CREC to Whitewash RC Sproul Jr Scandal?

Word has been leaking out of Saint Peter Church for days about the impending release of the CREC Commission report on the Saint Peter Four and Saint Peter Church. CREC Commission chairman Randy Booth and others on the Commission have spoken with various Saint Peter members, and some of the more discontented members have been rather free in expressing their objections. One can safely assume that if everyone at Saint Peter Church were pleased by the CREC Commission’s recommendations that there wouldn’t now be so many leaks, at least leaks of the disgruntled variety.

We wish we had a lot more that we could report at this time. However, until the CREC Commission report is officially released, or until someone gives us an actual copy, we’ll only be able to pass along what little we know. Nevertheless, we believe that what we do know to be significant, and worthy of posting an article about at this time:

1. Randy Booth and possibly several other CREC men, are scheduled to be in Bristol May 20, likely arriving a day or two sooner. A special meeting of Saint Peter Church has been called for that date where Mr. Booth will present in full the CREC Commission report to the Saint Peter members.
2. It’s very likely that at that same meeting a congregational vote will be taken for Saint Peter Church to become a member in the CREC.
3. We’re told that there is anything but a consensus on that matter. At least one “parish” of the three Saint Peter parishes, while interested in joining the CREC (and even that’s not all that certain at this time), is strongly opposed to remaining a part of Saint Peter.
4. The CREC is attempting to compel “unity” between the three parishes. However, with all the broken trust that’s taken place between the Saint Peter Four and the Saint Peter members of the three parishes, unity is looking more and more untenable. Unity is quite obviously a voluntary act. If the CREC Commission attempts to involuntarily compel unity, it’s likely that at least one parish will go it’s separate way, both from Saint Peter and the CREC. If they do they should be aware that the CREC isn’t the only paedo-communion game in town, and that there are even a couple of paedo-communion denominations (not just “confederations”) that are also Presbyterian.
5. We’re told that several Saint Peter men have asked repeatedly to see the financial records of the church, and that they’ve been refused access. In the past the church policy was to permit any member access to the records. However, several months ago some serious financial hanky-panky (perhaps even fraud) was exposed and ever since then no one has been able to gain access to the records. This has only exacerbated the distrust that some Saint Peter members have for their defrocked session. The obvious question in the minds of many is, “RC, if you haven’t done anything wrong why do you keep acting like you’ve got something to hide?”
6. We’re told that the CREC Commission appears to not have in any credible way addressed the fact that the Saint Peter Four were defrocked, particularly as it applies to RC Sproul Jr. Given the fact that all four were defrocked and are therefore not ordained, they cannot be deemed fit by any church body to be reinstated into the ministry, at least without first having gone through some formal process of restoration. Pastoral restoration is a process that, at least in most denominations, requires oversight and regular counseling, as well as confirmation that they have made true repentance to all the people they have injured. That process of restoration generally requires at least a year to complete before a candidate can be deemed ready for examination for the ministry. Yet, at least as it applies to RC Sproul Jr, it appears as though the CREC is likely to completely ignore any formal process of restoration, and completely ignore the fact that the RPCGA deemed them “not qualified” to be Elders per 1 Timothy 3:1-7.
7. We’re told that the CREC is likely to recommend RC Sproul Jr as fit to minister immediately, without first going through any formal process of restoration and reinstatement. In other words the CREC is acting as though it doesn’t recognize that RC Sproul Jr has been defrocked by the RPCGA at all! If that’s true then it would only confirm how low, if not non-existent, the CREC’s ministerial standards really are.

Even should any of the Saint Peter Four be reinstated by the CREC, it remains to be seen if any of the Saint Peter parishes will take any of them back.

For the CREC to describe any of these proceedings as “Presbyterian,” and to describe themselves as “Presbyterian,” is nothing short of absurd.

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This article is republished here at the request of the author.

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