Defense named for case against GAC By John H. Adams The Presbyterian Layman Volume 34, Number 5 Posted July 6, 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. The case is based on the event that precipitated the unsuccessful effort to get the 213th General Assembly to declare that Jesus Christ alone is Lord and the only name by which all humanity might be saved. 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 a case brought by Montreat Presbyterian Church in Montreat, N.C. The session of Montreat 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 Peacemaking 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 General Assembly, the highest court in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Before the commission could set a date for a trial, it must decide whether the complaint merits a hearing. 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.

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