General Assembly

Published on June 17, 2009 by Eric Landry

Each summer, the PCA (our denomination) convenes its General Assembly: part courtroom, part legislative body, part continuing education, part social hour, part fashion show (you've never seen so many seersucker suits!).  Although I didn't go this year, I've been keeping up with developments via Twitter (#pcaga) and several interesting things have already happened.

Every GA has at least one major issue that will be debated and voted upon.  This year it was the role of women in ministry, particularly in mercy ministries and the ordained office of the diaconate.  Although my views on this subject have shifted a bit, I still think that for the purity and peace of the church we should abide by the rules set down in our Book of Church Order which stipulate that only men can be elected and ordained as deacons.  Women and other men can be appointed to assist the deacons by the church's elders.  The problem comes in that many churches are disregarding the exact wording of the Book of Church Order and allowing the congregation to elect women to a status of "deaconess" and then commissioning women to that role. So, there is a confusion in office and procedure that has led to a lot of mistrust among different churches and presbyteries.

Several proposals were sent up to General Assembly this year that would have clarified our beliefs and practices or set up structures to clarify belief and practice regarding women in ministry. All of the proposals (also called "overtures") have failed, though one might come back as a minority report later this week.  For all intents and purposes, the denomination is settling for the status quo over and against taking up a potentially divisive issue.

There are good reasons for approving this course of action, but it will mean that those who oppose what certain churches and presbyteries are doing will have to take the difficult stance of bringing charges against them for actions not in keeping with our book of church order.  While harder and potentially messier, it's probably better to look at these issues on a case by case basis especially since the BCO does seem to pretty clear on this issue.

All in all, I'm grateful to be in the PCA where we are talking about these issues.  Sadly, many of our older Presbyterian churches (the Church of Scotland and the Presbyterian Church USA, to name two) are racked by other controversies that threaten to scuttle their very existence.  May it never be so for the PCA.