Beautiful Gospel Centered Ministry in the PCA
We need to do better by the Reformed faith. We should not shun words like beautiful, nuance, winsome, and missional, but find ways to use them and use them properly: to extol the virtues of the Westminster Standards as a philosophy of ministry and summary of the Scripture’s teaching.
Language shapes the way people think and heavily influences the judgments people make. George Orwell illustrates this well in 1984. We see this in secular culture; simply by adding the modifier affirming to a product, policy, or institution, it is easier to brand opponents of the policy, product, or institution as some sort of -phobic.
Who could possibly be opposed to something that is affirming and who could survive being labeled some sort of -phobic? Language manipulates the way people perceive issues and even whole groups.
Even in the Church labels influence the way people in the Church relate to one another and how we see ourselves relative to others in the communion. Of course our primary identity flows out of Christ as saints, beloved, and children. Nonetheless in a communion as large as the PCA it is helpful to recognize where one stands along the spectrum.
In 2015, TE Bryan Chapell wrote describing his impression of three main groups in the PCA: “traditionalists, progressives, and neutrals.” Nobody seemed to like Chapell’s designations, and the volume of blogs on all sides objecting to the way Chapell described the different groupings suggests he was probably near the target(s).
While I am not a fan of being labeled a traditionalist, the three words Chapell used to describe the three groups were respectful and accurate enough for people to grasp what he was talking about in 2015 without a whole lot of nuance or elaboration. There are simply differences of ministry perspective, philosophy and priorities across the PCA, and people generally fall into one of about three broad categories. Chapell’s three words effectively distinguished the three groups.
Shaping the Message
Not all labels are as neutral as the ones in TE Chapell’s 2015 article. If an elder is described as winsome, missional, outward facing, and/or gospel centered where would we assume he falls in the Chapell Taxonomy above? If a congregation tends to focus or speak much on “beauty” and “authenticity,” where would you tend to assume it falls on the Chapell Taxonomy?
Recently a church website posted selections of references given for pastoral candidate TE James Kessler, including one from now Stated Clerk Chapell.
Stated Clerk Chapell asserted,
James [Kessler] is courageous and gospel centered. He is very insightful of people. James has multiple gifts so he has an extraordinary ministry. He is a true gem. James has been a leader in the denomination, especially of those pastors who are ‘gospel centered.’
Are there PCA pastors who are not “gospel centered,” is there a portion of the PCA which is not “gospel centered?” What would the taxonomic label for this group be? “Law Centered?” We can only speculate, and that is not the purpose of this article.
My purpose is, however, to highlight how men on the more confessional or “traditionalist” end of the PCA spectrum have done a poor job using language to communicate the beauty, loveliness, and grandeur of simple, ordinary, plain, vanilla, Old School, Reformed, Westminster, Confessional, Ordinary Means of Grace Presbyterianism.
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Faith, Family, and Church Community See Jeff and Mariah through the Challenges of Aphasia
Written by The Mary A. Rackham Institute |
Tuesday, June 6, 2023
“One of his therapists made a very good synopsis, describing someone’s brain before aphasia being a neatly categorized file box but after a stroke, everything gets thrown about and put back in,” Mariah said. “The retrieval part of words that Jeff is trying to communicate is being thwarted.” “It wasn’t until towards the end of his therapy there that we realized, other than miraculous intervention, Jeff would never be able to preach again. This was very hard to wrap our minds around,” shared Mariah.Chapter 1
Jeff Windt enjoyed preaching and working with local families. The tools of his trade were words. For years, Jeff had been a pillar in his community. He was a leader at Second Presbyterian Church [PCA] in Greenville, South Carolina, where he served as the Assistant Minister of Youth and Families for four years. Leading youth groups and bringing people together had always been a passion of Jeff’s. He also has a family of his own, three young boys and a wife, Mariah.
Then, everything changed one night in June 2020. At 44 years old, Jeff had an acute ischemic stroke at home. Ischemic strokes are the most common type of stroke, accounting for nearly 90% of stroke incidents each year.
“I heard Jeff’s phone hit the bathroom floor with a smack,” said Mariah Windt, Jeff’s wife. “That was a bit alarming because it was a brand new phone he had purchased the day before.”
