PCA cancels General Assembly panel featuring David French after opposition
The Presbyterian Church in America has canceled a panel discussion scheduled for its churchwide gathering next month that would have included Evangelical writer and New York Times columnist David French in response to much opposition.
ByFaith, the official magazine of the PCA, reported on Tuesday that the panel scheduled for the theologically conservative denomination's June General Assembly in Richmond, Virginia, had been canceled.
"The concerns that have been raised about the seminar and its topic have been so significant that it seems wisest for the peace and unity of the church not to proceed in this way," stated the PCA Administrative Committee in the report.
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"Instead, the seminar time will be allocated to a prayer convocation that humbly petitions our God for the good of his church in a polarized political year, utilizing the means of grace provided by our Lord for his people."
PCA Stated Clerk Bryan Chapell apologized to the committee for the controversy that caused "some brothers to be concerned for the witness of our church and other brothers to be concerned for how our church processes differing views while protecting reputations."
"The purpose of the seminar was to help our churches deal with political tensions and, instead, controversy has ensued. This is contrary to the intended purposes of the seminar and the purposes that AC members and staff have so conscientiously pursued with me over the last four years," stated Chapell in his statement.
"Had I known some of the ways that the panelist has expressed himself or been understood in past writings, I would have made a different choice for the purposes of this seminar."
The Christian Post reached out to a representative of French for a response and was informed that the columnist was not making any statements on the matter at present.
Earlier this month, PCA announced that French, a prominent Evangelical critic of former president Donald Trump, would participate in a panel at the General Assembly titled "How to Be Supportive of Your Pastor and Church Leaders in a Polarized Political Year."
The decision to include French on the panel invited criticism from many members of the PCA and conservative Christians.
PCA Teaching Elder Ben C. Dunson wrote a column denouncing French's involvement, citing French's support for legalizing same-sex marriage, anti-Trump statements, defense of drag queen story hours and how he allegedly "besmirches the character of Christians who disagree with him on these issues."
"The General Assembly seminar announcement is worded so as to indicate that it will help us avoid political polarization. David French is the poster-child for political polarization," wrote Dunson, a visiting professor of New Testament at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Greenville, South Carolina.
"Maybe he's right and we all have no choice but to vote for Joe Biden for President, but that is hardly a non-polarizing position to take. French's place on this panel will not fulfill the seminar's own stated purpose."
The Daily Wire reporter and author Megan Basham cited French's "divisive reputation" and argued that PCA leadership "knew full well the effect French's inclusion on a panel on polarizing politics would have."
"They deliberately took actions they knew would draw attention away from the business of the PCA and toward worldly political concerns and debates," she tweeted.
"In other words, they chose to deliberately disturb the peace of this gathering. This is an important thing to remember as discussions about what to do now go forward."
