L. Roy Taylor was elected stated clerk of the PCA General Assembly in 1998. After 22 years, Taylor will retire later this year. As he prepares to turn the gavel over to his successor, Taylor leaves his perspective on what he sees as the six critical questions now facing the PCA.
The PCA began in 1973 because we decided that it was a wiser use of our time, efforts, and resources to begin anew than to continue to resist the trends of our former denomination. Church historian Jaroslav Pelikan described the Protestant Reformation as “a tragic necessity.” Most of the founders of the PCA thought the formation of the PCA was both tragic and necessary.
The PCA began with a goal to be a denomination that is “Faithful to the Scriptures, True to the Reformed Faith, and Obedient to the Great Commission.” We grew rapidly in our first decade; in the last couple of decades, our growth has slowed.
A temptation for conservative groups is to refight the battles of the past and constantly to compare themselves with the groups out of which they have come. For the most part, the PCA has resisted that temptation, for which I am thankful. Concerning the future of the PCA, I think there are six crossroads questions we need to consider as a denomination.
1. What will our focus be?
The pattern of both congregations and denominations, once they have been established, often is to have an inward rather than an outward focus. The tendency is to become inwardly focused on our own group rather than to be outwardly focused on people who are not yet Christians or Christians from ethnic, cultural, or socioeconomic groups different from ourselves.
The PCA has made some progress on ethnic diversity and geographical extension. However, we are still a majority Anglo, heavily Southeastern U.S.-based denomination. We are not reaching noncollege graduate, working-class people effectively. We are not experiencing a lot of growth by professions of faith. We may be comforted that the PCA is not declining as all mainline and some evangelical denominations are. Nevertheless, our net growth is less than 2% a year. Ed Stetzer, director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, says that 70% of American congregations have plateaued or are declining. Terry Gyger, former MNA coordinator, and Luder Whitlock, former president of RTS, have recently concluded that 60% of PCA churches have plateaued or are declining. That is better than average, but hardly praiseworthy.
Another temptation is to focus on the past rather than the future. This is a particular temptation for Presbyterian-Reformed folks because we have such a rich theological heritage. Having served as pastor of a historic “First” church, I reminded the congregation of the differences between nostalgia and history. Nostalgia is seeking to live in the past or recreate the past. Nostalgia is crippling. History is learning from the past in order to shape the future. History is inspiring. The purpose of the PCA should not be to try to relive ministry as it was in a past century. Our purpose should be to learn from our past shortcomings and advances in order to minister effectively in the present and future.
The purpose of the PCA should not be to try to relive ministry as it was in a past century. Our purpose should be to learn from our past shortcomings and advances in order to minister effectively in the present and future.
2. How will we relate to our culture?
Few would disagree that our postmodern culture is morally, epistemologically (dealing with knowledge and facts), and theologically relativistic. After the 1960s, the worst thing one could do was to be certain or intolerant. Postmodernism and the sexual revolution of the 1960s have corroded our culture and even our churches. As we deal with modernity, we can either 1) accept the culture’s norms, 2) isolate ourselves from the culture, or 3) bear biblical witness to culture.
For Bible-believing Christians, accepting the culture’s norms is not an option because we believe in absolute moral standards, objective truth, and definite theology based on the Bible. Throughout history, some Christians have sought to isolate themselves from the culture either physically (monastics or hermits) or socially (having few or no non-Christian friends). Given the downward spiral of our culture, isolation is attractive for some Christians. For believers with a biblical worldview, however, we must bear witness to our culture.
There are differing perspectives in the PCA on ministry to our culture. Should the church corporately witness to culture, or is that the role of individual Christians or groups of allied Christians? Moreover, what is the goal of witness: to transform culture or only to fulfill our duty to bear witness? Whatever the role or goal, there is the responsibility to be salt and light to the culture.
Sometimes the culture raises questions which some denominations would prefer not to consider. For example, in the 19th century it was slavery. In the 20th century, women’s suffrage, child labor, and racial segregation are examples (white evangelicals basically sat out the civil rights struggle). In the 21st century, the PCA will need to bring a biblical worldview to bear on the issues we face. The Westminster Assembly did not specifically address some of the issues Christians face in the 21st century. A major challenge the PCA faces is to do theological reflection as a biblical and confessional church on current issues.
