To find out more about our stance on this overture, please refer to “Shall the Fundamentalists win?” and “Live Not By Lies”.
Dear Officers of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):
For thirty years, Theology Matters has sought to provide theological insight and reflection on the faith and life of Reformed and Presbyterian Churches around the world. Today, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) faces what might be its greatest challenge yet.
An overture to this year’s PC(USA) General Assembly intends to force those of us who are officers in the church to affirm what we do not believe, thus violating our constitutionally protected freedom of conscience as well as the historic doctrines of creation and redemption well articulated in our confessions.
In response to that, we have committed ourselves to “Keeping Our Vows: A Pledge of Presbyterian Officers.”
We hope and pray that many of you will join us in a public affirmation of, and commitment to, this pledge so that we may all stand together against what the overture seeks to do and for the historic faith and teachings of the Christian church.
Grace and Peace,
Dr. Randal C. Working, President
Dr. James C. Goodloe IV, Vice President
Dr. Richard E. Burnett, Executive Director
Signing the Pledge
If you are a minister, elder, or deacon and also a member of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and would like to join us in this pledge, please complete the form below and you will be included in this letter.
If you believe your name has been added to this letter fraudulently, please contact us and we will remove it.
Keeping Our Vows:
Pledge of Presbyterian Officers
1. I pledge to keep my ordination vows and to exercise my office as a minister, elder, or deacon under the authority of Holy Scripture and guided by the confessions adopted by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
2. I pledge to resist all efforts to hinder the exercise of my office as a minister, elder, or deacon under the authority of Holy Scripture and guided by the confessions adopted by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
3. I pledge to stand with those who suffer as a consequence of exercising their office as a minister, elder, or deacon under the authority of Holy Scripture and guided by the confessions adopted by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
4. Under the authority of Holy Scripture and guided by the confessions adopted by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), I regard the requirement to endorse gender identity and all sexual orientations to be a denial of Christian liberty, a contradiction of the doctrines of creation and redemption, and, therefore, a violation of my ordination vows.
Signed,
The Rev. Dr. Randal C. Working, Lancaster and Acton CA
The Rev. Dr. James C. Goodloe IV, Richmond VA
The Rev. Dr. Richard E. Burnett, Due West SC
The Rev. Sara Jane Nixon, Cincinnati OH
Elder Kate Keep, Hilton Head Island SC
The Rev. Justin Marple, Niagara Falls NY
The Rev. Robert Larson, Lancaster PA
The Rev. John Elam, Holden Beach NC
The Rev. Sanders Read, Union SC
The Rev. David Rodriguez, Washington PA
The Rev. Clayton LaPosta, Washington PA
The Rev. Bryan Burton, Lakeland FL
The Rev. Emmanuel Orendain, Wilmington CA
Edler Jeffery Weber, Glenshaw PA
The Rev. Chris Enoch, Canyon TX
The Rev. Blair Cash, Portland OR
The Rev. Kenneth Davis, Clarksville VA
The Rev. Owar Ojulu, Lower Burrell PA
The Rev. Jeff Myers, San Deigo CA
The Rev. Amy Kosari, Rochester MN