Mariah said Jeff had come home from work that evening and complained of having a headache, but that he seemed normal — for him. She asked him what had happened with the phone, repeating the question when he didn’t respond. He just shook his head and said ‘I don’t know,’” she recalled. “It was a little odd but I didn’t dwell on it.”A Night They’ll Never Forget, Even Though They Wish They Could
The family sat down and ate dinner together. During dinner, Jeff seemed to be acting normal. After dinner, while cleaning up, Mariah noticed Jeff pacing about the house. This again seemed odd to Mariah. It was at this point that she started keeping more of an eye on his behavior.
“I was trying not to overreact about the strangeness of his behavior but at the same time I just felt that something was wrong,” she said.
It was then that a friend called Jeff on the phone.
“They were on speaker phone, and I couldn’t really hear the conversation but I did notice that the other person was talking, but Jeff wasn’t really responding back,” she said. “The other person hung up, and when Jeff held his phone to hang up he dropped it in his lap and was having a hard time picking it back up. It was then I knew something was terribly wrong.”
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Why Did God’s Beautiful Plan of Redemption Involve Something So Ugly?
We cannot bear to look at the crucifixion any more than we can bear to look at the worst sins and most painful sorrows in the world—or to look inside and see the darkness of our own depravity. The old, ugly cross therefore serves as a proof that Jesus did what he meant to do and put an end to all our sin.
Yet at the center of God’s plan for the beautification of the cosmos is an act of appalling ugliness and degrading humiliation that nevertheless took place according to “the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). I refer, of course, to the cross where Christ was crucified, as well as to what the Scripture says about the physical form of our Savior. If God is beautiful, if people made in his image are beautiful, and if the life of the Son he sent into the world is beautiful, then why does the Bible explicitly tell us that the Messiah, Jesus, was not beautiful? The prophet Isaiah could hardly be clearer on this point:
He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.Isaiah 53:2
The promised Christ was unattractive in his appearance. Indeed, the prophet says that Jesus “grew up” this way (Isa. 53:2), which implies that our Savior was more homely than handsome. Certainly, in his sufferings and death, Jesus became so physically disfigured that he was socially rejected. The horror of his cross thus screams against every sensibility of the divine aesthetic. It was so hideous that even the Father (in a manner of speaking, during the dark hours that his Son bore the guilt of our sin) looked away. Nevertheless, the Bible still tells us to look to Jesus on the cross for our salvation (e.g., Heb. 12:2).
Here we confront the paradox of the crucifixion, which was both the ugliest sin ever committed and the most beautiful sacrifice ever given. When we look at “the Passion and crucifixion of the Lord of glory,” writes Thomas Dubay, we witness “consummate splendor in monstrous horror.” There “at one and the same time we find supremely horrific ugliness and supremely divine and loving beauty.”1 In this paradox we also find our salvation, for the crucifixion of the Christ was the ugly sin that alone had the power to make this world beautiful again.
Why So Ugly?
To understand this shocking paradox, it will help us if we linger at the foot of the cross. Before rushing on too quickly to Easter Sunday and the triumph of the resurrection, we need to take a closer, harder look at the sufferings of our Savior.
What they did—what we did—to Jesus was ugly. It was ugly to betray that innocent man with a Judas kiss, ugly to put him— wrongly—on ecclesiastical and political trial, ugly to parade false witnesses against him and condemn him to die for crimes he did not commit—crimes that were not even crimes at all. It was ugly to mock him royally for claiming to be the King, to crown him with bloody thorns, to beat him, strike him, and spit in his face. Ugly too were the nails that pierced his hands and his feet, the game of chance to steal his last garment, the dark insults hurled against him in his dying hours, and the absolute agony of gasping for every breath—naked and afraid—as his life bled away.
According to the prophet Isaiah, these travails were so repulsive that people could not bear to look but despised the crucified Christ by hiding their faces (Isa. 53:3). This prophecy is especially profound when we consider how much Isaiah said throughout his writings about beauty and splendor. Of all the prophets, he was the most sensitive to beauty as the destiny of the people of God (see Isa. 62:3). Yet when he came to the saving work of the suffering servant, Isaiah saw it as so ugly that he turned away.
How ugly was the cross? It was as ugly as what Jesus was dying to deal with—as ugly as sin and death.
