Parker T. Williamson
editor-in-chief
By an almost 3-1 landslide, Presbyterians have reaffirmed the
church’s constitution. Simultaneously – and in only twelve
months – 1,242 church sessions, representing more than 417,000
Presbyterians, have lifted up three constitutional affirmations,
declaring them normative for our denomination’s faith and life.
These are hopeful signs, suggesting that we Presbyterians are beginning
to find our way out of the postmodern wilderness.
Sadly, three decades of Presbyterian Church (USA) leadership have
replaced New Testament faith with tepid expressions of uncertainty. On
the false premise that God is unknowable, senior members of the national
staff, conference speakers, curriculum writers and seminary professors
have pummeled Presbyterians with the notion that all faith statements
are relative and that no one can claim the truth.
But Presbyterians in the pews are doing what their leaders would not.
Throughout the land, they are reclaiming the church’s faith. They
are insisting that the truth be proclaimed from our pulpits, taught in
our seminaries and passed on to our children. They are demanding that
those who would lead the church be true to the church’s faith.
The ties that bind Presbyterians are not politics, property or a per
capita “tax.” We are incorporated – literally drawn into
the body – by our fidelity to a constitution that bears witness to
the church’s faith and life. Our constitution reminds us – and
tells the world – who we are, for it expresses principles that give
meaning to the word “Presbyterian.”
If the constitution does not hold, the church cannot hold. This is why
the first duty of our denomination’s highest constitutional
officer, the stated clerk, is to “preserve and defend the
constitution.” He is the person who must act when some who failed
in their attempts to amend it now threaten to defy it. Those who defy
the church’s standards are declaring themselves no longer members
of the body. Allowing such persons to occupy positions of church
leadership is an unthinkable self-contradiction.
The stated clerk’s failure to exercise his first duty is leading
the Presbyterian Church (USA) into a full-blown constitutional crisis.
When a strong majority of Presbyterians placed our ordination standards
into the constitution, the clerk undermined them by declaring that the
church had not yet made up its mind. He further abraded our standards
when he issued an official opinion, stating that since there are
multiple definitions of “chastity” or “repentance,”
local governing bodies may write their own definitions. And although our
highest court has ruled that all governing bodies must comply with the
constitution, the stated clerk has done nothing to ensure compliance. By
his passivity, our denomination’s highest constitutional officer
has encouraged rebellion by a handful of renegade sessions.
There is no question where the church stands. In three national
referendums – with an increasingly definitive majority that has now
reached 73.2 percent – the church has spoken. Confronted by a
constitution that he has a duty to defend, the stated clerk must decide:
Will he lead us or leave us? He should not force the church to make that
choice for him.
Parker T. Williamson is editor-in-chief of
The Layman.