Parker T. Williamson
editor-in-chief
The two top officials of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have
defied its Constitution. Having failed to enforce church law, they now
violate it themselves, exacerbating a constitutional crisis that is
shredding the very sinews of their denomination. Scripture has never
been more relevant: “There was no king in Israel, and everyone did
what was right in his own eyes.”
A culture of defiance has driven Presbyterians into the wilderness.
Here, like our Semitic ancestors, we yearn for a sense of community,
some connection that might transform us from being “no people”
to becoming “the people of God.”
Ancient Israel found community on the slopes of Sinai. There, it
received a gift called “the law.” God’s commandments
framed a covenant that bound persons to God and to one another. Through
this covenant a gaggle of individuals took shape and form, reflecting,
albeit imperfectly, the Triune communion that gave them life.
Each commandment has communal implications. “You shall not bear
false witness,” underlies our justice system and makes contractual
relationships possible. Recent scandals in corporate America demonstrate
what violating this commandment and others does to the fabric of
community. Commandments prohibiting theft, murder, covetousness,
adultery and dishonoring one’s elders also undergird our life
together.
Our Presbyterian forebears revered this Biblical understanding of the
law, embedding in our tradition the fact that we are a covenant people
whose constitutional precepts shape our common life. Those whom we
ordain promise to be governed under this covenant. Obeying this promise
lies at the heart of who we are as Presbyterians.
Today, what began as sporadic defiance by a handful of outlaw ministers
and sessions has spread to presbytery leaders who give them cover,
Presbyterian courts that will not confront their rebellion, a stated
clerk who ignores his duty to preserve and protect the Constitution by
every means at his disposal, and a moderator/stated clerk duo who have
undermined rights guaranteed by the Constitution to General Assembly
commissioners. Although Presbyterians enacted – repeatedly and by
huge margins – constitutional standards that govern the behavior of
our leaders, an entrenched bureaucracy refuses to require compliance,
thus rendering null and void the Constitution that they promised to
uphold.
The covenant has been broken. Distrust runs rampant. A called meeting
of the General Assembly could have addressed this crisis with strong
resolve, giving the people a reason to believe that their life together
can be restored. Denied that opportunity by the unconstitutional acts of
its leaders, this denomination has become a fractured fellowship,
bearing scant resemblance to the vision that gave it birth.
Parker T. Williamson is editor-in-chief of The Layman.