Debating School-Based Clinics and Freemasonry

Debates over the Masonic lodge, school-based health clinics, and the relationship between Christians and Jews enlivened denominational meetings held over the summer.

Delegates to the general assembly of the 160,000-member Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) accepted for study a report on freemasonry. The 15-page study recommends, among other things, that PCA members who belong to or are considering membership in the Masonic lodge “reconsider their relationship with that organization.…” The study document concludes that “joining the Masons requires actions and vows out of accord with Scripture; … participation in Masonry seriously compromises the Christian faith and testimony; … [and] membership in Masonry and activity in its ritual lead to a diluting of commitment to Christ and His Kingdom.”

PCA members have until January 1 to respond to the document. The study committee will consider the responses, and the church’s general assembly is expected to take final action on the report next year.

Delegates to the annual conference of the 100,000-member Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) adopted a resolution opposing the establishment of school-based health clinics, saying such clinics “will only encourage further sexual activity among teenagers.” In addition, the denomination opposes the clinics because they “typically support abortion, at least indirectly, as a viable option for pregnant teens.” The resolution further urges that sex education curricula “be required to teach sexual abstinence prior to marriage as a viable and favorable option for teens.”

Perhaps the most controversial denominational actions dealt with the relationship between Christians and Jews. The 1.7 million-member United Church of Christ (UCC) is thought to be the first major U.S. denomination to acknowledge that “Judaism has not been superseded by Christianity.” In a policy resolution adopted by its general synod, the UCC based its affirmation of Judaism’s validity on the New Testament teaching that “the gifts and promise of God are irrevocable.” The statement implies, but does not state, that the UCC opposes efforts to convert Jews to Christianity, according to Philip Joseph Mayher, a UCC pastor who presented the document to the synod.

“We are always free to share our understanding of the gospel [with Jews],” Mayher said. “But we will do so in dialogue, being careful not to insist that faithfulness to God requires conversion.”

The 3 million-member Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (PCUSA) adopted a study paper on Jewish-Christian relations affirming that Christians have not replaced Jews, but have been “engrafted into the people of God established by the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” It says both Christians and Jews are “elected by God for witness in the world.” The study paper suggests that Christians “take a new look at the relationship which God wills between Christian and Jew.” But it adds that “Christians are commissioned to witness to the whole world about the good news of Christ’s atoning work for both Jew and Gentile.”

Headquarters On The Move

Four denominations are in various stages of moving their national headquarters out of the New York City area. In the spring, the new 5.3 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to establish its offices in Chicago, effective January 1. One of the bodies joining this merged denomination, the Lutheran Church in America, will be moving from its current headquarters in New York City.

At the PCUSA general assembly, commissioners rejected the recommendations of two church committees by selecting Louisville, Kentucky, as the new site of the church’s headquarters. Two denominational committees earlier had recommended Kansas City, Missouri, as the new headquarters city. The PCUSA currently maintains offices in Atlanta and New York City.

Delegates to the UCC general synod voted to appoint a committee to explore the feasibility of moving the denomination’s offices out of New York City. The committee will consider St. Louis, Cleveland, and New York. An earlier location committee had recommended St. Louis, but that recommendation was voted down by the general synod.

The general council of the 249,000-member Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) granted the church’s board of managers the authority to select a new site for an international headquarters. Since 1974, the denomination has been based in Nyack, New York, a suburb of New York City. CMA officials said the church could operate more economically outside the New York City area.

Other Actions

Actions taken in other denominational meetings included the following.

• The 309,000-member Christian Reformed Church (CRC) retained a church rule banning women from being ordained as pastors and elders. Women can be ordained as deacons in the CRC.

The church’s all-male general synod also narrowly defeated a move to open the CRC’S regional sessions—known as classis meetings—to deacons. Such a move would have given women a say in church policy making. In addition, the synod appointed a committee to study more thoroughly the theological reasons for banning women from the ordained ministry.

• The general synod of the 347,000-member Reformed Church in America (RCA) adopted resolutions calling for churches to take vigorous steps in combating child abuse and pornography. The synod also voted to “affirm and encourage” those who provide sanctuary for “Central Americans seeking asylum with a well-founded fear of persecution [in their home country].”

In addition, the denomination adopted recommendations opposing support of the contras in Nicaragua; and it defeated an effort to require each classis (regional church body) to appoint at least one woman delegate to the RCA’S annual general synod.

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