Are Tiers Still an Option?
Many people have been asking about the current status of the “Four Tiers” proposal presented in August at the Minneapolis Gathering — our way of explaining options for congregations to consider, given their particular contexts, while we work together to be the Church of Jesus Christ in a new way. These four “tiers” ranged from no structural realignment to the creation of a totally new Reformed body. They were presented in good faith following conversations with members of the Middle Governing Bodies Administrative Commission and the Office of the Stated Clerk, PC(USA).
Since August, congregations and presbyteries in several regions have explored tiers two and three — the more entrepreneurial approaches to remaining in cooperative ministry with established presbyteries. Many have met with uneven and at times disappointing responses. While we are still very hopeful for continuing progress in some presbyteries, we now appear to have three options:
- Affiliate with other like-minded individuals and congregations by joining The Fellowship of Presbyterians while remaining in your current presbytery or continuing to explore some form of differentiation within the PC(USA).
- Differentiate more completely under the umbrella of The Fellowship by pursuing a union relationship (congregation or presbytery) with both the PC(USA) and the new Reformed body.
- Separate from the PC(USA) by joining the new Reformed body, while maintaining important relationships and creating new ministry partnerships under the umbrella of The Fellowship of Presbyterians.
The Fellowship of Presbyterians remains supportive of any organizational change within the PC(USA) that will allow congregations and/or presbyteries to maintain theological integrity. We are deeply appreciative of the work of the Committees of Correspondence and the Presbyterian Coalition in these ongoing efforts. Our primary calling, however, is to encourage adaptive change — new ways of being the Church that nurture spiritual health and vital mission. In these areas we are pleased to be working with organizations like PFR and the Presbyterian Global Fellowship along with the Outreach Foundation and the Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship for nurturing global partnerships.
3 Responses
After research prompted by the passage of 10A, a lot of other concerns, issues, and developments, many predating 10A, have come into my “field of view,” and they have left my family with a conviction that little meaningfully positives remain in our connection with PCUSA. It seems to us that options stopping short of a new reformed body likely will result in more complication, more compromise than appropriate, and ultimate disunity anyway. In the end, no one, either PCUSA, nor the churches/individuals leaving, not to mention Jesus, would be well served by that.
I do not see how remaining connected to the PC(USA) is at all possible. There will still be an elephant in the room. Look at what is happening in the Protestant Episcopal Church USA right now as the bishops struggle with gay marriage. This is coming folks. Option three seems to be the only reasonable way to go. Sad as it makes me and my wife, one can not sit on the fence when it comes to scripture. Many are stuck in Kubler-Ross’ stage three of grief. This “bargaining” stage is an attempt to make a deal with the devil. We all know what the devil is really selling! Either we are people of God’s word or we are worldly people following worldly ideals.
As a pastor, it seems like I’ve been black-listed by some in our presbytery b/c I brought up the possibility of leaving with our session. Several in our presbytery have made negative comments to me since. Our exec presbyter says he’s open to the idea of tiers-type structure, but then gives reasons why it probably wouldn’t work in our presbytery. Talk of post-Gathering fellowship meetings have died off.
I’ve left feeling uncomfortable & to some extent alone, although I know of other pastors in similar situations in other presbyteries. I don’t dare use my real name on a forum like this.
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