Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Church Discipline

I would like in this space to bring to your attention an important, little theological essay provided to the church by our Office of Theology and Worship. Paul K. Hooker, Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of St. Augustine, has written a short paper, Identity – Polity – Praxis: Ecclesiology and the Presbytery (Occasional Paper Series No. 2; Re-Forming Ministry; Office of Theology and Worship; Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). You may find more information about the Re-forming Ministry program, including copies of this paper in .pdf format, at http://www.pcusa.org/re-formingministry/.

How do we do church discipline? Many Presbyterians are aware that a deep commitment to moral and righteous living has always been an expectation for our church members. In our tradition this expectation has a dominant, and at times, oppressive place. Theologically, Presbyterians have always believed that we are called to live holy and righteous lives in response to the abundant grace which God has given us in Jesus Christ. But in recent years, this high concern for church discipline and moral order has fallen into the quagmire of judicial process.

Paul Hooker has precisely articulated what may be one of the truly pressing concerns in our church. How can we reclaim proper church discipline, out of our rich tradition, while avoiding the temptations of creating a punitive and vindictive judicial process out to prosecute wrongdoers? I quote here from Hooker’s paper:

“The practice of ecclesiastical discipline has come to be synonymous with judicial process. In truth, the equation of the two is at the heart of the problem. Ecclesiastical discipline actually has a quite different purpose, as the Preamble to the Rules of Discipline in the Book of Order makes clear.

The intention behind the exercise of ecclesiastical discipline is the desire to strengthen the membership of the church, to reconcile disputing parties, and to restore the peace, harmony, and concerted witness of the church. In practice in too many situations, however, the exercise of ecclesiastical discipline has led to an atmosphere of mistrust, anxiety, and apprehension in the church; hardly the sort of system likely to bring members to repentance and restoration.

If we are to be true to the vision of the church as the provisional demonstration of the new reality of God, this situation simply has to change. If it does not change, we will lose altogether the distinction between an ecclesiastical discipline motivated by the eschatological virtue of reconciliation and a secular judicial system dedicated to the adjudication of guilt and the assessment of punishment.” (Paul K. Hooker, Identity – Polity – Praxis: Ecclesiology and the Presbytery, pages 28-29).

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