by Eric Landry
I am grateful for the Presbyterian Church in America. I am especially grateful for our yearly General Assembly. I have been fortunate to attend many assemblies over the last 20 years. Each year, I am reminded of God’s gracious work in our national association of churches and the value of a deliberative process for achieving a measure of unanimity among our nearly 2,000 churches.
Unfortunately, each year, before GA, voices across the liberal/conservative spectrum predict dire results: “the denomination is sliding into liberalism and unbelief,” or “the denomination is becoming less evangelistic, harsher, and more inward focused.” To paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of our denomination’s demise “are greatly exaggerated!” Even where issues divide us, we are bound together by our common confessional statements, by our common worship of King Jesus, and by our common submission to the authority and inspiration of Scripture.
The deliberative nature of the assembly ensures that a number of overtures—some ridiculous, some important—will be considered. Sometimes the overture comes from one church. More often they come from one presbytery interested in making a change or clarification to the work of our church. This year, 48 overtures were submitted for consideration. The chairman of the overtures committee separated them into various “buckets.” I’ll try to follow his lead in my summary of the most consequential assembly actions.
One overture (8) asked that non-ordained men and women be allowed to serve on denominational committees and agency boards of directors. Currently, those positions are only open to ordained officers in the church. That overture and several that sought the same thing (14, 19, 21, and 32) were rejected. Although I initially supported the idea that non-ordained people could serve in these positions, I was convinced by the arguments of the overtures committee that these committees and boards should continue to be populated by officers of the church since they are erected by our highest court to more effectively govern the denomination. That’s what our officers are called to do; thus it is proper to restrict membership of those bodies to ordained officers.
Overture 2 was very controversial. It called on the denomination to release Covenant Seminary from our oversight, effectively cutting it off and making it an independent seminary. I was disappointed with this overture. Its grounds—that the seminary would be better served by independency—masked the controversy that erupted around Covenant Seminary in 2018 that led, I believe, to this overture. In 2018, a Covenant professor agreed to give a presentation at the Revoice Conference, a gathering of self-identified LGBTQ+ Christians who were endeavoring to uphold the biblical definition of marriage and the Bible’s guidelines on sex. The conference was not sponsored by the PCA or by Covenant, but the professor who was invited gave a thoroughly orthodox presentation on the application of the Levitical laws regarding homosexuality. Covenant has repeatedly asserted that it upholds the teaching of the Westminster Standards and that was seen clearly again at this GA when their president, Mark Dalbey, addressed the assembly on matters of human sexuality. Ultimately, the overture was defeated, allowing Covenant to continue under the oversight of the PCA. In the future, however, it would seem best that if presbyteries believe that the seminary or any other agency of the denomination is turning away from the basics of our Reformed faith, they should bring charges against individuals and institutions, not offer overtures on specious grounds.
One of the most encouraging developments this GA was the establishment of a study committee in answer to overture 7 to recommend pastoral advice and potential changes to our Book of Church Order around issues relating to domestic abuse, domestic oppression, and sexual assault. It is troubling that we need to address this matter in our church, but we should not be naïve: abuse happens in our churches and among our families. It must be dealt with quickly and with appropriate discipline, if necessary. I am hopeful that this study committee will prove to be helpful not just for the officers of the church, but also for the sheep who are being harmed every day.
Overture 4 was another controversial overture. It asked the assembly to declare the “Nashville Statement” —a statement authored by the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood on human sexuality and signed by over 22,000 people—as a biblically faithful declaration. I found myself on the opposite side of many of my friends on this issue. Although it passed, I did not support it. I much preferred another statement, overture 37 from James River Presbytery. I strongly believe that we should do our own work, draw from our own confessional standards, and make our own statements if we are faced with doctrinal or ethical controversies. Relying on a statement from a parachurch organization that has its own theological problems is not wise. I am grateful that the assembly approved overture 42, which created a study committee on issues related to human sexuality. I trust that the work of that committee will eclipse the Nashville Statement in both theological depth and pastoral usefulness.
There were a number of overtures that dealt with more arcane issues of voting, elder representation, church discipline, and Christian schooling. For more on each of these overtures, you can read our denominational magazine, byfaithonline.org.
Finally, I was honored to serve as the secretary for the Interchurch Relations Committee at this assembly. As part of that committee’s work, we recommended that the PCA withdraw from the National Association of Evangelicals (overture 23). I supported that overture. I was convinced by the arguments in our committee that the PCA is not a good fit for the NAE which has very few evangelicals left in its membership and now functions more like a political action committee. I was surprised to hear that no other theological conservative and confessional church body is part of the NAE: not the Southern Baptists, not the Anglican Church in North America, not the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod…the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, the assembly voted to remain in the NAE. I suspect, however, it is only a matter of time before we leave and continue in our common cause with these other denominations that have remained evangelicals even if they are not formally part of the NAE.
Continue to pray for our denomination. It is a wonderful expression of Christ’s body. Even though we face challenging issues almost every year (and even when the denomination makes a decision I disagree with), I am confident God is using us to effect his will and build his kingdom.