Controversial measure does not change standards; places responsibility for discernment on presbyteries and sessions

by Corey Schlosser-Hall, Presbyterian News Service   [posted here 6-22-06]

On the PC(USA) website >>

BIRMINGHAM, June 20 — The 217th General Assembly moderator, the Rev. Joan Gray, expressed satisfaction at the way commissioners and advisory delegates handled Tuesday's voting on Recommendation 5, the most controversial of the recommendations of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church report. Recommendations 5 through 7 were approved by a 57 percent to 43 percent margin.

The moderator spoke to reporters at a press conference following the vote.

"Today we saw the Presbyterian process of doing things at its best," Gray said. "We saw people working fairly and treating each other justly. Commissioners comported themselves well; they were civil, decent and in order."

Earlier in the afternoon recommendations 1 through 4 had passed with an 87 percent majority.

Joining the moderator at the press conference was the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly; the Rev. Blair Monie, moderator of the GA Committee on Ecclesiology, which dealt with the report; the Rev. Catherine Kotfiela, vice moderator of the committee; and three members of the Theological Task Force: the Rev. Mark Achtemeier, elder Barbara Wheeler, and the Rev. John Wilkinson.

Kirkpatrick, who serves as the highest ecclesiastical officer in the PC(USA) was encouraged by three things: "That the Theological Task Force itself, a group of twenty people with deep differences and convictions, came together in a process of prayer and Bible study and developed a deep sense of community; … that the Assembly approved the first four recommendations almost unanimously;… and that we have not altered the fundamentals."

"We have the same standards," Kirkpatrick continued, "and now a process that encourages a more pastoral approach to ordination and encourages our governing bodies to do thorough work in examining people for office."

Gray underscored Kirkpatrick's comments, "Our standards have not changed. The Book of Order has not changed. We have put more weight on local presbyteries and sessions to discern whether a candidate's departure from the standards of the church is essential or unessential."

"Presbyterians serve a living God," reflected Achtemeier, "which means a living God cannot be reduced to a checklist. We discern the activity and presence of that living God in a person's life as we examine that person's qualities for ministry. It is the sort of judgment we have to make case by case in prayer, examining the fruit of that person's life and their obedience to Scripture and our confessions."

"These standards," Achtemeier continued, "don't get applied in cookie-cutter fashion. The process can be frustrating sometimes, but it goes way back on our tradition."

"The proposals for Recommendation 5 are old practices from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries that live again in the 21st century," noted Wilkinson. "What's new is not the content, but the spirit of the proposal. It is a new way for living into the best of history, tradition and polity."

Wheeler added, "These recommendations were not intended to create a division where one side wins and another loses, although they have been construed that way. This measure gives those who are in a minority a chance to exercise conscience in matters of Scripture."

Kirkpatrick reminded listeners, "This is not license for casual dealing with standards that have been affirmed. This gives added authority to local presbyteries and sessions for making those judgments. Different judgments might be made in different situations. And they are always open for judicial or administrative review by higher governing bodies."

Monie commented on the division in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

"Part of the fact we are divided is that our country is divided in the political realm, and we come to the table with all kinds of opinions about a lot of things," he said. "What unites us as Presbyterians is that we are all disciples of Jesus Christ.

"A group of twenty people, so very different, came together to agree. My great hope is now that the Assembly has passed this, the commissioners will go home and spread the news."

Reflecting on the work of the committee to bring about the recommendation, Monie said, "This is an extremely inspiring experience for me. Cate (co-moderator of the Ecclesiastical committee) and I began the process with one great aim — to be fair. To give everyone a voice, hearing from all opinions and sides. We did that faithfully."

Anticipating commissioners' role to share the actions of this Assembly with their congregations and presbyteries, Kirkpatrick said, "I wouldn't say we have a full-scale, developed plan. I know there are huge expectations and huge anxiety. We encourage every commissioner to share this with their congregations, and to replicate what has been the experience of the task force."

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Plenary Tuesday
[6-22-06]

When I was in College I was taking Tennis in PE and the teacher yelled at me:

"You are an only child! Right?"

"Yes, I am." I said, "how did you know?"

"You had the put-away shot twice and you didn't take it and I have seen you make it before. Only children would rather keep playing than risk winning and the other person going home."

