Council sees no wrong in peacemaking conference By John H. Adams The Layman Online Monday, February 26, 2001 LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Neither the staff that planned the 2000 Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference nor the keynote speaker who made the conference's most controversial statement – "What's the big deal about Jesus?" – has drawn any reprimand from the General Assembly Council. Instead, on Feb. 24, the last day of its week-long meeting in Louisville, the council unanimously approved a 412-word resolution that did not respond directly to complaints raised by 21 sessions, one presbytery and thousands of Presbyterians. Among those complaining were 1,548 Presbyterians who, in response to a petition circulated by the Presbyterian Lay Committee, declared that the conference "illuminated a deeply troubling falling away from our traditional, unwavering belief in the deity of Christ by some of our leadership." 'Sad day' for PCUSA Parker T. Williamson, executive editor of The Presbyterian Layman, said, "This is a sad day in the life of the Presbyterian Church (USA)" and declared that the council "has violated its sacred trust and abandoned its fiduciary responsibility." Williamson said the debate over the divinity of Christ was a contest "at least as old as the standoff between Ahab and Elijah." By failing to reprimand planners of the peacemaking conference or its keynote speaker, Dirk Ficca, "this council has declared its determination to showcase ideologies that deny the Gospel." The council resolution contended that it was not empowered to discipline Ficca or to issue theological assessments of the conference. But complaints to the council by sessions and the Presbytery of Shenango in Pennsylvania concluded otherwise. Council responsibilities Some of the complaints cited council responsibilities as laid out in G-13.0201e – to "review the work of General Assembly agencies and bodies in light of General Assembly mission directions, goals, objectives and priorities" – and in G-13.0103p – "to warn or bear witness against error in doctrine or immorality in practice in or outside the church." Those complaints regarded the conference speech by Ficca, a Chicago minister who heads an inter-faith organization that includes self-described "neo-pagan" religions, as being a direct challenge to the divinity of Christ and Jesus' own claim: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except by me" (John 14.6). The council's resolution had its own variation of that theme. It said in part that "though we may disagree on many issues, [we] are, nevertheless, committed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and our salvation through Christ." By using the first person "we," which could be interpreted to mean that Jesus is necessary only for Christians and not for the world, the statement fell short of correcting the "delinquency" cited by the sessions, presbytery and Presbyterians. Oct. 25 letter affirmed The resolution did affirm a letter written by the council's executive committee on Oct. 25, 2000. The letter cited questions and responses published in an Apostles' Creed "study catechism" that is not a part of the Book of Confessions, the governing document on the theology of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The study catechism gives ambiguous answers to key questions about Christ, including: "How God will deal with those who do not know or follow Christ, but who follow another tradition, we cannot finally say." The resolution was presented to the council by the Rev. Adelia D. Kelso, who was elected to become the new vice chairman of the council. One of the principal authors of the resolution, San Francisco Theological Seminary student Neal Presca, defended it. No member of the council spoke against it. Baffled by uncertainty Presa spoke more pointedly on the issue of salvation by Christ alone than either the resolution or the council's Oct. 25 letter. "I confess I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation," he said. Presa said he was baffled by Presbyterians' "uncertainty in the certainty of the eternal lordship of Jesus Christ" and that "there are some who are quick to shrug off the objections as mere objections. "Some of us followed the easy route, labeling those objections as right wing … I am not beholden to any group, the right or the left. We of the General Assembly Council are called to rise above the fray." Nonetheless, Presa argued in favor of taking no action against Ficca because Ficca is responsible to his presbytery. Even so, Presa said, "As one preparing for the ministry of Word and Sacrament …, I would not pass ordination if I offered the views of Mr. Ficca." Presca also said the Oct. 25 letter was "adequate and stated effectively the positions of this church … What the church needs is not another statement, but an intentional churchwide movement in prayer." Most of the other statements by council members during a brief non-debate dealt with language rather than substance. Jeffrey G. Bridgeman of Solvang, Calif., an evangelical minister who was elected to become the new chairman of the council, asked about a review process for the denomination's conference. Sarah Lisherness, one of the staff planners for the conference, assured Bridgeman that there was a review process, and Bridgeman asked no further questions. Mike C. Gillespie of Florence, Ky., did take umbrage over complaints about the conference. "I have grieved over some of the accusations that have been made at people that I work closely with … accusations at us, as General Assembly Council members." "I know what we do we do well," Gillespie said of the staff. "I work with some talented, gifted people who are called by God in this church. I find those people to be people of theological competence and spiritual integrity." While letters and resolutions from sessions, the presbytery and Presbyterians raised questions about the staff's oversight of the conference, the council's resolution applauded the staff. "While we may agree or disagree with some remarks by some speakers, we applaud the Peacemaking Program's disciplined efforts to listen to the world from the position of the reformed/Presbyterian church, and we pray that they will continue to stretch our minds and hearts to be peacemakers," the resolution said. Williamson said the council's resolution "has reduced the church's historic faith to a matter of private opinion, and it has welcomed into the good offices of the church a culture of disbelief. "Members of the council were elected by their fellow Presbyterians to lead the church in obedience to the Great Commission. They were called by God to bear witness to Jesus Christ as 'the way, truth and the life' in every conference they promote, every curriculum they publish and every program they administer. Having abandoned that responsibility, this council has declared itself no longer fit to lead, and Presbyterians are no longer obliged to follow."

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