 Remaining in denomination debated By John H. Adams The Presbyterian Layman Volume 32, Number 5 Posted November 11, 1999
Should PCUSA evangelicals cut and run or continue to remain connected to a left flank that doesn’t speak the same theological language? The alternatives were presented by Jerry Andrews, pastor of Glen Elyn Presbyterian Church in Chicago, and Mark Toone, pastor of Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church in Gig Harbor, Wash. With equal passion, they argued contrary views. Andrews favors remaining in the denomination and engaging in an honest conversation between evangelicals and liberals. Toone says the conversation has reached a dead end and it’s time for a “gracious separation.” Repetitive, draining arguments Both expressed their frustration over the repetitive and draining arguments between the denomination’s liberals and conservatives, particularly over such issues as ordaining homosexuals, ReImagining God, and self-affirming ideologies that deny the atoning work and resurrected life of Jesus Christ.
He called for “recovenanting,” a process of exploring what liberals and evangelicals share in a call to ministry. Toone said the litmus test for remaining one denomination should be whether the PCUSA is effective in building the kingdom of God for Jesus Christ. He said a 500,000 loss in membership in the last 10 years suggests otherwise. During a question-answer session, both speakers were commended for their passion and honesty, but not necessarily for their theological conclusions. Andrews was criticized for suggesting a painstaking, time-consuming point-by-point discussion with liberals. Toone was criticized for recommending division, or schism, in the church. Parker Williamson, executive editor of The Presbyterian Layman, took issue with both of his friends. He contested Andrews’ idea of “recovenanting” with liberals, suggesting that the word covenant was being used too broadly. “The Covenant Network of Presbyterians appropriates this word loosely,” he said, “when it cannot even affirm as basic a covenant as marriage, and when it defends those who violate the covenant they made with the church’s constitution.” The Covenant Network has defended ordination of practicing homosexuals and the practice of “holy union” services for same-sex couples. To Toone, Williamson responded that “gracious separation” would betray generations of faithful Presbyterians whose gifts built churches, seminaries and more than $1 billion in assets held by the Presbyterian Foundation. “When you spew Sophia from the pulpit of one of those churches, the bones of those who built it cry out from the grave. We are like people who live in vineyards and olive groves that we did not plant. We dare not abandon that inheritance to those who follow a counterfeit Christ.” Consequently, Williamson said, evangelical Presbyterians have a fiduciary responsibility to uphold the faith of those whose gifts built the churches we inhabit today – and not to divide up those gifts between liberal and evangelical denominations through a “gracious separation.” Schism a ‘mortal sin’ Dr. Elizabeth Achtemeier, a retired professor at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, challenged Toone’s suggestion that effectiveness might be a basis by which the denomination decides to split. She cited numerous Old Testament examples where God told the prophets to preach to people who would not hear or see the truth – a predetermined ineffectiveness. “It is a mortal sin to divide the Church,” she said. “Brothers and sisters, trust God.” |
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