‘Jesus Calling’ Overture Still in Order After Presenting Pastor Transfers Membership

Benjamin Inman is moving to the RPCNA.

In June, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) General Assembly voted to investigate the teachings of the best-selling book “Jesus Calling,” written by the late author Sarah Young.

“Jesus Calling” Author Sarah Young / Courtesy photo

Now, the pastor who originally sent the overture to the General Assembly is transferring his membership to another denomination, according to byFaith Online. The PCA maintains that the overture is still valid.

Teaching Elder Benjamin Inman was a pastor in the PCA for 24 years, but has now transferred his credentials to the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA).

According to the byFaith article, Inman reported to his home presbytery in April 2024 that he had joined as a member of an RPCNA church even though he was still a teaching elder in the PCA. The presbytery referred the matter, “which appear[ed] to be in conflict with PCA polity” to a committee to report back in July.

At the same April 2024 meeting, Inman presented the overture regarding “Jesus Calling.” The presbytery failed to adopt the overture, so Inman forwarded it directly to General Assembly, an action apparently allowed by the denomination’s Rules of Assembly Operations.

According to the PCA Administrative Committee, the overture was presented properly because Inman was still technically a member of the East Carolina Presbytery until July 20.

“To remove someone from membership in the PCA requires specific action by a court of the Church; there is no process in our Book of Church Order for automatically removing or suspending someone’s membership,” PCA Administrative Committee staff wrote in reply to an inquiry by MinistryWatch.

“So, until Eastern Carolina Presbytery took action to remove him from the roll at its July 20 meeting, he remained a member in good standing of the Presbytery and was entitled to every right of membership.”

The overture adopted by the General Assembly by a vote of 947-834 substantially differed from the one originally presented by Inman. Inman’s overture asked for an ad interim committee to investigate the PCA’s historical relationship to the book, to determine whether it violates the Second Commandment, and to bring any warranted recommendations for repentance by the PCA.

The amended overture requested reports from Mission to the World and the Committee on Discipleship Ministries (CDM) concerning their relationship with the book and its author, the reasons it was removed from CDM inventory, and “assess[ing] the book’s appropriateness for Christians in general and PCA members and congregations in particular with special regard for its doctrine and method.”

Access to MinistryWatch content is free.  However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts.  To make a donation, click here.

Once the General Assembly as a whole took up the overture, it no longer “belongs” to whoever proposed it.

“Thus, once [the assembly] took up the overture, it became the property of [the assembly], and Inman has no formal relation to it other than that of any other member of the [a]ssembly. This would apply even if it had not been amended,” the administrative committee staff said.

In a statement provided to byFaith, Inman explained his reasoning behind the overture: “The ‘Jesus Calling’ overture was purely an act of repentance for my failure to pursue the issue in 2013. I learned in 2023 that the book had sold 42 million copies, and I was ashamed of my inaction. I’m encouraged that my delinquent and meager attempt has been taken up by the General Assembly.”

Before her death, Young was a member of the PCA and had a degree from the denominational seminary, Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. She and her husband Steve were Mission to the World missionaries in Japan and Australia.

TO OUR READERS: Do you have a story idea, or do you want to give us feedback about this or any other story? Please email us: [email protected]