New Analysis Little effect on PCUSA presbytery representation realized despite ongoing exodus of churches By Gabrielle S. Avedian The Layman Online Monday, November 26, 2007 More than 30 Presbyterian Church (USA) presbyteries have seen member congregations vote to leave the denomination (2001 through present), but presbytery representation (hence, voting outcomes) will hardly be affected by the absence of the departed presbyters. Though those in the PCUSA who seek reform in the denomination share sorrow in the parting of ways with those churches that have left, the mission for those who remain in the PCUSA must be representative governance. A study of presbytery composition and votes shows that representative governance through election reform in the PCUSA is yet attainable in the absence of these churches and vitally necessary. The Presbyterian Forum has been urging Presbyterians to participate in the movement for representative governance through election reform (Operation Fair Representation). The Forum views this as a critical priority, understanding that the majority of Presbyterians are not represented at General Assembly meetings (the top governing body of the denomination) and that, if only election procedures within the presbyteries were to permit the examination of General Assembly commissioner candidates, more Presbyterians (and presbyteries) would be represented at the assembly, constituting a majority. Therefore, Biblical standards and our Reformed confessional theology no longer would be threatened. Fewer attacks would be made on Scripture, not only regarding one issue or even multiple issues raised in one committee, but every issue that is addressed in business brought to the General Assembly, including the stated clerk and moderator elections. But some Presbyterians have been hesitant to participate in this campaign for representative governance, discouraged by an erroneous assumption that because 46 congregations have voted to leave the denomination since 2001 (and thus taking those reliable votes away), their presbyteries will now turn, and those who hold these views must no longer be in the majority. Not only is this assumption incorrect, but 87 percent of the more than 30 presbyteries that have seen one or more of its member churches vote to leave the PCUSA will have either no, negligible or little impact in representation. In fact, only one presbytery may see a shift in voting power on the level of overturning the most recent proposal to remove G-6.0106b, the passage of the Book of Order that ensures "fidelity and chastity" for all those ordained in the PCUSA. While a few of the emigrating churches are very large and therefore constitute a large percentage of the vote in presbytery (First Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge, for example, which together with the second South Louisiana church that recently voted to separate, constitutes 9.8 percent of the represented vote at the last vote regarding G-6.0106b in the presbytery), most of the presbyteries from which the churches have left are presbyteries that traditionally vote either very solidly for upholding Biblical standards and the Constitution or consistently against upholding the Biblical standards currently in our Constitution, and neither show great effect by the departure of the churches. In the case of the former, take, for example, First Presbyterian Church in Torrance, Calif. The voting delegation of the church, added to the voting delegation of another small Presbyterian church leaving, comprised 15.7 percent of the entire vote against the proposal to remove G-6.0106b in Hanmi Presbytery. But because Hanmi Presbytery votes (even without that percentage) so faithfully to uphold the theology of our Reformed confessions, no real representative effect will be realized in the presbytery. In the case of the latter, an example can be seen in the three churches that have voted to leave Heartland Presbytery since 2001. The presbytery voted against upholding the Constitution four out of the last four major controversial votes in the last decade, so the votes of these three churches that will be lost in the presbytery are votes always on the losing side. The methodology of the Forum's Operation Fair Representation relies on the fact that the majority of presbyteries continues to vote faithfully to uphold Biblical principles and the Constitution. Therefore, if these presbyteries were to examine the General Assembly candidates – an approach validated by the 1978 General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission – so that the theology of the candidates could be known and the presbyters could send those who reflect their theology, the denomination once again would stand for the Reformed confessional theology it has in the past. The presbyteries that the Forum identify in this majority are those that have voted in line with the historic standards at least three of the last four major controversial proposals to change the Constitution. Therefore, presbyteries such as Heartland are not counted in this majority as presbyteries that can be trusted to bring the church back to faithfulness. This does not mean that those seeking reform in the PCUSA in Heartland and like presbyteries should despair. While it is true that these likely will not be the presbyteries that bring the denomination back to faithfulness, those evangelical and Reformed presbyters in Heartland and similar presbyteries still may lend their gifts to those in stronger presbyteries, ultimately reaping the fruits of the work of the stronger presbyteries when these majority presbyteries send delegates to General Assemblies that reflect their theology. The political landscape of General Assemblies would be drastically changed by these examined delegates, and the General Assembly would speak in a faithful voice as the pure bride of Christ. Once the General Assembly votes faithfully in its governance of the church, these decisions will come back down having effects on every one of the presbyteries, including Heartland. Representative governance must be had. It is clear that the decisions made by General Assembly do not reflect the theology of most Presbyterians nor most presbyteries. These votes over the last decade to which the Forum refers are votes sent to the presbyteries proposing constitutional changes to our ordination standards. In those, the majority of presbyteries (63 percent, or 109 of 173 presbyteries) in each vote rejected the recommendations of the General Assembly commissioners and, instead, vote to uphold the Biblical and Reformed standards for which the denomination has historically stood. The most recent vote yielded a 72 percent-strong rejection of the recommendations of General Assembly commissioners. Proportional representation would achieve an overwhelming change of direction of the denomination. The departure of dear brothers and sisters to other denominations does not negate the opportunity for those still in the PCUSA to be represented and bring the denomination back to faithfulness. The viability of representative governance is just as great now as in the past, but it requires pastors and elders taking up their Biblical responsibility to govern the church as faithful stewards of Christ's bride. The process is simple and requires only the passage of an overture to these majority presbyteries seeking to add to the election procedures allowance for the examination of General Assembly commissioner candidates in the form of asking questions of the candidates, requiring more than one nominee for each commissioner slot, and hearing from the candidate. With such a simple and still viable step standing in the way between the current state of the denomination and faithfulness in the PCUSA, participation in the growing movement for representative governance is incumbent upon every reform-seeking Presbyterian. *Note: In researching the effects of the parting churches on presbytery representation, the Forum counted all delegates to presbytery that each departed or departing church had before its departure including all ministers, elder delegates, additional elder delegates added for balancing, and other various ministers permitted presbytery vote such as emeritus clergy. The numbers the Forum used assumed that each of the departing churches were active in presbytery and sent a full complement to presbytery meetings on these major votes. If the churches did not, then the effects of these parting churches on their presbyteries that the Forum has totaled will be even fewer. Data can be found at http://pforum.org/documents/PresbyteryRepresentation11-07.pdf. Gabrielle S. Avedian is the executive director of the Presbyterian Forum.

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