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Do you think that the General Assembly should have
answered Overture 9 in the affirmative and established a committee
to study the issue of women’s involvement in diaconal ministry and
report back to the 37th General Assembly?
The 36th General Assembly, after many hours of
committee and floor debate, answered Overture 9 in the negative,
declining to establish a study committee. This action was taken in
spite of a minority report that attempted to persuade the assembly
to answer in the affirmative. As the coordinator of Christian
Education and Publications, under whose oversight the Women in the
Church is positioned in the PCA, a number of people have asked my
opinion on the issue.
As I sat on the second row of the assembly
listening to the debate, several things came to mind that I
believe should or could have been stated, which I picked up on
when responding to those who later asked. This is an issue that if
changed would require several constitutional changes, and there
are ways to do that. Also, let me make it clear that the issue of
women’s ordination, when finally allowed in the mainline
Presbyterian Church, was one of the top issues which led to the
forming of the PCA.
As I respond, be aware that I do so we a ring at
least two hats. The first is not only as one of the organizers of
the PCA in 1973, but also as the chairman of the original
Constitutional Documents Committee. It was my responsibility,
working with Dr. Morton Smith, Dr. Frank Barker, and the late Don
Patterson to develop and present the
Book of Church Order
(BOCO), stating the PCA’s polity to the
assembly. The BOCO had three parts. My responsibility was
to read each section verbatim before the entire
first three assemblies. I had to explain why the BOCO
stated things as it did. This took many hours on the floor, including discussion and debate at times.
One of the positions taken by the PCA at its inception was that ordination to office, elder or
deacon, was for men only. Remember this was one of the major issues
which led to the forming of the PCA, but also understand
why.
After a number of years studying and debating
this issue, the mainline church decided under the protest of
a minority to allow women to be ordained to those offices. Though the more conservative arm of the church opposed
such a position, it must be realized that much study by many scholars was reflected in that action. Those
who finally formed the PCA simply believed it was not the
teaching of Scripture. Therefore, to suggest that
the present position of the BOCO does not reflect in depth study is
inaccurate. One of the main problems revolves around the
PCA’s present position reflected in the BOCO of positing
authority in the office of deacon. Therefore,
the first issue that would need to be solved is this: Is the office of deacon an authority office or only a service office? The
present ordination vows in the BOCO are identical to that of the elders in asking the
congregation if they would submit to the authority of the elders/deacons.
When the PCA became a particular denomination in December 1973,it did not do so without a
history. The PCA was the result of a movement called the Continuing Presbyterian Church, a reference to the
early Presbyterian Church in the United States before liberalism
and neo-orthodox theology took control. Among the men who formed this southern church in 1861 was James
Henry Thornwell. As a matter of fact, as you
read the PCA’s original address to all churches adopted by the first
assembly, it was called pristinely "Thornwellian.” What did that mean? The PCA was to be a “grassroots” church
and not a top down church. The main court in the Presbyterian system is the presbytery. This had two main effects, especially as we developed the BOCO. First, being a grassroots church, we left as many issues to the local churches and
presbyteries as we possibly could. For example, the BOCO did not address the issue of rotation of officers,
a debated issue in our beginning. Nor did it address the issue
of women teaching mixed adults or what form or forms should be
used in worship, to name a few. We attempted to allow as much
freedom and control to sessions and presbyteries as was deemed
necessary.
This was a somewhat different approach than
practiced by the northern mainline church that then followed the
polity of Charles Hodge. The Reformed Presbyterian Church
Evangelical Synod that joined the PCA in 1982 also tended to
follow the Hodge polity. How this played out was reflected in a
conversation in 1974 with a good friend and brother from the
RPCES. He said, “It appears to me the PCA’s approach is not to
address issues unless they come to the General Assembly as an
appeal from the lower courts. We on the other hand tend to deal
with issues and write position papers at the Assembly level prior
to such appeal. ”He basically reflected the difference in the PCA.
The PCA has had many study committees and adopted many position
papers but only after the lower courts appealed to the assembly
for help in determining issues. Following the “Thornwellian”
procedure, the PCA has not been quick to establish study
committees.
Understanding the PCA’s organizing principles
helps to explain why questions troubling the church which the
local courts have not been able to conclude are appealed to
General Assembly; and if enough concern is there, the General
Assembly usually appoints a study committee. Overture 9, if
studied and enacted, would require several constitutional changes;
and it has not been the PCA’s method of procedure to change the
BOCO by a study committee.
I was further asked, “Does the PCA need to study
this issue of the possible ordination of women deacons?” I now put
on my second hat and respond as the CEP Coordinator, which
includes the Women in the Church. When the PCA was formed, the
mainline church from which we left had a very significant women’s
ministry. The PCA, in attempting to follow Scripture, wanted to
continue the vital ministry of women. It was placed under the
oversight of CEP for two reasons. Its focus was two fold—
spiritual growth and assisting the officers in carrying out mercy
ministry, which by the way, the PCA sees as closely related to
diaconal ministry. During my years as coordinator of CEP, we have
intentionally focused on those two founding points. God has done
some fantastic things through the gifted women in the PCA. We have
held local church and presbytery training conferences. Finally, we
have conducted several strategically important denominational
conferences focusing on both spiritual growth and mercy
ministries. Those conferences have actually moved the PCA forward
in the principle and practice of mercy ministries. For example, it
was the gathering of 4,000 women in 1999 in Atlanta under the
banner of mercy ministry that encouraged CEP and Mission to North
America’s biannual mercy ministries conferences. Women have been
key players in those conferences. Several of our women sit as
advisory members on a number of the assembly ’s committees and
agencies.
Over the years with our CEP ministries, we have
chosen to focus our energies on the function of ministry and not
the form . We have attempted to encourage local churches and
presbyteries to have that focus. As a result, the PCA is stronger
in its theology and practice. Under the oversight of CEP, our women’s
ministry has chosen not to spend energies on things other than
ministry and growth action. The ministry at the assembly level has
intentionally focused on training women to minister to women, as
well as training in assisting elders and deacons in the local
church ministry. WIC has been a valuable part of CEP’s ministry
from the beginning. Its annual Love Gifts have enabled the
committees and agencies to do some outstanding ministries. Their
prayers and encouragement have been one of the PCA’s main
strengths. As I have met with women across our church, I have not
heard or experienced PCA women wanting to do anything but minister
and make kingdom disciples.
I conclude my answer with two final thoughts.
One, whether
or not a women should or should not be ordained to the office of
deacon has not hindered PCA women from being a strategic part of
the PCA’s ministry.
Two, written into our BOCO are the procedures to
follow when issues relating to the BOCO need to be addressed.
Whether or not Overture 9 followed those procedures, I will leave
to the judgment of those who dealt in depth with the overture.
As I have stated many times in Equip to
Disciple, knowing our history and
tradition is vital to dealing with issues that confront us today.
This does not keep us from studying and receiving further insight
into issues just as we have done in the past. However, some of the
things I am presently reading and studying could almost lead me to
conclude that there are those who really believe they are the
first generation ever to consider this or that issue, when church
history is full of those who have done so before us.
- Charles Dunahoo, Coordinator of Christian
Education & Publications |
Third
Quarter 2008