Greg Johnson is the most controversial figure in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). In 2018, Memorial Presbyterian Church would be ground zero for the Revoice Movement. Greg Johnson is a homosexual pastor and the PCA has had numerous failed attempts to oust him specifically. The most recent failed attempt was a ruling in his favor.
The Tennessee Valley Presbytery approved an overture requesting that Missouri Presbytery investigate the Session of Memorial Presbyterian Church in Saint Louis, Mo. The context for this is some sort of dance party the church promoted.
This request for an investigation seems directly tied to the ongoing history of Memorial Presbyterian Church. In a letter provided to The Aquila Report, Greg Johnson’s church announces his intent to withdraw from the PCA.
Memorial Presbyterian Church is well aware of its influence and symbolic importance in the PCA. They deeply contemplate whether their decision to stay or leave will negatively impact the liberal cause with the PCA.
Our denominational supreme court already has requests from several regional presbyteries to try (or re-try) Greg in an attempt to reverse last year’s ruling. They could vote to accept this case as early as this weekend or as late as February. If they refuse to take the case, a minority report is likely, setting Greg up for a possible trial on the floor of General Assembly next June in Memphis.
Additionally, our local Missouri Presbytery has received a number of new requests for investigations even since our last letter to you. One misrepresents Greg’s views and involves accusations that his 2021 book doesn’t properly reflect the nuance of the Westminster Larger Catechism.
And yet another most recent one requests that pastors Sam Dolby and Keith Robinson also be investigated—alongside Greg—concerning their Christian character due to their support for our Chapel ministry to artists. [see here]
The letter concludes:
Our intention has been to bathe this process with prayer and with love. We believe this decision to be the most loving option for Memorial, for same-sex oriented believers, for our pastors and, yes, for the PCA itself.
We hope that Memorial’s withdrawal from the PCA will strengthen the hands of our friends within the denomination. As their opponents have capitalized on the “wedge issue” they found in knowing the PCA had a celibate same-sex oriented pastor, we can now remove Memorial from that equation. Critics will have to find some other cause with which to rally their troops. Lord willing, that will help our friends in the denomination as they work hard to once again take leadership to ground the denomination in a humble, winsome and missiological grace.
The Christians in the PCA have have maintained the pressure to make an apostate church in their midst uncomfortable and the results are paying off.