Eastern and Western Han-Ca Petitions re: Racism and Marginalization

Editor’s Note: These Han-Ca petitions have been supported by a letter from the Chinese Consultation, composed of six congregations – Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Markham, Mississauga, and Celebration Chinese Presbyterian Churches, and by a letter from Chapel Place, an Arabic-speaking congregation.

To the Venerable 146th General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church in Canada,

The Presbytery of Eastern Han-Ca and the Presbytery of Western Han-Ca question whether in this denomination we are nothing more than a marginal group whose voice is deemed as one which can, and should be ignored. This is no less clearly evident in our current debates regarding human sexuality and the lack of response to our serious concerns surrounding the recently proposed recommendations to change our doctrine and practice of ministry. Because we are not willing to abdicate our beliefs, which cohere with the vast majority of the global church, in favour of that which is promulgated by the dominant culture in our denomination, we have not only experienced a silencing, but much mistreatment, and therefore wish to petition The 146th General Assembly to confess their sins to the large ethnic contingent, Koreans being but one group, of our denomination and repent of its treatment of ethnic congregations in this denomination by also acknowledging that we are as well, equally, the Presbyterian Church in Canada.

WHEREAS the vast majority of congregations from both the presbyteries of Eastern Han-Ca and Western Han-Ca are questioning if there is a place for us in this denomination, and also whether those not holding to the agendas and adopted ideologies of the Western, primarily Anglo-driven, dominant culture are really welcomed, and

WHEREAS Eastern and Western Han-Ca presbyteries are extremely alarmed, not only because of the specific nature of the recommendations being handed down to change our doctrine, but more so due to the manner in which those who seek change have been attempting to do so, and what this trajectory of change indicates about the nature of our denomination, for we believe we are moving in a direction that betrays our longstanding theological beliefs and practices of ministry, as indicated in our subordinate standards, and

WHEREAS in the PCC many are seeking to redefine our relationship to our subordinate standards, and in similar fashion our scriptures, which in practice seems more like promoting or adhering to only that which we deem as amicable to us; or often repeatedly invoking the claim of relativity of interpretation so as to make it impossible for our subordinate standards and scriptures to function as that which we can subordinate ourselves to, or uphold as authority, and

WHEREAS if in the PCC we see the increasing erosion of the unity, clear-direction, and purpose that our subordinate standards and scriptures once provided, what now serves as their replacement and is able to again bring us together? In The Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC) are our subordinate standards and scriptures now subordinated to the loud moral clarion calls of justice, the contents of which are dictated to us by our Politically Correct Culture (PCC’)? and

WHEREAS since those in the Han-Ca Presbyteries remain faithful to our subordinate standards, and do not follow the transient nature of current Western culture, nor adopt its today-popular moral standards, we have experienced treatment at the hands of many in the PCC which has caused us much pain and raises alarm, for we have collectively experienced many instances of slander, ridicule, racism, and even sadly demonization, which all unequivocally seems to be saying that there is no place for “the Korean” in this denomination, and

WHEREAS, similarly in our nation’s past, the actions of our forebearers indicated that there was no place for First Nations peoples who held on to their culture, beliefs and practices in this “new nation,” and such sentiments were promulgated by our own denomination as we established numerous denominationally-run residential schools, for which we have rightly confessed and spelled out the nature of our sins, as indicated in our confession:

We acknowledge that the stated policy of the Government of Canada was to assimilate Aboriginal peoples to the dominant culture, and that The Presbyterian Church in Canada co-operated in this policy. We acknowledge that the roots of the harm we have done are found in the attitudes and values of western European colonialism, and the assumption that what was not yet moulded in our image was to be discovered and exploited.
(The Confession of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, 1994)

However, is our denomination now really different from the denomination of our past, and should the dominant culture in our denomination not entertain the possibility that they are perhaps again following in the hegemonic sins of their ancestors? And for this reason congregations in our Presbyteries implore the larger PCC to take notice of our current plight of marginalization in our denomination, and provide a safeguarded place for us here, for we believe that we too are created in God’s image and have a specific mandate from God to live out our gospel calling in this nation, which is in complete accordance to our denomination’s subordinate standards. And therefore advise that the dominant culture in our denomination tread carefully as it attempts to dictate what should be considered to be authentic, faithful, Christianity, not only in our own denomination, but also to the wider, global church, with which it is at odds, and

