A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original article appears below. A. Donald MacLeod is the senior minister of Newton Presbyterian Church on the west side of Boston, MA, and former Director of the Renewal Fellowship.

“Theology matters!”

With that watchword the 206th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) adopted by a 516 to 4 vote the report of a Review Committee guardedly critical of the controversial “Re-Imagining” Conference (see last issue of Channels, pages 6-12). Many saw that action as a watershed in an historic assembly – “probably the most important in fifty years” was the comment of one evangelical present. In accepting the report the denomination was pulled from the precipice of schism. A six-month firestorm had – at least temporarily – been doused.

As the vote was flashed on the overhead screen, pandemonium broke out among the delegates. The several thousand present – according to a report the next morning in the New York Times – “gasped, rose, clasped hands, and began singing.” First the Doxology, then “Amazing Grace.” They wept, hugged each other, prayed together. Nothing like it in recent years had been seen. It was a collective catharsis after the denomination’s emotional roller coaster of the previous year. As Mort McMillan, Chair of Bills and Overtures, stated in his final report: “My fellow Commissioners, in twenty years from now, 40 to 50,000 Presbyterians will claim they were at this assembly.” Applause. “And at least 10,000 will claim they were Commissioners to this assembly.” Standing ovation. “But we know who really were the Commissioners. Save your name tag, so you can prove it.” The 560 Commissioners roared with laughter.

“Theology matters. What we believe about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the human condition, the hope for salvation, shapes our life as a church.”

For the past ten years, since the reunion of the (Southern) Presbyterian (US) and the (so-called “Northern”) United Presbyterian (USA) denominations two issues have dominated the church: sexual morality and the drastic decline in membership and income flowing into denominational headquarters. Jack Rogers, formerly of Fuller Seminary and now directing an extension of San Francisco Seminary in the Los Angeles area, reflected about the Assembly vote: “In 1927” – at the height of the Fundamentalist/Modernist controversy, the Auburn Affirmation, and the reorganization of Princeton Seminary – “the Assembly decided that what unites us is simply our mission. Today, in 1994, the Assembly has decided that we cannot have unity unless we unite in theology. These two dates bracket an era. That era is now over. Today we begin again as a church that is about doing theology.”

“Theology matters. What we believe about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the human condition, the hope for salvation, shapes our life as a church.” The report of the General Assembly Council Review committee on the “Re-Imagining” Conference was emphatic. It continued: “We value theology. We say what we believe as we worship. We send our candidates for ministry to theological seminaries. We teach our children the faith in our homes and church schools.” And then it had the courage to admit “that many in the Presbyterian family were offended, dismayed, hurt, and angered when they read what happened at the conference.” It recommended “that the General Assembly Council ponder the depth of feeling engendered by this theological crisis. It is our opinion that members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) were offended, dismayed, hurt and angered because they believe that the PC(USA) either no longer adheres to its traditional theological moorings or is afraid to say that it does.”

Since this statement was adopted by the Church, and because the report rebuked the General Assembly Council for its “lack of immediate, sensitive, and complete response (which) further aggravated a climate of distrust and anger within the denomination,” Council has sent out members to selected churches for response to a Bible study on Luke 24. Newton Presbyterian Church in Boston – which I pastor – was chosen to preview the study and determine its effectiveness. At short notice in mid-August, elders met with representatives of Council. They responded in no uncertain terms, commenting that the so-called Bible study represented eis-egesis not ex-egesis – reading into the passage not out of the passage. The whole point of the Emmaus experience of Jesus and the two unnamed disciples was that our Lord opened the Word and taught them the truth concerning himself. That appearance of the risen Lord was not to allow the early Church to share their pain so much as it was to encounter a living Lord whose sufferings and death had been revealed in Holy Scripture. The Session, summing up its presentation, responded that theology – historic, creedal, Reformed theology – centers on the meaning of inspiration and authority. Until those issues are clarified, and there is unity, there will continue to be disruptions in the church.

