FOP releases drafts of
theology, polity documents
The Layman, December 8, 2011
The Fellowship of Presbyterians (FOP) has posted drafts of its theology and polity documents at www.fellowship-pres.org and is asking for feedback through Jan. 6, 2012.
The feedback will be used to revise the documents before they are presented at the FOP’s Orlando Covenanting Conference, Jan. 18-20.
“The theology of the Fellowship of Presbyterians and the new Reformed body,” is an 11-page document that includes the confessional standards, essential tenets and a proposal for making the consideration of theology an ongoing priority among the FOP.
The theology draft proposes the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Book of Confessions as its confessional standards. “These creeds, confessions and catechisms have much-needed wisdom of proven worth for us, and can uniquely serve as the central documents for a new Fellowship that strives to retain meaningful connections among congregations, some of whom will be within the PCUSA, some of whom will be in a new Reformed body.”
The FOP or the new Reformed body may decide to alter its confessional standards after a “time of building and testing theological consensus among us,” the draft says. “But it is our opinion that the theological consensus among evangelicals has not been tested and, further, that to presume a consensus where one does not exist is to repeat one of the most significant theological failures of our generation. As members of the ordered ministries of the Church, we have agreed to The Book of Confessions. Let us keep that covenant that we may be found faithful to any new theological covenant we will make.”
“The Fellowship/New Reformed Body cannot imagine that it should or could disavow the confessional heritage of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Whatever the church’s confessional and theological failings may be, they are the failings of all of us. The task now is not to be ‘non-PCUSA,’ but rather to embody faithful ways of being Presbyterian. The most appropriate footing for a new venture is the faithful doctrinal and theological foundation provided by the creeds, confessions and catechisms of the Presbyterian Book of Confessions.”
The essential tenets, according to the draft “are tied to the teaching of the confessions as reliable expositions of Scripture. … Essential tenets do not replace the confessions, but rather witness to the confessions’ common core.”
The draft includes sections on:
- God’s Word: The sole authority for our confession
- Trinity and Incarnation: The two central Christian mysteries
- Essentials of the Reformed tradition, including God’s grace in Christ; Election for salvation and service; Covenant life in the church; Faithful stewardship of all of life; and living in obedience to the Word of God
The third section of the theology draft states that it’s time for the teaching and ruling elders to “reengage the theological work, for this moment and the next generation.” It invites Presbyterians to “commit to personal disciplines, conduct in ministry that is holy, and mutual encouragement and accountability.”
Comments on the theology paper should be sent to theologydox@gmail.com by Jan. 6.
The 21-page “Polity of the new Reformed body under the Fellowship of Presbyterians” draft says that instead of a long, well-crafted documents that sits on a shelf or inhibits ministry, this document is “in support of a larger mission to build flourishing churches that make disciples for Jesus Christ,” and begins with the Great Commission, Matt. 28:18-20.
In its introduction, the draft says that the task force “deliberately used the latest revision of The Book of Order as a template. This enables congregations to work with a somewhat familiar language and offers presbyteries assurance that they would be releasing congregations to a Reformed body.”
Under the heading “Six things to look for” the draft includes:
1. A commitment to a structure and style that is more horizontal than hierarchical.
2. A focus on missional encouragement rather than regulation.
3. An emphasis on increased flexibility in congregational leadership.
4. An offer of guidance rather than constriction.
5. A belief that congregations should plant and incubate new worshiping communities.
6. A commitment to property staying under the stewardship of the local session.
There is no Directory of Worship, or section on discipline in the draft and it does not have synods “as we have known them.”
Comments on the polity paper should be sent to politydox@gmail.com by Jan. 6.