FACT SHEET IDENTITY ROOTED IN SCRIPTURE, JESUS AT THE CENTER

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1 This fact sheet provides various external resources and details for consideration during the discernment process. They are arranged according to three crucial aspects of our life as a congregation: Identity, Mission and Governance. IDENTITY ROOTED IN SCRIPTURE, JESUS AT THE CENTER The existence of a wide range of views in the PC(USA) even on core Christian beliefs is celebrated by many in the denomination, resulting in a lack of common faith and constant discord. It also raises serious concerns about the denomination s exercise of spiritual authority over HPPC. Theological pluralism and a lack of common faith in official statements and standards: 1. The PC(USA) has no clear statement of faith. The adoption of a Book of Confessions containing many statements standing in tension (Book of Order, F-2.01) has established the absence of a common faith as the denomination s only authoritative position in matters of doctrine. (Parnell v. Presbytery of San Francisco (2012), GAPJC Remedial Case ) 2. Pastors, elders and deacons vow to receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith, but those essential tenets have never been established and the PC(USA) believes it would be inappropriate to identify them. (See the PC(USA) video, Essential Tenets, at 3. The PC(USA) has declared it unacceptable for a congregation or a presbytery to adopt Essential Tenets as the session of HPPC has done. As a result, every congregation, including HPPC, is now prohibited from examining a candidate for leadership according to a clear statement of faith. (Adoption by the 217th General Assembly (2006) of the Authoritative Interpretation recommended by the Report of the Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity: Bush v. Presbytery of Pittsburgh, GAPJC Remedial Case ; Parnell v. Presbytery of San Francisco (2012), GAPJC Remedial Case ; Buescher v. Presbytery of Olympia (2008), GAPJC Remedial Case ) 4. Therefore, without a denomination-wide confessional standard, and with a prohibition against local governing bodies adopting essential tenets, theological pluralism flourishes freely in the PC(USA) and congregations are limited in their ability to maintain biblical, orthodox faith. The PC(USA) fails at this critical juncture to pursue one of its own Great Ends : the preservation of the truth (Book of Order, F ). While the PC(USA) may reply that it still officially affirms orthodox teaching on Scripture and the Lordship of Christ, such affirmations hold a peripheral status and exist within a broader framework that embraces a wide diversity of beliefs. As a result, such statements are unable to serve as expressions of the actual faith of the PC(USA) or as instruments of unity or accountability in the denomination. PAGE 1 OF 5

2 IDENTITY ROOTED IN SCRIPTURE, JESUS AT THE CENTER, CONT. Unity in Diversity in the New Form of Government 1. The New Form of Government, adopted in 2011 and now the main section of the Book of Order, states in a section entitled Unity in Diversity : In Christ, by the power of the Spirit, God unites persons through baptism, regardless of race, ethnicity, age, sex, disability, geography or theological conviction. It goes on to state that the PC(USA) shall guarantee full participation and representation in its worship, governance, and emerging life to all persons within its membership. (F ). Additional statements citing F further guarantee participation and inclusiveness in the process for nominating individuals for the offices of deacon, elder and pastor (G , G ) and for service in the higher governing bodies of the denomination (G ; G b). Taken together, these statements appear to establish the principle that the standards for church membership are the only requirements for serving as deacon or elder, and that every church member has a right to serve in such church offices regardless of theological conviction. The HPPC Pastoral Nominating Committee was required to commit to this policy of theological inclusivity in order to begin the process of searching for a new Senior Pastor in the PC(USA). 2. The new Form of Government, begins with the following statement, which appears to express universal salvation: The good news of the Gospel is that the triune God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit creates, redeems, sustains, rules, and transforms all things and all people. (emphasis added) Examples Related to the Authority of Scripture 1. A recent decision of the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission appears to say that since there can be multiple interpretations of Scripture, no interpretation of Scripture can be authoritative. (Parnell v. Presbytery of San Francisco (2012), GAPJC Remedial Case ) 2. The Confession of 1967 in the Book of Confessions contains teaching on the nature of Scripture that is questionable at best (it is emblematic that this confession refers to Scripture with a lower case w as in the word not Word of God). (Book of Confessions, Confession of 1967, Section 9.27) Examples Related to Christian Ethics 1. At the recommendation of the 219th General Assembly (2010), a majority of Presbyteries voted to remove the fidelity-chastity standard from the Book of Order, allowing ordination of a man or woman who is neither chaste in singleness nor faithful within a marriage between a man and a woman. ( 2. The 220th General Assembly (2012) narrowly voted down ( ) an amendment to the Book of Order that would change the definition of marriage from a man and a woman to two people. However, by a wide margin ( ) the Assembly voted to move the whole Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) into a season of serious study and discernment concerning its meaning of Christian marriage. _It is anticipated that the issue will be brought to a vote again at the 2014 General Assembly. ( PAGE 2 OF 5

