PCA's 30th General Assembly, 2002

GA Update: Part 2
by Pastor Bob Burridge ©2002

Thursday-Friday: June 20-21, 2002

The reports that brought the most controversy were dealt with during the business sessions on the last two days of the General Assembly.

Overture 10 - Subscription
Many consider the most serious issue taken up this summer, perhaps one of the most serious ever dealt with in the PCA's history, to be the matter of subscription.

In the second ordination vow all PCA Teaching Elders are to pledge the following;

Do you sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of Faith and the Catechisms of this Church, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures; and do you further promise that if at any time you find yourself out of accord with any of the fundamentals of this system of doctrine, you will on your own initiative, make known to your Presbytery the change which has taken place in your views since the assumption of this ordination vow?

Where there are specific words or expressions which the candidate cannot in good conscience say reflect his own convictions about what the Scriptures teach, the Presbytery being asked to ordain him or receive him must determine if his exceptions are allowable within the system of doctrine contained in the Westminster standards.

Two approaches to this issue have been practiced in the PCA.

The Strict or Full Subscriptionist View
Dr. Morton Smith has defined this saying that, "the full subscriptionist believes that in professing that the Confesion and Catechisms of this Church are his confession, that he is subscribing to all of the doctrines in the Confession and Catechisms. They are all part of the system of doctrine, though some are admittedly more essential than others. Note that full subscription does not require subscription in terms of adopting every word of the Confession and Catechisms, but rather in terms of every doctrine or teaching of the Confession and Catechisms."

The System Subscriptionist View
Dr. Smith defines one who holds to this view as one who, "maintains that we subscribe to a system of doctrine, which is not specifically defined, but which is contained in the Confession and Catechisms of the Church."

Several overtures were sent to the General Assembly this year which supported the System Subscriptionist view under the name Good Faith Subscription. The wording proposed was worked out by a group of Pastors and Elders who called themselves the Presbyterian Pastoral Leadership Network (PPLN). Their proposal does not provide any mechanism for recording exceptions held by candidates and would not put them in a form which could be reviewed for denominational consistency by the General Assembly except by the judicial process of bringing charges or formal complaints against presbyteries for their actions.

In considering these overtures the Genral Assembly's Bills and Overtures committee did not allow perfecting amendments to be proposed by the committee members before they were sent to the General Assembly for consideration. This was a change from the method used by the committee in the past.

A minority report asked for a study committee to work on the issue during the next year to propose a wording which would satisfy the true concerns of both sides of the question of subscription. After much debate the minority report was voted down. Several points of order were raised and amendments were offered from the floor by commissioners to avoid this very divisive decision being adopted hastily. All attempts to improve the overture lost by a small but prevailing majority which ultimately adopted the Good Faith Subscriptionist view.

This proposed change in the Book of Church Order will now go to the presbyteries for their consent during the next year. If two-thirds of the presbyteries give their consent the new position will be voted on again by the General Assembly at a subsequent meeting. If approved by a majority again, it will become part of the PCA constitution. A protest was lodged against the new and controversial process used in presenting the overture. The protest was signed by many of the delegates who did not support the overture as presented to the Assembly.

Overture 20 - Racial Reconciliation
Another controversial matter was a declaration on Racial Reconciliation. Overture 20 called for the PCA to publicly confess, repent and ask for forgiveness for involvement in heinous sins of servitude, oppression, racism, exploitation, manstealing, and chattel slavery. While all agreed that racism is contrary to the gospel and biblical morality, many debated that such a declaration presumes continuing guilt and responsibility for the sins of our forefathers toward persons no longer living. It was pointed out that sincere repentance for another person's sins is not consistent with the teachings of Scripture. After much debate a motion to postpone consideration indefinitely failed in a close vote and the overture was passed. This overture does not have constitutional weight but does reflect the majority position of the church court. Many who felt their conscience demanded that their negative votes be registered, added their names to a list of dissenters which will be appended to the minutes of the Assembly.

Women in the Military
The next most controversial report was from the Ad Interrim Study Committee on Women in the Military. While all on the committee agreed that the Scriptures teach that it is a male responsibility to defend his family, and that women should not be placed in the position of serving as military combatants and should not be conscripted into military service, two views were presented as majority and minority reports.

The minority report wanted to offer the findings as merely pastoral advice, while the majority identified this as the biblical duty of males regarding their defense of their families. After much debate, the majority position was adopted. Several of those holding to the pastoral advice position recorded their dissenting votes.

The TNIV (gender-neutral) translation of the Bible
Concern was expressed over the gender-neutral language of the new Bible translation known as the TNIV (Todays New International Version). A personal resolution was adopted expressing disapproval and caution concerning this version of the Bible and all other attempts to modify God's word to fit currently popular agendas.