“Anti-Racism” and the EPC

I am a white, heterosexual man who has always been conservative and traditional (culturally, politically and theologically). I’ve also been an EPC pastor since 2008 and have been grateful to the denomination that ordained me to the pastorate and allowed me many years of fruitful gospel ministry. 

As a consevative of the paleo variety, I’ve lived at the right edge of the denomination’s landscape, but given the denomination’s commitment to pluralism and its purported culture of tolerance through unity in essentials, liberty in non-essentials and charity in all things, I assumed there was room for me. That assumption held true for many years, but it has broken down significantly over the last few.  

The Observable Fruits of Compromise

Since 2020 the denomination has become increasingly authoritarian in its leadership, egalitarian in its theology and woke in its ideology.  The editors of the Presbyterian Plumbline have observed a similar trajectory within the EPC.  In the inaugural volume of their online journal they include an article by Peter Larson entitled Rebranding the EPC.  The article questions the reasons behind the denomination’s recent rebrand, which includes a new cornflower blue logo (seen above).  

Sadly, the article also identifies four troubling trendlines in the denomination: 1) a focus on race and diversity, 2) a shift to hierarchical leadership, 3) weakening biblical standards of sexuality and 4) a closing door to complementarians.  

In the section on race and diversity, Larson writes,

The Revelation 7:9 report, calling for greater diversity and multiculturalism in our churches, was immediately followed by the Pastoral Letter of Racial Lament and Hope. Major resources were devoted to these initiatives. Without a shred of evidence, we are asked to believe that the EPC is guilty of racism and discrimination. While this appears virtuous, it is really just virtue-signaling. To focus relentlessly on race and diversity is, in fact, anti-Gospel. The Gospel tells us that we are one in Christ, reconciled by his atoning death, that there is no longer any slave or free, Jew or Gentile, male or female (Galatians 3:28). When we focus on race and skin color, we deny the power and truth of the Gospel. Instead of celebrating our unity in Christ, we are focusing on our differences. At General Assembly we heard the words “equity” and “privilege” — terms borrowed directly from Black Lives Matter and its Marxist ideology. At a recent meeting of Midwest Presbytery, someone asked quite seriously if we should throw out the Westminster Confession because it was written by white males. When you fall down the woke rabbit hole, this is where you land. Why are we focusing obsessively on race? Who is leading this charge?

I believe Larson and the Plumbline are right to be concerned about the EPC’s new found commitment to “anti-racism,” which usually amounts to little more than anti-whitism through the subtle adoption of critical race theory and enforced diversity, equity and inclusion.  

When I read the article and Larson’s questions “Why are we focusing obsessively on race? Who is leading this charge?” something suddenly jostled in my memory.

The Unseen Roots of Compromise

A few of years ago, I had an elder in the church who was slowly going woke through the influence of his two children, who were then recent graduates from Wheaton College.  At Wheaton, the children learned about the need for “racial justice,” the elder told me.  Now the elder wanted to prioritize racial justice in our church and he wanted me to share in his new found concern.  My elder had connections with elders at Memorial Park Church and he learned from them that they were studying the subject of racial reconciliation and that I should reach out to learn more. 

I was more than a little skeptical about the whole thing and a little concerned about what I was told.  Why would such a prestigious congregation in our presbytery be focused on a woke ideology?  Perhaps they were studying the subject to better understand its dangers and avoid it, I thought.  I decided to contact the pastor at Memorial Park to get some information.  On September 3, 2020, I emailed the Rev. Dr. D. Dean Weaver and said,

Hi Dean,

I was told recently that you led the MP Session though a study on racial reconciliation.  Would you mind sharing that resource, and perhaps others like it?  I would like to help our Session do the same.

Thanks brother…and congrats on your new appointment as Stated Clerk.  Many blessing on you as you embark on this new ministry!