3. Who will be our allies?
Presently, the PCA has two categories of relationships with other denominations: 1) Fraternal Relations with other denominations who share our commitment to the Reformed faith and Presbyterian polity, for example, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church or the Presbyterian Church of Brazil, and 2) Corresponding Relations with other denominations with whom we may have some differences in doctrine or polity, for example, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the Reformed Episcopal Church, which is now part of the Anglican Church of North America. We are also part of organizations such as the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council, the World Reformed Fellowship, and the National Association of Evangelicals, which is part of the World Evangelical Alliance.
According to our theology of the church, we do not believe that we are the only true Christians or that our denomination or Reformed family of churches is the only valid expression of the church (see Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 25). The Universal (catholic or invisible) Church is composed of all whom God has chosen to salvation. God has His own in all branches of the Church. The visible church always has mixture and error. All Christians have a spiritual unity in Christ across denominational divides.
Moreover, ECOT (evangelical, conservative, orthodox, traditional) Christians face common obstacles, including threats to religious liberty, a culture of death, increasing anti-Christian persecution (physical, legal, and social), militant Islam, aggressive secularism, a declining culture, and dehumanization as technology advances. PCA people or the PCA as a body, in my opinion, will need on occasion to ally ourselves with other Christians in an Apostles’ Creed coalition, and with other co-belligerents (as Francis Schaeffer suggested) to deal with those threats. We could work with other denominations, coalitions, and groups without formal fraternal relations.
4. Will we reach and enfold younger people?
The Pew Research Center recently published a study that concluded that the PCA has a relatively high median age. The annual reports that congregations submit to our office have no information regarding the ages of members. The three PCA congregations of which my wife, Donna, and I have been a part all are full of young families. The Pew Research Center, however, stands by its conclusion that the PCA is aging. Keeping 20-somethings, especially the unmarried, in the church and reaching younger people with the gospel are a challenge for all evangelical churches. Culture changes so rapidly that now we describe generations by decades. A biblical church must be a multi-generational church.
The question remains whether PCA churches will fund not only local church ministries but also presbytery and General Assembly ministries.
5. How will we fund PCA ministries?
In the PCA, all contributions are voluntary and designated. We have 10 General Assembly committees and agencies, representing 10 financially separate silos. The hope of the founding fathers was that once the new denomination was established, all churches would give to all General Assembly ministries. That has not happened. The facts are that some churches do not give to any General Assembly ministry, not all churches give to all General Assembly ministries, and churches do not all have the same potential for giving.
The PCA makes denominational administration a separate ask, unlike virtually all other denominations and parachurch ministries. I know of only one exception. As coordinator of the Administrative Committee, I have struggled with this challenge, having witnessed several failed attempts at alternative funding plans.
The question remains whether PCA churches will fund not only local church ministries but also presbytery and General Assembly ministries. Historically Presbyterianism has had three elements: 1) representative government and discipline by elders, 2) a binding theological standard, and 3) cooperative ministry. The PCA, thus far, is stronger on polity and theology than on cooperative ministry.
6. Will we maintain our coalition?
George Marsden, in “The History of Fundamentalism in America,” pointed out that fundamentalism was a rope of three strands: 1) Doctrinalists, primarily focused on doctrinal precision, 2) Pietists, primarily concerned about evangelism, missions, and discipleship, and 3) Activists, primarily concerned with societal implications of the gospel such as ministry to the poor, afflicted, addicted, disadvantaged, and racial reconciliation.
The difference between fundamentalists and evangelicals is largely a difference of emphasis as laid out in Carl F. H. Henry’s 1947 book, “The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism.” Henry pointed out that, in reaction to the Social Gospel of the 1920s-1940s, fundamentalists largely abandoned most societal implications of the gospel and focused almost entirely on doctrine and piety.
In my opinion, the PCA holds to the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, so in that sense we are fundamentalists. But we also recognize that there are societal implications of the gospel. In that sense, the PCA is evangelical.
Thus far, the PCA has kept all three strands together. To do so takes deliberate effort, a realization that we may have different views within confessional parameters, and that some of us may be more involved in one strand. I think the PCA needs all three emphases — theological orthodoxy, pietism, and activism — in order to be a biblical and effective church.
Many of the PCA’s founders are now with the Lord or are retired. The leadership baton is passed. Addressing these questions will determine whether we fulfill the original vision, to be a denomination “Faithful to the Scriptures, True to the Reformed Faith, and Obedient to the Great Commission.”
L. Roy Taylor is stated clerk of the PCA General Assembly.