We Need to Support the PCA's Agencies
Old School PCA Confessionalists have long exhibited ambivalence toward the Institutions of the PCA. It's time we embraced them with a view toward making them thoroughly Reformed.
The PCA is comprised largely of three groups. In 2015, TE Bryan Chapell described these groups as “traditionalists, progressives, and neutrals.” I don’t like the label he chose for my segment of the PCA; I prefer the label “Old School” or “Confessionalist.”
By the way, I don’t think anybody likes the label he chose for their group, but - as I have written elsewhere - the unified dislike of the three labels suggests TE Chapell was at least over the target.
Regardless of what label is proffered, there are largely three groups who are united together in the Presbyterian Church in America. The two groups on each end of the spectrum both profess a love for the PCA, but their interests in the PCA are shaped by different concerns.
Love for the PCA
On the “traditionalist” end (i.e. the Old School Confessionalists), we love the PCA because of her robust confessional commitment to the unadulterated 1788 American Westminster Standards, because the PCA represents the most mature flowering of Scoto-American Presbyterianism, because of her historic polity that is centered on the Presbytery rather than the General Assembly (i.e. grassroots), and because she is a “two office” church rather than a three (or four!) office denomination (i.e. the church offices are elder and deacon; among the elders there are two classes: ruling elder and teaching elder cf. 1 Tim 5:17 BCO 1-4, 4-2, 8-10, etc.). In short, the “traditionalists” love the PCA and are drawn to the PCA because of her polity and her theology: her commitment to the truth.
But there are others in the PCA who are drawn to the PCA not necessarily because of her robust Westministerian theology and her historic polity. They are eager to see how the PCA with her institutions and cultural cachet can influence society to restore people, places, and things. Their love for the PCA seems more centered on the PCA’s Agencies and Institutions and what the PCA represents for the culture. Their love for the PCA is exhibited especially in an unflinching and enthusiastic support for the PCA’s College and Seminary because of the opportunities for witness and cultural engagement that are afforded to the PCA through the institutions brought in to the PCA with the RPCES. Likewise, this segment of the PCA seems excited about the possibility of planting 120 churches a year until 2030 and are therefore wholeheartedly committed to MNA’s models, assessments, initiatives, and programs.
This is not to say the “traditionalists” are not motivated for evangelism or that those on the other side are not committed to the essentials of the Reformed Faith. The “traditionalists,” however, have been rather lackluster regarding enthusiasm for the institutions brought in with the RPCES as well as the other Agencies of the PCA. Their attention is to doctrine and the slow, but steady growth from discipleship in the ordinary means of grace.
A Pointed Critique of the PCA’s Agencies
On a recent episode of the Westminster Standard Podcast (WS Pod), we discussed the change that has taken place in the PCA since 2018 and the role of blogs and podcasts in that transformation.
In 2018, the National Partnership reflected on the success they had enjoyed in shifting the trajectory of the denomination. But six years later, former members of the now defunct partnership are decrying the General Assembly as “broken” and others share their disappointment with the PCA’s renewed commitments expressed in confessional fidelity and clarity.
Listen to the Episode on iTunes, Amazon Music,
Spotify, or wherever you hear your podcasts!
In the episode, one of the guest commentators relayed some anecdotes shared with him based on experiences church members had with a couple of specific PCA Agencies (i.e. Covenant College and RUF) as well as his own perception of a Covenant College promotional video.
He pointedly expressed concern that some of the PCA agencies were failing to disciple men in particular, but instead accommodating cultural values he viewed as having diverged from historic Christian emphases.
At least one employee of the College has understandably expressed strenuous objection to the guest commentator’s critique. I note several things in this regard.
First, the opinions and views expressed on the WS Pod are not necessarily those of Jude 3 & the PCA, First Presbyterian Church, the Tennessee Valley Presbytery, or the PCA, but only those of the individual speaker who offers a particular opinion or viewpoint.
Second, it is a guiding principle that guests of the WS Pod are not edited for content. There have been numerous occasions in which guests on the WS Pod have said things with which I, the host, disagree.
Third, when Covenant College produced a promotional video, it had hundreds of students from whom to choose for prominent placement. The editorial choices made in a promotional video might reasonably be perceived by some as indicative of the institution’s values and/or to convey the sort of graduate the College is trying to produce. For some, the aesthetics of the people highlighted in the promotional video convey a message just as real as the words spoken by those people. The guest commentator shared his own perceptions and opinions along these lines.
