Open Letter to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church
On August 8 of this year, it will be exactly twenty years since I arrived at the doorstep of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church for the first time. From the beginning, I loved it. Weary and disillusioned from years of heretical teaching in Oneness Pentecostalism, I eagerly plunged into the sound biblical theology and quiet, Christ-centered worship. I borrowed theology books from the church library and pestered my new pastor with questions: “What is a catechism? What is a deacon? Why do we sing ‘Amen’ at the end of all the songs? Why do we baptize babies? Where does the Presbytery meet?”
That last question came about as I learned more about the Presbyterian form of government. I loved the accountability and transparency of Presbytery meetings in which any member could walk in and observe. And for some years, I did exactly that. I became something of a fixture at meetings of the Presbytery of New York & New England. Pastors and elders in attendance welcomed me cordially, and they even included me in a few historical research projects. I felt safe in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. With sound theology, good teaching, and a church government offering accountability for leadership, I believed the OPC was a haven for weary souls like me.
Today, I still deeply love the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. But through harsh experience, I have come to learn some of its serious flaws. A firestorm of abuse and infidelity in my marriage plunged me into deep confusion when church leaders who had promised protection and support ignored and blamed me. Four years of effort at reaching my own Session failed, and I appealed to the Presbytery for help. Still I initially received little response. I later learned that my pastor had circulated a letter with false claims about my sexual history in order to discredit my complaints about his handling of my abuse case. The ground I had believed to be so firm and solid turned treacherous. I felt as though it gave way at every step, until I no longer knew where to turn or what to do.
It is not my purpose in this letter to review the entire history of my struggle for justice. The Lord provided for me and my children. Ultimately, several brave OPC pastors and elders came alongside us to help us and protect us. Yet years later, the case is still winding its way through the courts of the Presbytery—a battle at every step just to be heard.
Along the way, I was joined by several other OPC and former-OPC women who also suffered domestic violence, infidelity, and sexual abuse. Some of them were children at the time of the incidents. We shared one thing in common—that our efforts to be heard, to get help and protection from our pastors and elders, had gone unheeded. Some of the women had even been ex-communicated or threatened with ex-communication, for attempting to escape an unfaithful and abusive spouse.
I realized that my situation was far from unique in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In fact, I had succeeded more than most women at getting my complaints before the Presbytery for one reason: I already knew quite a few members of our Presbytery. When I was in trouble and could not get help from my own Session, I had email addresses and phone numbers of other church leaders. That made the difference for me between being unjustly ex-communicated and being able to fight for justice. But that is rare for women in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Of all abuse victims I have met in the OPC, I have yet to find another one who had the slightest idea how to get help. When faced with false ecclesiastical charges or other abusive tactics by their church leaders, they had no choice but to leave. Many women I met were broken and lost, unsure where to turn for help. Some of the women had been grieving their ex-communication for more than a decade.
Fathers and brothers of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, we are your daughters and sisters in Christ Jesus. This abuse of power and failure to protect the vulnerable among you is a grievous sin. We must stop this terrible injustice, and provide real accountability and real protection to women and children in our churches.
I believe the first step in the right direction will be giving women and children the ability to stand up in the courts of the church. As I previously noted, most abuse cases never reach Presbytery-level at all, since women and children do not know how to access the complaint system in the OPC. They are not trained in the ecclesiastical court process outlined in the Book of Church Order. They do not know how to file appeals or complaints. When they are served with ecclesiastical charges, they do not even know what it means.
For a complaint system to be meaningful, it must be accessible. There is no point in saying that a member can bring a complaint against an abusive presbyter if the presbyters are the only ones who know how to file complaints. There is no point in saying that a member may appeal a decision of the Session to the Presbytery if the most vulnerable members have no idea where or how to file an appeal.
Today, I join with other women who have suffered abuse in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, as well as some wonderful supporters (pastors, counselors, domestic violence advocates, etc) to found the Presbyterian Advocacy Coalition. Our goal is to provide help to women and children in the OPC and other similar denominations, so that no abuse victim feels alone.
We do this with great love for you, our fathers and brothers in Christ. Some of you have been brilliantly brave in standing with us, and we are grateful for the outpouring of kindness and care from pastors and elders who had nothing to gain by helping us except to serve the Lord’s people. We hope that our advocacy will serve to encourage and help our denomination, to heal some of the deep wounds suffered by vulnerable members of our churches, and to promote the peace, purity, and unity of the Church.
With love in Christ,
Caroline McKuen
Director of the Presbyterian Advocacy Coalition
February 18, 2024
