THE WRITING OF CONFESSIONS HAS BECOME POPULAR IN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA) SESSIONS.

 

In April 2001 PCUSA failed to pass an amendment to the church Book of Order that would have prohibited "same sex unions" from being celebrated by Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) clergy, or on church property.

With that failure of Church leadership to uphold marriage, the Confessing Church Movement was born in PCUSA.  By June of that year, 282 PCUSA Churches with 98000 members in 39 states had joined the Confessing Church Movement, with 55 more churches considering.  Since then, the Movement has continued to grow.

 

Below is a sample creed that was circulated to the individual sessions for consideration.  Obviously this confession was composed in a time of great pain and confusion at the beginning of the new millennium in these United States.  

 

The second line would not have passed muster in the Early Church Councils for it confuses one aspect of revelation with deity.

 

After confessing that Jesus Christ alone is Lord of all in the first line, the second line declares, “That holy Scripture is the triune God’s revealed Word, the Church’s only infallible rule of faith and life.”   That statement does not square with John 1:1 as to who (not what) the Word of God is.  Jesus the Christ is the person to whom was granted “all authority in heaven and on earth.”  It is he who is declared to be the revelation of God.  According to John 1:1 it was the Eternal Word who became flesh and dwelt among us.  

 

Both the Apostles and the Nicene creed confess with reverence this mystery of the incarnation of God in Jesus. The fathers who set for the Nicene Creed did not confuse the Scripture with deity.  They proclaimed “I believe in the Holy Ghost. . . who spake by the prophets” thus indicating the inspired value of the words of the prophets.  

 

Some human skills have improved over time, but creed making is not one of them.   

 

The grace of this creed is to be found in its brevity.  The confession is relatively short as the modern confessions go, so it has fewer errors than most.  The most notable thing about it is that it reveals the pain of a church in a time when leaders in both church and state have lost their moral bearings.  

 

Charles+

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The session of _____________________ meeting this ____ day of __________, ______ joins faithful believers throughout the Church in confessing: 

That Jesus Christ alone is Lord of all and the way of salvation. 
That holy Scripture is the triune God's revealed Word, the Church's only infallible rule of faith and life. 
That God's people are called to holiness in all aspects of life. This includes honoring the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, the only relationship within which sexual activity is appropriate. 

We therefore announce our commitment to the Confessing Church Movement and we implore all Presbyterians who share these historic Christian convictions to: 
Renew their individual commitments to the above confessions. 
Urge their session and presbytery to affirm these confessions and to declare that they will not ordain, install or employ in any ministry position any person who will not affirm them. 
Urge the 2001 General Assembly to instruct the General Assembly Council to require that all program personnel uphold these confessions and ensure that these confessions are followed faithfully in all programs and policies of the Presbyterian Church (USA). 

Clerk of Session 
Moderator 

. 

 

 

 


--
To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: faithandlife-unsubscribe@...