In recent years, the
Presbyterian Lay Committee has become increasingly concerned over the
erosion of our denomination's faith and life. We have prayerfully
considered what God is saying to us in the midst of this crisis. With
sorrow, we have concluded that spiritual schism exists within the
Presbyterian Church (USA) because of a deep and irreconcilable disunion
among its members over the person and work of Jesus Christ, the
authority of God's Word written, and God's call to a holy life. We are
two faiths within one denomination.
We grieve with our faithful brothers and sisters in the Episcopal
Church (USA), whose General Convention rejected the clear teachings of
Scripture and 2,000 years of Christian tradition by its recent actions.
We believe the same dynamics that precipitated this crisis in the
Anglican Communion exist within the PCUSA. As a result, our denomination
hovers on the brink of a comparable catastrophe. The Covenant Network
already has announced that it will seek the repeal of the definitive
interpretation of our ordination standards at the 2004 General Assembly
and that it will support a full-scale assault on those standards at the
2006 General Assembly.
The Presbyterian Lay Committee believes that it is unconscionable to
remain passive while some groups train their followers to subvert the
Constitution and denominational officials undermine it by their refusal
to require compliance. We believe that any compromise with proponents of
a false gospel – no matter how laudable the desire for peace and
unity that may engender such initiatives – will further erode our
denomination's integrity and delay the day of decision that will
ultimately come.
We believe that God has called us individually to be faithful stewards
of all that He has entrusted to us, and has called us as officers of our
congregations to ensure that offerings are consistently used to glorify
the Lord Jesus Christ and carry out His Great Commission. We no longer
believe that either the General Assembly per-capita budget or the
unrestricted mission budget of the PCUSA is worthy of support. We
encourage all individuals and sessions to exercise their stewardship
responsibility and right to determine how money entrusted to them is
spent. We likewise encourage prayerful study as to whether their General
Assembly per-capita contribution should be redirected and/or their
mission gifts restricted to ministries at home and abroad that are
demonstrably faithful to the gospel.
At particular moments in history, God's people have been challenged to
choose between the idols of their culture and faith in the living God.
We believe this is such a time. We reluctantly conclude that because of
our spiritual division, without systemic change the PCUSA will collapse.
Therefore, we affirm and encourage the efforts of those who remain
committed to reform and renewal of the PCUSA and those who are seriously
studying new forms of our connectional life. We urge all who share
continued commitment to Holy Scripture as the infallible rule of faith
and practice to work together for the glory of God and the strengthening
of His witness in the world.
Adopted this 18th day of October 2003 by the Board of Directors of the
Presbyterian Lay Committee, meeting in Philadelphia, Pa.