2012 General Assembly Report From Marnie Crumpler

Transcription

1 2012 General Assembly Report From Marnie Crumpler I recently returned from Pittsburgh where the PC(USA) General Assembly (GA) convened. In this report, I hope to give both an overview of the actions and ethos of the assembly as well as a brief primer on our Presbyterian governing system. Background As Presbyterians, we are characterized by and distinguished from other denominations by two traits. First, we are Presbyterian or Reformed in our theology. Reformed theology is a systematic way of understanding Christian beliefs. It is embodied most of all in our dedication to Scripture, and then in a variety of confessions, catechisms, and other materials that explain and capture the essential tenets Christian beliefs. When both pastors and elders are ordained, they take an oath that they sincerely receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith as expressed in the confessions of our church as authentic and reliable expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do and promise to be instructed and led by those confessions. Second, we are Presbyterian in our polity. Our governing structure is characterized by two important elements: (1) a form of representative government, and (2) a structure with each layer of governance subject to a higher body. So, Peachtree is governed by its Session, whom the members elect every year. Above that is the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta which governs the 106 churches in this area, and is one of 173 presbyteries throughout the U.S. Above that is the Synod of the South Atlantic, which governs 16 presbyteries in the states of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. Finally, above the Synod is the General Assembly, which is the highest governing body of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the official name of our denomination. While this form of governance may sound complicated and bureaucratic, it is the model used by our Founding Fathers to organize the United States of America. The structure is intended to be representative, but the extent to which the governing bodies actually represent the majority of Presbyterians throughout the United States is debatable. Some view this disconnect between the governing bodies and the majority of Presbyterians as one cause of the turmoil within our denomination and huge decline in the size of the denomination over the past twenty years.

2 2012 General Assembly Like every other biennial GA, pastor and elder commissioners came from all of the 173 presbyteries, based on membership numbers. This year, the median age of the commissioners was 60 and only 14% were under 45. Peachtree s presbytery, the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, sent 6 elders and 6 pastors. Though Peachtree represents a large percentage of our presbytery and funds close to 10% of the presbytery budget, the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta has elected only one Peachtree elder (and no Peachtree pastors) to attend as voting commissioners in the past ten years. This is an important point: although Peachtree is the largest church in the denomination, it has effectively no voice in PC(USA) affairs. Other large churches have a similar experience. The first business of GA is to elect the moderator who literally moderates the business sessions (called the plenary sessions) and acts as a representative for the denomination for the years between plenary. This year, Neal Presa, a pastor of a 50 member church in New Jersey, was elected on the fourth ballot (a candidate must be elected by a majority of commissioners). The moderator chooses a vice-moderator candidate who is confirmed by the Assembly. Presa s choice, Rev. Tara McCabe, was a controversial candidate, given her admission that she had violated the PC(USA) constitution by signing a samegender marriage license. After long debate, McCabe was elected by a percent margin. Four days later she resigned. Throughout, McCabe declined to express remorse for her disregard of the constitution. Although one would think that McCabe s disregard for our constitution would provide a non-controversial basis for her resignation, it proved otherwise. Those who questioned her candidacy on the basis of the constitution were berated and accused of bullying. 1 Over 800 pieces of business 2 came to the General Assembly from presbyteries, commissioners and former assemblies and were distributed to committees. This year s GA had 21 committees ranging from Church Polity to Immigration Issues. The committees brought recommendations on each piece of business to the plenary for vote. Often, committees with controversial business offered the assembly both a majority and a minority report for consideration. Demographics At one of the first plenary sessions, the Board of Pensions of the PC(USA) gave a presentation of denominational demographics. Although Peachtree is now and has 1 For news coverage on this issue, see vice- moderator- resigns- amid- divisive- comments / or resigns- vice- moderator- 220th- ga/ 2 For a list of all business and the GA action on business listed by committee, see biz.org

