Accountability was slowly developing as the PCA outgrew its cradle. Some were not pleased about this, but fortunately, they were not having their way. The new PCA was emerging. And it was one that would not be crushed by the concerns of caucus groups. The 1995 Assembly certainly did not adopt the Vision Caucus agenda, nor did it adopt the Concerned Presbyterian agenda. It was seeking to think for itself, not pressed to the molds of earlier debates.

Editor’s Note: June is a month that many church assemblies set aside for annual meetings. In the month of June, thus, we will offer some thoughts and perspectives on denominational meetings. Below is an excerpt from my Irony and the Presbyterian Church in America (2023), which seeks to summarize the work of an assembly from 30 years ago.

The 1995 (23rd) PCA General Assembly: The Agenda that Did Not Happen

Following the September 1994 “Consensus” meeting, which did not achieve consensus, much of the church was calmed after it was announced that the Consensus-authors would go back, redraft, and try again. Of course, some were not comforted that the church might have to face this dynamic again—even if in scaled-back version. Several presbyteries overtured a variety of measures to resist such efforts. Several of the overtures at the 1995 Assembly were concerned with the approach or substance of the Consensus. Following the 1994 Consensus that did not happen, the 1995 Assembly was the Assembly where the Agenda (of the caucuses) did not happen either.

Both caucus groups met in the spring of 1995, and both saw lower attendance than previous years. The Concerned Presbyterians met in Charlotte, NC, March 1-2, and had only about 75 attendees as they discussed biblical polity and the need to avoid shrunken confessional standards. In turn, the Vision Caucus met in Birmingham, April 20th with about 100 in attendance, and recommended a Moderator, the defeat of certain overtures, the retirement of the Ad Interim Committee on Judicial Procedures (AICJP), with some even voicing their desire to run the strictly-confessional segment out of the church. These were the agenda items that did not come about at the 1995 Dallas Assembly. For the fourth year in a row, the broad PCA middle stood up to both caucus factions, and politely said, “Thanks, no thanks; we’ll think for ourselves.”

The Nominating Committee also met in the spring and recommended a balanced slate of leaders, some of whom were targeted at the April 20th “Vision” meeting as not satisfactory to the Vision caucus. Between the Assemblies of ‘94 and ‘95, there were fewer controversial judicial cases than in previous years, with only a few drawing dissents. One of the likely reasons was the modification of SJC rules to provide for broader hearing and input into the final decisions. Even the dissents raised fewer issues of principle than the previous years. Perhaps the SJC at this stage was learning to be less aggressive.

MTW proudly announced that it had retired over 1.4 million dollars of its 3.2 million dollar indebtedness (1 million came from two individual donors, with $400k coming from the church at large). It also announced (letter of Dec. 1994) that it had dropped the administrative expense charged to missionaries from 20.5% to 18.6%, a figure which was still exorbitant (and contrary to what had been claimed at the previous Assembly) by reasonable or comparative standards. Nonetheless, most of the church was satisfied with the new Coordinator, and another Senior staffer had been released (Carl Wilhelm).

Shortly before the Dallas GA, a thorny missions matter upset some. Two missionaries, Jack Campbell and Tito Padilla, resigned from MTW after a protracted discussion on the propriety of propagating covenant baptism on the field, particularly in Madrid. It became known that these two had been denied unhindered opportunity to preach, teach, and practice these hallmarks of presbyterianism. When faced with the impasse and the unbending decrees of their team leaders, these two men felt it necessary to resign from the MTW team, but not from the mission to Spain. Their resignations set off a number of questions about MTW.

Contrary to previous years, there were no late-breaking allegations of scandal in alternative magazines, although 1995 was the year that witnessed the rise of electronic news via the internet and newsgroups. Dr. Frank Smith of Somers, NY, had started an unofficial PCA News Service. One MTW staffer even blamed the “internet” for undermining MTW.

Also, without explicit approval ahead of time, the AC had managed to shorten the meeting times of the Assembly (This had been explicitly defeated when proposed in 1991.). Rather than beginning on Saturday, the first Cof Cs began on Monday, with the six large and early reporters beginning on June 19th in Dallas. The entire meeting was held in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Hyatt, a spacious complex with over 800 rooms devoted to the PCA meeting. The attendance was smaller than any of the previous five years, with 759 TEs and 341 REs, for an even 1,100 enrollment (compared to 1218 in 1991, 1145 in 1992, 1215 in 1993, and 1293 in 1994).[1]

Most of these committees expedited their business with strikingly few recommendations of substance from the Permanent Committees. It appeared that the Permanent Committees, which in recent years had been batted down by the independent Committees of Commissioners, did not want to risk true accountability and candor. Hence, with little of substance, most of the CofCs finished their work on time. However, it was becoming clear that a growing cadre of commissioners would see to it that key committees had accountability. The CofCs would no longer rubber stamp everything that the Permanent Committees suggested. Furthermore, the very important Bills and Overtures CofCs elected as their chairman, Howard Griffith (Richmond, VA), over the Atlanta-appointed convener, and Scott Reiber (Savannah, GA) was elected as Chairman of the AC Committee of Commissioners. William Smith (Pittsburgh, PA) had also been chosen as chairman of the IRC CofCs over the Atlanta-predesignate, as was Terry Johnson for the CE/P CofCs. Four of the six most important CofCs replaced their Atlanta-appointed convener with a member less sympathetic to the Permanent Committees. The average age of these four was 42 years old.