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National Partnership Called to Repentance
I call on all members of the National Partnership to repent publicly of insults, besmirching the church, and obstructing the work of the church councils. I call on you to relinquish your committee memberships. I hope that some of you will. But for those who don’t, I plead that you find another denomination more to your liking, rather than tear the church apart through the exercise of discipline.
Like many within the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the National Partnership email trove has saddened, angered, and grieved me. I have read many articles regarding the emails, and they do not paint a pretty picture. Are those articles slanted? Is the picture that they paint accurate? I found out for myself by writing Natural Language Processing code to analyze the emails. And I remain saddened, angered, and grieved. This article delineates some of the more troubling passages I discovered. I have tried to provide larger quotes to demonstrate that the quotes are not out of context. My purpose is not to rehash what has already been published, but to call the National Partnership to repentance.
I am saddened by the use of personal insults. Consider the following email texts:
“Jun 28, 2019, 11:39:13 AM
…No one can stop us from becoming this kind of denomination. The denomination we were at the end of worship last night. No one. We are the majority, and if we gather around the Gospel there will be nothing to stop it. If we keep preaching to the dry bones.”
“Mar 26, 2013, 3:24:51 PM
…Finally: my greatest concern about the negative blogging we’ve seen this last week is the degree to which men are willing to engage in one-way conversation. The other person is by necessity diminished in these conversations. To me this is not just an ethical code violated but a grievous dishonor. Loving our enemies/opponents has to involve representing their character and beliefs charitably. Inquiries about the NP by one of these bloggers or PERSON 1, PERSON 2 or PERSON 3 would not only have served the public trust but would have dignified me and you by giving us a chance to define ourselves. Let’s not fall into the same soup by failing to pray for our opponents and represent them truthfully in every forum.”
“Jun 27, 2019, 9:49:14 AM
(This is important. Frank wicks is the board recommendation. Wiley is a harsh antagonist of the seminary. Why would we want him on the permanent board. Let’s defeat this)”
Dry bones. A reference to Ezekiel 37. Am I dry bones, dead, without the life of the Spirit because I do not agree with the author’s vision for the PCA? How can that not be the obvious conclusion when Paul tells us in Ephesians 2 that outside of Christ, we are spiritually dead?
While I appreciate the author’s concern for ethics and his prayers, I am astounded that he would refer to his opponents within the PCA as enemies. In Phil 1: 17-19, Paul refers to enemies of the cross as people “whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”
I am saddened by the liberal use of harsh words to define those who do not agree with the NP.
“Feb 20, 2019, 12:52:42 PM
Are those who struggle with SSA not allowed in the fellowship of half-blind jackasses looking for the Glory of the Lord?”
Well, yes, they are allowed. They are just not allowed to be elders. We call upon all people everywhere to come to church, be a part of our fellowship, sit under the discipline of the Word of God, repent of their sin, and accept Jesus as Lord of their life. But once again, I am saddened by how easily a minister of the Gospel can dehumanize his co-workers in the Gospel.
I am saddened to an even greater degree by the insults to the church. There are many references to the PCA as unhealthy and ugly. No, you won’t find those words. But you see an earnest desire for the church to become healthy and beautiful, which implies it is currently not either of those things.
“Jan 30, 2019, 3:49:04 PM
My sense is that the next 3-5 years of assembly work will shape the next forty years of the PCA. If we are clear in advocating for greater health in the Presbyterian Church in America, we will all be part of a more beautiful, more orthodox denomination for Kingdom work around the world.”
“Jul 2, 2021, 8:34:46 AM (7 days ago)
…Perhaps the next way you’ll move things forward is on the floor of your presbyteries as you lead debate on overtures we passed. Or maybe it’s time for your presbytery to bring something to the Birmingham assembly that moves us in a healthier direction.”
“Jun 30, 2021, 9:39:46 AM (9 days ago)Nominating Committee advice. Following the NC close of nominations we will send out a guide for those of you not always familiar with the candidates. In some cases we may not have a recommendation, but in others there may be a candidate whose experience and views would align more clearly with a healthy PCA. Thankfully in all those cases both men will be brothers in Christ and worthy of honor.”
