophetic words to the 2014 General Assembly in Detroit are beginning to come true, as two of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s mission partners have broken ties with the PCUSA over the issue of same-sex marriage. Farrell is the Director of World Mission for the PCUSA.
According to the Presbyterian News Service (PNS), in July, 2015, “the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPIB) and the Evangelical Presbyterian and Reformed Church of Peru (IEPRP) both voted to break relations with the PCUSA over the change in the definition of marriage.”
The Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil
The PNS article quoted from a letter that the IPIB wrote to notify the PCUSA of its decision to end its partnership:
“After a debate that began in 2011, when the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the United States introduced changes in the criteria for ordination, as well as the recent changes concerning the definition of marriage and permission for ministers to celebrate marriages between persons of the same sex, our church, that had initially decided to continue in partnership, in this last General Assembly, made the decision to interrupt the official partnership with this beloved church.
“We cannot help but express our deep gratitude to God for the life and ministry of the Presbyterian Church of the United States. As a country and as a church we have been very blessed by this church ever since the first Presbyterian missionary arrived here in 1859. … Despite this notable contribution to the expansion of God’s kingdom in the world and especially in Brazil, our church has understood that the recent decisions made by the PCUSA are against the principle of the authority of Scripture over the life and faith of the Church, as well as the confessional documents of our common Reformed heritage. Above all remains our deepest gratitude and respect to this Church and our prayers on your behalf.”
Evangelical Presbyterian and Reformed Church of Peru
In its letter to the PCUSA, the IEPRP wrote:
“The General Assembly of the IEPRP on June 26, 2007, signed a covenant of cooperation with the PCUSA, although some representatives had certain doubts. One of the points at issue was the discussion of homosexual marriage in a PCUSA presbytery. The president of the IEPRP expressed the IEPRP’s concerns with respect to the change in the PCUSA Book of Order in 2011 that allows the ordination of homosexuals to the different ministries of the Church. And on March 17, 2015, the PCUSA approved homosexual marriage. The IEPRP in its General Assembly which met June 24–26, 2015, voted unanimously not to renew the covenant between the IEPRP and the PCUSA. …
“The IEPRP gives thanks to God for these years of partnership and expresses its gratitude to the PCUSA for the diaconal support received from June 2007 to June 2015 in the form of different service projects benefitting children, young people, women and the different governing bodies of the IEPRP. It also gives thanks for the accompaniment and support of short-, medium- and long-term mission efforts and for financial support leading to the elaboration of the IEPRP’s Strategic Plan. We give thanks to God for allowing us to work with the PCUSA and to serve the Presbyterian Church in Peru.
“The IEPRP and PCUSA signed a covenant which was renewed for several periods; nevertheless, the IEPRP decided unanimously not to renew its covenant with the PCUSA and not to ratify the covenants signed by governing bodies of the IEPRP as of June 2015. The IEPRP promises to pray for the PCUSA, that the Lord Almighty guide them according to the Holy Scriptures, our only rule of faith and conduct.”
Conversations with partners
Farrell told the PNS that Presbyterian World Missions has held conversations “with church leaders from Brazil and Peru since their decisions and together we shared a hope for healing and a renewed ability to engage God’s mission together. But at this moment this is not possible, and it brings us great sadness.”
He added, “We have a deep respect for the voice of international partners, because partnership is at the core of our understanding of Christ’s mission around the world, so we have listened very carefully to these church leaders. As the church continues to be reformed and always reforming, we hope in the future that we can be reunited in partnership with these churches as we work together to build God’s kingdom.”
Prophetic words from 2014
Farrell predicted this would happen when he addressed General Assembly Committee 10 — Civil Unions and Marriage Issues, the committee which ultimately recommended that the assembly approve two different measures that would allow same-sex marriages to be performed by PCUSA pastors and in PCUSA churches. The assembly concurred with the committee’s recommendation a few days later.
