Sometimes when we hear or read what others say, our tendency is primarily to formulate a rebuttal to their positions rather than to seek better understanding and common ground. Charitable and forthright communication, preferably face to face, is an antidote to such deficiencies.

On January 17, a diverse group of about 50 PCA ministers came together in Atlanta for a five-hour Meeting of Understanding to discuss the present challenges of ministry and fellowship within our Church family. Afterwards, byfaithonline.com reported on that meeting. A number of people have expressed interest in knowing more about the get-together. I am glad to have this means of setting that gathering into context and to give additional information while honoring the spirit of the meeting.

As many pastors can agree, one of the greatest challenges in a marriage is communication. Two people, of different genders, with different personalities, from different backgrounds, with different interests, covenant not only to seek to live together in harmony, but also to function as a family. Family is more than just additional people arriving on the scene; it is the development of healthy relationships within the roles and responsibilities God has given us, bound together by Christian love. That communication challenge is also present within local churches and denominations in the ecclesiastical family.

We share the experiences of other evangelicals from mainline denominations in North America who have been through a cycle of (1) theological and ethical decline, (2) lack of accountability and discipline, and (3) abuse of ecclesiastical power.

In Presbyterian circles, this has played out at least four times in the last four generations, resulting in the formation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 1936, the PCA in 1973, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in 1982, and now the newly formed Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians in 2012. Ecclesiastical separations are heartbreaking and liberating; heartbreaking that separation became “a tragic necessity” (to use Jaroslav Pelikan’s description of the Protestant Reformation) and liberating by allowing evangelicals to focus more time, energy, and resources on the Great Commission.

The PCA began in 1973 with the goal of being a Church that is “Faithful to the Scriptures, True to the Reformed Faith, and Obedient to the Great Commission.” We do not live up to that motto completely and consistently, but it is our goal. In God’s providence, the PCA has retained for four decades a coalition of Reformed Christians who have different perspectives within the parameters of our confessional theology and who have different ministry emphases.

Change Necessitates Communication

The world has changed since 1973. The PCA of today is not the PCA of 1973. We are more consciously and consistently Reformed in our theological understanding. The Lord has added to the number of our members, churches, and Presbyteries. We have more and a greater variety of ministries to work toward the fulfillment of the Great

Commission to make disciples of all peoples. The PCA, like North America, has become more ethnically diverse. We are no longer a southeastern denomination; we have churches across the USA and churches in Canada. Growth that has made us more diverse, coupled with the disconcerting tendency of conservatives who separate from mainline denominations to continue to divide, makes communication within the PCA all the more important and challenging.

The 38th General Assembly in 2010 decided to “Encourage gatherings of non-agreeing enclaves to discuss major denomination-changing or culture-changing ideas and how to live together with differences.” The Meeting of Understanding of January 17 was in keeping with that General Assembly action. Such charitable communications are essential to our living and serving together.

Read More [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]

L. Toy Taylor is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America and currently serves as the Stated Clerk of the denomination.