Letters to the Editor - March/April 2001

Letters to the Editor *The Presbyterian Layman* Volume 34, Number 2, Posted March 26, 2001
Korean letter was a passionate plea I very much appreciated the quoting of important passages from the Korean Presbyterian Council’s open letter on Amendment O by Presbyterian Lay Committee Chairman Robert Howard. It has been my longstanding belief that renewal organizations and the Korean American Presbyterian community (who are overwhelmingly evangelical) ought to work together to bring true and enduring reform to this historic denomination. The letter makes a passionate plea for the church to return to her first love and to follow the commands of Jesus Christ. In my conversations with fellow Korean church leaders, we are baffled at the pharasaic ways in which modern Presbyterians engage important texts such as the Bible and our confessions. The game seems to be “to interpret” the texts to fit one’s ideology. The emphasis of the Korean church is entirely different: to obey. This obedience is not blind; it is grounded in study, reflection, experience, and, most important, prayer. We never forget that to obey is better than sacrifice, that obedience is higher than unity, peace and tolerance. Those who sought to defeat Amendment O claim that liberty should not be restricted – the liberty of the local church, pastor, or an individual’s conscience. But at what cost? Lord Acton once said, “Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of being able to do what we ought.” God has blessed our church and nation to give us the freedom to do what we ought. The Korean church is keenly aware that we invite God’s judgment when we abuse this liberty. Christians grow up with so little discipline in modern America that we forget the distinction between liberty and libertinism. After 2000 years, the church has gone from proclaiming “Christ crucified” to “live and let live.” It is my deepest prayer that those who are committed to fundamental reform of the PCUSA of every race and affiliation will unite to make Jesus Christ the sole ruler of this church. Jin S. Kim Associate pastor, Korean Presbyterian Church of Minnesota Brooklyn Center, Minn. ‘Escape hatch’ needed Chaplains provide important ministry I read of Doug Oldenburg’s reluctance to “fully fund” the Presbyterian Council on Chaplains and Military Personnel because chaplains are paid more than other ministers. Funds for the council go directly to provide salaries for the council staff and programming such as retreats for Presbyterian military chaplains not funded by the Department of Defense. The director and associate director of the council live and work in Washington, D.C. The cost of living in the D.C. area is such that these individuals need the supplemental income of their military retirement to afford to live and work there. These individuals are pastors to our military chaplains and embody their only link to the church. They provide needed ministry not only to chaplains but also to their families and to Presbyterian soldiers and their families. Sidney L. Leak III Pastor, First Presbyterian Church Manchester, Tenn. Chaplain, Alabama Army National Guard Curriculum’s problem: content and quality There was nothing said about the content and quality of the curriculum published by the Presbyterian Church (USA) in the article about the action of the General Assembly Council. I believe content and quality are the primary reason that congregations are not purchasing the curriculum. While reviewing new curricula for this school year, I found prayers to “our Mother and Father in Heaven.” Most parents teach their children to call on God as “our Father,” just as Scripture tells us. I resent the authors using curriculum to influence my children to adopt beliefs other than what Scripture teaches. Mary Minnich West Palm Beach, Fla. PCUSA must reaffirm authority of Scripture I read with much sadness two articles from the General Assembly Council that explain why we of the Presbyterian Church (USA) are in so much trouble. Shirley Guthrie’s article has much good to tell us and his pessimism is shared by many conservatives within our church. Yet, it also tells us why we are where we are. Because we are not as firm on the authority of the Bible as we should be and because we are not as emphatic as we should be as a church as to the uniqueness of Jesus Christ is why we are in such a crisis. Until we get back on track, we will sadly continue to lose members. Until our seminaries get back on track, we will continue to suffer crisis after crisis. I love our church as do so many thousands of other Presbyterians, and we pray for a revival within it so that the work of the church can be carried out in the power of the Holy Spirit. Rev. Eddie Soto São Paulo, Brazil South America Other Presbyterians honor confessions You are doing it again. In your article about how Christian leaders around the world keep talking about “How can U.S. Presbyterians debate same-sex marriages?” and the like. This seems to almost say that the PCUSA is, in your, opinion the only legitimate Presbyterian church. If legitimacy is organizational, then perhaps. However, if it regards standing firm on the Bible and the faith that has been delivered to us, then the true Presbyterians are those in the PCA, as well as Associate, Orthodox, and Reformed Presbyterians, as well as those in the PCUSA renewal groups. We are the ones holding to the confessions; we are the ones holding to the Word of God. There is no debate in our churches over sex outside of a marriage between one