Elder Camela Bryan, Pensacola FL
Elder Jenette McEntire, Tulsa OK
Elder Robert Crabtree, Tallahassee FL
The Rev. Dr. Murray Thompson, Dallas PA
The Rev. Ronald Fritts, Lexington VA
The Rev. Samuel W. Hale, Sylva NC
Elder Dr. Patricia Lee June, Moultrie GA
Elder Ann Felten, Benton City WA
Elder Pete Allen, Mesquite TX
The Rev. James Emig, Elbert CO
The Rev. Dr. Ginger H. Conley, Southlake TX
The Rev. Christine G. Callison, Duhok Iraq
The Rev. Jonathan Berosek, Bridgeport NE
Elder Ann R. Stewart, Georgetown TX
Elder Dr. Robert James, Fayetteville NC
Elder Tamra Bird, Tulsa OK
The Rev. Dr. Ronald Smith, Jacksonville Beach FL
Elder Louis Buckner, Savannah GA
Elder Sue Rutter, Glendale AZ
The Rev. Darren Pollock, Panorama City CA
Elder Stephen Bower, Columbia SC
Elder Dr. Samuel Frost, New Castle IN
Elder Linda Moon, Mountain City TN
Elder Kevin Kuhner, Mountain City TN
The Rev. Jesse Hegler, Kershaw SC
Elder Robert E. Padfield, Elmhurst Township PA
Elder Juli Dandurand, Mountain City TN
Elder Kenneth Ference, Pittsburgh PA
Elder Pete Sizemore, Richmond VA
The Rev. Dr. Mike Andrews, Apopka FL
Elder Ruth De La Rosa, Fort Worth TX
Elder Keenan Bowman, Richlands VA
The Rev. James Craig, Evans City PA
Elder Marion M. Moir, Charlotte NC
The Rev. Dr. William Younger, Washington PA
The Rev. Donald A Wright, Dearborn MI
Deacon Beth Daly, Hilton Head Island SC
The Rev. Karl McDonald, McKees Rock PA
The Rev. Linda Kaufman, Plymouth OH
Elder Mary Webster, Montgomery OH
The Rev. Dr. Theodore H. Martin, Gibsonia PA
Elder Dr. Andrew Hinton, Pensacola FL
Elder Mary Catherine Hinton, Pensacola FL
The Rev. Martha Frizlanger, Huntingburg IN
The Rev. Clark Remsburg, Orangeburg SC
The Rev. Dr. Randal Bremer, Pamplin VA
Elder Sylvia Dooling, Loveland CO
Elder Robert Ramsey, Coraopolis PA
The Rev. Murray Phillips, Whiteside MO
The Rev. Dr. Christopher Edwards, Perkasie PA
Elder Dr. John Van Zytveld, Washougal WA
Elder William McGuire, Farmville VA
Elder Eileen Mignerey, Pensacola FL
Elder Dr. Thomas Mignerey, Pensacola FL
Elder Robert Schmidt, Allison Park PA
Elder Richard Welch, Spokane WA
Elder George Jacob Savage III, Richmond VA
The Rev. Patrick Southam, Bristow OK
The Rev. Ben Ray, Derby KS
The Rev. Stephen Playl, Mt City TN
Deacon Sue Owen, Bloomfield Hills MI
The Rev. Madeline Mercer, West End NC
The Rev. Jeffrey Mercer, West End NC
The Rev. John King, Glen Mills PA
The Rev. Lorenzo Small, Battle Creek MI
Elder Boyd Lyons, Atlanta GA
The Rev. Gary Cecil, Salem NJ
The Rev. Dr. James R. M. Young, Staunton VA
The Rev. Brendan Ashley, St. Clair Shores MI
Elder Cindy Rouse-Baird, Westfield IN
The Rev. Eric Lohe, Westfield IN
The Rev. Dr. Herbert Codington, Clinton SC
The Rev. Jeffrey Newlin, McCormick SC
The Rev. Robert Dooling, Loveland CO
The Rev. Dr. Jim Gunn, Dubuque IA
The Rev. William Upchurch, Kings Mtn NC
Deacon Janellyn Bush, Versailles KY
Elder Ruth Azar, Detroit MI
The Rev. Christopher Romig, Venice FL
The Rev. Ross Slaughter, Mount Vernon OH
The Rev. James Witherow, Fort Worth TX
Elder Ashley Avent Scholer, Richmond VA
The Rev. Dr. John Mitchell Scholer, Richmond VA
The Rev. Dr. Clark Cowden, Hollywood CA
Elder Alan Stadler, Richmond VA
Elder Jerry Witt, Athens AL
Elder Charlie Appich, Richmond VA
Elder Cheryl Jacobs, Richmond VA
Elder James Jacobs, Richmond VA
The Rev. Kenneth Bolt, Saint Clair Shore MI
The Rev. Deborah Hollifield, Raleigh VA
Elder Caroline Haddon Leith, Richmond VA
The Rev. Martha Cartmell, N. Cambria PA
The Rev. Dr. Brian Jannsen, Bridgeville PA
