Talk of Presbyterian Split Grows
Homosexual ordination, lordship of Christ are ongoing issues for conservatives
LaTonya Taylor | posted 12/03/2001 12:00AM
The growth of the Confessing Church Movement in the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) is accelerating talk of a permanent split in the denomination of 2.5 million.
In seven months, the movement of conservative Presbyterians has grown to more than 1,000 churches, a little less than 10 percent of the denomination. The PCUSA's 173 presbyteries are currently voting on Amendment A, which would remove the existing constitutional clause banning from church office noncelibate gays and sexually promiscuous individuals. The General Assembly voted to send the issue to the presbyteries at its June meeting this year.
This vote is the fourth on the issue of sexual conduct since the assembly banned actively homosexual clergy in 1996. A majority of the presbyteries ratified the ban in 1997.
Robert Howard, chairman of the conservative Presbyterian Lay Committee, says conservatives are weary of repeated votes on the same issue. "People are unwilling to have yearly hassles on something Scripture speaks to so clearly," Howard says.
A recent Presbyterian Panel survey indicates that most PCUSA pastors expect a split within 50 years in the denomination, which has 11,200 congregations. The panel is a representative sample of 5,000 Presbyterians.
Jerry Andrews, comoderator of the conservative Presbyterian Coalition, thinks the church may split in five years or less. Andrews believes Amendment A will fail miserably, but "should it pass, it is unlikely that the PCUSA will remain a united body," he says.
'Pre-Schismatic'
Laird Stuart, comoderator of the Covenant Network, which supports Amendment A, says the outcome is too close to call. But the growing number of Confessing Churches makes him less confident that the amendment will pass. Stuart said he is among many who see Confessing Churches as "pre-schismatic."
Jane Spahr is minister director of That All May Freely Serve, a group that works for the ordination of "qualified" homosexuals and transsexuals. Passing the amendment would, she says, allow local churches to make decisions about who best can serve them.
"This isn't to me a question of unity or disunity," Spahr says. "It's a question of what needs to be done."
Katie Morrison, a lesbian, was ordained to the ministry in October at her home congregation in San Anselmo, California. According to More Light Presbyterians, which advocates ordaining actively homosexual ministers, Morrison's ordination is the first since 1978.
As of early November, just two of nine presbyteries had voted for the amendment.
Positions appear to be hardening between some conservatives and the PCUSA leadership. Members of the Presbyterian Lay Committee described the actions of this year's General Assembly as apostate. Moderator Jack Rogers said the Lay Committee and other conservatives are magnifying differences to justify a separation. Twenty-nine former PCUSA moderators recently sent an open letter to the church disagreeing with the charge of apostasy. The moderators accused some conservatives of showing open disrespect to Rogers by not standing when he is introduced at events.
Bob Davis is executive director of the renewal organization Presbyterian Forum. Davis says the denomination's failure to affirm the lordship of Christ in exclusive, universal terms at its General Assembly may be the true cause of an eventual exodus.
"The question is, can we learn how to have an understanding, or at least a consensus, of how we understand the authority of Scripture?" Davis says. "Absent that, we are destined for a split."
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