“Jun 11, 2021, 6:33:46 AM
Many of you have heard about the letter drafted by PERSON 1and several other contributors. I was not one of the principal authors, but I am grateful to see it out in the world. I’d commend it to you as one way that we can help guide a healthier denomination.“
Was the church healthy when Elijah called out: 10 He said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” (I Kings 19:10, NASB, 1995)
I think it was. God answered Elijah by saying: “18 Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (I Kings 19:18, NASB 95)
I am saddened when we substitute our judgment for God’s. I think we should hold the church in high regard as in “The Church’s One Foundation”
1 The church’s one foundationis Jesus Christ, our Lord;we are a new creationby water and the Word.From heav’n he came and taught uswhat perfect love can be;through life and death he sought us,and rose to set us free.
4 Yet we on earth have unionwith God, the Three in One,and mystic, sweet communionwith those whose rest is won.Oh, happy ones and holy!God, give us grace that we,like them, the meek and lowly,may live eternally.
I am angered at the secrecy. Almost every email until June 23, 2021, contains a privacy banner like:“Confidential: this information is not to be shared without permission of the sender”
“The following communication is confidential and may not be shared without the permission of the sender”
“Please do not share without the permission of the author”
“This communication is private, it is not to be shared without permission from the sender”There are 66 references to “confidential” or “confidentiality” within the emails. Consider the following email texts.
Jun 26, 2019, 8:16:07 AM
He loves us, and we serve him before we serve committees or churches, or nefarious and clandestine secret PCA societies.
While it is admirable that the National Partnership serves the Lord before all else, why are clandestine secret PCA societies listed in the list of subservient loyalties? Given that the subject of the verse is “we”, the National Partnership, this is extremely dangerous.
Mar 20, 2013, 7:40:14 AM
National Partnership: A New Group in the PCAThe Aquila Report has picked up on our existence, which is not a problem. It was never our intent to exist as a secret society. In fact, I would prefer for the information to be disseminated now rather than right before the Assembly so that suspicions the minority might have about our aims can be dealt with now, rather than provoking prejudices (a secret faction!) that could derail our business at the Assembly.”
“Jun 25, 2021, 11:00:18 PM
We’ve always been about privacy here. Not secrecy, privacy. And why should we have privacy? Let me tell you why. Just today slander from a white supremacist website was spread about me in a PCA Facebook group because I dared to set the record straight about some of the untruths being said about the PCA and homosexuality. And it’s not the first time it’s happened to me.”
Despite the protestation that this is privacy, not secrecy, this has all the hallmarks of a secret society:A hidden membership role
References to NP Presbyteries
Secret voting guidelines sent to members onlyJun 17, 2021, 9:01:05 AM
“Attached is the initial advice concerning overtures to the 48th GA.”
Jun 25, 2019, 10:46:16 PM
“UPCOMING:
Tomorrow AM: Wednesday’s schedule, important votes, etc.
Tomorrow PM: Final overtures advice
Thursday AM: Thursday’s schedule, important votes, etc.
Thursday AM: Nominations adviceJune 07, 2018,
This is the first draft of the 2018 GA overtures advice book
References to “our” members on committees
Deleted websites like: thenationalpartnership.com
A member only National Partnership Facebook page
There are just under 250 references to the following words:Vote
Voted
Voter
Voters
VotesThe email trove reveals an elite, secret society of ministers within the PCA seeking to thwart the rule of Christ over His church. You bet I’m angry. Christ is the head of the church. He rules through the Holy Spirit, working in the hearts of His elders. How is this anything over than an attempt by a minority to circumvent the majority?
I am angered at the mocking of those who seriously try to abide by the Word of God. I Peter 2 begins with a sober warning.
“2 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
A secret society that has an objective to force the acceptance of Revoice theology. Yes, I’m suspicious.
I’m angered at the arrogance. If Christ is the head of the church, and according to our theology, He is, then why do the members of the National Partnership assume He is not leading well.
“Jun 11, 2021, 6:33:46 AM
Many of you have heard about the letter drafted by Mike Khandjian and several other contributors. I was not one of the principal authors, but I am grateful to see it out in the world. I’d commend it to you as one way that we can help guide a healthier denomination.“
“Jul 2, 2021, 8:34:46 AM (7 days ago)
…Perhaps the next way you’ll move things forward is on the floor of your presbyteries as you lead debate on overtures we passed. Or maybe it’s time for your presbytery to bring something to the Birmingham assembly that moves us in a healthier direction.”
The flip side of these comments, as alluded to above, is that the PCA is unhealthy. That we do not listen to the Holy Spirit directing us in the courts of the church. These comments indicate that the National Partnership received a special revelation and authority.
