An Apology - Dean Turberville

Fathers and brothers of the ARP Synod, please forgive me.

At last week’s Synod meeting in Columbia, during floor debate, I spoke to the issue of women in the diaconate. As I did so, I used a term that was both inflammatory and implicitly pejorative. In speaking of issues dealt with in Dr. Cara’s writing which formed that substance of First Presbytery’s memorial, I referred to my belief that “the paper laid waste to the idea that the Apostles intended to form a unisex diaconate” (emphasis added).

As I cut the grass at my home on Friday afternoon, I was reviewing the events of Synod in my mind. I came under a deep conviction that my choice of the word“unisex” was needlessly inflammatory. I know full well that no one in our Synod has a “unisex” attitude toward created gender distinctions, etc. In that sense, it was also pejorative toward those who support continuing to maintain the option in our polity to ordain women to the diaconate.

In this, I believe I sinned against the peace and unity of church and lowered the tenor of our discussion. In all sincerity, I am asking you, my fellow presbyters, to forgive me.

Please join me as I re-double my prayers for the ongoing peace, unity and purity of our beloved church.

Dean Turbeville