I believe all of us at Trinity, and in the PC(USA), are trying to be faithful to God and the Bible as best we know how. But we have to admit we don’t all view God, the Bible and human experience the same, which cuts to the core of why Trinity’s session has requested that the presbytery dismiss our congregation from the PC(USA) ~ theological drift.

It’s helpful to understand how the leadership at Trinity views the Bible.

The Rev. Tim Fearer presented a series of classes at Trinity in February/March 2013 titled “Trinity Distinctives” where he used a continuum of views of the Bible to illustrate where Trinity’s leadership falls.  You can see Tim’s entire presentation, including a full explanation of the different views of the Bible, here (the continuum of views starts 37 minutes into the video).

Trinity’s staff and elders identified themselves on the continuum as inerrant, infallible and neo-orthodox at their retreat in early 2013, although Tim tends to think the leadership is more inerrant and infallible than neo-orthodox in their views (think fundamentalist and conservative/traditional – using terms from yesterday’s post).

This assessment of how our leadership views the Bible is not exact, but it helps frame the situation we find ourselves in.  If what Tom Trinidad says in his blog Thinking Faith is correct, that by and large the congregations seeking dismissal from the PCUSA are conservative/traditional to fundamentalist in their approach, then our session’s request for dismissal is not out of character with other like-minded congregations.

Clearly our session has concerns with staying in the PC(USA), but there are real concerns we need to have about leaving.

First, one of the freedoms and blessings of the PC(USA) is the denomination makes room for its leaders to exercise “freedom of conscience”, captive only to scripture, as it is interpreted according to the essentials of the Reformed faith and polity expressed in our constitution.

The PC(USA) believes the Holy Spirit works within an individual’s “freedom of conscience” and collectively, as a church, we believe the discernment of these individuals is most clear in the larger bodies (sessions/presbyteries/General Assembly).  Currently the General Assembly, the largest body of the denomination, is moving in a direction our session believes is contrary to scripture.  I think we have to be very cautious about asking for dismissal when we disagree with the collective discernment of the larger body.

Second, our different views about God and the Bible keep each of our theologies more true.  This is a view shared by Jerry Deck, a self described evangelical and past executive director of Presbyterian Global Fellowship, in an opinion column titled “Liberal Conservative or Conservative Liberal?“, published in the Presbyterian Outlook dated June 25, 2012.

Jerry writes, “For the most part I feel this denomination (the PC(USA)) has given me that opportunity in ways that few others ever could, and for this I am incredibly grateful…the reality is that as a Christian community we are in peril if we lose one of our “ends” which hold us in tension. All too often when this tension is lost, we are left with a community that looks less like Christ and more like ourselves.”

I recommend the entire column to you.

Trinity, let’s stay PC(USA) where it’s better we’re not all like-minded.

The Rev. Dr. Tom Trinidad is the Vice Moderator of the 220th General Assembly (2012) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, CO.

I want to introduce you to Tom’s blog Thinking Faith and an entry titled “Explaining Faith Church and the Presbyterian Church USA“.  Tom does an excellent job presenting four basic approaches to viewing God, the Bible and human experience and explains all four approaches can be found in the PC(USA) but that our official theology is in the middle, characterized by both progressive and conservative/traditional approaches.

Tom explains the four approaches below.  I’ve applied an example of how Christians who believe God created the heavens and earth reconcile the differences between the six day creation story in Genesis 1 and modern science using each approach.

Fundamentalist dismiss human experience as a source of knowledge and rely solely on the Bible.  Creation happened in a literal six days, there is no possibility science is correct.

Conservatives/Traditionalist take human experience into consideration as a source of knowledge, but it is subordinate to biblical revelation. Where the two conflict, the Bible decides.  Creation happened in a literal six days, but there is a possibility science is correct.

Progressives consider human experience as well as the Bible as sources of knowledge, while at the same time recognizing that God as Mystery transcends the Bible. Where there are conflicts, progressives err on the side of grace, trusting God to be the judge.  Science is correct, but there is a possibility creation happened in a literal six days.

Liberals look to human experience as the final arbiter of conflicts among sources of knowledge.  Science is correct, there is no possibility creation happened in a literal six days.

I tend to stand between the two middle ground approaches.  @beardonabike posted this tweet on Twitter yesterday, “There is a difference between leaning on your own understanding and throwing away God given critical thinking skills.”  I agree.  I believe the PC(USA) does too.

How do you view God, the Bible and human experience?

My voice is advocating for staying in the PC(USA) but I move forward with this blog in the same spirit of open conversation, trust and transparency approved by the Presbytery of Los Ranchos.

The motion approved by the Presbytery of Los Ranchos on September 20, 2012

Trinity #StayPCUSA is my voice advocating for staying in the Presbyterian Church (USA).  It is primarily addressed to Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Santa Ana, CA where I am a member but it is also addressed to anyone looking for more information as they discern their own future within our denomination.

In PC(USA) congregations where the session is recommending dismissal from the denomination those of us who believe otherwise can be left feeling alone and disconnected.  We are not alone though, it can just be hard to find each other.

Blogs like this, Twitter and other social media can help us connect across the denomination but also with members in our own congregations.  I encourage Twitter users to hashtag #StayPCUSA and to post your own thoughts or links to helpful resources.  There may be thunder but the sky is not falling in the PC(USA).

While I am sorting through ideas and outlining blog posts to come please visit the ABOUT page as well as the different RESOURCE pages available on this blog.

If you’re looking for a place to start let me offer two suggestions.  The first is a presentation made by our Presbytery Pastor Steve Yamaguchi to Trinity titled Is the PCUSA Burning Down?.  The video is short and gets right to he heart of some of the most troubling concerns being raised about the PC(USA).  If you have more time I also recommend Dr. Jerry Andrews’ scholarly video, Essential Tenets.  Dr. Andrews graciously articulates both the evangelical desire for clearly defined essential tenets as well as his own commitment to staying in the PC(USA).  These are great places to start.

Eric Christiansen