Rev. Doug Wilson, a prominent proponent of the Federal Vision Theology, in his blog “ Blog and Mablog,” reports today that the congregation of Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church of Monroe, Louisiana, yesterday voted unanimously to leave the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and affiliate with the Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC). There is no confirmation of this on the Auburn Avenue web site. This comes in the wake of Louisiana Presbytery being indicted and choosing to plead guilty over their improper examination of Auburn Avenue’s Teaching Elder Steve Wilkins. They also voted to turn over the trial of TE Wilkins to the denomination’s Standing Judicial Commission (SJC). (For more on this see my post yesterday on this topic.)
While we are waiting for confirmation and more details, there has been reaction, particularly about whether TE Wilkins would be released to CREC and if this would stop a trial before the SJC. David Booth, in a post on his blog post tenebras lux, raises these questions and argues in favor of the trial saying: “Trials are painful, but I believe that it would be healthier for the PCA to actually have held a trial of Pastor Wilkins in an actual church court rather than on the Internet and through administrative
maneuvering.” And the blog Green Baggins has confirmed an e-mail from Doug Wilson with this information as well as the announcement by the blog’s owner, the Rev. Lane Keister, of his resignation from the PCA prosecuting team since his services there will no longer be needed due to these developments. Stay tuned to Green Baggins both for its spirited discussion of this topic and, I am hopeful, that Rev. Keister will provide some insight into the process and proceedings he helped with.
UPDATE January 29, 2008: As of today the front page of the web site of Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church has been updated to reflect, both in the body and in the headlines side bar, the move from the PCA to the CREC.
UPDATE January 31, 2008: Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church has now posted a letter from TE Steve Wilkins explaining the rationale for leaving the PCA.
Thanks for keeping people updated. I do not feel at liberty currently to give out all the juicy details. However, I am sure that more details will become available as the situation is analyzed more thoroughly.
Rev. Keister,
First thanks for your service to the church as part of the whole SJC process.
Second, I respect the need to keep confidences about your work and would not expect otherwise. I try to be careful in this blog not to get too close to church issues and bodies that I am currently involved in so I can avoid compromising my position.
Being a “polity wonk” I was actually more interested in your perspective on the process than the particular details of the case itself. So, I look forward to your insights and reflections at whatever time in the future it is appropriate to post them. Again, thank you.