Parker T. Williamson
editor-in-chief
The Rev. Eleanor Lea and her session have done a very fine
thing. To a culture of disbelief, they confessed the faith, clearly and
without a whiff of compromise. And when presbytery bullies tried to make
them eat their words, they stood on the Word of God, believing a higher
court would vindicate them.
Thank God they were affirmed one step higher. But if it hadn’t
happened there, it would have happened elsewhere up the line. Because
this church spoke the truth, it couldn’t lose. Ultimately, God is
the judge. And it is in God’s Word that the Sebastian church found
its confession:
- Jesus Christ alone is Lord of the Church and the way to salvation
for all who will receive him.
- Holy Scripture is the revealed Word of the triune God, and the
Church’s only infallible rule of faith and life.
- God’s people are called to holiness in all areas of life,
including the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.
The 1,278 Confessing Presbyterian churches owe a lot to Ellie Lea
and her congregation. Weaker witnesses might have caved in when
confronted by a presbytery court and attorneys who came at the bidding
of the complainant. But Sebastian knew that what it dared publicly to
proclaim is precisely what other Confessing Churches have declared. If
this church had forfeited the fight, we all would have been the losers.
The Sebastian case suggests several reflections. We can’t help but
wonder, for example, what moved elder Norman Blessing to file charges
against his church. He says he acted on his own, but we note that an
executive from another presbytery joined him in the complaint. We also
note that his legal counsel, an attorney whose family has long been
associated with the National Council of Churches and causes dear to the
Louisville establishment, traveled almost a thousand miles to represent
him. That’s a lot of firepower for one lonely elder who says he has
a beef with his session.
Sebastian also tells us something about “diversity, inclusiveness
and tolerance,” the worldview that is touted by our national church
leaders. Persons who purport to love “tolerance” did their
best to muzzle this little Florida church, just as they now seek to
handcuff the Rev. Carmen Fowler’s ministry as executive of the
Presbyterian Coalition. We cannot help but note these inconsistencies
with the principle that they profess.
Sebastian also poses a challenge to proponents of the Presbyterian
Peacemaking Program, who find themselves embarrassed by the gospel.
Sebastian reminds us that Jesus Christ has always disturbed the oily
waters of cultural accommodation, and that truth trumps peace as the
pre-eminent Christian virtue.
We thank God for the faithfulness of First Presbyterian Church in
Sebastian, Florida.
Parker T. Williamson is editor-in-chief of The Layman.