A steady hand for the PCA?

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NICK EICHER, HOST: For decades, the Presbyterian Church in America has grown while many mainline denominations have shed millions of members. But a rare leadership rupture at the top of the PCA last summer has now put that record under strain.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: With the nomination of Fred Greco as the PCA’s new stated clerk, church leaders are looking for steady, behind-the-scenes leadership to restore continuity and trust. 

WORLD Associate Correspondent Zoe Miller reports.

ZOE MILLER: The stated clerk is the top executive officer of the PCA. It’s a career position with enormous influence, and in the PCA’s 50-plus-year history, the first four men who held the job served decades at a time.

The fifth one lasted just five years.

AUDIO: Those are the names of the scandalizers…

The opening came after the abrupt departure of one of the PCA’s most prominent figures: Bryan Chapell resigned the stated clerk job last year after a podcast appearance in which he falsely accused more than a dozen well-known figures of being what he called, “scandalizers.” Chapell claimed each had left the faith, left his family, or taken his own life, which was demonstrably untrue.

The incident triggered formal complaints, strained relationships with sister denominations, and ended Chapell’s tenure prematurely.

CHAPELL: In an unanticipated moment, I responded to a question in a way that did not accurately or well represent individuals, my church, or my office.

That's Chapell apologizing at the PCA general assembly last summer. Ever since his resignation, an interim has served in his place while a search for his replacement was underway.

Now, the PCA has nominated Pastor Fred Greco to take the job—pending confirmation this summer.

DUNCAN: Fred was above and beyond the best candidate. There was no question.

Lay elder Mel Duncan is one of the men on the committee that recommended Greco—considering him a stabilizer.

DUNCAN: I also think there's just some trust problems in the PCA.

The PCA has work to do to restore church health after the damage of the Bryan Chapell episode. Duncan believes Greco has the institutional knowledge to do it.

DUNCAN: That was just a very awkward time for him and for the denomination. And I'm very grateful for his legacy and he's done a lot of good for the church, but I'm very excited that Fred is now in that chair.

George Sayour is with the PCA’s Mission to North America and works as a pastor with Ministry to State, its outreach to governments.

In his mind, Greco is a big shift in the right direction because he understands the history of the PCA, and has the nuance required for the application of its doctrine.

SAYOUR: Two stated clerks ago, Roy Taylor, just universally respected…he had a knack for explaining things without giving his opinion on those things. And that’s very important for the Stated Clerk’s office. So yeah, I think Fred Greco knows how to do that well, and that’s why, again, he received just universal acclamation for his job as our moderator a couple years ago.

For Sayour, Greco’s nomination is a direct result of his performance at the 50th General Assembly. He served as Moderator, the man tasked with navigating the PCA’s complex rules of order. Greco turned what could’ve been a fractured, contentious meeting into a masterclass in leadership and discretion.

SAYOUR: Fred Greco was universally hailed as one of the best moderators we’ve had in recent history. In what could have been a very contentious General Assembly, he just showed great adeptness at and fluency with our polity, adeptness at applying it in the moment. He does it with levity, he does it with strength…he’s going to be great, I think.

Some of the conversation surrounding the PCA’s leadership transition has played out online. In a social media post, Danny Morgan, an associate pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Austin, welcomed Greco’s nomination while raising a concern about whether denominational governance could begin to eclipse mission and evangelism.

Still, in the minds of many, Greco is what the PCA needs going forward after a rare and public failure at the top.

Greco himself told me he hopes he lives up to the hype.

GRECO: One of the main things that the stated clerk is to do is to serve as that practical function, the ligaments that bind the body together, if I can use a Pauline analogy. And I think that helps the advancement of the church.

He says the church needs to be forthright about the roles and responsibilities of their elders and deacons, how they are accountable, and be transparent about that.

GRECO:  I think it will continue to be a breath of fresh air in our society.We have one church, we have one standard, we have one goal, and we work together as the body of Christ in a broader sense than just in a local congregation.

At a time when the PCA is growing in number, the way church leaders conduct themselves bears directly on the trustworthiness of the message they preach. For Greco it’s a matter of stewardship.

There is a lot at stake. The PCA’s legacy is one of standing for Biblical doctrine against a tide of mainline liberalism. It did, after all, grow out of the mainline Presbyterian movement.

Half a century later, there have emerged very real divisions under the surface in PCA leadership, and Greco’s moment is about navigating them—and holding firm to its founding.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Zoe Miller.

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