Parker T. Williamson
editor-in-chief
When the 2002 General Assembly declared Jesus Christ Lord of
all, a tender green plant began pushing its way through the encrusted
surface of a denominational wasteland. For a moment, it appeared that
new life might emerge.
Then, in a withering series of actions, the General Assembly brought
Isaiah’s words to mind: “These people come near to me with
their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from
me.”
Presbyterian Church (USA) leaders are pursuing a death wish.
No longer does this assembly declare its disdain for those who kill
full-term babies. Grasping an infant by its feet, a doctor can stab
scissors into its skull without a word of contempt from the Presbyterian
Church (USA). He may now gain support from activist members of the
Advisory Committee on Litigation, who, prior to this assembly, were
blocked from filing
amicus briefs favoring partial-birth
abortionists.
Meanwhile, members of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy
are dying to help the frail elderly and handicapped accelerate their
demise.
And what has this assembly done with the life-giving Word? It rejected
a proposal from Yukon Presbytery to establish an evangelistic youth
ministry. During committee discussion, a commissioner actually argued
against programs that evangelize young people because, he said, they
should not be subjected to manipulation.
Meanwhile, the attempt by some to ensure that Presbyterian participants
in Christian/Muslim dialogues proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord of all was
spurned as an inhospitable barrier to interfaith peacemaking, and 34
missionary positions were ripped out of the mission budget.
In another instance, this assembly, by refusing to enforce the
Constitution, shredded the document that defines who we are as
Presbyterians. Now nothing more than a piece of paper, it becomes
sentiment without substance and we become not a people but a diverse
collection of individuals.
The prophet Ezekiel warned that forsaking God’s Word would lead
Israel to the boneyard. That is precisely what is happening to the
Presbyterian Church (USA), whose leaders have presided over the loss of
1,760,816 members since 1965. The Presbytery of Mid-Kentucky, whose
churches are most directly infected by our national staff culture, lost
25.5 percent of its membership in the ten-year period between 1991 and
2000. Compare that with the 1,265 Confessing Churches that lost just 4.7
percent during the same period.
Those who trust God know that the death knell being tolled by Louisville’s
bureaucracy is not the final word. The last word is God’s Word.
Trusting his promises, we believe that he who breathed life into a
valley of dry bones will, in his own good time, restore a remnant in
this decaying denomination. Anticipating that grace, Presbyterians who
are faithful to the gospel can declare with confidence: “O death,
where is your sting? O death, where is your victory? But thanks be to
God, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”
Parker T. Williamson is editor-in-chief of The Layman.