An overture came to the General Assembly asking for permission for churches to affiliate in new presbyteries formed, not only on geography, but on "geographic, theological, missional, or other considerations of importance to those congregations."
The General Assembly has repeatedly defeated this request, and it was just defeated again. I, for one, am glad this was defeated, for several reasons. The main reason is that such an action would encourage us, not to talk more with each other, but less. One witness that has come out of several study committees is that when people who differ theologically with each other sit down and wrestle over time with significant issues, they come, not necessarily to agree with each other, but to respect each other and to work more closely with each other for the furthering of God's kingdom in this world. When we take action to separate, even when we stay within the same denomination, we run a huge risk of speaking more and more at each other, and less with each other. I, for one, value the voices of those who have different views than I do. They help me fine tune my own, sometimes I even change my view. Sometimes they do. Either way, or when no change happens, we grow stronger together.
One of the hallmarks of the Presbyterian Church USA is that we do welcome and value the voices of those who differ from us. I, for one, am glad that this value has stayed constant.
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