man and one woman. I find it hard to believe that these groups have never heard of the PCA (since there are more PCA missionaries than from the PCUSA). I know for certain that these groups from around the world will be more than welcome associating with the PCA as well as the others. John Tate Pensacola, Fla. We might as well erase sin from record We want to be able to ordain ministers who are homosexual in their sexual inclinations. The Bible calls that sin. But we don’t like to hear that. It’s not fair, so why don’t we just do away with the concept of sexual sin altogether. We’ll just give our seal of approval for our ministers to go out and have sex any old way they want with any person they want. Adultery, too? Let’s write that out of the book while we’re at it. It doesn’t matter whether we sin or not as long as we are fair, right? God gave us minds, after all. Anything we can think of with those minds must be OK with Him. Gary Houseman Ashburn Presbyterian Church Ashburn, Va Columnist’s comments support universalism It seems that the Rev. Dirk Ficca has merely taken the first slings and arrows on behalf of a very large portion of the leadership of the PCUSA. The reason he has not and will not be chastised officially: He is not alone. For recent proof, one need only cite the latest issue of Presbyterians Today. The case could be made that Ficca’s remarks, combined with the fact that everyone knows he will weather the storm of controversy with job and standing intact, has emboldened those less courageous who, until now, have kept their views under wraps. Particularly disappointing is the Rev. James Ayers’ regular theological “Q&A” column in Presbyterians Today. Ayers historically has seemed to be pretty middle-of-the-road, or even leaning in favor of the confessional interpretation on many issues. His is regularly the most “conservative” of the articles featured in the magazine. But in the latest issue he references a short list of Biblical texts and says that they teach universalism, the doctrine that all will be saved, regardless of anything at all. He goes on to imply, if I read him right, that the Bible is just not clear on the issue and, further, that those who teach unique salvation through Jesus Christ can do so only by ignoring his texts. It is bad icing on a bad cake to see this man now putting forth an apologetic for Ficca’s outrageous spiritual poison. Gordan Runyan Tucumcari, NM Views of candidate for moderator divisive Jack Rogers is a fine theologian and sincere Christian. He was my professor at Fuller Theological Seminary for beginning theology. To him I owe a great deal. However, at this moment in our church life, it would be unwise for Jack to serve as moderator of the General Assembly with his controversial views on gay and lesbian marriages and relationships. I believe he would struggle with building bridges with moderate and conservative Presbyterians who differ with his views on homosexual practice. I believe his affiliations with the left wing of our church have unfortunately lessened his ability to lead the whole church. Jim Hazlett The Dalles, Ore. Stated Clerk Kirkpatrick does not set church policy With reference to Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick’s bias toward Amendment O, I continue to be perplexed by his unwillingness to properly perform his job. His is not to set policy; it is to administer the decisions of General Assembly. For several years, he has been a major cause of unrest in our denomination. He goes with his own agenda and encourages those who would substitute a social agenda for a Biblical, Christ-centered agenda. It is past time for the PCUSA to quit catering to the small minority who seek to destroy the church. We have more important things to do for our Lord. Bill Arthur Tucson, Ariz. Who takes seriously counsel of 19 ‘leaders?’ I have recently received another letter about why Amendment O is going to be bad for our denomination. This one came from some of the former moderators of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Before anybody loses sleep over this letter, let’s answer this question: Would you take seriously the counsel of any other 19 leaders who oversaw a corporation’s loss of nearly 30 percent of its stockholders and a massive decline in their market share in a period of roughly 25 years? Donald D. Denton Richmond, Va. PCUSA in danger of losing its foundation I believe very strongly that we are in danger of losing our Reformed theology foundations – if they are not already gone! In the eight plus years that I have been a pastor in the PCUSA, the only topic that has elicited anything approaching a strong reaction (other than the evil of abortion) has been any sermon emphasizing John 14:6. People behave as if I had made up the whole idea of Christ’s exclusive claim all by myself for the express purpose of ruining their day. Recently, I began a series of articles on TULIP and no sooner had I announced the fact that I was writing them and defined the five initials than people were up in arms and talking – to everyone but me – about the ridiculous notion of humans being depraved! And since “God’s only purpose in sending Christ was to show us how to love each other” (one member’s direct quote), the idea of limited atonement was nonsense. These observations combined with our less-than-poor ability at evangelism continue to prove that many in the PCUSA want only to be of the world and certainly not in the world for Christ. Rev. Joseph Phipps Allegan, Mich.





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