A Review of SJC Case 2021-13, Dudt v. Northwest Georgia Presbytery
Written by Terry L. Johnson |
Thursday, July 7, 2022
We all know that process can be manipulated. The Pharisees were masters of external conformity combined with internal corruption. Somehow the work of the SJC must take into account the destruction that can be wrought in the life of a church by a determined minority circularizing the congregation with defamatory information while misusing and manipulating the judicial process.
In reviewing the Standing Judicial Commission’s (SJC) handling of case 2021-13, Dudt v. Northwest Georgia Presbytery, I was dismayed with the way the SJC handled the case. In its decision, the SJC reversed the unanimous decision of Northwest Georgia Presbytery which had rejected all forty allegations of error in the complaint, and behind that a majority decision of the Session of Midway Presbyterian Church. To its credit, the SJC did deny twenty-six of the forty alleged errors, but failed to deny all forty. I have carefully read the SJC decision and my dismay has deepened. My disappointment falls into four categories.
First, I wonder if the SJC is capable of recognizing the larger context within which this complaint was made. The SJC decision seems to have been made in a contextual vacuum. Was the SJC aware of how long the contentious minority that had filed the complaint had been battling with the will of the majority? Was the SJC aware of the damage that has been done to the ministry of the church as the majority must contend with the public attacks of the minority? What may seem like a premature decision by the majority seems to have been preceded by destructive behavior by the minority with whom the said elder is associated, patiently tolerated by the majority for months. Not every detail may be found in the ROC requiring that the SJC pay more attention by further investigation to the larger context.
Second, the SJC made important appeals to the lack of evidence in the Record of the Case (ROC) (e.g., p. 2169, line 6, line 8, line 30). Arguments from silence are indulged in specifications 4, 5, 6, 14, and 24. As with the previous point, additional investigation should follow when the majority affirms that which the SJC thinks it ought to see in the ROC. The benefit of the doubt, or shall we say, the presumption of innocence, should be given to the majority in the local lower courts.
Third, technical errors of process (specifications 23, 25, 30, 31, 33, 34) should not be given undue weight, particularly in light of the larger context. The “weightier matters” of church unity and peace trump minor details of process.
Fourth, the SJC failed to deal adequately with the problem of officers and members circularizing the congregation. The concurring decision recognizes this problem and explicitly raises it twice:
It would be unfortunate for anyone to conclude, that because this Appeal was sustained, it is appropriate for a Session member to email his congregation expressing disagreement with a Session decision. Such conduct would rarely be wise or appropriate (p. 2182, lines 16-18). There are few things that disturb the peace and unity of a church more than individual elders bringing to public attention their disagreements with Session decisions (p. 2182, lines 46-47).
This is the heart of the issue. The church has a process by which minority opinions can be voiced. An elder has the right to submit a minority report from the session to the congregation. He does not have the right to send private communication without the knowledge of the session, especially one which contradicts, and in the contradiction denigrates the session. I fear that the SJC has unleased the furies of division and conflict throughout the PCA by its failure to deal with the bigger picture of the factionalism and schism that appeared to be on the Midway session.
Moreover, the SJC decision has seriously injured the ministry of a veteran, faithful and devout minister. He has sustained constant, false, and destructive attacks, from an organized and determined minority. At the foundation of their bitter opposition was an orderly process whereby the session voted to nominate assistant minsters to serve as associate ministers, and the congregation voted to concur with the recommendation to call the assistant ministers as associates. The minority did not like the decisions or the processes, though both were in order. They simply refused to submit to the majority. Among this hostile minority are those who have published online “The Midway Guardian,” continually attacking the minister, session, and members of Midway.
We all know that process can be manipulated. The Pharisees were masters of external conformity combined with internal corruption. Somehow the work of the SJC must take into account the destruction that can be wrought in the life of a church by a determined minority circularizing the congregation with defamatory information while misusing and manipulating the judicial process.
Terry Johnson is a Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is Pastor of Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Ga.
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Help! I’m Raising a Legalist
Written by Ginger M. Blomberg |
Sunday, January 21, 2024
By teaching our children both law and grace, we can help them see the tragedies of both legalism and prodigalism. We can show them the beauty of God’s goodness and mercy through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son who loved us and paid the penalty for us. Once we see God’s grace to us, we can extend it to others in love.Good Intentions
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever opens with this dire judgment: “The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world.” The book’s narrator then quickly runs through a list of just what made the Herdman kids so bad, saying, “They lied and stole and smoked cigars (even the girls) and talked dirty and hit little kids and cussed their teachers and took the name of the Lord in vain.” Later, the narrator also introduces Alice Wendleken, who wants very badly to play Mary in the church’s Christmas pageant. Alice plays Mary in the pageant every year “because she’s so smart, so neat and clean, and most of all, so holy-looking.” This year, though, Alice is stunned when she ends up losing the part of Mary to Imogene Herdman. Alice starts keeping a list of every naughty and irreverent thing the Herdman kids do, hoping that someone will realize how bad they are and kick them out of the pageant and out of the church.
