Irwyn Ince Spearheads Anti-White Lamentation For PCA

Despite its conservative reputation, at an institutional level, the PCA is very much captured by liberals, many of whom are of a Tim Keller vein. They will feign conservative outwardly while tolerating or promoting the liberal creep within. One of the pervasive issues in the PCA is the vast number of female officers. Despite clear guidelines in their BCO, many churches sustain shepherdesses or female deacons. The progress of men like Michael Foster has brought more scrutiny from institutional types than the fact that over 7% of churches violate their Book of Church Order.

Recently, a group of minority pastors in the PCA decided that the denomination needed to lament again the “growing divisions” with a particular emphasis on how minority leaders and women “struggle to find home in our communion.” Of the signatories, Irwyn Ince and Duke Kwon of GraceDC are amongst the most prominent. GraceDC was the same church that evaded accountability after knowingly allowing its pastor to announce his conversion to Rome during a church service, which is a violation of the BCO. Irwyn Ince was also the pastor who spoke at a “blacks only” church event earlier this year and was, until recently, with the Missions to North America.

Now he is part of the team leading this lamentation session against the PCA. They cite four main contentions:

1. We lament the schismatic culture of the PCA. 

We have seen a deepening culture of suspicion, gracelessness, self-righteousness, and relational dysfunction within the denomination. Too often, faithful leaders in good standing are subjected to unchecked slander and baseless innuendo on social media, which has begun to function as an unofficial court of the church. Many of us have experienced or witnessed racial microaggressions, unnecessary theological gatekeeping, and a pervasive mistrust that corrodes gospel ministry and healthy community. Some have described the denominational environment as emotionally or spiritually abusive, particularly toward leaders from marginalized and/or minority backgrounds. We long for a church culture marked by relational warmth, mutual trust, collegial deliberation, and grace.

Microaggressions was a liberal buzzword that was often used to control speech and regulate language. Just as “Newspeak” was an Orwellian term for the state’s efforts to regulate language and thought, the employment of microaggressions similarly surrenders control of the English language to groups that loath the Anglo tradition. Moreover, their complaint about these things validates any efforts at “gatekeeping” and exclusion they may have received because one cannot do business with someone they cannot trust. In terms of actual hateful language, Irwyn Ince has said that he has “fatigue” from dealing with a “majority White Christian context.” It is not complicated; they are merely projecting their hatred onto white evangelicals. Then they lament that they are distrusted.

2. We lament that minority and female leaders remain sidelined. 

Many of us and those we serve have been persistently excluded, questioned, or sidelined because of our race, gender, or cultural background, and because of the way our convictions and ministry methodologies are at times discordant with the white and male-dominant culture that is normative in the PCA. We lament the denomination’s lack of progress around racial reconciliation and unity since our corporate repentance in 2016, and around our commitment to become a more robust and gracious complementarian denomination in 2017. We are grieved that public figures who have denigrated racial minorities, immigrants, and women find widespread sympathy and support in our denomination. We remain discouraged by the absence of leaders of color at the national level in the PCA. The denomination’s structures continue to leave little room for genuine mutuality or reciprocity. We desire a spiritual family where women are empowered, minority voices are centered and celebrated rather than tolerated, and leadership reflects the global and multicultural body of Christ.

The “white and male-dominant culture that is normative in the PCA” is a good thing, just as it is for America. White men established the Presbyterian tradition, the PCA as a denomination, and built America where the PCA is located. Therefore, the PCA should reflect its tradition, and non-whites should conform to the denomination’s traditions if they want to be a part of the denomination.

In 2022, the PCA voted to leave the NEA over its support for immigration and Critical Race Theory. Despite PCA members overwhelmingly supporting Trump, the PCA has been participating in immigration efforts that undermine what their members actually desire, and assisting immigrants is harmful to one’s countrymen given the negative effects of immigration.

Towards the end, the writers give the game away when saying, “We desire a spiritual family where women are empowered…leadership reflects the global and multicultural body of Christ.” The empowerment of women is the largest issue in the PCA and has done nothing to strengthen the church amidst cultural decay nor has it improved the Church’s witness in an era where moral indictments against God are a greater revealed stumbling block than New-Atheism. The push for women and minorities in leadership is commonly called Diversity Equity and Inclusion. DEI comes at the expense of white men. Therefore, they are advocating for discriminatory policies in the PCA. The Church does not need multicultural leadership. Nicea was largely Greco-European in its council, and the Council of Jerusalem was Jewish. The Westminster divines were likewise British. And they were all councils of men. The Church does not need DEI to be effective or understand the Scriptures.