In March of 2015, a majority of the denomination’s presbyteries ratified the assembly’s decision to change the definition of marriage from being between “a man and a woman” to being between “two people,” and it took effect on June 21.
In June of 2014, before it began debating the issue of same-sex marriage in the PCUSA, Farrell told Committee 10 that if the denomination’s definition of marriage is changed, he believed at least 17 of the denomination’s 54 global mission partners would break relations with the PCUSA.
Another 25 global partners told World Missions personnel that the change would cause damage to their relationship with the PCUSA, but the partner would not completely break ties with the denomination, Farrell said.
Two disagree but continue PCUSA partnership
The PNS article stated that two unnamed denominations – one in the Middle East and one in Latin America – expressed their disagreement with the PCUSA’s decision to allow same-sex marriage, but “reaffirmed their commitment to continue in relationship with the PCUSA.”
One denomination was quoted by the PNS as saying:
“Considering the historical relationship that binds our two churches together, we believe that it is possible and even necessary for us to express ourselves honestly, and in a spirit of love to our brothers and sisters in the PCUSA, by openly sharing how their decision on this matter affects us. It is a source of pain within our Church, and a source of embarrassment in the larger context of a culture that finds this decision deplorable. … We seek to preserve the historical ties between our churches, and are grateful for the long and glorious heritage of the ministry of faithful missionaries, who established the Presbyterian work here and who contribute to the building and reviving of the Church and its institutions. …”
The other denomination wrote:
“After an overture by two presbyteries to definitively break relations with the PCUSA, by majority vote of our church, we confirm the partnership agreement that we maintain with our sister church, the PCUSA. We ask that the PCUSA, based on the agreement we have signed, continue in relationship of mutual respect and collaboration, taking into account the idiosyncrasies, culture and theological principles of each church. We also ask, based on our understanding of biblical principles, that you not send mission workers that are married to people of the same gender. We will communicate to our presbyteries that it is not prudent to break relations with the PCUSA.”
This is not the first time a PCUSA mission partner has broken ties with the denomination over its stands on homosexual issues.
In 2011, the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico broke ties with the Presbyterian Church (USA) over its decision to allow the ordination of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender persons to the offices of pastor, elder and deacon.
At its own General Assembly meeting, the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico voted 116-22 to end its 139-year relationship with the PCUSA, and to not re-enter a relationship with the denomination rescinded its action on ordaining gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons as pastors, elders and deacons.
In a letter sent to PCUSA Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons, Pbro. Amador López Hernández said that after the Mexican denomination’s General Assembly analyzed the PCUSA’s actions, it voted to “break off relations immediately, denouncing the sin and disobedience explicit to the Word of God that tells us that we must not be partakers of the same. ‘And I heard a voice from heaven saying: Go ye forth from her, my people, for you aren’t involved in his sins …’ (Revelation 18:4).”
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“The church continues to be reformed and always reforming.”
This is the call of the Church, but more specifically it is called to be reformed and always reforming according to the Word of God.
In reality, the Presbyterian Church (USA) continues to be conformed and always conforming to the ways of this fallen world. Until the PC(USA) repents of this, turns from its sin of idolizing the culture, and turns back to God, as He is revealed in His Holy Word, the Bible, then breaches of this sort, as well as the disaffiliations of disaffected, Biblically orthodox members and congregations, will continue, and the PC(USA) will continue to shrivel away into impotent irrelevance, unable to pursuade anyone outside the pale of the Church why they should be Christians, let alone Presbyterians.
louisville does not care if these sister international churches break off relations, in louisville thats less money to spend, they were already going to cut the misssion budget, all the while they rape parting congregations. Frankly, this is no skin off their backs, because they don’t care.
It’s obvious that PCUSA idolizes pop culture over God’s word.
PCUSA bureaucrats love to natter on about “the church reformed and always reforming” as if they have license to decide for themselves how to go about reforming it. As in nearly everything else they do, they ignore the part about “according to the Word of God”.
