GAPJC Decisions

Discipline for Our Own Good

1 Comment / GAPJC Decisions, It All Started in the Garden, PCUSA, Personal, Spiritual Disciplines / By /

Quite often I find myself asking the question, “How did things get this way?” particularly in reference to my tribe, the PC(USA), but also to the culture developing around us all. It is safe to say that we are shaped over time, individually and corporately. The way things are now is the result of decades of shaping mechanisms at work in and among us. You could say the same for any culture anywhere in the world, but my experience limits my thinking to American culture. This weekend I had a chance to air my brains out as I breathed in […]

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What Sort of “New” Is Acceptable in the PC(USA)?

10 Comments / 2012th General Assembly (Pittsburgh), 221st General Assembly (2014), Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, GAPJC Decisions, Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA, Spiritual Disciplines, Teaching, The Missional Church / By /

One of the first things a counselor (of any type) will tell you is that if you want to change a behavior, the best place to start is by monitoring what your current behavior is. If you want to change your eating habits, for instance, you would keep a food log for a couple weeks to observe what you are actually putting in your mouth. Then when it is time to start the behavioral change project, you know where your points of vulnerability are, you know how much of a change is required, and you get a pretty good idea

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Tell Me This Isn’t About the Money

Leave a Comment / GAPJC Decisions, PCUSA, The Property Clause / By /

Amended Wednesday, October 23, after comments from Menlo Park readers, to set the record straight: Most of the “gracious dismissal policies” I have read from around the country go to great lengths to describe the chief concern of the church, that of the integrity and continuity of the mission of Jesus Christ.  Putting aside the false notion that there is no “church presence” in a community if there is no PCUSA congregation there, it is laudable and achievable in some parts of the country that a departing congregation and its dismissing presbytery can see the larger work of the Kingdom

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Taking the Long View on Church Dismissal

Leave a Comment / 221st General Assembly (2014), Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, GAPJC Decisions, History, Marriage Definition, Naegeli's Laws, PCUSA, Personal / By /

The study of history was never my strong suit in high school, and though I had a couple of world-renowned history professors at Stanford, the discipline did not capture my imagination. I was at the time much better suited as a mathematical sciences major (first) and ultimately music major. Problem sets and musical analyses were more my forte in these formative years. I’ve been on a remedial course ever since. What turned me around was Church History in seminary. I took three courses: Early Church, Reformation History, and American Church History to fulfill my requirements. For the first time (with

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What Makes It Difficult to Buck Societal Trends

Leave a Comment / 2012th General Assembly (Pittsburgh), 221st General Assembly (2014), GAPJC Decisions, Marriage Definition, Moral Authority, Naegeli's Laws, PCUSA, Teaching, The Missional Church, Theological Reflection / By /

Yesterday’s blog post gave rise to some interesting comments on Facebook (not here, regrettably), suggesting that a nerve was hit on this question of just what the church is supposed to be and do in relation to “the culture.” I am aware that many books have been written on the subject of the church and culture (or Christ and Culture by Niebuhr and D. A. Carson’s Christ & Culture Revisited). I closed my reflection yesterday with the statement that, despite the fact we possess true freedom and righteousness in Christ, believing and acting on this truth is a sticking point

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Response to Ed Koster’s Recent Article

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I’m not sure why Ed Koster is still responding to PCUSA remedial cases that were completed over a year ago, but since he mentions one case I spent about three years on, I will comment on the points he makes in his recent Outlook article. The PCUSA faces a problem of discontinuity that is messy in its consequences: Any particular presbytery ordains for the whole church, based solely on the local governing body’s discretion. This scenario works if the presbytery reflects the doctrine represented in our Confessions, which have been agreed to by the body as our means of interpreting

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The Deafening Silence of Disengagement

Leave a Comment / "The Bible" on History Channel, GAPJC Decisions, Leadership and Spirituality, PCUSA, Personal / By /

Friends of “Bringing the Word to Life,” I submitted the following letter to Presbyweb in response to a letter to the editor by Mike Garrett. I believe the fray is going to start up again, and commend to you as a catalyst a very thoughtful and well-written “prophetic word” by Jim Goodloe, found here. Dear Presbyweb, In response to Mike Garrett’s letter which observed the “deafening silence of disengagement,” I want to agree and to explain further. As one who has contributed to the debates in the last several years and lately by blog, I can acknowledge the truth of

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Larson v Los Ranchos: A Case of Presbydoublespeak

16 Comments / GAPJC Decisions, Marriage Definition, Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA / By /

Overnight I have had a chance to read not only the Final Decision and Order of the GAPJC in Larson v. Los Ranchos, but also the briefs submitted by the Complainants/Appellants and the Respondents/Appellees (the Presbytery). My initial summary of this case appeared in yesterday’s blog; today I’d like to share my impressions of what this decision means. Folks who believe a manner of life suitable for ordination in the PCUSA includes fidelity in heterosexual marriage and chastity in singleness are going to find it difficult to apply their reasonable biblical standard in ordination/installation decisions. Here’s what I observe to

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GAPJC Decisions Put the Squeeze on Evangelicals

10 Comments / GAPJC Decisions, PCUSA / By /

The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC)  has issued three Decisions after hearing oral arguments last Friday in Louisville. Each is disappointing to evangelical conservatives in the PCUSA, but taken together they create an odorous outcome for any presbytery trying to uphold a biblical understanding of marriage or congregations desiring a peaceable withdrawal from the denomination. A quick rundown of the case Decisions, which can be read in their entirety on the GAPJC website (scroll down to 221-02, 221-03, and 221-04):  221-02, Newark Presbytery v McNeill:  In 2009, Presbyterian teaching elder Laurie McNeill was married, according to Massachusetts law, to

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The Women’s Question and The Confessions

15 Comments / 2012th General Assembly (Pittsburgh), Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, GAPJC Decisions, PCUSA / By /

The issues have been confused for years and I’m ready to stop out for a couple of days from the marriage curriculum and address a question that keeps coming up. The second form of the question popped out in the one-minute speech of a GA commissioner, who said, basically, that if it were up to the Book of Confessions, she would never have been ordained. The first form of the question, around for years, asks: “The Bible requires silence of women in the church, yet we ordain women. Why can we not ordain committed homosexuals despite the prohibition of homosexual

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