3. We lament that theological rigidity has supplanted confessional generosity.

We affirm and cherish our Reformed theological convictions. However, we are deeply concerned by the PCA’s narrowing definition of doctrinal and ministerial faithfulness. Rather than fostering a generous, confessional catholicity, the denomination has increasingly prioritized doctrinal gatekeeping and judicial processes that drain energy from mission and ministry. Rather than allowing room for charitable disagreement on secondary matters without fracturing fellowship, the denomination has become increasingly inhospitable to those who share our convictions. We seek a theological home that values both doctrinal clarity and pastoral flexibility—one where we can remain “faithful to the scriptures” and “true to the Reformed faith” without crushing the spirit of our churches.

This is a classic case of mis-categorizing what is and is not a primary or secondary issue. Within the context of the PCA, this further extends to the exceptions one can take to the Westminster Confession of Faith. Where some might say that Old Earth Creationism is a secondary issue, the WCF explicitly affirms Young Earth Creation. One is supposed to declare their exceptions and not teach them at the local level. However, the issue of egalitarianism is often wrongly labeled as a secondary issue when it is a sin issue. 1 Timothy 2:12 explicitly forbids women from being elders, so it is a sin to violate this command. It is one thing to tolerate theological differences, another to tolerate sin under the guise of primary and secondary issues.

4. We lament that the denominational burden has become an obstacle to mission.

The political and cultural battles within the PCA have taken a heavy toll in our local contexts. Rather than fueling mission in our cities, the denomination increasingly hinders it. The very neighbors we are seeking to love — secular, progressive non-Christians, LGTBQ individuals, immigrants, people of color, and more — are publicly belittled and demonized, if not by our words then by our legislative actions. Some of us are exhausted from fighting internal battles that distract from the work of gospel proclamation and community transformation. We lament how that exhaustion can undermine our mission, values, and callings, particularly in diverse, urban, and post-Christian settings.

This is where the writers blame white evangelical political engagement for harming the Church’s witness. White evangelicals are the lone bulwark against moral insanity in America for a reason. For years, the church has prioritized minorities, immigrants, gays, and women in its missional strategy, only for revival to come in the form of white, mostly male millennials and zoomers, yet the demographics they were least interested in were the ones where God sparked revival. Their strategy has objectively failed and leads to compromise, the worst of which was Revoice affirming quasi-gay lifestyles. Denigration of homosexuality is what led to a reversal of public support. Hating what God hates is what brings about revival, not loving people to hell.

DEI Shakedown

The lamentation is not so much a jeremiad, but the latest iteration of a struggle session where “lament” is the new code. The Irwyn Inces of the PCA want more power in a denomination that is mostly white evangelicals. They want DEI to reign supreme. It is no surprise that they combine women and minorities because women are technically the largest beneficiaries of DEI. This is not about affirming God’s design for the Church but a rejection of natural hierarchy. Empowering women goes against the created order, and male headship is rooted in Creation. Even St. Paul argues from ontology for why women cannot be elders and in favor of head coverings.

Much of the same could apply to race, where disparate impact and the exclusion of minorities is attributed to flawed systems rather than the aptitude of certain groups to naturally achieve the same outcomes. This is why there requires continuous efforts to establish “equality” but are just handouts for preferred minority groups that largely fail to address disparate impact. While there are exceptional men from all races, there are material differences between racial groups that factor into group outcomes. The desire to level the playing field has eroded liberties under the guise of Civil Rights while leading to the social decay of American cities. DEI leads to incompetence, which begets further decay. Whether for countries or denominations, it makes no difference.

Conclusion

The people who wrote this lamentation want people to be timid at their racial claims so they can shoehorn in their support for female officers in the PCA and get their people into institutional positions. Unfortunately, there is little accountability to be had against those pushing this effort, just as the PCA does nothing to punish the female officers in 7% of its churches. Everything wrong with the PCA could be captured in Irwyn Ince, including this prayer and lamentation. Perhaps it is because he is the one afforded special privilege.