Thank you, Dr. Lucas! So timely and well said. More and I more I find myself wondering why BCO tweaking seems to be the soup du jour of our Assemblies? I feel like it’s time for a movement to “just say no” in all but the strongest cases for change. What could we accomplish together if we stopped BCO tweaking as a sport?
I visited a PCA church in another state while at a conference and, during communion, we were dismissed by row to three distribution points that featured an official looking person standing behind a small table with the elements pre-positioned. At this church, the primary distribution (not passing family style, as with a meal) was from the hand of a robed non-officer to each of us as we passed. Surely an overture to address this would be salutary and possible to articulate clearly in writing. Another angle from which this article could have been written would be to ask why are there suddenly so many overtures that seem to be about methodology and not orthodoxy? Perhaps the reason is that many sessions are penetrating wise boundaries in their methodology and pushing the Elkin motto too far could imply there is no such thing as orthopraxy or that orthopraxy doesn't affect orthodoxy. There are many cute ways to violate the spirit of the denomination's standards, and then natural result will be more and more practical overtures to address this. Laws are almost always reactive. My guess is that this departure from wise communion practice flows from an earlier failure to maintain clean lines between officers and deaconesses.
Pacific NW Overture 22, seeking to define the phrase "regular standing," is important because a recent SJC decision outlawed the practice of hundreds of PCA churches that for years have had voting age restrictions. The decision declined to define what "regular" standing" means in the phrase "good and regular standing." Some may think this is low on the triage list, but it's not a small matter to void a reasonable practice that so many churches have had for so many decades.
Thank you, Dr. Lucas! So timely and well said. More and I more I find myself wondering why BCO tweaking seems to be the soup du jour of our Assemblies? I feel like it’s time for a movement to “just say no” in all but the strongest cases for change. What could we accomplish together if we stopped BCO tweaking as a sport?
I visited a PCA church in another state while at a conference and, during communion, we were dismissed by row to three distribution points that featured an official looking person standing behind a small table with the elements pre-positioned. At this church, the primary distribution (not passing family style, as with a meal) was from the hand of a robed non-officer to each of us as we passed. Surely an overture to address this would be salutary and possible to articulate clearly in writing. Another angle from which this article could have been written would be to ask why are there suddenly so many overtures that seem to be about methodology and not orthodoxy? Perhaps the reason is that many sessions are penetrating wise boundaries in their methodology and pushing the Elkin motto too far could imply there is no such thing as orthopraxy or that orthopraxy doesn't affect orthodoxy. There are many cute ways to violate the spirit of the denomination's standards, and then natural result will be more and more practical overtures to address this. Laws are almost always reactive. My guess is that this departure from wise communion practice flows from an earlier failure to maintain clean lines between officers and deaconesses.
Thanks for this thoughtful post, Sean. I pray it helps us in a couple of weeks.
Pacific NW Overture 22, seeking to define the phrase "regular standing," is important because a recent SJC decision outlawed the practice of hundreds of PCA churches that for years have had voting age restrictions. The decision declined to define what "regular" standing" means in the phrase "good and regular standing." Some may think this is low on the triage list, but it's not a small matter to void a reasonable practice that so many churches have had for so many decades.
Notice I did say, “While some of them have merit…”
Well said