The PCA, The SJC, and the FV

I have to comment on the discussion surrounding the Standing Judicial Commission’s (SJC) recent pronouncement against the Louisiana Presbytery and how the affects Federal Vision leader Rev. Steve Wilkins.

Just for some quick background, complaints had been made about the orthodoxy of Rev. Wilkins because of his Federal Vision. The PCA Study Committee passed a report against the Federal Vision. Rev. Wilkins was cleared twice by his own presbytery, but complaints continued from both in and out of the presbytery. The SJC has decided that Rev. Wilkins was wrongly cleared, and we await a plea of guilty or not guilty by the Louisiana Presbytery.

Now I have to say that I think Doug Wilson has a very valid point about this being a very slick system (just for clarity comparing Wilkins to Machen is wrong). Wilson has a very comical summary that really has no answer from the anti-Federal Vision side. The idea a man could be excommunicated without ever being declared guilty or being personally allowed to appear is ludicrous. Hopefully, it will not happen in such a manner. Many other ministers have begun to refer to the PCA as the un-presbyterian church in America or just putting a ? instead of the word Presbyterian. There is a shade of truth to those accusations.

However, here is where the Federal Visionists go completely wrong. They focus in two distinct areas. The first is that the SJC has never been a place where the verdict could be appealed. This is not some new invention put in place to put down Rev. Wilkins this is the system set up in the church constitution. All of this judicial process has taken place according to the way the PCA does business. Nothing has occurred that violates church law. It just turned out that Wilkins can now be defrocked without being on trial. It is hard to blame people for following the rules. These PCA ministers who now refer to their own denomination as un-presbyterian should have been complaining about the rules for years and decades. If they truly think this unpresbyterian, then why did they not complain before? The fact that only now do they complain about it shows the true nature of the complaint. It is not against the system, but rather against the outcome. They would love the inability to appeal if the verdict had gone the other way.

The second point is against Wilson himself. Are we really supposed to think he cares? His denomination accepted a man who was defrocked in the plain light of day for not only for heresy (infant communion) charges, but also for spiritual tyranny and tax fraud. This man’s ordination (despite being removed by the defrocking) was accepted. After such actions, which apparently were not the first, should we think that what the judicial processes of other denominations mean anything to Wilson or to the CREC? When viewed in this light it appears that Rev. Wilson is merely setting the stage for what he wants to happen. Regardless of outcome, The CREC will extend a spot to Rev. Wilkins and any who follow him and to their churches. All of the complaining is public relations.

So in short, I do find the judicial process in the PCA to be less than Presbyterian. No one should be excommunicated or defrocked without a hearing or trial where he is found guilty. If the PCA thinks the Louisiana Presbytery should be found guilty for not finding Wilkins guilty that really out to come after someone declares Wilkins guilty. However, the rage and arguments coming from the Federal Vision movement is contrived and fake. It would not matter what occurred they would still be complaining. They would not respect the decision of the PCA, and the CREC is the ultimate destination for all FV men.