The Layman Online: Letter to the Editor

In light of the news coming out of the PCUSA today, I am reprinting a Letter to the Editor of The Layman Online written by my own pastor, Rev. Kent Moorlach. I think it very accurately sums up the issues with the PCUSA and explains why I will still call myself a Presbyterian, despite what the PCUSA says and does.

PCUSA will ultimately be supplanted by a more faithful Presbyterian denomination

Posted Thursday, March 24, 2011

Five years ago, we planted Communion Presbyterian Church (ARP). Just prior to this launch, our core team spent some time discussing whether or not we would actually banner “Presbyterian” in our church name. I still recall one dear saint pleading with our group, “Could we please not use the term Presbyterian? My Christian neighbors are concerned that I attend a Presbyterian church and I constantly tell them that we are not those Presbyterians.”

Who are those Presbyterians?

Those are they that:

• parade as animals and offer prayers lead by tribal Indian shamans at their General Assemblies;
• participate fully with the World Council of Churches in Geneva but fudge on Calvin’s doctrines of grace;
• demand their seminarians use “gender inclusive language” when referring to God but exclude students preaching an historic and conservative theology;
• condemn national Israel for their politics but condone unbelievers partaking of the Lord’s Supper;
• require "congregational quotas” for session members but reject the qualifications for elder delineated in Scripture;
• include the historic confessions of other Reformed bodies in their Book of Confessions yet have the audacity to re-write another communion’s document in order to accommodate denominational agendas;
• have fraternal relations with the UCC but are unrecognized by NAPARC;
• claim they are “open to the Spirit” but confuse what the Spirit has finally said in the canon.

There is surely more.

I recognize that no church is perfect. My own denomination has come through over 200 years of debate and continues to seek purity of devotion to the Scriptures – this process is as old as Acts 15 (And yes, even before then).

So why did our church plant include an antiquated Greek word describing a form of government in our church name? Because we knew this day was coming: the day when the “mainline” PCUSA would no longer be the largest Presbyterian denomination. Our church embraces the heritage and convictions of the Westminster Confession of Faith (and Catechisms), and because these documents truly reflect the convictions of the Scriptures and a faithful Presbyterian church, we were convinced that the PCUSA would finally fracture, lose enough churches, and ultimately be supplanted by another, more faithful, Presbyterian denomination – one with whom our church would be pleased to represent our own communion. (Right now, that’s looking like the PCA, and when they are ready to join the ARP, we’ll be ready!)

The PCUSA certainly has the freedom to pursue the course on which it treads. The warnings regarding this day have been clearly posted by Machen and others. Regardless, with a sense of sadness, we mourn the trials of the PCUSA; especially for the many committed believers who wrestle with future affiliations. But a new day is here, and in all humility, we’d like to have the name back!

Rev. Kent Moorlach
Communion Presbyterian Church (ARP), Irvine, Ca.