‘I Choose This Day!’ letter
Welcome to “I Choose This Day,” an opportunity for Presbyterians in the pews to stand firm against a tide of cultural accommodation that is swamping the Presbyterian Church (USA).
This is not the first time that God’s people have been called to stand and be counted. Remember Joshua’s challenge to the Israelites as they entered the Promised Land: “Choose you this day whom you will serve!”
Joshua warned God’s people that they stood at a crossroads. They could either serve false gods whom their leaders had served on the far side of the Jordan, or they could choose the God who had led them out of slavery, guided them through the wilderness, and empowered their conquest of the Promised Land.
“As for me and my house,” said Joshua, “we will serve the Lord.”
That ancient challenge has now come to members of the PC(USA). Will we serve a denomination whose leaders equivocate on Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life? Will we serve a denomination whose leaders deny the authority of Scripture and have relegated God’s Word merely to one of several guides for Christian living? Will we serve a denomination that has now removed from its constitution Biblical standards for its leaders’ sexual behavior?
“Choose you this day whom you will serve.”
That challenge must be placed before the session (governing body) of each PC(USA) congregation today. We encourage you to print a copy of the attached declaration, sign and deliver it by hand to the session members (pastors and elders) of your church. You will be asking them to study your congregation’s relationship with this denomination and recommend to the congregation what that relationship should be in the future. Please email a copy of your signed declaration to us in order that we may pray for you and your session during its period of discernment.
At www.layman.org, you will find resources that your session members may find helpful. We welcome you to download Can Two Faiths Embrace One Future?, a foundational inquiry by the Presbyterian Lay Committee. Also available on this web site are links to several congregations whose sessions have conducted their own research into the causes and implications of the PC(USA)’s crisis of faith and morals. These documents will help you see how lay people in leading churches across the country have thoughtfully and prayerfully addressed the crisis that we all now face.
May the Lord bless and keep you and your congregation, as you seek a faithful way forward.
The Presbyterian Lay Committee