"Affirmation 2001" Proclaimed
in the Spirit of Auburn Affirmation (1924)

Janie Spahr Urges Support

(April 30, 2001) - That All May Freely Serve Minister-Director Rev. Jane A. Spahr asked for support of the recently released "Affirmation 2001." Over the weekend, a group known as Auburn Spirit called for Presbyterian Church (USA) members and governing bodies to sign a statement "to safeguard the unity and liberty" of the denomination "in the spirit of the Auburn Affirmation (1924)." Affirmation 2001 asks Presbyterians to:

• Be faithful to our church's constitutional call of openness to all church members who earnestly profess their faith in Jesus Christ
• Reaffirm and protect freedom of conscience, liberty of expression and the freedom to disagree within our broad Reformed principles, and
• Resist any action taken by governing bodies that fails to welcome all persons who profess their faith in Jesus Christ as full and equal members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

This is another step in the debate about:

• How to interpret the Bible and
• The role of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people (GLBT) in the church

Why this is news now

• The 75th anniversary of the proclamation of the document known as the "Auburn Affirmation" was celebrated in 1999
• In a September 2000 sermon, Rev. A. David Bos compared the current division in the denomination with the earlier time and said " . . . very soon, now, we will need another Auburn Affirmation"

The idea resonated with many people. A writing group, which included David Bos and Bear Ride of More Light Presbyterians, began a document. Six to eight people participated in the core writing group. A "commenting group" brought the total to 25 people, according to Rev. Hal Porter, who was a member of the latter team. Participation in the broader effort from That All May Freely included co-moderator Virginia Davidson, TAMFS - Baltimore Minister of Outreach and Reconciliation Rev. Don Stroud, and Dr. Letty Russell co-moderator of Presbyterian Promise, the TAMFS region in southern New England. 

The group decided not to put forth Affirmation 2001 signed by any  authors because they wanted to document to come from the progressive movement, according to Letty Russell, who was one of the writers.

Affirmation 2001 is something anyone with an open mind, heart, and hands can endorse. This is pure reformed theology at its best," Rev. Hal Porter said. "This is the kind of openness the Presbyterian Church needs to reaffirm. This is the kind of thing the first Auburn Affirmation affirmed."

What this is about

"This is a very important document," Dr. Russell said. "It shows that this is a more serious crisis than full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. It shows that some people think the reformed faith needs more than welcoming all persons who acknowledge their faith in Jesus Christ. They want to require various other doctrines and actions that people have to conform to in order to be a part of the church." In this she said she draws parallels with the Auburn Affirmation of 1924 because it too "recognized that the tradition of the Presbyterian Church does not require people to acknowledge fundamentals, but that it welcomes all persons who acknowledge their faith the Jesus Christ."

The context of the 1924 Auburn Affirmation

Photo: J Q Adams
Robert Hastings Nichols

The 1924 document carried the title "An Affirmation designed to safeguard the unity and liberty of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America." Because Auburn Theological Seminary history professor Robert Hastings Nichols created the idea and helped write early drafts, the document became known as the "Auburn Affirmation." While the affirmation did not officially come from the Seminary, then located in Auburn NY, a seminary director reportedly told Nichols after the moderates prevailed that "…it was more important to make church history than to teach it."

In the approximately 30 years preceding the Auburn Affirmation, fundamentalism was ascendant, perhaps a reaction to industrialization, a world war, and the increasing attention to science. Some of the events include:

• The General Assembly rejected the appointment in 1882 of Charles A. Briggs to Union Seminary in New York because Briggs would not affirm biblical inerrancy. This highlighted the main two issues of contention during the period: 
  • Biblical inerrancy and
  • Failing to extend full rights to those in the minority, in this case, moderate ministers and officials
• In 1885 the Niagara Bible Conference drew up a list of basic doctrines which included the inerrancy of Scriptures and the virgin birth
• Many date the raise of fundamentalism from 1909 when a series of pamphlets began publication under the title "The Fundamentals"
• In 1910 and again in 1916, the General Assembly declared that all candidates for ordination ought to be able to affirm the
  • Inerrancy of scripture
  • Virgin birth
  • Substitutionary atonement
  • Miracle-working power, and
  • Bodily resurrection of Christ
• In a 1922 sermon, a Baptist minister serving as pastor at First Presbyterian Church in New York City asked "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?" Harry Emerson Fosdick held that those who rejected the above five points should be tolerated within churches.
• Professor Robert Nichols in 1923 proposed what became known as the Auburn Affirmation, which challenged the General Assembly's right to impose what amounted to new constitutional standards without concurrence from the presbyteries. The writing group decided not to present the document during the 1923 General Assembly. Henry Sloane Coffin suggested the idea of asking ministers to sign the affirmation.
• The 1924 Auburn Affirmation was proclaimed

The thrust of the 1924 document is contained in these sentences:

In typical Presbyterian fashion, a committee was appointed. In this case, the General Assembly authorized a special commission to resolve the matter. In its final report delivered in 1927, the commission agreed with the main points of the "affirmationists." The commission repudiated the expulsion of the liberal ministers and limited the General Assembly to reviewing individual cases, and not in unilaterally setting standards.

Other resources on this web site

• Origins of the Auburn Affirmation, a 1975 article by history professor Dr. Charles E. Quirk
• Formatted for printing: Origins of the Auburn Affirmation, a 1975 article by history professor Dr. Charles E. Quirk
• Article about Rev. David Bos's sermon
• Rev. David Bos's sermon in text format
• Rev. David Bos's sermon in audio format
• "Voice Mail from Janie," a message in audio format from TAMFS Minister-Director Rev. Jane A. Spahr

Other resources

• The best book on the subject: Lefferts A. Loetscher, The Broadening Church (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1954)
• PC(USA) web article: "For Church and Country: The Fundamentalist-Modernist Conflict in the Presbyterian Church" by Bradley J. Longfield
• PC(USA) News article about David Bos's sermon
• PC(USA) News article: Church liberals may draft new Auburn Affirmation: Intent is to preserve space for dissent within the PC(USA)
• PC(USA) News article: 3 conservative credos fuel confessing "movement"; Lay Committee version urges loyalty oath for church employees
• Affirmation 2001 and the option to sign it on the Auburn Spirit web site

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