March-April 2001

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Press Release Regarding the Recent Story on Covenant Theological Seminary

A recent front-page story in Presbyterian & Reformed News highlighted the apparent cover-up by Covenant Theological Seminary with respect to the appearance in chapel of a woman speaker. As detailed in the article, written by Mr. Mark Rooze, the official denominational seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) has refused to cooperate with the independent church press with regard to the story, and has also refused to release the audio tapes of her chapel messages.

One paragraph of the article mentions Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary; and officials of that institution have now formally objected to the linkage between their school and the story.

The purpose of the reference to Greenville Seminary was merely to demonstrate that reports regarding the woman's speaking, and allegedly preaching, in chapel at Covenant Theological Seminary, had already gained widespread currency, including at a sister theological school. There was no intention to imply that Greenville Seminary was directly involved in the matter, nor is it legitimate to infer such.

However, in retrospect, we can appreciate how the reference could be misleading, and we accordingly apologize to Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Although we believe the article is factually accurate, it would have been better to have left out the reference.

We are also sorry because the reference to Greenville Seminary could be used to deflect readers from the real controversy, which is that of the apparent cover-up by Covenant Theological Seminary. In contrast to how Greenville Seminary deals with the press, Covenant Seminary has deliberately chosen to stonewall the press. This does not reflect well on the St. Louis school. We hope that the PCA's official denominational seminary will follow the example of Greenville Seminary by being more forthright in its dealings with the public and the church.