The Rev. Donald Muncie II, Columbia SC
Elder Gregg Hammann, Ladue MO
Elder Jesse Corti, Los Angeles CA
The Rev. Karen Lynn Woo, Diamond Bar CA
Elder Joseph Calhoun, Camp Hill PA
The Rev. W. Kirwin Stewart, Holdrege NE
Elder Carter Mathews, Tulsa OK
The Rev. Kenneth Davis, Clarksville VA
Elder Richard Nitzsche, Westchester IL
The Rev. Emily McColl, San Deigo CA
The Rev. Joseph “Bo” Welch, Bluffton SC
Elder Joseph Patton, Hilton Head Island SC
The Rev. James Miller, Tulsa OK
Elder Chris Dandurand, Mountain City TN
The Rev. David Vandenheuvel, McAlester OK
The Rev. Dr. Raymond Hylton, Washington DC
The Rev. Ted Buck, Vancouver WA
Elder Jack Hardgrave, Hollywood CA
Elder Janet Iovino, Los Angeles CA
Elder Jonathan Kim, Los Angeles CA
The Rev. Robert Cely, Gilbert SC
Elder Kenneth Highley, St. Paul MN
Elder Bradley Pokosh, Mount Vernon OH
The Rev. J. Ross Slaughter, Mount Vernon OH
The Rev. Dr. Donald Marshall, Greenwood SC
The Rev. James F. Cubie, Mattituck NY
Elder Corinne Page, Moncks Corner SC
The Rev. Matt Pooley, California MD
The Rev. Dr. Jim Edwards, Battle Creek IA
Elder John Halase, Cincinnati OH
The Rev. Jesse Hegler, Kershaw SC
The Rev. Parker Williamson, Annapolis MD
The Rev. Clifford Horton, Lees Summit MO
The Rev. Nelson Steinert, Virginia Beach VA
The Rev. Keith Cornfield, Tecumseh MI
The Rev. George Erlandson, Edison NJ
The Rev. Loy Mershimer, Okeechobee FL
Elder John Blitch, Austin TX
Elder Richard Graule, Charleston SC
The Rev. Dorothy Densmore, Nelson PA
Elder Donna Bossman, Sturgis SD
The Rev. Wendell Kirwin Stewart, Holdrege NE
Elder Gary Smith, Valentine NE
Elder Ruth Smith, Kearney NE
The Rev. LaVera Parato, Havelock NC
Elder Mary Davis, Clarksville VA
Elder Wayne Owens, Atkinson NE
Elder Marshall Worden, Tucson AZ
Elder Wendy Johnson, Salem NJ
The Rev. Dr. Clinton Cottrell, Ocala FL
The Rev. Dr. James Miller, Tulsa OK
Elder Marilyn Bonaguro, Boerne TX
The Rev. Michael Birbeck, Wellsboro PA
The Rev. Jeff Francis, Tulsa OK
The Rev. David Bierschwale, Billings MT
Elder Dan Lott, Columbia SC
The Rev. Denzel Nonhof, Minden NE
The Rev. Robert M. Jack, Charlotte NC
The Rev. Jeff Butler, Hopewell VA
Elder Roberts Brokaw III, Wilmington DE
The Rev. Noel Anderson, Upland CA
Elder Paul Van Dyke Jr., Bedford VA
Elder Jodi Logan, Blackwood NJ
Elder Jennifer Mears, Vancouver WA
Elder James Kozlowski, Pittsburgh PA
Elder Sonya Smith, Bedford VA
Elder Alison Meredith, Bristol TN
Elder Dorothy Swope Clark, Lexington KY
Deacon Thomas Meredith, Bristol TN
Elder George Ferguson, Abbeville SC
Elder Pamela Frost, Pittsburgh PA
The Rev. Gary Smith, Valentine NE
The Rev. Dr. Suzanne Ebel, Albuquerque NM
Elder William Ebel, Albuquerque NM
Elder Tony Reynolds, Onalaska WA
Elder David Yensan, Aberdeen MD
The Rev. Charles Gillett, Woodbridge NJ
Elder Perry Allen Bennett, Cranesville PA
Elder Corinne Page, Moncks Corner SC
The Rev. Dr. Charles Bartow, Ramsey NJ
Elder Paula Bartow, Ramsey NJ
The Rev. Don Lee, Somerset NJ
The Rev. Gordon Tubbs, Abbeville SC
Dr. Paul Merchak, Loveland OH
The Rev. Banu Moore, Union Springs NY
The Rev. James Moore, Union Springs NY
Elder Cathleen Perry, Indianapolis IN
Elder Patsy Soliday, Reardan WA
Elder Ann Weller, Indianapolis IN
Elder Greg Tadlock, Concord NC
Elder Dr. William G. Talbott, Charlottesville VA
Elder William Purves, Springfield IL
The Rev. Marvin Barney, Warren OH
Elder Chris Feury, Renick WV
Elder Dr. Richard Boles, Cranberry Township PA
Elder Dr. Mark Rouleau, Rockford IL
The Rev. Lawrence (Larry) Langer, Huntingburg IL