I am angered by what appears to be a lack of integrity. A person with integrity is the same person in public and private. I thought the “Looking Forward Together” article was a thoughtful call for unity. I especially appreciated this passage.
“Be assured that our desire is not to vilify or attack those who disagree. When offered respectfully, we firmly believe that our internal challenges and those who disagree with us make us stronger. We all know that Satan, “the accuser of the brethren”(Revelation 12:10) would have no greater joy than for us to be divided as a denomination over matters that we should debate charitably and truthfully in order for iron to sharpen iron! We believe that sharpening of one another to labor together for Christ requires that we also be honest about some perspectives being advanced in recent months that we believe are not healthy for our church or for Christ’s mission.”
Then I saw the emails referring to non-National Partnership members of the PCA as opponents, enemies, dry bones, and jackasses. So which attitude is the real attitude of the National Partnership?
I am grieved by the coarse language in one email.
“Jun 22, 2021, 3:47:55 PM
When I started the HUE project, I very much expanded my world – praise the Lord, but also the flip side is WTF was I doing all this time.”
Paul, in Titus 2, says,
“6 Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; 7 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8 sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.” (NASB, 1995)
Would any elder in the PCA use this language on the floor of the GA Assembly or in a sermon? Are we not called to be transformed rather than conformed? I work with brilliant, hard-working, and dedicated men who only have one word for expressing emotion. I expect better from elders in the PCA. Even more disappointing was the lack of correcting emails or an apology email,
I grieve over the missional sentiments that discount the relational work performed by the good people of the PCA every day. The authors of the NP emails operate with the assumption that PCA is not healthy or beautiful and that we are not welcoming. The “Beautiful Orthodoxy” conferences, which are promoted in the emails, have this goal:
“The goal of [Beautiful Orthodoxy] is to bless the work of the Kingdom in the PCA. We believe it is time to promote a declaration that we don’t have to choose between biblical/doctrinal fidelity and gospel beauty (love for the poor, joy, warm and welcoming churches, passion for justice, ethnic diversity and appreciation, utilization of the gifts of women, the church as a hospital for sinners, etc.).” (https://www.beautifulorthodoxypca.com/)
God’s people have never made that choice. To the best of our ability, we have carried out both aspects of the great commission, teaching and disciplining. Although I do not believe that the church as a hospital for sinners is an orthodox view of the church. Proponents of the missional church argue that unbelievers do not come to church, so they never hear the Gospel. That the church must somehow become more acceptable to the current culture to be heard. And yet, we’ve seen this story played out before. It’s a story with a sad ending.
People suffering in the bondage of sin are in a state of misery, no matter the age or the culture. They come to Christ as the Holy Spirit turns their heart of stone into a heart of flesh. And He often uses His people to draw them to the church where they hear the Gospel message. And they hear the discipline of the Word. They begin the process of sanctification and the mortification of their sin. Let’s celebrate the work done by His people rather than bemoaning the church and trying to find work arounds.
And I grieve over a lack of repentance after the publications of the emails. As far as I’m aware, no one from the National Partnership has stood up and publicly repented of creating a secret society that seeks to short circuit the presbyterian process. I find this disheartening. As elders who preach a Gospel of repentance, shouldn’t we be the first to repent?
I am hopeful. Evidently, the Lord pricked a conscience of an NP member who released the emails.
I am hopeful. The last GA rejected the machinations of the NP.
I am hopeful. The PCA is a true church that has remained faithful to the great commission. Our churches continue to preach, teach, and make disciples.
I am hopeful that the PCA continues as a true church and will practice discipline despite the pain and turmoil. I hope it does not come to this, but it needs to happen if public repentance is not forthcoming.
So I call on all members of the National Partnership to repent publicly of insults, besmirching the church, and obstructing the work of the church councils. I call on you to relinquish your committee memberships. I hope that some of you will. But for those who don’t, I plead that you find another denomination more to your liking, rather than tear the church apart through the exercise of discipline.
I am hopeful. Jesus still rules His church. We may have to break fellowship with those who secretly obstruct the church government and espouse Revoice theology, but the church will continue. I hope and pray that it does not come to that.
Al Taglieri is a Ruling Elder in the Providence Presbyterian Church in York, Penn.
