'Controversial' OPC Facebook Group, Geneva Commons, is Shutting Down

The Facebook group Geneva Commons, famously profiled by Christianity Today in 2020, is shutting down as of February 1, becoming archived and “view only”, according to admin Peter Jones.

The Genevan Commons gained notoriety after screenshots and comments critical of feminist author Aimee Byrd, a fellow Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) member, were leaked from the small, private page to the public.

Participants were concerned with Byrd’s commitment to complementarianism, which they saw to be questionable at best and flagrantly dishonest at worst. They made their displeasure known amongst themselves, occasionally using (arguably) coarse and unkind references and jesting.

With the commons populated by ministers and laypeople, this generated a major controversy within the denomination, with Byrd insisting that denominational leaders and other elders discipline the participants for their slander and cruel comments, and others insisting they did nothing wrong.

Byrd wrote of her frustration with the group, who frequently targeted her as the avatar for her ire.

“I have been harassed by this group for over 2 ½ years now. Waiting for someone in the group to speak out. Waiting after confronting people in the group. Waiting for the people I’ve told about it to do something. Waiting while my reputation was continuously slandered, my looks picked apart, while they go after anyone who hosts me or says something positive about my work, while they go after my own session, and plots increased to “stop my agenda.”

Those in the Geneva Commons who saw Byrd’s trajectory and called it out, occasionally in somewhat spicy terms, were ultimately vindicated last year after she left the denomination and repudiated her former beliefs, now calling complementarianism “rot and misogyny” and occupying an egalitarian space.

With the page to be archived, some members have already created a new group with new admins to take its place., so that the spirit of the Genevan Commons can live on.