DeYoung, Brindle, and the PCA
Has the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) suddenly gone liberal, progressive, soft? Online discourse of the last few days might think lead you to think so. Despite remaining difficulties, in many ways the PCA General Assembly this year entered a new era of commitment to the Old Paths, which is evidenced by three matters of personnel. Among other things, this year signaled continued and firm opposition to liberal drift that threatened to influence the denomination a mere five years ago. If anything, the PCA is getting more conservative and acting more Presbyterian.
Moderator and Clerk
In 2019, Teaching Elder (TE) Kevin DeYoung clearly and effectively set forth the church’s historic teaching on the obscure doctrine of concupiscence and helped everyone – from Sunday school teachers to teaching elders – understand the dangers of Greg Johnson and his Saint Louis Theology. This year, the Assembly elected DeYoung – without opposition – to serve as moderator. This is the fourth consecutive year in which the Assembly chose a moderator from among the men who firmly and boldly stood against Greg Johnson and his false teaching on sodomite lust. Needless to say, this is a good sign.
The selection of Ruling Elder (RE) John Bise to serve as provisional clerk is an indication of just how much the PCA has changed since 2020 when a Stated Clerk Pro tempore was last selected by the Administrative Committee. Bryan Chapell, who was received into the PCA along with the RPCES, served for decades as a denominational bureaucrat at Covenant Seminary (1985-2013) and as Stated Clerk (2020-2025), while continuing to serve in the honorary role of “President Emeritus” of the Seminary. Chapell also served a couple of brief stints as pastor of two local churches (1978-85, 2013-2020).
By contrast, Bise represents a return to the historic roots and Old School Presbyterian heritage of the PCA. He is a son of the First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, MS. For decades, Bise ministered quietly and faithfully as a RE in a local church and member of the General Assembly’s Standing Judicial Commission (SJC). He was elected moderator in 2022. And he joined RE Dowling’s 2021 dissent in the matter of Missouri Presbytery and Greg Johnson. Thus far, his clerkship has been markedly different from that of his predecessor– Bise barely said a word during the entire General Assembly.
Committeemen
One of the most intense moments of this year’s Assembly was the Nominating Committee Report in which men are elected to serve on the Special and Permanent Committees, Boards, and SJC of the Assembly. This year there were a remarkable number of floor nominees due to a perception by many that the “progressive” wing of the PCA dominated the Nominating Committee meeting. While ordinarily, the Assembly overwhelmingly defers to the Nominating Committee and elects their candidates, in an unprecedented turn of events, floor nominees won nine of the thirty contests.
One of the little-noticed contests was between TEs Tim LeCroy and George Grant for a role on the “Committee on Discipleship Ministries,” the “Christian Ed” committee of the General Assembly. In previous years, when LeCroy addressed the Assembly, he would often remind the brothers that he chaired the “Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault” (DASA) Committee. While the DASA Committee produced some helpful resources, it has also served as a catalyst for attempts to change the PCA judiciary, which many have interpreted as advocating for changes favored by those on the progressive wing of the communion. LeCroy also defended Missouri Presbytery before the SJC in the matters related to Greg Johnson.
By contrast, although Grant is a frequent contributor to World Magazine, he has not spoken on the floor of the Assembly in recent memory. Grant’s conservative and confessional commitments are well-established; he serves as a member of the General Council of the Gospel Reformation Network (GRN). The same GRN, which LeCroy decried as having a “secret council” some years ago.
Nonetheless, the Assembly quite handily elected the retired pastor George Grant over the one-time DASA chairman, even though LeCroy was the Nominating Committee nominee and managed to defeat former GA Moderator Fred Greco to serve as secretary of the Nominating Committee this coming year.
The PCA is clearly moving in a more conservative direction and returning to her historic roots and principles as evidenced by these three personnel decisions. But despite these positive steps, some are certain that the PCA is drifting liberal and that our moderator is woke or worse.
Brindle and Robert’s Rules
This leads us to a fourth matter of personnel. Due to controversies involving a multi-million-dollar shortfall, ballooning operational costs, immigration advocacy, philosophy of ministry, and “affinity groups,” the annual re-election of the Mission to North America Coordinator (MNA) was anything but routine.
The coordinators of the PCA General Assembly Committees must be elected annually by the Assembly and their reelection is subject to the ordinary rules of debate and decorum according to Robert’s Rules of Order (RRO). Most years these matters are handled in “omnibus,” or all at once, with several other recommendations. When the question of whether to re-elect the MNA Coordinator, Irwyn Ince, was put to the floor, men assembled at the microphones to debate the issue. In full disclosure, I offered a speech against, as did TE Timothy Brindle and others.
