wfn.org | Presbyterian Evangelicals Say They'd Rather Fight Than Switch

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

24-September-1999 
99315 
 
    Despite Frustrations, Presbyterian Evangelicals 
    Say They'd Rather Fight Than Switch 
 
    200+ Gather for Presbyterian Coalition Gathering IV 
 
by Alexa Smith 
 
DALLAS, Texas - The Rev. Jack Haberer of Houston, a longtime Presbyterian 
Coalition stalwart, sees the stay-or-leave dialogue that opened the 
Coalition's gathering as a trial balloon. 
 
 
    "The test balloon has gone up," he said outside the hotel ballroom here 
where two coalition leaders presented contrasting arguments for leaving the 
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) "graciously" or staying in and renewing it. 
"We've already heard voices saying: [leaving] isn't where we want to go ... 
We should stick together and struggle ... rather than pull apart." 
 
    That was the consensus after the Rev. Mark Toone of Olympia Presbytery 
and the Rev. Jerry Andrews of Chicago Presbytery - both Coalition board 
members - put before the body what evangelicals and conservatives have been 
whispering among themselves: If the denomination keeps voting over and over 
again on whether to ordain sexually active homosexuals and quarreling over 
how to read and interpret scripture, should they stay or go? 
 
    For now, they're staying put - but with no small amount of frustration. 
 
      Representing the voice that Coalition leaders have dubbed "angry, 
young, West Coast, evangelical pastors" - nicknamed "Apes" - Toone laid out 
the option to more than 200 gathering participants that "perhaps the time 
has come for a gracious separation within this body [the PC(USA)]."   He 
pleaded battle-fatigue and an unwillingness to devote a lifetime of 
ministry to fighting for ordination standards - including chastity in 
singleness, fidelity in marriage and no same-sex relations - that, as far 
as evangelicals are concerned, are spelled out clearly in scripture and 
tradition. 
 
    Though the plenary was a dialogue and not a debate with an actual vote 
to determine the outcome, the audience appeared to align far more with 
Andrews, who proposed "reconnecting" or "keep[ing] covenant."  He called 
for more dialogue and more diligent attempts to redeem those who have gone 
astray rather than abandoning them. 
 
    Staying in the PC(USA) brings with it the dual frustrations of sitting 
through the same old debates - which have consumed the careers of an entire 
generation of pastors - or coming up with new strategies to bridge the 
theological chasm that separates evangelicals and progressives.  So far, 
such strategies have not been found. 
 
    But leaving is just as frustrating.  For openers, where to go? 
 
    "When push comes to shove, as much as people rattle sabers, when it 
comes to leaving, you have to decide where to go, how to do it and is it 
worth the cost?  And when you answer those questions, the answers lead most 
of us to staying here," said the Rev. Peter Barnes, a Coalition board 
member and pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Boulder, Colo. "We've 
already wrestled with that in seminary ... whether to go to the 
Presbyterian Church in America or the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. 
 
    "But they're fighting battles we don't want to fight," said Barnes, 
alluding to the fundamentalist squabbles that erupt in those denominations 
and the fact that women are barred from ordained offices.  The Rev. Daryl 
Fisher-Ogden wondered on the plenary floor where women and racial-ethnics 
would go, as well as small congregations which, unlike the larger 
evangelical churches, need the support of denominations. 
 
    There's no energy, either, said Barnes, for creating a new denomination 
from scratch, because most Coalition members are full-time pastors with 
congregational work to do. 
 
      Barnes said the Coalition is looking for a common vision of how, as 
he puts it, to "galvanize" its membership.  That's why it floats ideas like 
forming non-geographic presbyteries or raises the question of amicable 
divorce, as the Toone-Andrews dialogue did.  "We've discovered an 
[evangelical] theology to galvanize us in the meantime ... but we're still 
figuring out what the `how' is." 
 
    The frustration of searching for a strategy was frequently expressed by 
Coalition members during the conference's open-microphone times.  The Rev. 
Rufus McClain asked pointedly "for a vision, a goal, a direction," as did 
the Rev. Michael Carey, who wants more talk of what "we're for, not 
against" and who pushed leadership for a "full-court press, specific 
strategies and a timetable" for the renewal of the PC(USA). 
 
    It is not that the Coalition is doing nothing. 
 
      Its six task forces are working diversely to teach theology - in 
keeping with the Coalition's declaration of  faith, "Union in Christ" - to 
church members, to assist in judicial cases (particularly those involving 
gay ordinations or same-sex unions), to initiate dialogue with seminary 
presidents about curricula, and to monitor the re-writing of the 
denomination's sexuality curriculum, which was mandated by the General 
Assembly last June. 
 
