Every now and again I post some pure commentary on how I see the PC(USA) leadership disconnected from the broader church. (For a couple of previous comments there is September 4, October 11, or October 31.)  Well, as I ponder the latest article out of Louisville, “Presbyterians and Separatist Evangelicals: A Continuing  Dilemma” by R. Milton Winter and published in Perspectives, I once again have to wonder “What are they thinking in the Office of the General Assembly?”  So here are some brief comments, and I apologize if this turns into a rant.

I remain puzzled by why the people in the Office of the General Assembly continue making it more difficult for those of us working locally.  I am a leader in a presbytery and the “Louisville Papers” were a controversy that we needed to get past.  Those were legal memos intended for internal use by a bunch of lawyers so with time that blew over.  The 9/11 conspiracy book was not a big issue here.  That was written by a Methodist at a Methodist seminary in our part of the world so to have something like that come out of there was not a surprise.  But now there is a published article, directly from the OGA, using a divisive title like “Presbyterians and Separatist Evangelicals.”  This title implies that anyone who wants to leave is not a faithful Presbyterian.  At a time when many of us are working hard with congregations, presbyteries and in our synods to keep everyone at the table, having the OGA endorse an article with this title is not helpful.  Could I go as far as to say that it does not help us in our work to preserve the Peace, Unity and Purity of the church.  I am awaiting the local fall-out.

Thanks for reading.  Now back to our regularly scheduled information.  I’ll comment on the content of that article early next week.