As Christian parents, we want our kids to do the right things. Some of us have found, though, that in trying to avoid raising Herdmans, we are inadvertently raising Alice Wendlekens, kids who follow the rules not out of love but for control. How do we teach our children to be discerning, both to recognize and to do right, but at the same time to show God’s love and care for the imperfect people around them?
Law
It is vital for us to teach our children what is right, but it is also vital for us to examine our goals in teaching. An old comedy skit said, “Parents don’t want justice; they just want quiet,” and, oh boy, has that been true for me sometimes. I am sorry to say, I have sometimes taught my children the law because I just wanted them to act decently and not embarrass me at church.
But why did God give us his law? For one thing, he knows what is best for us, and he has revealed rules in his word to teach us to act in ways that may seem hard but will usually be for our good and the good of those around us. If we avoid lying, then most of the time people will trust us more. If we honor our parents, we are likely to have a good relationship with them.
Much more importantly, though, God gave us the law to reveal his character. Our God is holy, just, and good. He cares about people who are marginalized by society. He hates when innocent people are harmed. He loves when people do right and are kind to each other. His law teaches all these things about him.
In teaching us about God’s character, the law (and Israel’s history of trying to follow it) also shows so clearly both our need for God and our separation from him. Paul says in Romans 7:13 that through the law, “sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandments might become sinful beyond measure.” We need there to be goodness and justice in the world. We also need a way to get to it. God’s law shows the standard of his character and also how far we are from reaching it.
We want to teach our kids to follow the law, in the sense that we want them to know and do what is right. As Christian parents, and really just as humans, most of us want our kids to know enough to be happy and to be “healthy, wealthy, and wise” (as non-theological lawgiver Benjamin Franklin advises).
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Jesus: The Greater Joshua
While Joshua led the people of Israel into the land God had promised them, the greater Joshua, Jesus of Nazareth, will lead us to that heavenly city, a land of pure delight, where there are no more tears, suffering, or pain, and where we will dwell forever in the presence of God.
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary (who was betrothed to Joseph) the angel informed her that although she had never been with a man, she will become pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. The angel also appeared to Joseph and instructed him regarding his future wife, “she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). The name “Jesus” is so familiar to us that we can easily overlook the significance of his name in light of redemptive history.
Our Lord’s name “Jesus” is indicative of the reason why he came to earth–to save his people from their sins. Yeshua is a shortened form of Joshua (Yehoshua), which means “Yahweh is salvation.” The Greek version is Iesous—Jesus. This name ties Jesus to one of the great figures in redemptive history–a man used by God to deliver his people and bring them into the promised land. That man was Yehoshua (or Iesous), a name which comes down to us in Romanized form as “Joshua.”
Joshua is one of Israel’s greatest heroes. He first appears as a skilled commander who directs Israel’s army in battle against the Amelkites (cf. Exodus 17:8-16). Joshua is identified as Moses’ assistant who is with Moses before the latter received the commandments of the Lord (Exodus 24:13 ff). Joshua is said to have never departed from the tent where Moses led the Israelites (Exodus 33:11), and he assisted Moses in the governance of the nation (Numbers 11:28)
Joshua is also one of the twelve Israelite spies who entered the promised land of Canaan (Numbers 13:16-17). Along with Caleb, Joshua never doubted God’s promise to give the land of promise to Israel, despite the ferocity of the Canaanites who lived there. God punished Israel because of the unbelief of the other ten scouts and the willingness of the people to accept their mistaken notion that God could not give Israel the promised victory.
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The Word Dwelt–Like a Tabernacle
When the Old Testament Israelites traveled with the tabernacle, and when they camped around it, they could rightly say, “God is with us.” But the tabernacle was a shadow, a type, of something greater—Someone greater. Jesus is the true and greater tabernacle who came to dwell among sinners. He is Immanuel, God with us.
The opening of John’s Gospel contains some of the most epic words that have ever been written. The language in John 1:1–14 is beautiful and profound, and the main subject—the Word—concerns the one for whom and by whom all things were made.
In John 1:1–14, we learn that the Word always was, that the Word was before everything else, and that the Word came into the world like light—divine light. God’s speaking was at the same time a shining, and this light was revelation, the revelation of the incarnate Word.
When John tells us about what we call the incarnation, he says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
That whole verse is dense with wonderful things, but I only want to focus on one of them. The Word dwelt among us. Let’s think about that.
The verb dwelt is ἐσκήνωσεν, which is from the verb σκηνόω, and it means to dwell or encamp. This is why the Greek translation of the Old Testament uses the word σκηνη for tent or tabernacle. In the Old Testament, the presence of the tabernacle signaled the presence of Yahweh drawing near to the Israelites in their camp.
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