Is anyone watching what missionaries are being let go and the criteria for doing so? Maybe Hunter Ferrell knows how those decisions are being made? Does the fact that around the world, the “church”is not supportive of the “sexually permissive” movement of the PCUSA. How does that affect our individual missionaries in parts of the world (like Kenya, Middle East, or South America) where gay agenda and promiscuity is problematic?It is not just large group mission partners that are losing their witness in the World.
I fear evangelism is not a priority with the PCUSA any longer other wise the
needs of our mission partners and missionaries would have had more weight.
Actually, they do keep the part of “according to the Word of God” in, but they interpret “the Word of God” to mean Jesus Christ, the Word of God (Jn. 1; see also the Declaration of Barmen and the Confession of 1967), but who, unlike the Jesus Christ of Scripture, is not all that concerned that the Law and the Prophets be fulfilled, and which, when thus divorced from Scripture, can be reinterpreted to sanction all manner of theological and sexual perversion.
They also ignore the passive voice of the Latin participle “reformanda,” which has the meaning “being reformed.” The Church is not the active partner in the process of reformation, but always the responsive partner, listening to the Word and obeying the prompting of the Spirit of God.
You could state PCUSA broke its contract with a number of entities.
100% correct about this statement.
The Bird Still Sings
BY RAVI ZACHARIAS
Click here to read on rzim.org
Years ago I read a powerful essay by my favorite essayist, F.W. Boreham, called “The Candle and The Bird.” With his brilliant sweep of knowledge of God’s working in history, Boreham traces how revivals have spread from continent to continent, how when the brilliant flame of God’s moving in the hearts of people seemed to be dying out in one place there would be a fresh spark igniting a God-breathed revival elsewhere. From Germany through Zinzendorf to England through Wesley and Whitfield to Wales and Scotland, and then to the Evangelical Awakening in America, it is fascinating to see how God has done His work through times and seasons and locations. Boreham distinguishes between extinguishing a candle and chasing away a bird: when you extinguish a candle, the light goes out; when you chase away a bird, it sings its song from another bough. Hence, his title “The Candle and The Bird”—a beautiful metaphor.
In America now it is fashionable to mock the bird of evangelicalism and try to silence it. But the song is being sung on other boughs and historic movements are taking place. In China, Korea, and the Middle East, places where once the gospel’s saving message seemed to be extinguished, churches are packed with hungry hearts, the youth listening to the gospel message with rapt attention. In countries where there was once hostility, crowds fill the auditoriums. In Romania, where to believe in God was once to put one’s life at risk, ten thousand filled the auditorium in which I spoke. From senators and other political leaders there we heard of the dark days of the past and of the shining hope of the future. We prayed in chambers once inhabited by a tyrant and were told this was probably the first time a prayer had been publicly uttered. They have witnessed what Christ-less lives can birth, shattering their countries and their hopes. They can now see that the only possible hope for transforming a heart is Jesus Christ.
But mistakes were made across history and we still have not learned. When the gospel was first taken into places like India and China in the 18th and 19th centuries, it often came on the wings of western political expansionism and the so-called “gunboat diplomacy.” That incongruous combination spelt disaster for both groups. Political imperialism soon lost out, and with it went the missionary effort, seen as being in cahoots with political demagoguery. In a staggering change, now the agents of demagoguery are carrying a different message, basically, “We in America have evicted Christian values and beliefs. We have replaced them with naturalistic assumptions. Mores and the sacred are things of the past. We have silenced those voices … and so must you; if you don’t, you will forfeit all the monetary support we would otherwise give you.” Yes, that is what is happening, and rather than being an influence for good in the world, America is becoming a purveyor of ungodliness.
What those with this monetary “gun-to-the-head” attitude don’t realize is that other countries have seen through this hollowness, and what was once a respected nation is now viewed as a valueless paper machine sinking because it has lost its faith and values. They know it. They say it. They remind us of the emptiness of freedom without responsibility. We are too blind to admit that our gradual collapse has come walking in lockstep with our irreligious handmaiden, toward our disintegration. Jesus cautioned us about such scandalous blindness.