Fourth, I should have done a better job of moderating the conversation at that point and perhaps offered some pushback or requested clarification especially since the word he used is often inflammatory due to its abuse by the “Moscow crowd.” The members of the congregation I serve who are students at (and/or recent graduates of) the College certainly do not fit the characterization offered in the anecdotes shared by the guest commentator on the program. But neither have they been featured prominently in the College’s promotional material.
Fifth, I believe the guest commentator is going to publish some clarifying comments later this week.
The Old School & the PCA’s Agencies
Some Old Schoolers in the PCA have concerns regarding the philosophy, trajectory, and priorities of many of the PCA’s boards and Agencies (e.g. Covenant College, MNA, Covenant Seminary, MTW, etc.). For others in the “traditionalist” portion of the PCA, this is more than a concern, but a strong objection to their methods and policies.
The Old School wing of the PCA has expressed its concern regarding certain PCA Agencies in various ways. Not that long ago, one alumnus submitted an overture to release Covenant Theological Seminary from the PCA.
Others have taken a less drastic course. When I was in college and trying to decide on a seminary, my grandmother offered me free housing in one of her rental properties in Saint Louis if I would attend Covenant Seminary. But my elders, on the other hand, made it very clear in no uncertain terms that they would not support my decision to enroll in the denomination’s seminary and they obliged themselves to financially support me through seminary…at RTS Jackson.
Supporting the PCA’s Agencies
That congregation of which I was a member during college is an exemplary school of Christ. Even as the elders expressed serious reservations regarding the Agencies of the PCA, the elders of that congregation nonetheless have served faithfully in the PCA’s courts as well as on the General Assembly’s Committees and Commission.
The elders of that congregation provide a model for the best way forward for other Old School congregations and elders in the PCA. That congregation has been very active in the planting of daughter churches throughout Western Pennsylvania. And instead of treating the Agencies of the PCA with neglect or ambivalence, Old Schoolers should make support for the Agencies of the PCA a priority. This does not necessarily mean that we send people to be educated at these institutions or that we give them financial support yet (but it may!).
Other than prayer, the best way Old School Confessionalists can support the agencies of the PCA at this time is by searching for more men who share a commitment to robust, Old School Presbyterianism who will be willing to serve on the permanent committees to help shape the policies and priorities of the College, the Seminary, MTW, MNA, etc.
It’s not enough to serve on a General Assembly CofC! Instead of neglecting the Agencies of the PCA, let’s be willing to serve them on the permanent committees.
Aspiring for Excellence
If the PCA is going to have a college or a seminary, if the PCA is going to have a pair of missionary agencies, then we should aspire to make them all exemplary in their fields. For too long - in my opinion - Old Schoolers have shown little interest in the PCA’s Agencies (except to criticize and/or respond to scandals). Instead, Old Schoolers in the PCA have built and supported parachurch ministries to do the work that we should be insisting that our denomination’s Agencies do (if we’re going to have such Agencies).
These parachurch ministries do excellent work. In fact, many parachurch ministries are doing a better job than what some of the PCA’s Agencies are doing.
For example, there are now more graduates of Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) ministering in the PCA than Covenant Seminary (CTS) graduates. Likewise, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (GPTS) each year sends more men into PCA pulpits than does Covenant Seminary.
I am not suggesting that we should now push Old School and Confessional ministerial candidates to attend the official PCA Seminary rather than RTS or GPTS. On the contrary, Old Schoolers in the PCA - I believe - should focus our efforts at making CTS better, and that starts by finding more like-minded men willing to serve on the CTS Board to change the trajectory.
Rather than ignoring the Seminary - and other PCA Agencies - “traditionalists” should work to make CTS the premier choice for ministerial candidates. That’s not the reputation our Seminary has at this time. But perhaps it can be in the future.
Likewise for all the Agencies of the PCA: “traditionalists” should work to make them exemplary in their fields. We should have the finest church planting agency in the world, the finest Reformed college, the most robustly Reformed campus ministry, etc.
Willingness to Support the PCA Agencies by Service
We Old Schoolers can’t work to make our Agencies superb by ignoring them; we need to support them by offering up more elders to serve on their permanent committees. Certainly there is a place to raise concerns and criticisms, but we also need to find men willing to serve on the permanent committees who can change the culture and commitments of PCA Agencies so they will be thoroughly Reformed.
Are there elders in your congregation or presbytery who share a vision for a winsome, joyful, gospel-centered, Old School, Westminster Presbyterianism? Perhaps then next year when nominations for permanent committees comes around, you would talk to them about serving on one of the Assembly’s permanent committees. Perhaps you are one of those men?
We need to love the PCA by both showing a robust commitment to her theology and Reformed heritage and also a commitment to her institutions, to ensure her Agencies propagate that glorious faith once for all delivered to the saints and summarized in the Westminster Standards.