Defense team is named for case against General Assembly Council By John H. Adams The Layman Online Thursday, June 7, 2001 LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has named a three-member team for its defense against charges that the council failed to uphold the denomination's tenet that Jesus Christ alone is Lord and Savior. Peter Pizor of Henderson, Nev., who has completed his term as chairman of the council, Catesby Woodford of Mount Sterling, Ky., and Virginia R. Robertson of Portland, Ore., will defend the General Assembly Council in an ecclesiastical case brought by Montreat Presbyterian Church in Montreat, N.C. Pizor proposed the three-member defense team June 7 and the General Assembly Council approved his recommendations without dissent. The Montreat session has filed a remedial case -- one that seeks a redress of grievances, but not disciplinary action -- in its contention that the council has failed to insist that Presbyterian speakers at denomination-sponsored events, curriculum writers and program areas follow Biblical and confessional standards. The Montreat case grew out of the denomination's 2000 Peacekeeping Conference, during which Dirk Ficca, a Presbyterian minister and a keynote speaker at the conference, suggested there are many paths to God other than Jesus Christ alone. Ficca asked the question, "What's the big deal about Jesus?" Coverage of Ficca's comments -- first by the Presbyterian News Service -- ignited thousands of protests by Presbyterians who believe Ficca departed from the historic Reformed belief that Jesus Christ alone is Lord and Savior of the world. The Montreat complaint has been submitted to the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Before the commission could set a date for a trial, it must decide whether the complaint merits a hearing. The Permanent Judicial Commission is the highest court in the denomination. Pizor has had an on-again, off-again position on the Ficca issue. After the controversy first erupted, he and John Detterick, executive director of the General Assembly Council, co-signed a letter trying to deflect criticism. In that letter, they both asserted their belief that Jesus Christ was the way, the truth and the life -- for them. But after reviewing Scripture and the confessions, they modified their statement to say that Jesus Christ is the only Lord and Savior for all of the world. When the General Assembly Council met last November, however, Pizor agreed with the council's conclusion: That it would not restrict freedom of speech -- even if it conflicted with the denomination's theology. The council said it did not have the authority to correct or discipline a speaker. BOY SCOUTS -- There was no discussion by the General Assembly Council when the Congregational Ministries Division Committee presented a brief statement about affirming the division's covenant with the National Association of Presbyterian Scouts. The statement was an attempt to deflect criticism generated by a letter by a division staff member, Gina Yeager. She told scout leaders that the division had denied a $7,000 grant to the Scouts and that the division would not imprint its logo on the Scouts' Jamboree patches because of the Boy Scouts' policy of prohibiting homosexual leaders. During earlier discussions of the Scout issue, some Presbyterian leaders were highly critical of The Layman Online, which had obtained a copy of Yeager's letter and published a story about it that said the a staff leader had taken steps to dissociate the denomination from the Boy Scouts. But some members of the General Assembly Council said The Layman Online was wrong -- that no steps had been taken to end the covenant with the Boy Scouts. But several members of the council -- including former Moderator Freda Gardner -- were openly critical of the Boy Scouts' policy and the denomination's relationship with the Scouts. And when E. Lynn Shurley Jr., chairman of the Congregational Ministries Division Committee, talked about the issue to the General Assembly Council, he emphasized that the relationship with the Scouts could change. "Not at this moment are we in an adversarial relationship with the National Association of Presbyterian Scouts or the Boy Scouts of America," Shurley said. No one in the meeting of the Congregational Ministries Division offered a statement of personal commitment to the Boy Scouts if the policy against homosexual leaders continues. Neither was there any mention of a high-profile story out of Long Island, N.Y., where Bartholomew Episcopal Church is a defendant in a $50-million lawsuit because a homosexual Scout leader allegedly had a sexual relationship with a Boy Scout numerous times over several years. APPEAL TO 'DEEP POCKETS' -- Former General Assembly Moderator Douglas Oldenberg told the General Assembly Council that the Presbyterian Church (USA) is now the wealthiest Protestant denomination in the United States. Furthermore, he said, Presbyterians now have the highest per-capita income of any Protestant denomination, having recently passed members of the Episcopal Church. Even so, Oldenberg said, "I am not impressed with the number of people who have chosen to invest in the Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program" -- a market-rate fund that is used to help local congregations and presbyteries. "Out of 2.5 million Presbyterians, we have only 1,500 investors in the fund," Oldenberg said. This council has been called leaders. As leaders, I call on you to make an investment. We have far more requests for loans than we have funds. Challenge your people, particularly challenge the people who have deep pockets, as we sway."

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