But there is good news. The very nations that evicted “gunboat” missions are now receiving the message of Jesus without the gunboat. Those giving heed to the gunboat of naturalism will accept the gunboat’s benefits but reject the naturalism it insists on because they have already been there and know why they were sinking and in need of assistance. I have had sheiks and mullahs tell me, “Please don’t stop coming; we need you here. We need Christians here.” Those were the very words to me a few years ago from the now assassinated Chief of Intelligence in Syria. He knew the healing balm of Jesus Christ was needed and as we left him, the church leader with me expressed his amazement at hearing such an admission. It just could not be made in public.
The church in China is the fastest growing church in the world. One professor in China told a Christian colleague, a friend of mine, “Stop criticizing Marxism…. It left the souls of the people empty, which is why they are listening to you now.” I can just hear a generation from now someone telling the next generation of preachers in America, “Stop criticizing naturalism. It has left the souls of people empty, which is why they are listening to you now.”
Ironically, in a powerful piece published some years ago in his very popular column in England, self-proclaimed atheist Matthew Parris said that after he had revisited Malawi where he had grown up, he was convinced against his ideological commitment to atheism that what Africa needs is not more aid but the gospel of Jesus Christ, which alone changes hearts. He admitted to speaking with a schizoid struggle, yet he strongly believed that the only hope for Africa was the Evangel: the gospel of Jesus Christ. He ended his article in The Times of December 27, 2008, “Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete.” That, from an atheist is profoundly powerful.
The bird is singing from different boughs … it is not silent. In a twist, down the road our rabid atheism here may one day awaken society to what it has squandered. Yes, it can happen that the bird will start singing again in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, and throughout this land. You would be amazed at the letters we get expressing the disillusionment of people from within their own worldview without values and without God. One professor in California told me that when he was young, he was a radical activist for all the causes that challenged our shared meanings of the past. Now in his veteran years he deeply regrets that wrongheaded life of his youth.
The bird still sings its songs. We hear it and see it as we travel—and I would be remiss if I did not say “many thanks to all our supporters” who make it possible for our team to get to these places.
The words of Arthur Hugh Clough say it well:
For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light;
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly!
But westward, look, the land is bright!
The mockery will not have the last laugh. You see, dancing on the grave of an extinguished Christianity is farcical at best. Because the grave is empty. And the one who knows the way out of the grave sits in the heavens and laughs.
PCUSA leaders need to read this article and see if they are truely leading the Church to do Evangelism.
PCUSA leaders always said to the leaders of the partner churches – No funding enough for this type of work or that type, so these so and so had to go home. Then they wrote a letter to supporting churches of these missionaries who were cut to support other missionareis whom they wanted to keep. look at the list of the missionaries and the type of ministries they are doing in these other countries, one can get the idea how these things are being done.
I wonder if this news will make next year’s “Mission Yearbook of Prayer?”
I listen to Ravi Z. every Sunday morning. A wonderful encouragement prior to preaching!
There are some stories unfolding that are yet to be told.
The true nature of those in charge in the PCUSA will come to light.
However, the damage may be a sad part of the story as we see the
diminished affect of this denomination in light of its glorious missionary service in the past.
I can only surmise that God is allowing a clean break for a greater good to carry out His will.
The Church is the bride of Christ and the wife is to be submissive to her husband. The problem as I see it is that most folks today on both sides of the argument get overwhelmed by their ignorance of the the nuances of the language. It’s seems that the more education we get the dumber we become. Meanwhile innocent people are still being beheaded and we are still condoning the mutilation of babies as Women’s rights. Meanwhile back at the session meetings we are still arguing ad infinitum about whether to offer a choice of gluten free bread to our little 3 year old communicants. Just my jaded viewpoint. God’s in His Heaven and all’s right in his world.