Brindle was recognized to speak with about 65 seconds left on the “topic clock” and – after a reading from the Epistle of James warning of partiality – he voiced his objection to the incumbent coordinator’s position on ethnicity-based affinity groups and segregated evenings or dinners for black worshipers. Brindle went on to imply the coordinator believed “he is not safe” in a space with White Christians. It is unclear, but Brindle was perhaps referencing comments made by the Ince as part of an address in which he noted the “trauma” felt by “people of color” in “majority white Christian spaces.”
When Brindle suggested the MNA Coordinator “believes he’s not safe,” many in the Assembly audibly responded. Maybe they understood this statement from Brindle to be assigning motives, which is contrary to our rules (RRO 4:30) even if Brindle was paraphrasing Ince’s own statements. Many people, even fellow Presbyterians, may not like a strict adherence to RRO. Many, in fact, find such a stance annoying and extreme. But strict adherence is not optional in the PCA. Those who have ever watched a business meeting of any organization descend into chaos and anarchy know just how important this is.
It was at that point in his speech Brindle was cautioned by DeYoung to “speak with decorum and not in a way that is personally attacking…” the moderator also noted, “it is germane to bring up issues relative to this particular motion, but I would ask you to speak in a more temperate way.” The clip of this moment went viral online and got far more attention than any other business at the Assembly. Most people were upset because Brindle’s words resonated; they agreed with his sentiment. To outsiders or the ill-informed, DeYoung’s warning, therefore, appeared as an attempt to suppress said sentiments. Which, in turn, would suggest a progressive stance on the part of the moderator, or so it is thought. In fact, DeYoung’s response suggests nothing substantive at all, only procedural. (Denny Burk, a Baptist, has a good write up on this today.)
I understand why people are upset at DeYoung’s warning. While sitting in the Assembly Hall, I could easily hear Brindle’s volume did increase, perhaps due to “boos” among other commissioners, which also seemed to attract the moderator’s attention. But none of that was reflected on the livestream. Booing itself is a clear breach of Presbyterian decorum (RRO 43:28). It needed to be corrected, but things were moving very fast, and a moderator largely relies on “points of order” from the floor to maintain order. No one made a point of order regarding the heckling.
Did DeYoung “shush” Brindle? No. Was the moderator unfair? No. DeYoung made no ruling, he simply reminded the speaker, with seven seconds left on the clock, of the rules of decorum and asked him to speak in a “more temperate way.” He did this, presumably, because Brindle made an inference about the MNA Coordinator’s beliefs.
Such an injunction is reasonable and proper for the moderator, since it seemed the speech was touching upon the difficult subject of motives or views (cf. RRO 61:10). DeYoung, however, did not rule that the speech was intemperate. It would have been within DeYoung’s authority to make such a ruling if someone had made such a point of order, but there was no point of order (cf. RRO 61:11). If DeYoung had made any ruling, it would have been subject to appeal by Brindle. But DeYoung merely and gently reminded the speaker of decorum. The reason Brindle was not able to finish his speech was not because he was ruled out of order, but because time had expired. Brindle would have been within his rights to ask for his seven seconds back, but he did not. Likely, DeYoung’s approach saved Brindle’s comments from a point of order being raised.
In the end, when the MNA Coordinator was reelected by a vote of 1210 to 738, raucous cheers and whistles erupted. Moderator DeYoung at that time also reminded the members of the Assembly to restrain themselves and maintain decorum. In other words, DeYoung was entirely consistent in his enforcement of the rules. He was not capitulating to a “progressive gaze.” He was just being a good Presbyterian moderator.
Conclusion
This is the way Presbyterians debate: with time limits and precise rules of courtesy and decorum. All this may seem odd to outsiders who are unaccustomed to the formality and courtesy of it all. But this is how things are done in the Courts of the Church; for those who don’t like it, there’s always Congress.
DeYoung was an effective, fair, and efficient moderator in a year in which God has done many good things for the PCA. One can hope and pray that there will be an even greater renaissance of Old School Presbyterianism in the PCA in the years to come. There’s certainly more work to do, and godly, faithful men like Brindle and DeYoung are both part of the way forward for the PCA on the Old Paths.
Image: House of Commons, 1914, Leopold Braun. Wikimedia Commons.
