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Last Tuesday Blackhawk went on the record for refusing to affirm constitutional standards for ordination when they voted 48-68 with 3 abstentions to reject the overture presented by First Presbyterian Church of Aurora and endorsed by four concurring congregations: First Belvidere, First DuPage of Bolingbrook, First Rochelle and Sandwich Federated.  The overture was the subject of the small group break-out sessions and then some heated debate ensued when the large group reconvened after lunch. 

The Covenant Network board introduced a substitute motion which they intended to portray as a “clarifying” motion, when in fact, it did exactly the opposite, introducing a loophole for the ordination of people who choose alternative lifestyles.  This substitute motion encouraged that we should all read and study the whole constitution, and with the help of God in Jesus Christ, “faithfully apply it within the context of their setting.“  (emphasis mine)

The battle lines are drawn.  This seemingly innocuous statement, presented as a means of clarifying the confusing language we used in our overture, actually sounded like a reasonable motion.  But the ambiguous language about the “context of their setting” was clearly intended to introduce a loophole to allow exactly the thing the original overture intended to prevent: the ordination of unrepentant practicing homosexuals!

While the people who want to do this remain a very small minority in our Presbytery, the seeming innocence of the statement appealed to a lot of people who didn’t understand the issue.  In the end, the substitute motion was rejected, followed by the vote on the original overture, which also failed. 

A good friend and one of our overture advocates had this to say about it: 

Overtures like yours (ours) which are consistent with Biblical revelation as upheld by the constitution will no longer prevail because votes are dominated by (1) the ignorant who don’t know what’s going on; (2) the apathetic who don’t care about what’s going on; (3) the apostate who have caused what’s going on; and (4) the faithful who are outnumbered by the other three.

Sadly, I suspect he is correct.

The other day I read a familiar passage in Titus 1:5-9, about the qualifications for elders.  Don’t we always focus on what those qualifications are?  But how often do we forget about the “so that” part that comes after the qualifications?  “… so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” 

Wow.  Do our elders today stand up and rebuke those who contradict sound doctrine?  If so, perhaps not loudly enough.  I think if they did they’d be busy 24×7!

My family and I are life-long die-hard Chicago Cub fans.  Yes, this means we are longsuffering and have endured more than our share of disappointment over the years. We all hope this year will be different.  An analogy occurred to me that ties directly to the PC(USA) situation we face today.

When we lived in Dallas, Texas, we had several acquaintances who played for the Cubs at one time or another, and they used to give us complimentary tickets whenever the Cubs were in Houston.

The management at the Astrodome had the right idea (at least as far as Astros fans were concerned).  Rather than have a dedicated section for the visiting team’s guests, they would spread the complimentary ticket-holders all around the stadium.  They never seated more than about four Cub fans together any of the times we were there, even when they were in the same party and picked up their tickets at the same time.  There may have been hundreds of Cub fans there, but their voices could not unite in cheering for their team.

This reminds me of the disparate renewal groups in the Presbyterian Church today. We don’t speak with a single voice, but are scattered all over the stadium where our voices are lost in the vastness of it all.  What if we were to unite and cheer as one voice?  Wouldn’t they have to listen to us?  Wouldn’t it give our “team” the added momentum we need to win the game?

I am a member of a PC (USA) church in Illinois. We are a conservative congregation; a member of the Confessing Church movement and the New Wineskins Association of Churches.

I have a belief that the left wing that has taken over our denomination is a very small but very vocal minority.  I believe that those of us who stand behind Scriptural integrity, refuse to deny the Lordship of Christ and choose to submit to the Confessions are still a majority.  Call me Pollyana if you wish, but that’s my belief.

I also think that while we wring our hands about the apostasy, we have no real hope of affecting change because we are scattered all over the place and don’t consolidate our efforts the way those on the left do — they have a very specific and clear agenda and they don’t deviate from it much from season to season.  That’s why they’re so successful in sounding like “The Voice” of the PC(USA).

I feel called to start a grass-roots movement to bring together those of us who would like to stand up and fight against the apostasy - not necessarily clergy or even elders - plain old vanilla church members.  If we lift our voice as one, we’ll be loud enough for the leadership to hear us and take notice, right?

If you share my concerns and would like to join together, please drop me an email message at jeanette@concerned-presbyterians.org or join the conversation here.  I look forward to joining with like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ as we fight to wrestle our denomination back from the hands of the apostate.