 Broken covenant  The Layman Volume 36, Number 1, Posted February 19, 2003
A culture of defiance has driven Presbyterians into the wilderness. Here, like our Semitic ancestors, we yearn for a sense of community, some connection that might transform us from being “no people” to becoming “the people of God.” Ancient Israel found community on the slopes of Sinai. There, it received a gift called “the law.” God’s commandments framed a covenant that bound persons to God and to one another. Through this covenant a gaggle of individuals took shape and form, reflecting, albeit imperfectly, the Triune communion that gave them life. Each commandment has communal implications. “You shall not bear false witness,” underlies our justice system and makes contractual relationships possible. Recent scandals in corporate America demonstrate what violating this commandment and others does to the fabric of community. Commandments prohibiting theft, murder, covetousness, adultery and dishonoring one’s elders also undergird our life together. Our Presbyterian forebears revered this Biblical understanding of the law, embedding in our tradition the fact that we are a covenant people whose constitutional precepts shape our common life. Those whom we ordain promise to be governed under this covenant. Obeying this promise lies at the heart of who we are as Presbyterians. Today, what began as sporadic defiance by a handful of outlaw ministers and sessions has spread to presbytery leaders who give them cover, Presbyterian courts that will not confront their rebellion, a stated clerk who ignores his duty to preserve and protect the Constitution by every means at his disposal, and a moderator/stated clerk duo who have undermined rights guaranteed by the Constitution to General Assembly commissioners. Although Presbyterians enacted – repeatedly and by huge margins – constitutional standards that govern the behavior of our leaders, an entrenched bureaucracy refuses to require compliance, thus rendering null and void the Constitution that they promised to uphold. The covenant has been broken. Distrust runs rampant. A called meeting of the General Assembly could have addressed this crisis with strong resolve, giving the people a reason to believe that their life together can be restored. Denied that opportunity by the unconstitutional acts of its leaders, this denomination has become a fractured fellowship, bearing scant resemblance to the vision that gave it birth. Parker T. Williamson is editor-in-chief of The Layman. |
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