y a margin of fewer than 20 votes, the PCA’s General Assembly (GA) voted this afternoon against adopting overtures that would form a study committee to examine women’s roles in the denomination. The vote was 427 in favor and 446 opposed.
Earlier in the week, the GA’s Overtures Committee had recommended that the Assembly reject Overtures 5 and 10—which called for a study committee to be formed to craft a pastoral letter to churches on the issue. (Last year, a similar overture was rejected.)
According to Overtures 5 and 10, “the PCA has struggled with the question of how women in the local church are to exercise their God-given gifts within the framework of the Book of Church Order (BCO).” Additionally, “many PCA churches are uncertain about how to use appropriately God’s gifts among the many capable women within the membership of those churches.”
But David Coffin, speaking this afternoon for the Overtures Committee’s report, disagreed. “The study committee won’t accomplish the goal of creating unity,” he said. “I fear guidance [on this issue] could lead to a tyranny of the majority. The lower courts tend to take study committee [findings] as authority—which would mess with our constitutional order and undermine the integrity of the courts.”The topic inspired spirited debate on the floor of the Assembly.
George Robertson of Savannah River Presbytery spoke from the floor in favor of forming a study committee. “Clearly this is a problem in our church—at least a perceived problem. Writing this pastoral letter would send a message that we affirm and love [women].” He recalled a similar situation previously when the PCA formed a study committee to study race relations.
Speaking on behalf of the minority report, former GA moderator E.J. Nusbaum said, “We don’t have clear direction in our constitution on this issue. A study committee would provide clarity, diffuse controversy, relieve tension, and promote unity in the church.”
A number of prominent PCA leaders had joined the Overture Committee’s (OC) minority report in support of the study committee. In addition to Nusbaum, they included Covenant Theological Seminary president Bryan Chapell; current GA moderator Brad Bradley; Dan Carrell, chairman of the GA’s Committee on Constitutional Business; and Greg Thompson, pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Va.
Citing the fact that four of the 13 overtures submitted to the OC this year dealt with issues related to the roles of women, the minority report said, “Clear differences exist among us. … A pastoral letter [would] allow us to listen to one another without winners and losers in a legislative or judicial process. Such pastoral care is good for our fidelity to Scripture and to each other.”
But after one hour of debate, the commissioners voted to reject the minority report.
Overtures Committee Says Women’s Roles Have Already Been StudiedOn Monday, the Overtures Committee explained its reasoning, saying, “Unlike most issues for which past General Assemblies have erected study committees, the question of the role of women in the Church is not a new or unstudied issue. As such, the proposed study committee is unlikely to break new ground or shed new insights.”
The report went on to say, “Many of the speeches offered before the Overtures Committee in support of Overture 10 argued that there is a need to ‘settle this issue.’ But, by definition, the report of such a committee, whether as a pastoral letter or in some other form, would have no binding Constitutional authority. … The best way to address the concerns of those raising these questions is to allow individuals, sessions, and presbyteries to continue to study and interact on these matters.”
OC study committee opponents were also concerned that its formation would exacerbate differences within the denomination rather than develop unity. “If the committee did come to consensus at a level of specificity, the tendency among some will be to treat those conclusions as binding, at least in some sense,” said the committee report. “That, in turn, would have the effect of elevating any conclusions from the report of the study committee to a level that is de facto on par with the Constitution, but without Constitutional process. This, too, will elevate tensions, rather than bringing about unity.” Yesterday, Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, and Ligon Duncan, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Miss., conducted a well-attended seminar on women’s roles in the church. Some 600 people overflowed into the 450-seat ballroom, with many sitting on the floor and standing around the walls.
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