WHEREAS we encourage The Presbyterian Church in Canada to be The Presbyterian Church “in” Canada, and not The Presbyterian Church “of” Canada, and we believe that for our denomination to live up to its name, it must take into account the multiple expressions of Presbyterianism not only embodied in our Han-Ca congregations, but as well wonderfully represented in many other ethnic expressions such as those found in Arabic, Chinese, Taiwanese, Hungarian, Spanish, Portuguese, . . . Presbyterian congregations of our denomination, and

WHEREAS there is a danger when the PCC does not take into account other forms of presbyterianism but only relies on one, Western cultural expression of it — it may find itself to be in error, but not able to recognize it, for when multiple expressions of presbyterianism (and Christianity) come together, the truest, most accurate and faithful expression of it will likely be found at the intersection of these multiple expressions. For this reason we hope that the PCC does not continue to ignore the many voices and expressions of presbyterianism in the PCC, of which the Korean expression is but one, to their overall detriment.

THEREFORE, we humbly Petition the 146thGeneral Assembly to confess their sins in written response to the large ethnic contingent of our denomination who have been mistreated by the dominant culture in our denomination because we and other ethnic minorities are not willing to abdicate our God-given expressions of Christianity to assimilate to the form of Christianity which the dominant culture dictates.

4 thoughts on “Eastern and Western Han-Ca Petitions re: Racism and Marginalization

  1. Thanks for publishing this very well-written overture. Having worked side by side with our sisters and brothers in The Korean Christian Church in Japan, we feel deeply the pain of those who drew up this overture. I hope that members of the two Han-Ca Presbyteries will know that they are not alone in their concern that the doctrine of the PCC held for generations is being uprooted and there are thousand in our denomination who hold fast to the authority of Scripture.

    The first missionaries to Korea preached and lived the Gospel without compromise and are held in high regard by Koreans on every Priscilla continent where the Word is going forth with power

  2. In our community there are 2 demolished United Churches…one that I was baptized and later married in, the other, where our children were baptized. That church became so left wing there are not many members left, except the left. Many wonderful people still – but with a politically correct world view. However, the church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord…the solid rock…not shifting sands. It seems the PCC is trying to avoid a split like the UCC…by being all things to all people with their remits…choices and consensus on long established doctrine…but Paul asks in 2 Corinthians 6 – How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? It is with further regret that I read that some progressives in the PCC have not acted lovingly or kind throughout this journey to those with traditional Biblical views… it is the “woke” approach that there is really only 1 way – theirs. (and perhaps with the opinion that 60% of PCC members and adherents support the remits…they feel it is a done deal…but that is still not a reason to be uncharitable and unkind. Our loyalty must be to our Father, Son and Holy Spirit…and we need to worship in a church that shares God’s love, hope and healing for all of us sinners…or Christ’s sacrifice will have been in vain.

  3. I want to commend the above Presbyteries for their collaborative efforts in creating such an eloquent document that speaks to the continued and serious erosion of our Christian beliefs. The Presbyterian Church, by their concerted attempts to pacify fringe beliefs within the Church, have effectively ignored Christ’s call to be in the world but not of the world. Once this basic tenet is ignored and scrapped in an attempt to appear ‘inclusive’, the Church becomes no different than the world it is supposed to save. The Church has effectively ‘excluded’ those who adhere to the Truth by engaging in methods of individual and corporate racism, as well as claiming superior intelligence and an elitist understanding of Scripture. I applaud the above Presbyteries in clearly stating and standing on the fundamental truths and beliefs of Christianity. In a world bombarded by false doctrine and ecclesiastical pride, what hope is there for poor sinners? Embracing the aberrant behaviours of mankind will not save them from God’s judgement or its consequence; that truth is apparent in multiple Biblical texts. Yet Jesus died for all, so our love should openly and freely be shown to those trapped in their sinful conflicts and behaviours. However, through His example, we learn that Jesus never supported sin, but called all to repentance; a turning away from sin. He made it plain that sin has consequences, a principle that seems lost in the world and sadly now in the Church. If the Church berates its members for standing up for Christ’s teachings, the Church is in error. If the Church applauds sin, and promulgates this stand, God will judge it, because if the Church accepts sin, it accepts also the wrath of God.

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