Prominent (former) PCA Pastor Scott Sauls has left the Presbyterian Church in America, citing a newfound acceptance of lady preachers and pastrixes as the impetus for his departure.
Sauls used to be a pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC, where he rubbed shoulders with, was mentored by, and was closely aligned with Tim Keller before ultimately ending up at Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, TN.
A prolific contributor to the PCA’s ByFaith (the denomination’s outward messaging arm), he frequently defended the controversial Revoice movement and served as a foil for conservative Presbyterians by coming across as a slightly more buttoned-up version of David French or Russell Moore in his spewing of leftist propaganda, all the while chastising his critics for being too mean. We featured Sauls two years ago after he asked Christians to compare their marriages to homosexual relationships, inquiring:
Is your heterosexual marriage as committed as some gay marriages? Some gay marriages are deeply committed, as out of step with scripture as they are. Your marriage commitment needs to be at least on the same level…to have some sort of credibility.
In an ironic turn of events, Sauls was placed on an indefinite leave of absence from his church after admitting to a troubling leadership style that was anything but kind and winsome- two traits that he routinely criticized conservatives for not being. Six months later he resigned from the church, with 81% of members voted to accept his resignation.
According to the Presbycast Pravda, what ByFaith did not say is that despite being restored as a member in good standing by his presbytery just two days after resigning, he has left the denomination entirely, leaving a letter where he cited his budding egalitarianism as the cause for his departure. In a letter cited by the Tenneasean, we read:
“With mixed emotions and too many meaningful memories to count, I request release from my ministerial call,” Sauls said in a March letter to the presbytery, according to a copy The Tennessean obtained. “I have begun exploring ordained membership in other biblically orthodox denominations whose polity makes provisions for these new realities.”
Sauls cited both a new professional trajectory and his views on women in ministry as reasons for leaving the PCA, a denomination through which Sauls gained national prominence partly due to his association with the late Rev. Tim Keller.
So where is he going? The Presbycast reveals:
Sauls (as we understand it) intends to affiliate with ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians, a loose denomination formed in 2012 by refugees from the liberal, homosexual-affirming PCUSA. Those who formed ECO were a sort of “last straw club.” The last last straw was the ordination of open, practicing homosexual ministers and gay marriage in the mainline church. ECO now positions (markets?) itself as “the Presbyterian denomination built for the 21st Century.” Assumedly, the PCA was built for previous centuries.