Nate 

Later that day I received the following response:

 Hey Brother,

Our Elders have worked through a few books, that we discussed both at Session meetings and on Sunday mornings during Sunday School time -over the last year.  Now a group of Elders are meeting with our partners at UnCommon Ground Cafe in Aliquippa to begin to “bridge” the ethnic gap.  Our Women’s Ministry is on this journey now too…as are our youth….it is the beginning of a “long obedience in the same direction.”  🙂 Glad to hear from you and grateful you are looking to walk the path!

I would start with Sarah Shin’s Beyond Color Blind   – she works for IVCF…..very biblical and no hints of a marxist worldview. Good book to begin with….insightful, helpful and the essential (in my view) book for today’s “pre-evangelism.”

I would also consider Tim Keller’s UnCommon Ground  – a collection of essays that really sets the stage for how we as believers can engage well during this challenging time…very, very helpful and of course well grounded in the biblical faith.

Then, you might read Adrian Pei’s The Minority Experience -Pei works for Cru….and very insightful book for organizational leaders to understand the dynamic within their system from a fresh set of eyes…biblical but not an expositional study…an organizational perspective but has helped me think through leadership issues.

The 401 book that is hard to read, but a thoroughly biblical critique of the church – through the lense of history…is Jemar Tisby’s The Color of Compromise.

It is hard to read, but his critique comes from love of the Bride of Christ…it is a survey…not as deep as it could be but honestly probably as much as we can handle at this moment…Tisby will be speaking at GCC in October…and his teaching on this can be found on Amazon Prime too.  I am teaching this book for MPC this Fall.

On the good news front….some black pastors (largely in the Reformed Tradition) are creating an organization that will be a thoroughly Christian approach to racial injustice and inequity issues….hoping that comes above the radar soon…it would be a gift to the church.   Like them, many of us can and do say that Black Lives Matter but we can not endorse the BLM organization because they are based on critical race theory and a marxist worldview.

Start with Sarah Shin’s book….

🙂

Hope this helps…

Blessings brother!

-Dean

I was pretty shocked when I read the email.  Yes, Rev. Weaver was careful to note that he could not endorse BLM because of its CRT and Marxist worldview, but I also knew that you can’t accept the fruit of these anti-racisit positions while also trying to deny their unbiblical roots.  They are a package deal.  Clearly the CRT, anti-racist seeds were in the soil, and it doesn’t take long for those seeds to spread.  

Examining the Fruit

Many of these books and authors have not aged well.  A postmortem on Tim Keller’s legacy shows a mixed bag at best. Keller unfortunately set a standard of compromise in the evangelical culture that solidified a leftward drift. Cru fractured its credibility with the evangelical church through its controversial LGBTQ training program for staff, casting legitimate suspicion on Pei’s work.  

The worst recommendation of all was Jemar Tisby’s The Color of Compromise.  Tisby has since gone full woke and for a short time partnered with professional race hustler Ibram X Kendi.  As the Interim Chaplain at Grove City College, it appears from the above email that Rev. Weaver was instrumental in securing Tisby as a chapel speaker, a decision that later helped embroil GCC in controversy.  

Enough time has passed to prove that none of these books are helpful in maintaining orthodoxy within evangelicalism.  All of them sow the seeds of compromise.  

As my email above notes, Rev. Weaver was appointed as the EPC’s next Stated Clerk.  He took that position with a clearly established interest in “anti-racism,” “racial justice,” and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.  

Peter Larson asks, Why are we focusing obsessively on race? Who is leading this charge?  It seems entirely plausible that the seeds of compromise were imported and later disseminated top-down through the denomination via the office of the Stated Clerk.  The Revelation 7:9 Taskforce and the Pastoral Letter of Racial Lament and Hope are but the first-fruits of those seeds.  

Without reformation and without the courage of godly men to stand up, name and resist these trends, the seeds of compromise will only continue to flourish and become an infestation. The invasive species of anti-racism will spread under the banner of a rebranded logo.  Cornflower blue will cover the denomination as a thousand flowers bloom.  And as they do, orthodox, biblical congregations will either be choked out and leave the denomination or they will wither through compromise and woke dilution.