PC(USA) Task Force Report: Unity Over Purity?
by Jim Brown
July 29, 2005
(AgapePress) - A task force of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has released a draft report that urges members of the denomination to live together despite their differing convictions on basic theological issues.
The Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church was established more than four years ago to address disunity in the PC(USA) over issues such as homosexuality and the person and work of Jesus Christ. The report issued by the task force last week urges members of the denomination to live together in love and unity despite disagreements over who Jesus Christ is and whether homosexuality is sinful.
Pastor Parker T. Williamson, editor-in-chief of the Presbyterian Layman, says the group of 20 who made up the task force was doomed from the start because it consists mostly of liberals. Williamson says the task force believes it is modeling the inclusive church.
"They took an interesting tack," he states. "What they finally concluded was -- 'There's no way we're going to be able to come out with one statement on anything like Jesus Christ, the authority of scripture, or homosexual relations. So instead of doing that, let's just see if we can learn to love each other.' So for four years they've had this big love-in."
According to Williamson, because the reports include "fuzzy language" and "vague wording," both orthodox and liberal Presbyterians will use it to justify their positions.
"It didn't solve anything," he laments, "but it will give people who hold convictions that are clearly contrary to scripture some feeling that their position has been legitimized -- and that's where the danger, of course, comes."
Williamson says the task force is essentially saying that unity trumps purity and truth. The final version of the report is due out in August.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