3 always been a growing, thriving, young and intergenerational church, this good news does not extend to the denomination as a whole. Over the last decade the PC(USA) has lost 20% of its membership. For every worshipper our denomination has under the age of 25, Presbyterian churches have 6 over the age of 65. The majority of worshippers are over 55. The median age of worshippers is 61 (Peachtree s is less than 40). There are 10,466 churches in the denomination. Since the beginning of PC(USA) in 1983, the median size of churches has decreased 40% from 151 to % of churches have fewer than 200 members, which represents 30% of PCUSA total membership. Although only 8% have more than 500 members, those churches represent 41% of PC(USA) total membership. 3 Little commentary was given on these staggering statistics. As churches continue to leave the denomination and membership ages, a steeper decline of membership is inevitable. No one offered an expectation that this trend would reverse. Theology Biblical Authority At the heart of Presbyterian and Reformed theology is our commitment to Scripture. Sola Scriptura, the core tenet of the Protestant Reformation, means that Scripture is the unique and authoritative Word of God. Sadly, one of the descriptions used of the Bible at the Assembly was that it is the ever-evolving word of God. A Reformed view of Scripture is that the Word of God doesn t change but instead the Word of God changes us. The Assembly voted down an overture that sought to add obedience to Scripture as a qualification for elders and pastors. The use of Scripture at the Assembly regularly disconnected our denomination from the global and historic church. This trajectory of a changing view of the authority of Scripture is entrenched in the PC(USA). Another example of this trajectory was the overture that adopted a study that encourages Christians to develop alternative language for God. It encourages moving away from clear, biblical language about God and questions the use of the words Lord and King as hierarchical and kyriarchical (which is a newly created word implying a dominating hierarchy). This study will be promoted on the main banner of the PC(USA) website. 3 To see slides presented, go to biz.org/resources/63b6c294- c4f9-4fc1- b02a- 342f705bd98a/Demographic%20slides%20for%20GA.pdf. For article and interviews on recent statistics, see membership- dips- below- 2- million /

4 Confessions The constitution of the PC(USA) includes the Book of Confessions 4 and our Book of Order. The Book of Confession is made up of 11 Confessions which have been written throughout the history of the Church. They include the Apostles Creed, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Barmen Declaration, and the Confession of Confessions are written to declare Jesus is Lord at a specific time in church history in light of that time s issues and challenges. As noted, when pastors and elders are ordained, they are asked to affirm that the Confessions are authentic and reliable expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do. 5 Despite the importance of Confessions as a part of our constitution and church life, this General Assembly continued the trend to relegate the Confessions to something akin to mere guidance. The stated clerk reduced the role of The Confessions, defining them as merely a progressive representation of what the church has believed through history. In my view, this statement perpetuates a disconnect between what we say we believe and what we actually do. So, our book of order can allow what our book of confessions consistently say is not true or not faithful. This is a serious departure from the way that the confessions have functioned in our Reformed tradition. Polity As noted above, one of the defining traits of being Presbyterian is a commitment to how we govern ourselves (our polity ). Therefore, as you might expect, there are usually a number of measures at any General Assembly that deal with how these governing structures are organized and function. Middle Governing Council At the last General Assembly in 2010, the Middle Governing Council Commission was charged to come up with creative ways for Presbyterians to connect given our deep divisions and our declining numbers. The Commission s report dealt with Synods and recommended experiments for the ways Presbyterian churches connect, including nongeographic presbyteries. Non-geographic presbyteries would allow churches with a shared mission to come together as a presbytery. Many hoped this new idea would allow churches that are troubled with the present trajectory of the denomination to differentiate into a new presbytery. This idea was declared unconstitutional. The commission, and all their ideas to attempt to move the denomination in new and creative ways, was dismissed. Only the conversation about synods will continue. 4 To download the Book of Confessions, go to of- confessions/ 5 From the PC(USA) Book of Order.