3 IDENTITY ROOTED IN SCRIPTURE, JESUS AT THE CENTER, CONT. Examples Related to Other Religions 1. The 2008 General Assembly encouraged Presbyterian congregations to recognize commonality, and celebrate diversity with Muslims. In another action the Assembly encourage congregations to celebrate religious holidays and plan days of worship together with both Muslims and Jews. The original version of the proposal affirmed that all three religions worship same god, an affirmation still clearly implied in the encouragement of joint worship. More specifically troubling is the implicit denial of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, through whom we can approach God in worship. Working together for peace does not require setting aside one s own faith. This statement was later corrected by the 2010 General Assembly. 218th General Assembly (2008), and 2. Only 45% of ruling elders, 41% of pastors, and 27% of specialized ministers strongly agree or agree that only followers of Jesus Christ can be saved according to a survey conducted by the PC(USA) in For a helpful summary and further examples, see How We Got Here, Carmen Fowler, MISSION MAKING DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST The wide range of beliefs in the PC(USA) includes widely different views about the mission of the church, resulting in a breakdown of cooperation in common mission. Several years ago HPPC s session decided, for reasons of conscience, to reduce the amount of financial support provided for denominational efforts. The memory of the 1993 Re-Imagining God event, planned by PC(USA) staff and partially funded by the denomination, is still seared in the minds of many as an example of how denominational efforts can go awry. The conference celebrated goddess worship and caricatured traditional Christian teaching as hopelessly patriarchal and violent. In response to the, For what did Jesus come?, a speaker answered: I don t think we need folks hanging on crosses, and blood dripping, and weird stuff. At a meeting of Voices of Sophia at the 220th General Assembly (2012), the speaker recalled the 1994 event and its significant role in the church: Re-Imagining was chosen to point out that theological work is artistic work. God is imagined and re-imagined by many names. See PC(USA) news article: See also, Re-imagining Revisited in Touchstone: Drain on resources and focus: HPPC for decades has poured resources into renewal efforts in the PC(USA). In the last 15 years alone, HPPC has given over $800,000 to renewal groups one of which ceased operating last year (Presbyterian Coalition). HPPC leadership participated in the formation of these groups in the 1980s and 1990s. PAGE 3 OF 5

