Letter from the Presbyterian Lay Committee
Posted Sunday, Apr 1, 2001
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
These are troubled times. We write to you today as fellow members of the Presbyterian Church (USA), thankful for the blessings that we have received in this communion and seeking to be faithful to its Lord.
We are deeply concerned about the course that our beloved denomination is following and the contradiction that exists between the faith it professes and the actions it sanctions.
In confession, the Church was born: “You are the Christ, Son of the living God.” Jesus built his Church on this confession, and he promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against it.
In confession, the Church has been reborn. Confessions of the faithful during the Middle Ages sparked the Reformation by returning the Church to its foundation in God’s Word. Confessing Christians in Barmen stood firm against an idolatrous accommodation to culture that departed from God’s Word.
It is again time to stand against cultural accommodation. It is again time to confess the Church’s historic faith. We unanimously do so, joining faithful believers from the Church’s beginning who steadfastly have confessed:
- That Jesus Christ alone is Lord of all and the way of salvation.
- That holy Scripture is the triune God’s revealed Word, the Church’s only infallible rule of faith and life.
- That God’s people are called to holiness in all aspects of life. This includes honoring the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, the only relationship within which sexual activity is appropriate.
Tragically, this historic faith is not being proclaimed and upheld throughout our denomination. The General Assembly of 1994 reaffirmed the church’s faith, and declared, “our Reformed faith is precious to us, and that we intend to hand it down to the next generation: our children and our grandchildren.” Contrary to this declaration, policies and practices of the General Assembly Council continue to undermine such essential tenets of our faith as the three listed above.
- The General Assembly Council has refused to require all agencies, programs, curriculum writers, conference planners and others in its employ to uphold and proclaim the Church’s confession that Jesus Christ alone is Lord of all.
- The General Assembly Council promotes curricula, conference programs and activities that accommodate culture’s “new truths” rather than uphold the teachings of Scriptural truth.
- The General Assembly Council promotes curricula, publications and conferences that contradict Scripture’s clear counsel regarding sexual morality, particularly as it relates to the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman.
We implore all Presbyterians who share these convictions to join the Confessing Church Movement:
- Renew your personal commitment to the three historic confessions of faith and life stated above.
- Urge your session and presbytery to affirm these confessions and to declare that they will not ordain, install or employ in program areas of the church any person who will not affirm them.
- Urge the 2001 General Assembly to instruct the General Assembly Council to require that all program personnel make written commitments to uphold these three confessions and ensure that the confessions are reflected in all programs and policies of the church.
- Pray that the Presbyterian Church (USA) will return to a full faith in Jesus Christ, who gives her life.
If sufficient corrective measures are not taken by the 2001 General Assembly and the General Assembly Council, we hereby resolve to take all necessary action to help the Confessing Churches in reclaiming the historic Christian faith.
In the name of our Lord and Savior,
The Presbyterian Lay Committee
Q. Whitfield Ayres
Roswell, Ga.
John L. Boone
Nashville, Tenn.
Stephen G. Brown
Orlando, Fla.
Constance K. Elliott
San Francisco, Calif.
Sylvia Fields
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Robert B. Fish
Parkersburg, W. Va.
Langdon S. Flowers
Thomasville, Ga.
Powell A. Fraser
Atlanta, Ga.
John W. Forsberg
Whitefish, Mt.
Peggy M. Hedden
Columbus, Ohio
Don E. Hoffmann
Signal Mountain, Tenn.
Robert L. Howard
Wichita, Kans.
John H. Jenks
Atherton, Calif.
Raymond A.M. Jones
Shawnee Mission, Kans.
James Henry Logan Sr.
McHenry, Md.
Lloyd J. Lunceford
Baton Rouge, La.
Peggy J. Maier
Erie, Pa.
Rebecca F. McElroy
Monroe City, Mo.
William I. Monaghan
Metairie, La.
Richard E. Paul
Portland, Ore.
Joyce H. Penido
LaCanada Flintridge, Calif.
Warren S. Reding
Pittsburgh, Pa.
John H. Sanden
Ridgefield, Conn.
W. Robert Stover
Piedmont, Calif.