The General Assembly last month certainly changed the conversation around the PFR table. For the last two years, we have been busy with the process of redefining our mission and vision. You may have already seen that we are about the mission of "mobilizing the leaders of congregations within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to be biblically faithful and missionally minded in their service to Jesus Christ." Delving into the political issues of the General Assembly may seem incongruent with our new mission statement. To the contrary, we have discovered that it is difficult to mobilize leaders and congregations for the service of Christ when the denomination is fractured and conflicted by the actions of a General Assembly. Nothing at this General Assembly has changed PFR's commitment to its mission, and to preserving a denominational context conducive to church renewal.

PFR began giving shape to a way forward in our first response to the General Assembly. We now offer a more comprehensive assessment of the GA's actions and the underlying condition of our denomination in a document called "Contending for the Faith: The Way Forward After GA 2008." Here we provide you the framework for our work ahead.

We intend to do all we can to resolve the crisis created by this Assembly. As we have always done, we will do our part to network and resource commissioners to the presbyteries to defeat all recommended changes to the Book of Order and the Book of Confessions that will open the door for ordaining people who refuse to live by biblical standards. We will also do our part to resource presbyteries to send to the next General Assembly overtures necessary to reverse the effects of this Assembly's decisions on the Authoritative Interpretations regarding homosexual ordination. We have not lost our resolve for this battle. We will not resign ourselves to a spirit of defeat. In fact, we are confident that the presbyteries will reject this Assembly's recommendations. I think you will see a strong collaboration among renewal groups on this effort.

We have also come to the realization that we need to find a new way of engaging the church. We desire a way to remain engaged in the PC(USA), but from a distinct identity with other brothers and sisters in the PC(USA) who share a similar commitment to biblical standards for morality. This idea of being a distinct subset within the whole has been talked about at various times with a variety of models without spending the necessary time with the right people to see if any of these options are possible. That must change. PFR is committed to bringing to the larger church possible ways for remaining engaged but distinct. It will take conversations with polity experts as well as folks with imaginations that produce God-sized dreams. As you can imagine, this is a big, big challenge. We can't do it alone. It will take developing collaboration with people from both sides of the aisles as well as our brothers and sisters in the General Assembly offices in Louisville. Most importantly it will take a lot of Presbyterians praying for God to do a new thing in our denomination. Whatever the final plan may be, it is certain that we need a new way to relate to one another in our denomination. Our future depends upon it.

You know that any work we do will tax the resources of PFR. It is hard to budget for the problems created by an Assembly. We respond as they come. Our work in the short term for defeating these recommendations in the presbyteries will draw on financial resources that we would rather dedicate to renewing congregations and their leaders. The longer term work of reshaping the PC(USA) will require even greater financial resources than our work with presbyteries. I hope you will consider how you might partner with us financially. You can make a gift to either of two special funds created for both the short term and long term strategies. You may not have supported PFR in the past, but I hope you feel the same sense of urgency as we do about this work. Please support us with your prayers and with your financial gifts.

Yours in Christ,

James Harper, President

Related:

PFR Establishes Two Special Funds: You can help with a special contribution!

The PFR One-Pager: An Overview of the 218th GA

Contending for the Faith: The Way Forward After GA2008

Reshaping the PC(USA): PFR Looks Beyond the 218th General Assembly

Can We Be Faithful in the PC(USA)?