 Presbyterian Leaders’ Forum  Friday, March 26, 1999
A Message from the PLC Chair Unity in diversity has become the mantra of many in the PCUSA. In response to the directive of the 1998 GA, the moderator has scheduled a conference entitled “What is the Nature of the Unity We Seek in Our Diversity?” While the planning committee may have intended theological balance and ecclesial inclusivity in the plenary presentations, they failed to achieve it. The schedule of conference speakers and themes is diagnostic of the church’s dilemma, but it is doubtful the conference will produce an effective prescription for curing our crisis.Plenary presentations are promised on the theological and social causes of the conflicts that divide us, on racial/ethnic issues, on human sexuality and orientation, and on worship styles and cultural differences. Among the many scheduled speakers, there are numerous academics and church executives, plus a few pastors, and some leaders of activist groups, but noticeably absent is any presentation from the loyal laity who faithfully fund the ministry and mission of our denomination. Even more disappointing is the absence of any listed presentation on the proven power of the unequivocal proclamation of the Word of God, which alone through the Holy Spirit transforms diverse individuals into a community of faith serving as the body of Christ on earth. In sum, the announced program indicates this conference will be like too many before it – first dwelling on the differences that divide us, then attempting to overcome those divisions by the false mantra of unity in diversity accomplished through human effort – conversation and dialogue followed by church politics of compromise and accommodation. That concern is heightened by the fact that of the 19 scheduled speakers, only one is readily identifiable with any of the 15 renewal organizations that provided the leadership for passage of Amendment “B” and the defeat of Amendment “A.” Further compounding that imbalance, there are several speakers who are leaders of the Covenant Network, which seeks to erode our present ordination standards. It is too bad the committee that planned the moderator’s conference didn’t use “Union in Christ,” the Declaration for the church drafted by the Presbyterian Coalition and adopted at Gathering III last fall, as a blueprint for construction of the conference – for if the house of God we call the PCUSA is not reconstructed upon the rock of God’s Word and held together by the love of Christ, our diversity and differences will cause that house to fall. Robert Howard |
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| The Presbyterian Layman March/April 1999 | ||
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