4 MISSION MAKING DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST, CONT. Our sister churches are leaving: Membership in the PC(USA) is in a free fall, from 4.2 million members in 1967 to 1.9 million members in It is has been declining at a rate of 60,000/year, with a reduction of 100,000 in 2012 alone. 5 of the 15 largest churches in the denomination are seeking dismissal Comparative Statistical Report, research/statistics-reports-and-articles/ Presbyterian Outlook article, news-and-analysis/outlook/18821-whos-joining-the-exodus.html. See for a list of churches that have are or in the process of leaving the PC(USA). For many years HPPC has not been able, in good conscience, to use PC(USA) materials for Christian education, and we have only been able to selectively and as a small percentage of our mission budget, participate in mission activities of the PC(USA). The National Church of Mexico voted to end its 159-year partnership with the PC(USA) in 2011, causing missionaries there supported by HPPC to have to leave the mission field. Other international partner churches have expressed similar concerns as well. GOVERNANCE COMMON FAITH, COMMON LIFE Longview the phrase Longview refers to Grace Presbytery s intervention in the First Presbyterian Church of Longview when its Session began conversations about whether to recommend that the congregation change Presbyterian denominations. For a partial account that gives the most positive description of the consequences of Grace Presbytery s action at Longview, see the video on the Presbytery website. Note that despite a 78% vote of the congregation, the church was not allowed to be dismissed from the PC(USA) and that majority of the congregation had to leave their building behind to find another place to worship. For another description of the actions in the Longview case, see the pleadings of HPPC in its suit against Grace Presbytery on the HPPC website Grace Presbytery Dismissal Policy; and Clarification of Standing Rules of Grace Presbytery on the creation of an Administrative Commission after the experience at Longview, Grace Presbytery adopted a dismissal policy that codified the actions it took in Longview, and clarified in an amendment to its Standing Rules, the process for creating an Administrative Commission. Once the dismissal policy starts the initial Presbytery Ministry Team can become an Administrative Commission at any time by the action of only the Presbytery Council, without the involvement of the whole presby- PAGE 4 OF 5

5 GOVERNANCE COMMON FAITH, COMMON LIFE tery and without any notice to the impacted church. (Section V.1); wp-content/uploads/2013/07/standing_rules_2013_07_13.pdf (Section 7.1) 1. The dismissal policy places Presbytery completely in control of the process with no predictability or certainty of outcome for a local church 2. The 50% quorum and 90% voting requirement makes it highly unlikely that a large church would every meet the standards of the policy; and even if it did, the Presbytery still remains in control of the outcome A restrictive call process limits the pool even more to those candidates that the presbytery will approve. 1. The Book of Order gives presbyteries veto power over a congregation s selection of a pastor. 2. Under the practices of Grace Presbytery, face-to-face interviews with candidates must be approved in advance by Presbytery. Grace Presbytery s Call Process Guidebook. 3. When HPPC formed its Pastoral Nominating Committee to search for a new Senior Pastor, Grace Presbytery took the unprecedented step of appointing the top three persons in Presbytery leadership to be the liaisons to the PNC: the General Presbyter, Associate General Presbyter and the Moderator of the Committee on Ministry. 4. Narrowing the pool restrictive policies: In Grace Presbytery, the theological inclusivity of the PC(USA) does not extend to conservative, Biblically orthodox seminaries. The presbytery recently changed its policies to establish that candidates who attended such seminaries Redeemer Theological Seminary in Dallas being one will normally be rejected as candidates for ordination or installation as pastors. This change in policy directly impacts several HPPC staff who either are attending Redeemer or who have already graduated. Difficulty in finding the next generation of pastors, and even pastors today there is a narrowing pool of candidates and narrowing pool of interest in the PC(USA),Narrowing pool of candidates narrowing interest: In 2000, thirteen years ago, only 7% of all PC(USA) pastors were under the age of 40, which means that 93% of all PC(USA) pastors will have reached retirement age by 2025; Leslie Scanlon, Pastors under 40 Face Unique Challenges, The Presbyterian Outlook (2001) Narrowing the pool: Princeton Seminary, the flagship seminary of the denomination, has seen a 10% reduction in student applications in the last two years alone. Princeton Seminary, Office of Director of Admissions & Financial Aid. 2. Narrowing interest many young evangelical leaders are not attracted to the theological pluralism of the PC(USA). As an example, three current and former staff at HPPC have chosen to seek ordination in another Presbyterian denomination, specifically ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians. These staff members are: Charlie Dunn, Petey Crowder, and Kevin Klay (formerly on staff, but now an HPPC-supported missionary to Southern Sudan). PAGE 5 OF 5

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