    What's more, Coalition members informally pledged to be more 
accountable to one another in the coming months - to submit names to serve 
on denominational committees, to raise questions with candidates for 
ordination about the orthodoxy of their beliefs and to better train elders 
about their responsibilities in the six areas targeted by the Coalition for 
renewal of the PC(USA): church discipline, educational ministries, mission, 
worship, polity and theological education. 
 
    What's missing for organizations under the Coalition's umbrella is a 
comprehensive strategy. 
 
    "Those who think they  have a comprehensive strategy for the renewal of 
the church have not convinced the rest of  us.  In the absence of a plan, I 
have hope.  I am out of plans," said Andrews, who has been one of the 
Coalition's most visible figures in conversations with the church's 
progressive wing.  He told the gathering that he's not willing to give up, 
although he admits that the chasm that separates opponents on these issues 
is wider than he originally thought.  "That's a frustration," he said. 
"We're moving slowly because clear paths for the long distance are not 
evident right now." 
 
    Andrews also admitted that he's puzzled about what common ground exists 
between the two factions, who interpret scripture and the confessions 
differently and that his hope to find greater consensus may fail miserably. 
 
    Andrews said he wants the energy that goes into debates among 
evangelicals and conservatives about whether to stay or go redirected for 
renewal: "How [to stay], not just if or should." 
 
    The Rev. Bill Giles of Birmingham, Ala., a retired presbytery executive 
who has just been hired as executive director of the Coalition, is well 
aware that there are a lot of options available for those who are unhappy 
with the PC(USA).  His biggest concern is not  mass exodus, but mass 
apathy. He is worried that people will be "in the church but not of the 
church, (and who will) remain part of the PC(USA) in name only, but 
actually be congregational." 
 
    "A lot are quietly doing that," said Giles, who insisted that the 
Coalition would like to see folks stay in, but be engaged in seeking 
reform. "My hunch is that which option people, congregations and 
presbyteries select depends on where these judicial cases end up." 
 
    A case in Stamford, Conn., where a congregation re-elected a gay man to 
its session, goes before a Synod judicial commission on Oct. 7.  The man 
was ordained before the PC(USA) constitution forbade the ordination of 
practicing homosexuals.  Another case - from Hudson River Presbytery - goes 
before a judicial commission on Oct. 8 to examine whether the constitution 
permits PC(USA) clergy to perform same-sex union ceremonies. 
 
    Both are in the Synod of the Northeast, where two other cases involving 
the ordination of homosexuals will be heard before the year's end. 
 
    A third option to leaving or staying was put before the Coalition from 
the floor - to some applause - by the editor of "The Presbyterian Layman," 
the Rev. Parker Williamson.  He chided both Andrews and Toone for the 
seeming naivete of their proposals - Toone for suggesting an option that 
means walking away from the billions of dollars in the Presbyterian Church 
(USA) Foundation that have been invested by givers who trusted that the 
money would be managed responsibly, and Andrews for speculating that 
authentic covenant is possible with apostates - such as those in the 
denomination's Women's Ministry Program Area - who are "receiving money 
from the offering plates and who are spewing out poison and have to be 
stopped." 
 
    "The bloody battle," Williamson said, invoking the image of holy war, 
"is exactly what needs to be engaged in ... For the veracity of Jesus 
Christ and the truth of his word, we need to fight until the battle is 
won." 
 
    Battle is precisely what some others are tired of. 
 
    For 30-something pastors like Toone, churches are rapidly moving into a 
post-denominational age and that what passes for union now in such 
theologically diverse churches is more pretense than reality.  The question 
for him, then, though he is willing to admit that he may be wrong, is 
whether the battle even makes sense.  "I'm not angry; but I'm almost always 
frustrated," said Toone, who admits that he's not now willing to leave, 
although he is willing to talk about the idea of separating.  "[I just 
wonder] if it is worth it to try to hold this thing together and call it 
unity, when we're [factions within the church] working at cross purposes?" 
 
    Toone's frustration is familiar to many conservatives and evangelicals. 
 
    "It's a little bit daunting to look at people who are retiring now, and 
who've spent 40 years battling the issue," said the Rev. William 
Vanderbloemen, a 30-ish pastor in Montgomery, Ala.. "It is a frustration 
for me. ... I want the church to make a decision and to live with it.  But 
that doesn't mean I want to walk away from it." 
 
    Vanderbloemen told the Presbyterian News Service that he believes the 
chasm between evangelicals and progressives within the denomination is 
growing - despite dialogue and repeated voting.  "Our [congregation] very 
much wants to be a part of the solution and not be walking away," he said. 
"In the South we've seen enough churches do that." 
 
    But when asked what to do next, Vanderbloemen is as stymied as the next 
person. 
 
    "That's the 64-million-dollar question, isn't it?" he said. "The 
Coalition's six areas are part of the solution. The trick is to get people 
mobilized." 

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