The Louisiana Presbytery (LaP) of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) met April 19 at
Covenant Presbyterian Church in Sulphur, LA, its first meeting since the trial at the Standing Judicial Commission (SJC) of the PCA in Atlanta on March 6.
The March 6 trial had resulted in LaP being admonished on its guilty plea for failing to timely recognized probable cause that the “Federal Vision”
(FV) views of Rev. Steve Wilkins, right, were out of accord with the
constitutional documents of the PCA (
full story here).
At its April 19 meeting the LaP adopted a resolution affirming the 9 points of the "Declarations" or summaries of the findings of the PCA's Ad Interim Study Committee on Federal Vision found on page 2235 (Section IV) of the committee report contained in the
2007 General Assembly minutes, saying FV theology was out of accord with PCA beliefs in those 9 ways. Point 2 of the 9, for example, found at the foregoing link, says this about one of the points attributed to FV theology, "The view that an individual is 'elect' by virtue of his membership in the visible church; and that this 'election' includes justification, adoption and sanctification; but that this individual could lose his 'election' if he forsakes the visible church, is contrary to the Westminster Standards."
The April 19 resolution calls upon all Teaching Elders (pastors) in the LaP notify the LaP Clerk of any "exceptions to the Confessional Standards," and that LaP "rejects those teachings known as Federal Vision/Auburn Avenue Theology that have been determined to be contrary to the Confessional Standards of the Presbyterian Church in America," as summarized in the 9 points linked above.
Rev. Mark Duncan, a member of the LaP and a Federal Vision defender, attended the April 19 meeting and advised the delegates that he was considering leaving the LaP in view of its affirmation of the 9 points and opposition to FV theology.
A substitute proposal -- to appoint another study committee containing representatives of both sides of the issue of FV theology and clarify whether the 9 points of the PCA's committee are really in dispute -- was overwhelmingly voted down. The overwhelming sentiment expressed by most delegates was to publicly express our opposition to FV theology and put it behind us in the LaP and move on to more ministry-related issues.
The LaP also voted to update its website,
page 9 of which had outdated information only as late as Jan. 20, 2007, at which the LaP had exonerated Rev. Wilkins of holding views out of accord with the PCA's Constitution.
Comments (5)
@Mark+T. - Hi, Mark; thanks for visiting.
That's about the substance of it. My story of the Feb. 9 special called meeting, "LaP Hardens," deals with the votes concerning Rev. Garner. That same night, he emailed LaP commissioners his response to those votes, in which he reaffirmed his original exceptions to the standards, and in response to the issue of how his views might go beyond the standards, but not necessarily contradict, he cut and pasted Gen. thru Rev.
I will email you his response in full.
@Mark T. - I neglected to answer the rest of your question. The next day, he met with the session of AAPC and joined, and wrote a letter withdrawing from the LaP and PCA.
While there still is a lot to do restoring the harm this has caused, it is refreshing and encouraging to see the fruits of true repentance.
It is encouraging seeing God redeem a situation for His glory, for the peace and purity of His Church.
We owe a debt of gratitute to those who challenged this, who had the courage and clarity to see this for what it was from without and within the Presbytery; who stood faithful in this from the beginning. It's also gratifying to see those who, by God's grace came later to see the harm and error in this and repented.
I would only add the Federal Vision views are contrary to the Westminster Standards, in addition to the standards of our denomination.
Soli Gloria Deo!
@Scott -
Thanks for your thoughtful comments!