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An influential conservative Presbyterian denomination recently agreed to formally petition government authorities against promoting transgender procedures for minors in a rare rebuke from church government officials.
The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), which last week held its 50th General Assembly in Memphis, Tennessee, passed an overture by a vote of 1,089 to 793 urging the government to “forsake the sin” of the promoting irreversible gender reassignment procedures for children. A committee to be appointed by the moderator of the meeting will be charged with drafting the petition.
The PCA is the denomination of the church affiliated with the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, where three adults and three children were shot in March by 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who identified as transgender. The first overture, submitted by the Alabama-based Evangel Presbytery, was drafted before the massacre.
The overture cited multiple scientific studies suggesting that such “medical and surgical interventions are a repudiation of science” and that the 900% epidemic increase in gender dysphoria among girls over the past eight years is primarily caused by “social contagion from contemporary social, educational, and cultural influences.”
The overture also states that God created man male and female, that cross-dressing is immoral and all that Jesus Christ warned strongly against scandalous children.
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The Rev. Bryan Chapell, the PCA’s declared clerk, told Fox News Digital in March that the push for transgender procedures appears to be a political agenda that is not supported by either science or the Bible.
“I think all churches are dealing with these issues, as we know very well, because of the cultural pressure right now to congratulate people who question their sexual identity,” Chapell said. “All young people are certainly subjected to that cultural push, but it doesn’t align with science or scripture in our view.”
The Rev. Fred Greco, who served as moderator of the PCA’s 50th General Assembly, said he is not aware of anyone in the denomination supporting transgenderism in any capacity, but noted that the debate over the overture depended of the extent to which the church should interfere in state affairs.
According to the Westminster Confession of Faith, which is the basis of Presbyterianism, churches may only make requests to civil authorities in “extraordinary cases,” which proponents of the overture say applies to the government requiring irreversible gender reassignment procedures for minors promotes. The denomination, which came together in the early 1970s, has similarly filed petitions related to abortion and the right to life, Greco said.
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The overture of the Presbyterian Church in America urges President Biden and other administration officials to “renounce the sin” of promoting transgender procedures for minors. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
“We have government officials saying not only should we pressure (children) to make these decisions, we should allow them to do so without even input from their parents,” Greco said. “That’s very, very dangerous.”
“I think that’s why so many people are concerned about it, and I think that’s what brings it to the level of an ‘extraordinary thing’ – that it’s not just a bad moral decision, it’s something where the government interferes with the rights of parents and let it happen in an irreversible way,” he added.
Greco said the PCA decided to “tie the Gordian knot” amid bickering over the wording of the overture by agreeing to appoint a committee that will prepare the final text of the motion that will be forwarded to both the federal and national authorities.
Headquartered in Lawrenceville, Georgia, the Presbyterian Church in America has more than 375,000 members and more than 1,540 churches. (Google Maps)
Greco said he was tasked with choosing the members of the committee, which he said will take place in the coming weeks and will include multiple medical professionals. He noted that the petition’s final text will be “about two pages” and will not address issues such as biological men in women’s sports.
“The issue would be exclusively about medical procedures and medications involved in menopause, especially with regard to minors,” he said. “Because, of course, the idea there is that we don’t talk about everything people do when they grow up.”
Greco also noted that the PCA has congregations in Canada, where he said the issue is even more pressing for Christians. Last year, Canada’s parliament passed Bill C-4, which makes counseling that does not confirm homosexuality or transgender identity punishable by up to five years in prison. The scope of the law sparked protests from thousands of churches of various denominations across North America.
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Greco explained how the PCA General Assembly failed to formally approve a petition to the Canadian government, saying he is “looking for a mechanism so that it can come before the Canadian government without violating our constitution.”
“Our Canadian brothers have expressed some concern about how to get involved and how to get their government to get a copy of this as well,” he said.
Canadian congregations of the PCA also reportedly asked the denomination to provide the petition to their government authorities. (Steve Russell/Toronto star via Getty Images)
The PCA was founded in 1973 when 260 congregations, mostly from Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina, broke away from the main Presbyterian church in the US in response to what they saw as encroaching theological liberalism. The PCA has since grown to more than 375,000 members and more than 1,540 churches, according to its website.
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In contrast, the liberal Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) has expressed support for transgender procedures for minors and in March petitioned Democratic Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear to veto a bill that would ban such procedures in the state. would prohibit.
Jon Brown is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].
