05/11/2026
A new confession is being proposed at PCUSA General Assembly this year. It would be a big deal if this was adopted. The Book of Confessions is Part I of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), containing a collection of historical faith statements used to guide and interpret Scripture, ranging from the Nicene Creed to modern declarations like the Confession of 1967. Each confession was written at a point in history where the Church needed to articulate what is it and what it stands for in the presence of theological and ethical crisis. They are not just statements, but guiding documents that can have a strong impact on how we make decisions as a denomination. Here is an excerpt from the new one being proposed by the special committee:
"On this stolen land, in North America,
the Presbyterian church took root in a new nation.
By distorting and weaponizing Scripture,
we have justified our idolatry and harmed those whom God loves.
We have dehumanized indigenous peoples,
dispossessing native nations and upending their worlds,
eventually claiming this land as the exclusive birthright of Christians,
our manifest destiny.
We have covered ourselves in racism’s robe,
wrapping ourselves in the vestments of white supremacy,
kidnapping and exploiting the bodies, gifts, and lives
of African peoples and their descendants
to build a society with little share in its benefits.
We have reviled our immigrant neighbors, who came seeking a better life,
refusing them welcome,
stripping them of their dignity,
profiting from their skills,
discounting their contributions to our common life,
forgetting God’s command to love the stranger in our midst.[35]
We have denigrated women,
silencing the voices that first declared the resurrection,[36]
abusing the very bodies that bring forth life,[37]
discrediting their experience,
and devaluing their wisdom.
We have denied God’s creative mystery
in the lives of our siblings who challenge and expand
our understanding of gender and sexuality,[38]
choosing to disavow their bodies,
diminish their worth,
and discard their lives.
We have neglected those disabled in mind and body
by upholding norms that exclude and harm;
ignoring their needs
and refusing their gifts,
devaluing the wounded body of the risen Christ.[39]
We have desecrated the earth, which God created and called good,
exploiting our home so that the
abundance intended for all
becomes the possession of a select few,
causing needless suffering to the earth and all its creatures.
In all this we have greedily clutched and perpetuated idolatry’s lie;
creating and exacerbating poverty and want,
closing our hands and hearts to the poor,
failing to treat others with righteousness and equity,
refusing to love our neighbors, and, ultimately,
forgetting who and whose we are....
..
As stewards of God’s creative work,
we repair and nurture the earth we have harmed,
tending it for future generations,
and we honor our own life-giving connection
to the rest of creation.
As we feel the earth groaning in labor pains,[60]
we proclaim our steadfast hope that a new creation is being born
As the 227th General Assembly approaches, PC(USA) leaders say a proposed new confession is meant to help the church speak truthfully about sin, justice and faith in this time and place.
