Interest groups will have met, old acquaintances reconnected, opponents fought, new friendships forged. Some positions will have hardened; some hearts and minds changed.
The nature and work of the General Assembly has changed over time. In the late 1800s it was consumed with theological division. In 1910 the PCUSA’s General Assembly sidestepped debates by dusting off the Adopting Act of 1729, allowing ambiguity over which tenets of the Westminster Confession were “essential and necessary.” That same year, the United Presbyterian Church of North America endorsed the Social Gospel with a ringing statement: “The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.”
But theological battles continued anyway. Harry Emerson Fosdick’s 1922 sermon “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” pleaded for tolerance among liberals and conservatives across the church. But if unity was his goal, his sermon backfired badly. In a bitter contest, fundamentalist William Jennings Bryan narrowly lost his bid to be elected moderator of the General Assembly. To drum up support for theological orthodoxy, hard-line conservatives hosted angry rallies across the country. Princeton’s J. Gresham Machen added his voice, arguing in his widely read Christianity and Liberalism that liberals were not true Christians. Other church leaders argued for inclusion, formulating the 1924 Auburn Affirmation, which aimed to create space for different theories about “the inspiration of the Bible, the Incarnation, the Atonement, the Resurrection, and the Continuing Life and Supernatural Power of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I attended my first G.A. 30 years ago in Detroit, Mich., working as a seminary assistant for the behind scenes operations. I was starry-eyed, utterly inspired by the gravitas of the decisions, the glorious crowds at worship, the sincere integrity of staff and delegates alike, and above all the selflessness of mission workers reporting from varied dangerous locations.
I’ve been to almost every GA since, and I’m far less starry-eyed now. Myriad position papers, so painstakingly written and debated, have not nudged the Kingdom any closer. What voice we Presbyterians once enjoyed at the civic table has faded, and many of our church members hardly care what the denomination declares (unless it embarrasses them in the news). I confess that it strikes me as anachronistic and wasteful to spend so much time, effort and, yes, money addressing a thousand items of business when only a few bear lasting impact. And yet I am far from cynical. This year, not for the first time, I come to the Assembly as a minister commissioner of the Presbytery of Chicago, committed to do my best to discern the will of God.
I love our church. I love how we value Biblical preaching, use music that shakes our hearts to the core, prayer that lifts us to the throne of grace. I love our commitment to mission that takes the world as it is and strives for God’s righteousness anyway. I love our dedication to fellowship and nurture that enlightens, embraces, engages, at a time when Americans are being lured into angry political tribes. I love our hard work at thinking and discerning – that seeks the truth, no matter how uncomfortable, because the Truth will set us free. And most of all I love the way this church has drawn us to the saving love of Jesus Christ.
Which is why I am here yet again this year.
CHRISTINE CHAKOIAN is pastor of First Church, Lake Forest, Ill.
