The Detroit Presbyterian Council

In a little more than two months Presbyterians will gather in the supreme Council of our denomination. Teaching Elders (ministers) and Ruling Elders will gather much the same as the leaders of the early church gathered in Jerusalem, as did the Council of Nicaea, the First and Second Vatican Councils, and the myriad Councils of the Church throughout history. The one commonality among all the Councils is each convened amid controversy. Controversy will certainly mark the Council of Presbyterians which will meet in Detroit.

Some are referring to the three Ms before the General Assembly this year: Marriage, Mid-Councils and Middle East. The Council will make a decision as to whether to send to the presbyteries a constitutional amendment on changing the definition of marriage. The Council will decide whether to reduce the number of synods from sixteen to eight. The Council will add it voice to issues centered on Israel & Palestine. Any one of the three Ms could warrant the Council’s singular attention without the three being lumped into one meeting.

I believe there is a fourth and fifth M which are at the center of the Council of Presbyterians’ concerns. The two additional Ms are members and money. These two Ms are the epicenter of our collective anxiety. The issues of members and money are directly related to the other three Ms. Some of the largest congregations in the denomination have withdrawn or are in the process of withdrawing to other denominations, because of previous decisions of the General Assembly, members and money are drained from the denominational statistics and coffers.

I have lost track of how many Assemblies it has been since we have not begun the Council meeting with the question, “Is this the year when we will be torn apart?” In fact, following each General Assembly meeting there have been, and will be, those whose disagreement with a particular decision motivates them to seek another spiritual home. The last six decades have seen some the most serious fracturing of the Presbyterian Church, in this nation, since the division into the Northern and Southern branches. Since 1967 we have witnessed the rise of the Presbyterian Church in America, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians. With each fracture members and money are the real generators of our anxiety.

We will gather in Detroit with three Ms as the presenting issues and the two other Ms are the true sources of our anxiety. How much will our anxiety drive the decisions of the Council?