General Assembly document missing from unity/diversity conference booklets The Presbyterian Layman Volume 32, Number 5 Posted November 11, 1999 The stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has mailed Presbyterian congregations a booklet titled “Unity in the Midst of our Diversity.” But the booklet does not include “Historic Principles, Conscience and Government,” the only document that the 1999 General Assembly specifically recommended for use at the unity-diversity conferences. Instead, “Unity in the Midst of our Diversity,” includes a sermon by former Moderator Douglas W. Oldenburg, a Bible study, a review of the first four chapters of the Book of Order, and a psychological exercise intended to help participants overcome bad feelings about people who have different views. The denominational booklet lists “Historic Principles” as a resource that can be ordered at a cost of $3. (It can be downloaded for free via The Layman Online at www.layman.org.) “Historic Principles” was a report adopted by the 1983 General Assembly when the Northern and Southern Presbyterian denominations reunited to form the PCUSA. The 30-plus page report, which has not been superseded by later decisions of General Assemblies, is a defense of Scriptural authority, constitutional government and required submission to the law of the church. One of the statements in the report is: “Scripture is our highest authority and no governing body may legislate contrary to what Scripture plainly teaches. … No church governing body may bind conscience contrary to Scripture. It can, however, interpret Scripture and require that those who disagree either submit or withdraw peaceably.” In the denominational booklet, participants in the psychological exercise will name their fears about people with whom they have disagreed, write down their emotional reactions – such as “rapid heart beat,” “angry all over again,” and “tightness in chest” – and record those fears on newsprint for all to see. Then, the participants will discuss how “we transform our fears about our differences/diversity so they can become opportunities for grace and new understanding.” The exercise omits any value judgments or appeals to objective truth as a basis by which to settle disagreement. A part of the process of planning the conferences will be to invite Presbyterian groups and governing bodies to establish web pages suggesting resources they might want to offer to the church and models they might use. These will be created on a master webpage at the PCUSA website where churches, presbyteries and others can access official resources and gain from the broader conversation in the church.

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