Just prior to the Opening Session in lieu of the Seminars, an open forum on the Regulative Principle of Worship was held. It was fairly ill-attended (compared to the previous years’ Westminster Assembly commemorations) and did not achieve what the planners wanted. The planners hoped to show a balanced discussion. However, one participant who had earlier been informally invited had been uninvited somehow between September and March. His strong view of the Regulative Principle was not to be tolerated or discussed. What once had been billed as a ‘dialogue’ was becoming a ‘monolog,’ with all three participants (J. Frame, B. Chapell, and S. Ryan) being signers of the Consensus Statement. There were no non-consensus men, and neither was the meeting very successful.

The 23rd GA of the PCA officially began at 7:30 PM on June 20, with retiring Moderator Will Barker giving an address on the Majesty and Grandeur of Christ. In his address, he stressed Christ-centeredness and called on the Assembly to recall that Christ knew what was in each of our hearts, even naming some prominent members of the Assembly. He concluded with an appropriate illustration of proper questions for examinations. As an olive branch to the Assembly, Barker’s illustration (to the surprise of some) was Dr. Morton Smith and his Christ-centeredness. In contrast to the fear of open discussion evidenced in the seminar on the Regulative Principle, Barker modelled a stronger more open approach to disagreement.

Shortly thereafter, the Assembly went on to elect the Vision Caucus nominee, Frank Brock, President of Covenant College, as Moderator. Through the week, Brock’s fairness was exemplary, until the final day, when he followed some questionable advice of the Parliamentarians (nominated by the Stated Clerk) too much. Overall, however, he was a tribute to the Vision Caucus’s ability to select good moderators. They had served the church well for the past few years in this area. However, along with the Vision Caucus’s success in de-railing the Nominating Committee, these were about the only agenda items that succeeded for them.

After the other routine matters of adopting the docket and appointing clerks, the Assembly recessed for the night. On Wed. June 21st, the Assembly began a surprising day. Earlier it had been expected that the following major items from the Vision Caucus would be accomplished: (1) the denial of membership in NAPARC to the RCUS; (2) no hard action toward the CRC; (3) the dismissal of the Ad Interim Committee on Judicial Procedures; (4) rejection of most of the AICJP’s recommendations, (5) and some action that would encourage the “TRs” to leave the PCA. It was also hoped (a year ago) that a short Consensus statement would be adopted by this 1995 GA, and that wholesale restructuring (as recommended by Donald MacNair) would be commencing. Fortunately, these final two agenda items had already been defeated in one form or another. The AC had been specifically instructed not to bring any such restructuring recommendations by the previous Assembly. And the Consensus agenda, which originally was to have a statement approved, along with accompanying legislative implementation was not even presented. Even if technically alive, no mandate had ever been achieved. Of the other five agenda items predicted by the Vision Caucus, at the end of June 21st, they would be 0 for 5. This was the year that the agenda did not happen.

First on the morning of June 21st, the IRC CofCs brought their report. The fraternal delegate brought greetings. Outstanding among them was the report of CRC delegate, James Sittema, who brought the sad news that the CRC had once again reversed itself the previous week and voted to approve women elders. He asked for the PCA’s support of the traditional position and invited an admonition. Furthermore, the CRC also sealed this decision with a five-year moratorium from appeals or complaints against this decision. Hence, it appeared that the CRC had finally resorted to culture-accommodation. Rather than smoothing over differences as in the past (and the recommendation of the Permanent Committee), this Assembly voted to have its PC monitor the CRC and report any developments to the next GA, instructed its own IRC to “use all due process afforded to them to remove the CRC from membership in NAPARC, if the CRC does not repent of and rescind the action of the 1995 Synod at the 1996 Synod,” and instructed the Stated Clerk to send a communication (Note: the communication was not left up to the Stated Clerk as in a previous year), calling for the CRC to repent and notifying them of our intent to vote to expel them from NAPARC if the act was not rescinded.

This was the strongest action toward any NAPARC church in our history. Moreover, the CofCs also approved the admission of the RCUS into NAPARC and went a step further in authorizing and instructing the IRC. 

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^[1]. Note. The Church with the highest number of REs (exclusive of their TEs) was Briarwood (10). The next highest was Park Cities (7), followed by Trinity, Montgomery (6) and First Jackson (6).