Presbyterian Church PCA considers abuse response

Church’s General Assembly converges in Memphis

At its annual gathering in Memphis last week, the Presbyterian Church in America rejected measures aimed at strengthening the denomination’s ability to prevent and respond to clergy sexual abuse.

The 50th PCA General Assembly considered four separate proposals, called overtures, as part of a newer debate within the influential conservative denomination on where it lacks oversight to appropriately deal with the issue.

The decision by voting delegates, called commissioners, to vote down the measures comes on the heels of a report last year on practical ways to combat abuse. This year’s abuse-related overtures dealt with background checks, communication between PCA authorities on abuse reports, and the eligibility of witnesses in church court cases.

Advocates for reform described this year’s overtures as low-hanging fruit. Not only did the General Assembly vote against all four overtures, but a debate on the floor highlighted the depth of disagreement over the seriousness of the issue and the necessary lengths to address it.

“The world is watching and they’re waiting to see how we’ll respond to the issue of abuse. Our church members are waiting to see how we will respond on the issue of abuse,” New York pastor Tim Lecroy said in an address to the General Assembly on Thursday. “And you have a choice.”

The 47th PCA General Assembly in 2019 established an ad interim committee on domestic abuse and sexual assault, which presented a 220-page report at last year’s General Assembly. Lecroy was one of several PCA pastors on that committee in addition to outside experts Rachael Denhollander and Ann Maree Goudzwaard.

“We released the report in 2022 so there was an

opportunity to keep positive momentum. And there was an opportunity to see our denomination be motivated by our report,” Goudzwaard said in an interview. Inspired by her work with the ad interim committee, Goudzwaard now runs a ministry serving women in crisis who are predominantly part of PCA churches.

“But what we saw (this year) was the opposite," Goudzwaard said.

Decided on technicalities, inspired by deeper sentiment

Commissioners agreed with recommendations from the PCA Overtures Committee, which reviews submissions, to vote against three of the four abuserelated overtures up for consideration this year.

One of those overtures would require presbyteries, or the PCA'S system of regional governance, to perform background checks on officers prior to ordination. Two others sought to expand requirements for witnesses in church court cases to include atheists and people who do not affirm the Christian faith.

Church courts serve as a primary, internal channel for evaluating abuse allegations against a minister and administering discipline.

Despite commissioners' rejection of overtures on allowing atheists to testify, this year's General Assembly ratified a different overture removing hurdles for abuse victims to testify in a church court case. That overture received initial approval at the 2021 General Assembly.

Amid the heightened focus on church courts in recent years, a higherprofile case emerged about Indiana pastor Dan Herron, whom the PCA'S highest court investigated allegations of sexual harassment against. The court ruled in April and didn't find Herron guilty, according to Christianity Today.

Despite cases like Herron's, some PCA leaders disputed the sense of alarm some feel about abuse response during a debate on the floor of the General Assembly last week. The debate was technically about the overtures on expanding witness eligibility, but quickly broadened.

“We must be willing not to loosen this but to tighten it,” Memphis pastor Bryant Hansen said at the General Assembly. “We should be much more concerned about what God thinks than what the surrounding world thinks.”

Hansen expressed concern about malcontents taking advantage of relaxed policies to malign the church. Other commissioners said it's the role of criminal and civil courts, not ecclesiastical ones, to determine if someone committed a crime.

Some of the language mirrors that of Southern Baptists opposed to abuse reform within the Southern Baptist Convention, a larger yet theologically and politically similar denomination to the PCA. Despite having different histories and areas of focus with abuse reform, the SBC and PCA both met for their annual meetings and took up the same issue.

Alabama pastor Steve Dowling, who chaired this year's overtures committee, said his committee recommended voting down the overtures because it wasn't necessary. “The current system has worked and is working and that it shouldn't be changed to accommodate remote possibilities,” Dowling said at the PCA General Assembly.

Goudzwaard, in an interview, pushed back and said current policies bar atheist abuse victims from testifying in a church court. Lecroy, in his remarks on the floor of the General Assembly, mentioned the example of atheist medical professional who administers a rape kit.

Technicalities aside, some commissioners said the principle mattered as much as the proposed policy change.

“To vote this down in an attempt to correct it in this cultural moment is incredibly unwise,” said Nashville minister Kevin Twit at the General Assembly. “It is a reason to weep over how long it's taken us to address this problem that is a barrier for truth and justice.”

Lecroy sought to substitute the overtures committee recommendation to vote against the overtures but was unsuccessful.

Despite their failure this year, similar overtures might come up in subsequent years. But Goudzwaard worries about a precedent of continued delayed action she and others sees as immediately necessary.

“We have to ask the question ‘what can we do?'” Goudzwaard said. “We have to stop saying what we can't do.”

Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean. Reach him at ladams@tennessean.com or on Twitter @liamsadams.