The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), which held its 50th General Assembly in Memphis, Tennessee, last week, approved by a vote of 1,089-793 an overture to urge the government to “renounce the sin” of promoting irreversible sex change procedures for children. A commission to be appointed by the assembly’s moderator will be tasked with drafting the petition.
An influential conservative Presbyterian denomination recently agreed to formally petition government authorities against promoting transgender procedures for minors in a rare rebuke of government officials from the church.
The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), which held its 50th General Assembly in Memphis, Tennessee, last week, approved by a vote of 1,089-793 an overture to urge the government to “renounce the sin” of promoting irreversible sex change procedures for children. A commission to be appointed by the assembly’s moderator will be tasked 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 gunned down in March at the hands of 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who identified as transgender. The initial overture, which was submitted by the Alabama-based Evangel Presbytery, was drafted before the massacre.
The overture cited multiple scientific studies that suggest such “medical and surgical interventions are a rejection of science” and that the epidemic 900% increase in gender dysphoria among girls during the past eight years is primarily “driven by social contagion from contemporary social, educational, and cultural influences.”
The overture also argues that God created human beings male and female, that cross-dressing is immoral and that Jesus Christ warned strongly against scandalizing children.
The Rev. Bryan Chapell, the stated clerk of the PCA, told Fox News Digital in March that the push for transgender procedures appears to be a political agenda that is backed by neither science nor the Bible.
“I think all churches are dealing with these issues, as we well know, because of the cultural push at this time to congratulate people who question their sexual identity,” Chapell said. “All young people are certainly being subjected to that cultural push, but it in our view does not cohere with either science or Scripture.”
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 who supports transgenderism in any capacity, but he noted that the debate on the overture hinged on to what extent the church should involve itself in state affairs.
According to the Westminster Confession of Faith that forms the basis of Presbyterianism, churches should only petition civil authorities in “cases extraordinary,” which proponents of the overture argue applies to the government promoting irreversible sex change procedures for minors. The denomination, which came together in the early 1970s, has similarly petitioned with regard to abortion and the right to life, Greco said.