I have previously reported on the action of Santa Barbara Presbytery at their February 10 Presbytery meeting passing a resolution that calls on the churches in the PC(USA) to return to focusing on Jesus Christ.  While the Layman Online reported on the the action at the meeting I admitted in that previous post that I was not completely clear from their reporting exactly what was adopted.

Well, Santa Barbara Presbytery has updated their web site and the uncertainty has been cleared up.  On their Resources Page there is now a link to “Appropriate Response” which is the word document of A Declaration of Theology and Action that was approved at that meeting.  As far as I have been able to tell it is the unmodified (with the exception of the endorsing body) document sent to the Presbytery by the Session of Community Presbyterian Church of Ventura.  So, my uncertainty is cleared up:  The Presbytery did adopt the heavily footnoted (barely) 21 page document from Community Pres.

The first 15 pages are are the theology part, much of it structured on the “We believe…, We reject…” formulation of the Barmen Declaration.  At this time I have only skimmed the document but it appears to cover the usual ground, e.g. the Lordship of Jesus Christ, authority of scripture and the PC(USA) deviation from these.  It is interesting to note that the last section in this part, “V. Faith as Response” starting on page 14, comes almost word-for-word from Community Presbyterian’s “Faith, Membership, and Discipleship” statement that appears to be necessary to affirm with your signature in order to join the church.

The final pages of the document are the action part putting forth resolutions, all adopted by the Presbytery.  There are about 18 resolutions (it sort of depends on what you count as sub-sections) in four groups dealing with PUP, Stewardship, Property and the Future.  Again, if you are following these resolutions there are few surprises here.  The resolutions cover adherence to Book of Order ordination and membership requirements, being pastoral about churches considering leaving the PC(USA) and not taking coercive action, to honor a church’s withholding of per capita in protest, to not rigidly enforce the property trust clause by legal action, to form a task force to consider the future and renewal of the PC(USA), and to mail the document out to all congregations and governing bodies.  One resolution did catch my eye as a bit different and that one deals with correcting congregations that do not hold to the Book of Order ordination standards.  I may have missed it in other similar documents, but I don’t remember seeing anything quite like this before.  In the “Towards Peace, Unity and Purity” section resolution 4 says:

In its discernment of the essentials of Reformed polity and for the sake of the peace, unity, and purity of the church, the Presbytery of Santa Barbara adopts the principle that compliance with the standards for ordination adopted by the whole church in the Book of Order is an essential of Reformed polity. Since every pastor has vowed at ordination to be governed by our denomination’s polity, any conscious and deliberate departure from the essentials of Reformed polity is a sign of spiritual rebellion and/or illness. The presbytery has the express power (a power that only the presbytery can exercise) to provide pastoral care for the members of presbytery, visiting sessions and ministers on a regular basis (G-11.0103g). Therefore, the presbytery will counsel, guide and, if necessary, correct any pastor that is spiritually ill or in rebellion.

I will be reading the document in more detail this weekend and if anything else is unique enough I will update.  Otherwise, look for the document in a church mailbox near you.