In a move that has threatened to divide the denomination, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) voted last week at their 46th General Assembly to approve the ordination of celibate homosexuals.
The EPC was founded in 1981 and presently has about 625 churches and 120,000 members. It seeks to maintain a “third way” on non-essential issues, where, for example, women’s ordination is left to individual presbyteries.
The Presbyterian Plumbline notes:
“By a majority of 57 to 43 percent, the Assembly voted to approve a Pastoral Letter presented by the Ad Interim Committee on Same-Sex Attraction. While the letter did not endorse gay marriage or homosexual behavior, it opened the door to ordain those who struggle with same-sex attraction as long as they are celibate, repentant, and seeking to mortify their sin.”
Notably, over the last year, more than 344 teaching elders and ruling elders planted their flags and declared they will not accept the ordination of homosexuals, regardless of whether they are celibate or not.
As a result, they signed the Red Line Statement, which reads in part:
Neither a person who self-identifies as a “gay Christian,” nor one who continues to experience ongoing same-sex attraction—regardless of how they label it— should be considered a qualified candidate for ordination in the EPC.
We are not setting a red line to create a class of untouchables or to despise those who battle SSA. Rather, we seek to maintain both pastoral compassion and doctrinal integrity –truth and love.
….ordination must be reserved for those who have borne fruit in keeping with repentance and who exhibit maturity in sexual holiness. This includes those who, if they once struggled with SSA, now enjoy marked freedom from its power and no longer claim it as part of their identity.
Placing church members, Presbyters or GA Commissioners under the authority of those who identify as a “gay Christian” or with ongoing patterns of same- sex attraction would be unconscionable, divisive and contrary to Scripture.
To ordain individuals who continue to experience same-sex attraction would be to compromise the purity and peace of Christ’s church. The tragic witness of mainline denominations makes clear the danger of even incremental departures from biblical standards. We must not follow them down that path.
The Plumbline further shared: “When the vote was announced, there was no cheering or applause. However, those who opposed the Pastoral Letter reacted with grief, tears, shock, and disbelief. Almost immediately, many churches began making plans to leave the EPC. Bonds of unity and fellowship that existed for decades seemed not only strained but broken.”
