Confession of 1967 gets top billing by committee By John H. Adams The Layman Online Wednesday, June 19, 2002 214th General Assembly Columbus, Ohio June 15-22, 2002 COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Confession of 1967, often favored by the left flank of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and just as often disfavored by conservatives, won a 214th General Assembly committee's endorsement to raise its profile in the denomination. The Committee on Christology and Confessions approved four sections of an overture from the Presbytery of Hudson River for consideration by the full General Assembly. Two other sections of the overture were referred to the Office of Theology and Worship of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to continue work the office already has begun. The overture resonated with the view that C-67, as many call it, is the most revered and worthy of the 11 creeds in The Book of Confessions, notwithstanding the fact that the Westminster Confession, with its Larger and Shorter Catechisms, was the sole confessional standard for Presbyterians in America for more than 200 years. The creed written by the Westminster Divines still is the confession of the Presbyterian Church in America and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, fast-growing evangelical denominations that formed out of disagreements within the largest Southern and Northern Presbyterian bodies in the 1970s and 1980s. Theologically, C-67, which was born in the national turmoils of Vietnam and the civil rights movements, is limited. Instead of the traditional confessional emphasis on the nature of God, the person and work of Christ, the witness of the Holy Spirit and the authority of Scripture, C-67 was stitched together around a single theme: reconciliation. That is acknowledged in the preface: "Modestly titled, the Confession of 1967 is built around a single passage of Scripture: "'In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself. …'" The three sections of C-67 are titled "God's Work of Reconciliation," "The Ministry of Reconciliation" and "The Fulfillment of Reconciliation." The Committee on Christology and Confessions voted 59-0 on June 18 to approve sections 2, 3, 4 and 6 of Overture 02-18 from the Presbytery of Hudson River for consideration by the full General Assembly and to refer sections 1 and 5 to the Office of Theology and Worship. The overture calls on the General Assembly to: 1. "Encourage congregations, presbyteries and synods to develop appropriate programs to consider the mission of the church, the nature of its witness, and the nature of Christian vocation in light of the Confession of 1967 and the need for reconciliation with justice." 2. "Encourage congregations to reflect upon and reaffirm the Confession of 1967, identifying new concerns for witness or emphasis, and communicating their insights and proposals to their presbyteries and to the Office of the General Assembly for appropriate referral." 3. "Commend the committees that developed the Confession, the concept of The Book of Confessions and the comprehensive ordination questions, and to honor those surviving members of the drafting committee and of the review committee that made changes in the version first presented in 1965. 4. "Request the Presbyterian seminaries to sponsor conferences or consultations on the nature of the guidance provided by the Confession of 1967 and other confessions of the church, including their influence on the public voice, identity and unity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and on the spiritual formation of ministers of Word and sacrament. The two sections referred to the Office of Theology and Worship are: 1. "Direct the General Assembly Council to have its Office of Theology and Worship and other appropriate agencies of the General Assembly, and the Assembly Committee on Social Witness Policy to provide study and liturgical resources to encourage reflection on the Confession of 1967, to illuminate the ongoing, dynamic, and holistic nature of confessing within the Reformed tradition, and to update the Confession of 1967's concern for reconciliation across all divisions outside and within the Presbyterian Church (USA)." 2. "Authorize the Office of the General Assembly to provide, as an appendix in The Book of Confessions or in the Book of Common Worship, an inclusive-language version of the Confession of 1967 for contemporary liturgical use, using a volunteer committee of scholars from several seminaries to revise a much-appreciated inclusive version developed in 1982 by Elder Freda Gardner (Moderator of the 211th General Assembly (1999)) and the Reverend Cynthia Jarvis." Recommendation No. 5 is the only one in which the Presbytery of Hudson River suggested that C-67 might have a flaw. While the language is relatively modern – no thees, thous or verbs ending in "eth" – C-67 fails to meet the PCUSA current she/he ecclesiastical law requiring the use of inclusive language for people. That flaw is being rectified in liturgical excerpts being prepared by the Office of Theology and Worship.

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