Volume 1 Issue 4
Page 1

December 1996

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PCA

Thank you for your letter raising questions with respect to the Concerned Presbyterian Memorial which was sent to the 21st PCA General Assembly in 1993. I want to address briefly each of your questions.

With respect to your questions:

1. Is there a movement among some PCA Churches to discard the doctrinal beliefs that the Holy Bible is the word of God and the only infallible guide for faith and practice?

In theory, all of the PCA still holds to this position. It is still asked of all men who are being ordained. To my knowledge all PCA elders have given an affirmative answer to this question, at least in theory. In practice, many live as if they can not read the Scripture, or do not care what the Scriptures say.

The 24th General Assembly committee to review Presbytery records found several Presbyteries that are receiving men who deny six day creation and who believe in the ordination of women. Also, there is a widespread practice of receiving men who say "They take exception" to the Westminster Confession of Faith's exposition of the fourth commandment. In other words, they believe that the Lord's Day activities are not to be restricted to public and private worship and to works of necessity and mercy, but that they can do as they please on the Lord's day.

2. Have the courts of the PCA given up or abandoned their authority to a commission?

Yes, since 1987 all judicial matters have been turned over to a Standing Judicial Commission which is notorious for not following its own rules. Part of the problem is that many members of this Commission have been lawyers or men who depended upon the "wisdom" of the lawyers. Consequently, the Standing Judicial Commission appears to be patterned after the legal system of America rather than the laws of Scripture.

One of the results of the Concerned Presbyterian Memorial is that a General Assembly Study Committee was appointed to recommend corrections to the system. The study committee brought its report to the 24th General Assembly this year. The General Assembly did adopt the committee's recommendations which included several "safeguards." Now we must be careful to elect men of integrity to the Judicial Commission or the "safeguards" will have no meaning.

3. Has the General Assembly of the PCA accepted a system of skits and dancing and "strange fire" in some worship services?

Yes, a worship service at the l991 General Assembly in Birmingham included "liturgical dance." At the 1996 General Assembly in Coral Ridge there was a worship service which included a dramatic presentation by an actor, dressed liked Jesus Christ, who recited the Luke 5 account of the Prodigal Son in the first person. The General Assembly also allowed the advertising of this actor's availability for worship services.

Many churches allow such practices in their worship services. Many PCA churches now have dramatic teams that they advertise as available to travel to other churches to perform. It has been reported to us that at least one church has a Director of Liturgical Dance for the worship services.

4. A number of Presbyterian churches in rural areas feel they have been forgotten by the PCA. Has the PCA decided to concentrate evangelical efforts in urban areas while they let rural churches die?

As to your concern that the PCA seems to be ignoring the smaller, more rural, churches your observations appear true. It certainly appears that the PCA is more concerned with reaching the "up and outers" (rich, powerful sinners) rather than discipling all men. Even our foreign missionaries are concentrating their efforts on reaching the more influential people.

One can't help but wonder if many of the deviations from obeying the Scriptures as our "rule of faith and practice" isn't due to this catering to the rich and influential. Indeed, with the huge amount of debt that many PCA churches have accrued, they would not want to offend a generous donor and certainly would not send the rich young ruler away.

I pray this letter answers your questions. Please join us in prayer as we seek to call the PCA "to be what She said She would be." It is time that we all sought to be as Biblical as possible.

Thank you for your concern and for taking the time to write.

In Christ,

Charles L. Wilson, Chairman
Concerned Presbyterians