Division and Reconciliation in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

 

Conflict occurs at many different levels: individual, congregational, even denominational.  This vignette focuses on some of the conflicts and the processes of healing and reconciliation that have taken place among Presbyterians in the United States.  All information and quotes are taken from James H. Smylie’s book, A Brief History of the Presbyterians (Louisville, KY: Geneva Press, 1996).

  

We begin by looking back to the Civil War: “Presbyterians could not repress debate over slavery, and, with it, the nature of the federal union.  As did the U.S. Congress, they tried to gag those who wished to discuss the issue at meetings of church governing bodies…. Articulate African-American Presbyterians kept the issue before the public… Even as whites attempted to avoid the issue, they became more and more divided…. Under these tragic circumstances, southern Presbyterians withdrew from the national assembly.  They organized the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America [which later became the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS)].”

 

“In 1983, Presbyterians in the UPCUSA [which was a merger between the historical PCUSA and UPCNA Presbyterian bodies] and the PCUS took an important step to overcome the Civil War past.  In the 1970’s, concerned

for the scandal of division and to manifest the unity of the body of Christ, the denominations appointed a Joint Committee on Presbyterian Union to renew efforts to heal the split.”  This committee “was made up of equal members from the UPCUSA and the PCUS, representative of minorities and other interests.  In the negotiations, the Committee attempted to satisfy those who had biblical, evangelical, and spiritual concerns, as well as those who wished to protect the rights of women and minorities in the church organization.”

 

“The General Assemblies meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1983, finally approved the plan.  The new General Assembly elected J. Randolph Taylor, born in China, a civil rights leader, and pastor of the Myers Park Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, NC, moderator of the new Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  As his first act, he led the new denomination in grateful worship to God.”

 

“In 1988, Presbyterians prepared another study titled ‘Is Christ Divided?’  This emphasized the variety of God’s gifts and the need to value different experiences and expressions of Christian faith, hope, and love in order to remain together for the sake of the Presbyterian family and the whole Christian community.”

 

 While it took over a century, these Presbyterian denominations were able to overcome their historical division caused by the Civil War.  This kind of visible witness of the re-membering of the Body of Christ required great courage and integrity, sacrifice and compromise, sensitivity and listening on the part of everyone involved.  Today, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) stands as a witness to the power of reconciliation over division.