The length of the Creation days is not an issue for the RPCNA alone. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church recently debated the issue at its national General Assembly May 30—June 6. A sister denomination of the RPCNA and common member of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC), the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) is composed of 26,000 members in 216 congregations. The OPC grew by 3.3 percent in 2000 and currently has 65 mission works. The issues that loomed largest for the approximately 140 commissioners to the General Assembly included a dispute between the OPC Foreign Mission Board and the Middle East Reformed Fellowship, an “appeal” and an overture originating in California regarding the length of the days of Creation, and a decision regarding women in combat. In a celebratory moment, the OPC finalized fraternal relations with the Canadian Reformed Churches. “There is no denomination closer to us,” said OPC pastor and writer G. I. Williamson. Most of a day was taken up with decisions regarding the length of the Creation days.

The Northern California Presbytery had issued a statement “that if a candidate holds to a view of creation other than six days of essentially ordinary length, he shall declare his views, take exception to the Westminster standards, and be required to refrain from advocating his view as confessional.” An advisory committee committee contended that the presbytery’s statement exceeded its lawful authority, and the General Assembly agreed, directing the presbytery to rescind the action. An overture from the Southern California Presbytery on the same issue, together with the above appeal, resulted in the formation of a study committee “to examine the Scriptures and our Confession of Faith and Catechisms, to assist the church in its understanding of the biblical doctrine of creation, particularly taking into account the commonly held views of the days of creation (e.g., the ordinary day view, the day age view, the framework view, and the analogical view), and to assist sessions and presbyteries in their dealing with officers and candidates who hold differing views;…” Though no one took the floor to advocate women in combat roles, the question of how to apply the biblical evidence against the practice caused much debate. NAPARCs Joint Commission on Chaplains had asked pertinent denominations, including the RPCNA and OPC, to rule on the matter as a help to its chaplains. The RPCNA signed on to a statement against women in combat in 1999. Half of the OPC committee members assigned to study the question asked the Assembly to declare that the use of women in combat roles is “contrary to nature and inconsistent with the Word of God,” and this is the statement that the Assembly eventually passed. However, there was significant following for the opinion of the other half of the committee, which took the position that the church ought not to speak as a body to the state on such affairs. J. Gresham Machen was quoted as support: “The church has no opinion; she has a creed.” Thirty-seven commissioners registered in writing their dissent to the Assembly statement, and over 40 signed a protest to the action.

The grounds for the Assembly statement said “this is a ministerial declaration of what is revealed in Holy Scripture [and] provides the biblical counsel requested… without making any further pronouncements that would, presumably, cause the church to ‘intermeddle with civil affairs which concern the common wealth.” The last, but most written about, issue was the relationship between the OPC Foreign Mission Board and the Middle East Reformed Fellowship (MERF). Significant disagreements and differences had arisen between the two bodies in the past several years. After several hours of Assembly debate no resolution seemed in sight, and it appeared a number of sensitive communications would have to be aired. With less than a day to go for the Assembly, both sides began to give ground, and an agreement was forged. Representatives of both bodies requested and were granted forgiveness. The Assembly did direct that official ties with MERF be severed, stating its normal practice of not establishing official relationships with parachurch organizations. However, the MERF director, an ordained OPC minister, was commended as a missionary by the Assembly. The Assembly approved proof texts for the Westminster Larger Catechism, which will be published by Great Commission. The texts are being forwarded to the RPCNA and other churches in fraternal relations.