The Presbyterian Church in America’s General Assembly sent a letter to federal officials last month with a “humble petition” that they ban “gender reassignment” surgeries and hormones.
The conservative denomination, which has some 1,500 churches and 374,000 members in North America, sent the letter to President Joe Biden, Chief Justice John Roberts, and leaders in Congress after ministers at their General Assembly approved a commission to draft the document last summer. Ministers called on the officials to “promote the health, bodily integrity, and wellbeing of minors who are suffering from gender dysphoria and related conditions.”
“The basis for our appeal is that all people, young and old, male and female, are created in the image of God,” the letter said. “This unique status accords all human beings with inherent dignity, a dignity that extends to both soul and body. For over two thousand years, the Christian Church in all her branches has stood on the teaching that the value of the human body arises from its source, which is from God, and its purpose, which is to bear God’s image.”
The document from the PCA, not to be confused with the larger and more progressive Presbyterian Church USA, noted that those who seek to change their sex are “attempting the impossible” and therefore becoming exposed to numerous medical risks, from sterility and infertility to elevated odds for cancer and diminished bone density. Ministers also noted that God has provided “parents and the civil magistrate” with the duty of protecting children from harm.
“Since the brain has not yet fully developed during puberty and adolescence, minor children are not mentally and emotionally ready to give informed consent to life-altering and non-reversible medical procedures,” the letter continued. “Children whose minds and personalities are still developing do not yet possess the perspective or maturity to make these irreversible decisions; they should be given time to accept their biological sex, which occurs in the majority of teens allowed to progress through natural puberty.”
The overture to commission the letter passed with 1,089 votes in favor and 793 voting against the move. Debate arose over whether the denomination was permitted to address the issue since the Westminster Confession of Faith, the central doctrinal statement of the PCA, says that the church is "not to intermeddle with civil affairs which concern the commonwealth," yet provides an exception for “humble petition in cases extraordinary."
Zachary Garris, the pastor of Bryce Avenue Presbyterian Church in White Rock, New Mexico, contended to The Sentinel that “issues like abortion and transgender surgeries on minors are ‘extraordinary’ cases that bring great harm upon our nation and the church.”
“I think the PCA sending this letter was a faithful action on the church's part,” he remarked. “Christians must proclaim God's law along with the gospel, and sometimes that means formal statements from the church on particular issues, even letters to the civil magistrate.”
Other conservative denominations have passed similar statements condemning the practice of transgender hormone and surgical procedures, especially with respect to children. Attendees at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting approved a resolution ten years ago noting that “gender identity is determined by biological sex and not by one’s self-perception, a perception which is often influenced by fallen human nature in ways contrary to God’s design,” as well as inviting such people “to trust in Christ and to experience renewal in the gospel.”
Some denominations, on the other hand, have seen splits as approval of homosexuality and transgenderism advances among ministers. Nearly one-quarter of the 30,000 congregations in the United Methodist Church have left the association over approval of homosexual behavior and ordination of practicing homosexuals.
