Letters
March 1, 2005
 

To the editor,

This week, pastors of the 40 largest (in worship attendance) evangelical PCUSA churches have been invited to a meeting. What they discuss and what they decide, or do not decide, will go a long way in determining the future of this denomination.

Because the Westminster Fellowship cares very deeply for this denomination and would like nothing more than to see it restored to Reformed foundation with TULIP as its essential tenets and the Westminster Standards as its Confession of Faith, we sent the following letter to the invited pastors:

Let us introduce you to our newest colleague in ministry: The Reverend Elisabeth "Eily" Marlow-a self-professing, practicing lesbian. According to Marlow herself, her "wife's" name is Jamie Jazdzyk, a minister in the Lutheran church. Last Tuesday night, the Presbytery of Milwaukee voted 104-20 to approve Rev. Marlow's ordination. Previously, Marlow has stirred controversy by her leadership a decade ago in the "Re-Imagining God" scandal that rocked the PCUSA. She next received national attention at the 1998 General Assembly, when she helped lead the effort to rescind the assembly's earlier action to end denominational support for the National Network of Presbyterian College Women for their unabashed support of a pro-homosexual agenda. Then again, when Milwaukee Presbytery first took her under care, there was national attention directed at her. In the meantime, the Presbytery of Milwaukee enacted a resolution declaring they would defy the Constitution of the PCUSA and ordain whomever it wanted, without regard to any prohibition. Two nights ago they kept their promise, and the Presbytery of Milwaukee joined the ranks of a dozen or so other presbyteries that are actively making war upon our constitution.

We are writing you today because as the senior pastor of one of our denomination's largest congregations, you have been invited to attend a meeting at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California. You and your colleagues at that meeting have it within your power to reverse the downward spiral of our denomination. For this reason, we urge you to join with us in a visible, tangible sign of our outrage at this affront to God's Holy Word, and call for all Christ-centered congregations to withhold per capita support of the General Assembly, and hopefully magnifying a hundred-fold the impact of your refusal to pay per capita. As you know, the Office of the General Assembly, that is funded by per capita, is required to uphold the Constitution, and it has steadfastly refused to do so.

It was just announced that the Presbytery of Shenango is going to end all undesignated support of the PCUSA. If the largest congregations in our denomination do so as well, the crisis can end. Perhaps that is why John Huffman said in 2002 that "enough is enough" and that those who are defying the Constitution of the church should "be held accountable." He said that he would ask his session to take action to cut off its per capita payments if by January 2003 there "is not compliance in spirit and in detail" and that he would ask his session to escrow the funds for one year, and then, in "January 2004, if churches are still not complying with the constitution, the funds would be redirected for mission."

Dr. Huffman was right to make that promise.

Dr. Huffman was right in his general observation about the crisis in our denomination. A crisis that since his promise has done nothing but escalate.

Dr. Huffman was right to call for accountability.

But our leaders in Louisville are not the only ones who must be held accountable. So must each of us be held accountable. "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." James 4:17 (NIV).

The time to act to avert this crisis has passed. The time to confront it is here. You can make a powerful impact. Withholding or redirecting per capita -particularly in conjunction with the other largest congregations in our denomination-is the single most powerful tool in your arsenal. We believe that God will hold each of us accountable if we now fail to act.

In New York Presbytery, Jon Walton and Tom Tewell do not deny that they have ordained elders whom they believe to be practicing homosexuals, yet their presbytery protects them.

In Western North Carolina Presbytery, Rob Martin was not disciplined for publicly denying the bodily resurrection of our Lord and Savior, despite the testimony of a dozen ministers and elders who personally witnessed his remarks.

In Baltimore Presbytery, Don Stroud was not only protected as an openly defiant and gay minister, but also elected as a Commissioner to General Assembly as an act of the Presbytery's defiance.

In Redwoods Presbytery, Katie Morrison was ordained despite her unashamed proclamation that she was a practicing lesbian.

In National Capital Presbytery, Eric Scott Winnette was allowed to continue his ministry even though on the floor of General Assembly, as a Commissioner, he proclaimed his homosexual practice. His senior pastor, Susan Andrews, was given a pass by the presbytery for her support of him, despite the language of G-6.0106(b) prohibiting his ordination.

In the Greater Atlanta Presbytery, the Reverend Eric Swenson's homosexuality was not only countenanced, but the Presbytery voted to allow him to change his name to "Erin" to support his desire to be known as a woman.

In Hudson River Presbytery, Joe Gilmore and Susan De George have announced their churches will openly defy the Constitution and regularly participate in ordination of homosexual elders, and their presbytery looks on in approval.

In Heartland Presbytery, J. Dicks McKell favors the ordination of practicing homosexuals, and his congregation last year elected an elder who is openly living in a homosexual relationship, yet his presbytery does nothing to stop this defiance.

This list of defiance could go on and on. But some say we should be tolerant of those making war on our church and its constitution.

"There are limits to tolerance. We excuse things and the truth is ultimately lost." So said our late brother Frank Harrington in the last sermon he preached from the pulpit of Peachtree Presbyterian Church before his sudden death a few days later. "A wink here, a shrug there, a look the other way yonder and we find ourselves tolerating things and refusing to challenge behavior that is clearly wrong. …The reality is that today we are increasingly making excuses about our behavior. Increasingly we are tolerating private behavior that has serious public consequences…We can run from our moral responsibility, but we cannot hide from the consequences. We can detach ourselves and stand on the sidelines, but the challenge and the responsibility that we collectively have will not go away. We can wait for somebody, anybody to do something while refusing to engage the issues, but we are still collectively responsible."

Are you going to wait for somebody, anybody to do something?

"We are all still collectively responsible."

Here is how Frank concluded his final sermon: "We have noted that tolerance has its limits. We have acknowledged that we live in a time of moral confusion. But note with me, thirdly, the heart of the matter: We need clear direction! …We need some clear directions and we should be getting it from the Church. I promise you that this church and this pastor in the future, as in the past, will attempt to be as clear as possible concerning morality, both public and private."

By withholding or redirecting per capita you can give our church the clear direction that Frank was referring to. You can lead where our church is so desperately lacking leadership. If you will, myriads of congregations throughout the denomination will follow you.

The time is critical. The day is short. John Huffman's own promise must be made good!

The gospel has been entrusted to us. We are trustees of the Word, not tenured professors of religion. Until 1965, the membership in Presbyterian Churches in the US was growing. Every year since, it has been dying. The 216th General Assembly reported that the PCUSA had a net loss of 46,000 members in 2003.

Let me ask you something. If a potential new member asks you if the PCUSA ordains self-affirming, practicing homosexuals as ministers and elders, will you deny it?

At the 216th General Assembly John Buchanan's Covenant Network made a major undertaking to change or eliminate the Authoritative Interpretation. They came within a handful of votes of victory. No one, not one single person we know on either side of the issue, thinks they will lose next time.

That's why we started the Westminster Fellowship. We refuse to give up on our church that we have so long served. We are thus funding litigation in California State Court seeking to invalidate the unconscionable property provisions of Chapter VIII of the Book of Order, and we will continue to do likewise throughout the country. We constitute the front lines in the battle for constitutional integrity. We call on you to join us.

The time for action has come. We urge you in the strongest possible terms to lead our church on the per capita issue.