| Dear Members and Friends, Background Having reviewed the congregation's comments from both the Open Forum and individual correspondence, Session, at its meeting Tuesday, February 19, 2001, unanimously voted to reaffirm its commitment to our Biblical and Presbyterian heritage as expressed in the entirety of our denomination's Book of Confessions and Book of Order. In particular, Session reaffirmed three historic Christian truths found in our Confessions and Book of Order. Session also reaffirmed its intention to continue as a financially supportive, faithful, positive member congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Study and Reconciliation Committee Formed In order to address questions and concerns raised about the Confessing Church Movement, Session voted unanimously in February 2001 to establish a Study and Reconciliation Committee to study the facts and issues surrounding the Confessing Church Movement and St. Andrew's relationship to it, and to report its findings to the Session. Elder Paul Lewis chaired the committee. Committee members were chosen to reflect differing viewpoints. The committee worked very hard to understand the issues. The committee found that there was a great deal of emotion and discussion surrounding this issue. After much work and many meetings, the committee sought to set forth in their report information that they had collected about the Confessing Church Movement. Session has received the committee's final report with great appreciation of the extent and difficulty of its work. Session Action on Committee Report In its review of the committee report, the Session was guided both by its desire to maintain our congregation's confessional and theological integrity while seeking to bring healing to our church family over this controversial issue. The Session wants to make it clear how important it is for us to affirm the historic confessional truths of our Christian faith. Because the advancement of the Gospel and our congregation's mission statement is our highest priority; and because some of our members remain skeptical of the Confessing Church Movement; and because it is part of our ordination vow to seek the peace, unity, and purity of the church, we have resolved to have no formal alignment with the Confessing Church Movement beyond our own local affirmation of the historic Christian truths. Further, we will be listed as making these affirmations only on our own St. Andrew's website. This action should not be construed as a rejection of the theological affirmations of the Confessing Church Movement. These affirmations are Biblical and part of our denomination's historic beliefs. Nor is this action intended to discourage members from supporting or joining the Confessing Church Movement as individuals. Our desire is only to advance the mission of St. Andrew's as a congregation unified around the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Continued Reaffirmation of Historic Christian Truths Session again reaffirms our commitment to these three historic Christian truths that we will continue to clearly state on our website and which we will teach and preach: 1. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6) 2. The Bible is the inspired Word of God. It is our ultimate guide in the Christian life. (II Timothy 3:16-17) 3. The holy life of Christ is lived out in the faithful covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or through chastity in singleness. (Book of Order, G 6.0106b) We understand that individual members of our congregation will approach these Biblical
teachings from varied perspectives and we encourage them to do so in the way our
Presbyterian Constitution sets forth its description of Christian freedom of conscience.
Our congregation will continue to preach and teach our clear commitment to historic
Christian truths as set forth in the Book of Confessions and the Book of Order of the
Presbyterian Church (USA). Click here to view prior background informatiion Return to home page
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