‘Gracious Separation,’ other reports will be discussed at Gathering VIII By John H. Adams The Layman Online Monday, September 15, 2003 Presbyterians who attend the Presbyterian Coalition’s Gathering VIII will discuss a plan – titled “Gracious Separation” – that would call for ending the Presbyterian Church (USA) as it now exists and allow congregations to vote to affiliate with one of two new denominations. Proposed steps for ‘Gracious Separation’ 1. The General Assembly would create a Reorganization Task Force and impose a moratorium on all constitutional changes during a 4-year interim period. 2. Balanced/equal representation on Planning Groups and teams formed cooperatively to deal with specific aspects of PCUSA assets and entities. 3. Interim arrangements for governance would be implemented while detailed work is completed to divide into two new corporate entities (neither will keep name PCUSA). 4. Every congregation would vote under strict due process guidelines to determine which new denomination it would become a part of. Likewise, boards of colleges, seminaries and other corporate entities of the PCUSA would determine by vote which denomination they would relate to. 5. The task force would approve both new denomination names to avoid too much similarity to old name. 6. The existing GA staff would downsize by attrition. Creation of two new denominations, with double the number of presbyteries, would create ample employment opportunities. 7. At the end of the four-year interim reorganization period, the two new legal entities would exist and the old PCUSA would be dissolved. The two new denominations would determine the size and powers of their own GAs, presbyteries, etc. 8. The pension fund assets would eventually be divided in proportion to the number of ministers who elected to affiliate with each denomination. 9. The Presbyterian Foundation would be divided by two criteria: 1) donor intent; 2) if donor intent is not discernable, then in proportion to the membership of the two new denominations. “An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God had in Mind” is the theme for the Gathering, which will be held Oct. 6-8 at Sunset Presbyterian Church in Portland, Ore. The keynote speaker will be Erwin McManus, the pastor of Mosaic, which is described as “a uniquely innovative and international congregation” in Los Angeles. He is an author, a lecturer at Bethel Theological Seminary; a national and international strategist; and a speaker on culture, change, creativity and leadership. “Gracious Separation” will be discussed during one of the plenary sessions. The Gathering will also discuss reports from the Coalition’s Discipline/Compliance Task Force, its Mission Futures Group and its Network Team. The author of “Gracious Separation” is Robert L. Howard, a member of the Coalition board and immediate past chairman of the Presbyterian Lay Committee. Howard’s plan focuses on intractable theological differences between liberals and evangelicals in the PCUSA and proposes strategies for both sides to become part of two entirely new Presbyterian denominations. It calls for a supermajority vote by a congregation to affiliate with one of two new denominations and the right of congregations to retain their property. He has presented the proposal to the board of the Presbyterian Coalition, but the coalition board did not endorse it. The Presbyterian Lay Committee, which, in its 38-year history has maintained a commitment to work for renewal within the PCUSA, has not voted on the plan. In the draft of his plan, Howard cites “irreconcilable differences,” “a dysfunctional national church” and an “entrenched bureaucracy” as reasons that Presbyterians might wish to part ways. “Nationally, the PCUSA has become primarily a political institution devoting most of its time, talent, and treasure to secular agendas,” he says. “Our mission and evangelism witness is increasingly anemic.” He also cites the continued infighting over the denomination’s constitutional ordination standard and widespread defiance of the “fidelity/chastity” requirement, contending that “the stated clerk has consistently refused to be pro-active to ensure compliance. He reflects the minds of the entrenched bureaucracy nationally and in most presbyteries.” “We are really two churches,” Howard says, “with diametrically opposed theologies and Christologies, which produce irreconcilable differences as to what the priorities of the church ought to be.” He said the divisions are deeper than the ordination issue, noting that “we do not share a common understanding of who Christ is. The traditional wing of the church believes in the Christ of the Scriptures. The left wing of the church believes in a Christ of human deconstruction and the product of ‘progressive theology.’” “We are ‘irreconcilable’ in human terms because we are flawed and sinful people and cannot humanly overcome our differences,” he said. “We are trying to build unity politically, without the radical redirection of the heart, which Scripture teaches is required for reconciliation.” Other speakers at Gathering VIII include the Rev. Dr. Ron Kincaid, pastor of Sunset Presbyterian Church; the Rev. Jin S. Kim, moderator of the Coalition of Korean American Ministries and president-elect of PFR; Dr. James Edwards, an author and a professor of religion at Whitworth College; the Rev. Gayle Parker, who most recently served as the senior pastor at Downtown Presbyterian Church in Phoenix; the Rev. Harold Kurtz, former president of Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship and a former missionary; lyrical evangelist Judah Israel; and the Rev. Carmen Fowler, executive director of the Coalition. Registration for Gathering VIII is available through www.presbycoalition.org.

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