An Encouragement and Appeal to Concerned Officers and Laypeople in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC)

An Encouragement and Appeal to Concerned Officers and Laypeople in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC)

Dear brothers and sisters in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC),

Greetings, and Grace and Peace to those who love and serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

            Reviewing the events at your recent 44^th General Assembly of the EPC, I know that you, like many other American Reformed Churches, are facing difficult issues of ministry in matters relating to sexuality, temptation, and same-sex attraction. As a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), I was also interested and sympathetic to your recent challenges concerning a congregation (Memorial Presbyterian in St. Louis, MO) and her ministers who were formerly in our own denomination petitioning to join the EPC.

            Now, hearing that you have formed a committee to study and report back on these issues in two years, I felt compelled to write an open letter of encouragement and appeal to those in the EPC. As I have talked to many fellow PCA elders in the past few weeks, all were thankful for particular local EPC congregations known to work and labor in the proclamation of the gospel of our Triune God. We appreciate those of you who have been encouraging and working with us in these labors across denominational lines for years.

             I write to express that I—along with many others in the PCA—are committed to pray for your denomination, your churches, and the decisions that you will be making through the newly formed committee and in future General Assemblies. While conflict and controversy are never pleasant, we are reminded that when God works through wisdom and discipline, we can have comfort from Hebrews 12:11: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

            I also write to commend to you the published work of the PCA and several of its presbyteries and ministers on many matters directly related to your own deliberations. Many of us are grieved that rather than work within the polity of the PCA in seeking clarification and repentance where necessary, Memorial Presbyterian Church (again, together with her ministers) departed from us and did not continue to seek that peace in our courts. Below are some examples of the work we produced on issues that had surfaced up to the point of their departure:

• Our General Assembly worked through many issues regarding sexuality, desire, and same-sex sexual attraction, producing a thorough report. Click here or copy the following link to access the Report of the Ad Interim Committee on Human Sexuality (2021): https://pcaga.org/aicreport/.
• One of our presbyteries, Central Carolina Presbytery, also formed a committee to study the fruit of the Revoice Conference held at Memorial in 2018 and promoted by some of Memorial’s ministers. The presbytery then reported on certain matters of theological controversy that alarmed them in regard to the teaching promoted at, and distributed by Revoice. Click here or copy the following link to access the Central Carolina Presbytery Study Committee Report on 2018 Revoice Conference: http://www.ccpca.net/news/ccp_study_committee_report_on_2018_revoice_conference.pdf.

Subsequent to the publication of the PCA’s denominational Report on Human Sexuality, Teaching Elder Greg Johnson published a book entitled Still Time to Care (Zondervan, 2021). This book contained many troubling teachings and false statements that were not corrected, retracted, or adequately addressed prior to Memorial’s petition to their presbytery (Missouri Presbytery) to be dismissed from that presbytery’s (and the PCA’s) oversight and discipline. However, some work was done to consider the book’s teachings and appeals:

• First, to the work of the book as a whole, consider the report of an ad hoc committee in the Presbytery of the Ascension (PCA). This presbytery study committee read with both appreciation and critique the book Still Time to Care. Click here or copy the following link to access the report which the Presbytery of the Ascension published: https://www.presbyteryoftheascension.org/_files/ugd/afc91c_3139eb43223e4caaa8b9767590ecc65d.pdf.
• Second, to the raising of issues on false statements about published authors and their writing, See “Actually, We Do Care: A Response To Greg Johnson’s Still Time To Care (Heidelblog)” (https://heidelblog.net/2022/02/actually-we-do-care-part-1-a-response-to-...), and “What Greg Johnson Won’t Tell You About ‘Double Repentance’ (The Aquila Report)” (https://theaquilareport.com/what-greg-johnson-wont-tell-you-about-double-repentance/) from authors in and adjacent to the PCA.
• Finally, if you want a quicker overview, the Gospel Reformation Network published an excellent and thorough review of Still Time to Care. The author, a Presbyterian seminary president, charitably engaged with the substance of the book while noting its theological deficiencies. See “A Review of Greg Johnson’s New Book: ‘Still Time to Care’ (Gospel Reformation Network)” (https://gospelreformation.net/a-review-of-greg-johnsons-new-book-still-time-to-care/).

As we in the PCA and the EPC seek to minister as ambassadors of God’s grace, we must be committed both to the task of loving the lost, and to our duty not to see any sin as beyond the saving grace of our Savior Jesus Christ. So, we pray that we all would remain committed to bringing the gospel to those in sexual sin, without compromising God’s Word and its faithful presentation in the Westminster Standards. Yet I also will pray for wisdom in your future decisions on these matters, because our evangelistic desire should not lead to any attenuation of the need for repentance. This is especially relevant for all those pursuing a place of prominence to train others in error. This is why, as you deliberate over Memorial’s request to join the EPC, I wanted you to be aware of the resources produced in and by the PCA in response to our theological and pastoral concerns.

For now, we in the PCA need to be praying for you over the next months and especially two years as you wrestle with these issues, and I hope many PCA elders and churches join in that effort. Know that many of us are praying for you, and we are open to talking with, and encouraging you personally and locally where we can. May you seek God’s wisdom and Word for your local churches to be wise as to these matters and keep watch over the flock in your care.

Grace to You all. May the Lord bless you in these difficult but hopeful times for the church.

Jared Nelson