As if to illustrate that point, the national organization “Presbyterian Women,” meeting in Ames, Iowa, a month after Assembly, was dominated by the gay-lesbian lobby in the church. Beginning with a presentation by past moderator (1993) John Fife, a skit casting lesbian relationships as an option for women on the second night, to the appearance of the Presbyterian Lesbian Gay Caucus the final night, the agenda was obvious. Because the “Re-Imagining” controversy was sparked by statements from the journal Presbyterian Layman the press was muzzled. So-called lesbian “evangelist” Jane Spahr led daily meetings under the Lesbian Gay Caucus banner in a “Hospitality/Dialogue” room. The message of the 206th General Assembly had evidently not trickled down to this group, whose staff is housed in the national headquarters in Louisville within the National Ministries Division.

Still, the Wichita Assembly was a cause for hope, though eternal vigilance is the price of peace. From the moment I attended the initial sessions of the General Assembly Council Executive and the General Assembly Council there were encouragements. A forthright statement from Jim Andrews, Stated Clerk, that “The unity of the Presbyterian Church has been stretched thin for many years, and for many reasons.” The “Re-Imagining” controversy “is a symptom of our illness, not the disease itself. The disease is the erosion of trust within the fellowship. The cause of the disease is a virus I want to call exclusivism.”

He went on to define exclusivism as not only dealing with women and minorities, but also “persons holding minority or unpopular views or opinions.” Conservatives and liberals alike, he noted, seek “to turn minimal majority support for issues and candidates into claims of an overwhelming mandate.” Andrews pleaded for “the recovery of trust” and “civility in discussion.” He challenged the church with the question: “Can we bring together the people who feel marginalized by this church and those who are in places of leadership?”

Other voices for moderation were those of both the outgoing and incoming moderators of General Assembly. David Dobler, chosen as moderator of the 205th General Assembly, was a national missions pastor from Alaska, whose quiet and gentle spirit, quick wit, and incisive mind, brought concern for the continued viability (and nature) of the mission of the church to the forefront of debate. Moderators of the previous Assembly wield the enormous power of choosing committee chairs for the next Assembly. These committees determine responses to all overtures to Assembly. John Fife’s influence the previous Assembly in this selection had been disastrous. Under David Dobler fairness prevailed; the selection of committee heads and the cards were no longer stacked against the center and right. The 206th General Assembly was off to a good start.

This church is going to be a great church… I think we’ve been decisive but with grace.”

The moderator of this Assembly, Robert Bohl, was chosen by an 80% majority on the first ballot. This was unprecedented both because, as a senior pastor of a “tall steeple” church (First Presbyterian, Fort Worth), and in his frank appeal to moderation and reconciliation, his election was unprecedented in the past quarter century. His concluding comment as he summarized the mood of the Assembly is worth repeating: “I think the most significant thing that has happened is that the center of the church has spoken and the right and the left have agreed. When you get 98.9 percent, that’s the greatest signal this church has had in 235 years that this church wants to move on and put aside those issues that divide us and just go on into the future. This church is going to be a great church… I think we’ve been decisive but with grace.”

Have we seen a conservative swing in both the Canadian and American Presbyterian churches? Has the center regained its voice, no longer intimidated by the siren songs of the left? Is the perception growing that the left’s agenda – gay/lesbian “liberation” for ordained office, extreme and militant feminism, whatever – been seen as ultimately self-destructive if not positively evil? Trends both in Toronto and Wichita in June suggest that the time is ripe for Evangelicals to add their voice to the many expressing increasing frustration with the rewriting of the church’s mission and a deep hunger for a return to biblical and creedal Christianity.

“Theology matters!” The watchword of the 206th General Assembly of the PC(USA) provides Evangelicals with an opportunity to teach and share the Good News without partisanship and with love and grace. Perhaps there are those out there who are listening. What an opportunity!