Deaconesses Study Committee Request Denied at PCA 36th General Assembly
Overture 9 from Philadelphia Presbytery requested the 36th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America to create a committee to study the “Scriptural teaching bearing on women’s eligibility for election and ordination to the office of deacon.” Overture 15 from Western Canada makes the same request. Overture 17 from Rocky Mountain Presbytery asks that if a study committee is erected that its mandate also include providing parameters for the role of women in the church. The Bills and Overture Committee after 5.5 hours of discussion recommended that the Assembly deny these requests. A minority report was formed in the committee and signed by 26 committee members including Dr. Bryan Chapell, President of Covenant Seminary, who represented the minority on the floor of the Assembly.
Dr. Philip Ryken, Pastor of 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia (successor of Dr. James Boice) with his Session and congregation, are among those who initiated the conversation in the Philadelphia Presbytery resulting in Overture 9. Floor debate produced mostly divided votes and exposed the fear of the Assembly, and perhaps the entire denomination, of a slippery slope. The PCA’s history of departing from the PCUSA to form a new national church 36 years ago over several issues including the ordination of women may have been more influential in squelching the request than a careful argument arising from the biblical text. Continue reading »