5 The Trust Clause One constant source of division within our denomination is the so-called trust clause. This provision of our constitution asserts that, no matter what the congregation may think, all property of any church is actually owned by the denomination, not the local church. At this General Assembly, several measures were introduced to eliminate or clarify this provision to clarify that local congregations actually own the property that they have purchased with their own funds. Unfortunately, all of these measures were voted down. Instead, churches that choose to leave the denomination are to be guided by individual presbytery policies known as gracious dismissal policies. These policies vary greatly. 6 Political Issues Many would be surprised at the energy and time that was spent on political issues. Entire committees dealt with Immigration, Peacemaking (UN, Congo), Middle East and Peacemaking (divestment) Social Justice (Farm Bill, Economic Justice, Mortgages, Workers Rights, and Solitary Confinement). The theological issues committee even brought an overture on spanking which was highly debated and then passed. Dr. Harrington, in his last sermon at Peachtree, spoke about the PC(USA), We have had a tendency to sound off on every issue under the sun, and yet we have spoken with ambivalence frequently on moral issues where our teachings on the Bible are abundantly clear. His words rung true at this year s assembly. Marriage and Ethics Ordination Standards Our constitution previously stated that church leaders are to live in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness. This was struck from the Book of Order after the 2010 General Assembly passed new language (known as Amendment 10-A) and a majority of presbyteries ratified it. This year, a proposal to reinstate the fidelity/chastity ordination requirement failed in committee. 6 To see Presbytery of Greater Atlanta s gracious separation policy, go to To view policies from other Presbyteries, go to

6 Marriage In one of the most controversial aspects of this General Assembly, the Marriage Committee recommended that PC(USA) redefine marriage from being a covenant between a man and a woman to a covenant between two people. This overture failed by a narrow margin of 30 votes. The Assembly chose not to affirm biblical marriage but instead called for a two-year season of serious study and discernment for presbyteries and congregations regarding the meaning of Christian marriage. Most at the Assembly expected the redefinition amendment to be sent to the presbyteries so this was a much unexpected outcome. The debate on this issue occurred as one might expect. Some commissioners stated that biblical marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman designed by God from creation and affirmed by Jesus and throughout the Bible. Others rejected any such view, asking for the assembly to follow the lead of states where same-sex marriages are already legal. Most people expect that, however this period of study comes out, the issue will be presented again to the 2014 General Assembly. An important part of the debate included guidance from Hunter Farrell, the Director of World Mission. He was asked how a departure from the biblical definition of marriage would impact PC(USA) relationships with the global church. He related that countries with whom we partner in mission would sever ties, 6 would protest and 35 relationships would be weakened. i Summary Like other recent Assemblies, the 2012 General Assembly s debate and actions reinforced a deep division in the PC(USA). While many of the actions of the Assembly do not impact the day-to-day life of Peachtree s mission and ministry, our Session recognizes the importance of giving the congregation information about the denomination that we have been a part of for almost 30 years of our one-hundred year history. Peachtree has always been a leading church in the denomination, not only in size but in lifting up the name of Jesus Christ and claiming Scripture as both reliable and authoritative. The vitality of our ministries starts with these core commitments. Peachtree s affiliation with The Fellowship is the natural progression of our leadership among churches within the PC(USA). The Fellowship is built on a longtime network of Christ-centered churches with which Peachtree has connected through its leadership in The Outreach Foundation, Presbyterians for Renewal, and Presbyterian Global Fellowship. The Fellowship conference, on the campus at Peachtree August th, will gather like-minded churches from around the country for dynamic worship, networking

7 and best practice seminars in mission and ministry. 7 For more information about the actions of the Assembly, see general-assembly For more information or to ask questions, you are invited to an Open Forum concerning the General Assembly meeting on Wednesday evening, August 1 st at 7 pm in Kellett Chapel. To submit a question in advance, send questions to forum@peachtreepres.org. 7 For more information about the Fellowship including its core values, see pres.org/about/