1) A Failure to Exercise Discipline: In 2007 several ministers who were known advocates of Federal Vision (FV) theology drew up and signed what they called, “A Joint Federal Vision Profession” in which they tried to make clear what advocates of the Federal Vision affirmed and denied regarding doctrines at the heart of the Christian faith. This profession was signed by ministers from the CREC (which has become well known as an FV friendly denomination) as well as several ministers from the PCA including Jeff Meyers, Mark Horne, Steve Wilkins, and Peter Leithart. The question of whether these ministers were FV advocates had never really been in question, but their signatures on the Profession certainly removed all question regarding their FV beliefs.

Later that year the 35th PCA General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to approve the recommendations of the ad interim study committee on “Federal Vision, New Perspective on Paul, and Auburn Avenue Theologies.” In so doing, the PCA condemned Federal Vision theology as contrary to the Westminster Standards and joined the rest of the NAPARC denominations in publicly declaring that at a number of critical points, including Justification and Sacraments, the Federal Vision was not Confessional, Reformed, or true to the teaching of the Scriptures. Peter Leithart and Steve Wilkins were both quoted in the PCA Ad Interim report as advocates of the Federal Vision and examples of people holding to the opinions being condemned in the report.

Following this declaration by the PCA, Peter Leithart sent a letter to his presbytery, Pacific Northwest (PNWP), in which he once again made public his FV beliefs and pointed out several points at which his theology was at odds with the report that the PCA GA had just adopted. He also published an article entitled “Against the PCA GA FV Report (twenty-four variations on a response)” in which he went into further detail regarding his FV beliefs and his strong disagreement with the positions adopted by the 35th General Assembly.

Despite these self-indicting actions, Leithart’s presbytery neglected to bring charges against him deciding that there was no reason to presume that he was teaching anything out of accord with the Westminster Standards. Following a complaint, the PCA Standing Judicial Commission (SJC) decided that PNWP had erred in not indicting Peter Leithart. They informed PNWP that they should proceed to trial against him, but declined to take up the case themselves, arguing that it should be done in Leithart’s presbytery. This resulted in the rather absurd and pointless exercise of a Presbytery that was convinced that Peter Leithart’s teaching was not out of accord with the Westminster Standards, and which had repeatedly said exactly that, having to conduct a trial. There was never any possibility that Leithart would be found anything but not guilty, and that is exactly what happened. When in 2013 the decision of PNWP was complained against, and a request was made of the SJC to take up original jurisdiction, the SJC declined to do so, interpreting the Book of Church Order in a way that made taking original jurisdiction from an erring Presbytery almost impossible. The SJCs decision effectively meant that if a Presbytery did not object to the FV teachings of one of its members, and made some token effort to investigate his teaching (thereby ‘acting’), there was nothing the broader denomination could do to enforce its own public declarations regarding the Federal Vision.