A Presbyterian denomination that prides itself on unity in nonessentials has found its cooperative ministry model strained by the newest discussion of human sexuality.
Presbyterian historian Donald Fortson has been a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) since its inception in 1981, and he says he has never seen a more “raucous” General Assembly than this 12 months’s gathering, held last month in Memphis.
Among the topics of debate was whether to confess a congregation whose pastor identifies as homosexual but in addition says he’s celibate and supports a conventional Christian sexual ethic, which falls under what some have called “Side B” Christianity.
Greg Johnson, pastor of Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, led his congregation to go away the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) two years ago after that denomination voted narrowly to disqualify from ministerial office “men who describe themselves as homosexual, even those that describe themselves as homosexual and claim to practice celibacy by refraining from homosexual conduct.”
Johnson has described himself that way, advocating Side B Christianity each on the controversial Revoice conference and in his book Still Time to Care: What We Can Learn from the Church’s Failed Attempt to Cure Homosexuality.
Now his church has inquired about joining the EPC.
“That has stirred up every kind of controversy,” said Fortson, professor of church history and pastoral theology emeritus at Reformed Theological Seminary, “because we’ve got some within the EPC that look like very open to bringing him into the EPC, and we’ve got other groups which are absolutely against him coming into the EPC.”
During its June 18–20 gathering, the EPC voted for a two-year study on “contemporary usage of the sexual self-conception and the way such language comports with Scripture and the Westminster Standards.” All the denomination’s local presbyteries have been asked to pause consideration of matters related to the study while it’s in progress. That means Johnson’s church wouldn’t be admitted until no less than 2026.
Time will tell whether a denomination that has, for the sake of ministry cooperation, agreed to disagree on women’s ordination and charismatic practices can maintain the identical posture on LGBTQ issues.
Unity in essentials
The EPC was founded greater than 4 many years ago by a bunch of about 20 churches concerned with liberal drift within the Northern Presbyterian Church (then officially often known as the United Presbyterian Church within the United States of America). Three points of concern for EPC founders were growing acceptance of homosexual ordination, questioning by some Northern Presbyterians of Jesus’ deity, and a push to force acceptance of female pastors.
The EPC’s attempted resolution of those concerns was a Presbyterian church where all leaders affirm an inventory of “essentials,” including the infallibility of Scripture, the deity of Christ, and the need of evangelism. The EPC also affirms the Westminster Confession of Faith, but in a looser way that acknowledges “that it accommodates the system of doctrine taught by the Bible” and allows ministers to disagree on some points.
Both complementarians and egalitarians are welcome within the EPC, as are Presbyterians with differing views on charismatic practices. A spread of views on creation (from young-earth creationism to theistic evolution) and the Sabbath (from strict Sabbatarianism to a more permissive tackle the Sabbath) also prevail within the EPC.
“The tension exists between those that may stress more the essential tenets of the EPC and people who may stress more the Westminster Confession within the EPC,” said EPC stated clerk Dean Weaver. Some EPC members “are Evangelical with a capital E and reformed with a small r, and there are some who’re Reformed with a capital R and maybe evangelical with a small e.”
So far, the arrangement has succeeded. By 2008, the EPC had grown to 77,794 members. Five years later, it jumped to 134,833. Last 12 months, it reported 125,870 members, making it the third-largest Presbyterian denomination in America, behind the mainline Presbyterian Church (USA) with just over 1 million members and the more conservative PCA with nearly 400,000 members.
The EPC’s membership leveled off somewhat in recent times, dropping 15 percent since 2018. The leveling off was due partially, Weaver said, to “unhealthy” congregations that transferred in from the PCUSA between 2008 and 2018 and subsequently closed. Yet “modest growth post-COVID” has included a 7.4 percent increase in adult baptisms and a push for church planting.
Most EPC growth has come through churches transferring from the PCUSA.
“Numerous us are refugees from the PCUSA, including myself, and we have now watched the PCUSA swing extremely liberal,” said Carolyn Poteet, lead pastor of Mt. Lebanon Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh.
But some growth has come from PCA congregations leaving over women’s roles in ministry.
Among those is Hope Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ohio. After a “discernment period,” Hope has opened deacon nominations to women. It has yet to determine whether it’s going to permit female elders. Pastor Joe Haack says his congregation can thrive in a denomination with the EPC’s vision.
“We want the essentials. We wish to have those nailed down,” Haack said. But “for the sake of mission, we expect liberty in nonessentials is so key.”
Yet because the two-year study on human sexuality proceeds, EPC observers are asking whether the denomination will proceed to agree on what constitutes a nonessential.
An uncertain future
During floor debate on the General Assembly, an Ohio pastor said the sexuality study won’t help the EPC advance its agendas of unity or doctrinal fidelity.
“Although this compromise seems reasonable on its face, it’s not an actual compromise,” said Joseph Yerger, pastor of Mansfield First Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Mansfield, Ohio. Consequences of approving the study committee “will include and must include, out of a false sense of fairness and charity, an lively and positive consideration to support the opportunity of the socially influenced, theologically erroneous position commonly called Side B Christianity, as promoted by the Revoice conference.”
An open letter written by Fortson and two EPC elders, Nate Atwood and Rufus Burton, takes an identical line. It argues individuals who “discover as homosexual,” even in the event that they “claim to practice celibacy in that self-identification,” must be “disqualified from holding office” within the EPC.
In support of its position, the letter cites Scripture, the Westminster Standards, and “lessons from mainline Presbyterian history on the ordination of celibate homosexuals.” To date, greater than 370 Evangelical Presbyterians have signed the letter.
Atwood calls the denomination’s discussion of homosexuality “doing theology in real time,” akin to Protestant Reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin. He worries that permitting individuals who discover as homosexual to be ordained may unintentionally deny the Reformation doctrine of sola Scriptura, replacing the Bible’s call to repent of sinful desires with cultural accommodation.
“I agree with the critique of the conservative church that we have now exhibited a form of hostility to the LGBTQ community that has really hampered our witness,” said Atwood, pastor of St. Giles Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. “And I believe there may be some repenting to do with regard to our temperament and our attitude.” But “will we compromise the gospel,” which calls for repentance from sinful actions and “desires of the guts”?
Others say the EPC sexuality study is in line with the denomination’s vision. The compromise that led to the study committee was “a ravishing moment” and “what the EPC is all about,” said Poteet, chairman of the EPC committee that really helpful the study. “Let’s work out a method to be thoughtful and nuanced and submitted to Christ and submitted to Scripture and do that together.”
Evangelical Presbyterians agree that “sexual expression must be either celibacy outside of marriage or a wedding between a person and a lady,” she said. The query is whether or not a pastor can say of same-sex attraction, This is a component of my experience, but I’m living submitted to God.
Burton, stated clerk of the New River Presbytery in Pennsylvania, is optimistic in regards to the study, although he opposes ordination of celibate homosexuals.
He said during floor debate on the two-year study that it “is a solution to the prayers of the leadership team of the New River Presbytery.” It “will make clear our witness and produce our structure and documents into greater conformity with the gospel.”
Still, it’s removed from certain that studying Side B Christianity for 2 years will produce the specified result.
“I’ve been within the denomination for 10 years,” Poteet said, “and that is the closest I’ve seen it to not working. That was a bit of bit scary.”
David Roach is a contract reporter for CT and pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Saraland, Alabama.