We make decisions about God-matters.

It's not about winning or the put-away shot or the motion sealed to perfection.

It is about listening ...
Listen for God's Word
But — however — alas —
if God speaks through others
in a way and we don't agree —
we stop what we're doing
and go home.

"Wait wait," God cries, "I called to you. Were you not listening?"
"I am the way and the truth and the life and the light and the hope and the peace and the justice and the love ... all the love."

Bobbie Giltz McGarey
Southwest Oklahoma Presbyterian Parish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Assembly listened to some 2 and a half hours of debate this afternoon on the report of Committee 6, on Ecclesiology, with its recommendation that the report of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church.

A minority report from the committee called for the acceptance of the first 4 sections of the report – the theological background, and the rejection of recommendations 5 (offering a new "Authoritative Interpretation"), 6 (calling for a moratorium on further actions on the issue of ordination until the next Assembly), and 7. That was defeated after lengthy debate by a vote of 283 to 234.

That was followed by a motion to refer recommendations 5 and 6 to the presbyteries before final action. The plea was that the process of discernment valued so highly by the task force be allowed to be followed in the presbyteries as well.

Finally at about 4:18 PM, the committee’s recommendation to approve the Task Force report was approved by the full Assembly, by a vote of 298 to 221.

Controversial 'authoritative interpretation' garners 57% support    [6-20-06]

by Jerry L. Van Marter, Presbyterian News Service

This article is also posted on the PC(USA) website >>

BIRMINGHAM, June 20 — By a vote of 298-221 (57% to 43%), the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) today approved an "authoritative interpretation" of the church's Constitution that maintains current ordination standards for church officers but gives ordaining bodies greater leeway in applying those standards to individual candidates for ordination.

"Today we saw the Presbyterian process of doing things at its best," said the Rev. Joan Gray, moderator of the 217th General Assembly, at a press conference following the vote. "We saw people working fairly and treating each other justly."

Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, added, "With the vote today we have not altered the fundamentals; we have the same standards as before. The report encourages a more pastoral approach to ordination and encourages our governing bodies to do a thorough work of examining people for office."

The proposal was one of seven contained in the report of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church (TTF) that has spent the last four years looking for ways to help the deeply divided denomination stay together despite its differences.

Four other recommendations passed by an overwhelming 87% majority. They "strongly encourage" all Presbyterians to witness to the church's oneness and "to avoid division into separate denominations"; to urge congregations, governing bodies and other groups of Presbyterians to engage in "intensive discernment" in the face of difficult issues; to study the theological reflection section of the TTF report; and to encourage church bodies to "explore the use of alternative forms of discernment and decision-making as a complement to parliamentary procedure."

In tandem with the authoritative interpretation — of G-6.0108 of the Book of Order — the Assembly voted to disapprove more than 20 proposals also pending before the Assembly to delete G-6.0106b of the church's Book of Order — which requires of church officers "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness" — or an authoritative interpretation dating back to 1978 that undergirds it.

The Assembly Committee on Ecclesiology, which brought the TTF recommendations to the Assembly, presented the two proposals as "one indivisible package."

The authoritative interpretation affirms that The Book of Confessions and the Book of Order "set forth the scriptural and constitutional standards for ordination" and that the standards "are determined by the whole church."

But in what TTF member the Rev. William Stacy Johnson of Princeton Theological Seminary called "a simple and time-tested framework for staying together in times of conflict," the authoritative interpretation harkens back to the Adopting Act of 1729 in stating: "Ordaining and installing bodies, acting as corporate expressions of the church, have the responsibility to determine their membership by applying these standards to those elected to office."

The 1729 act allowed ordination candidates to declare a "scruple" against any matter of church doctrine (then the Westminster Confession and Catechism), with the ordaining body determining if the scruple constituted "a departure from scriptural and constitutional standards for fitness for office" and "a failure to adhere to the essentials of the Reformed faith and polity."

The authoritative interpretation approved today borrows that language.

Supporters of the authoritative interpretation expressed hope it will break the cycle of conflict in the PC(USA), particularly over the gay ordination issue.

Ecclesiology committee moderator, the Rev. Blair Monie of Grace Presbytery, said the authoritative interpretation "clarifies what is already in the Constitution, calling G-6.0108 "one of the oldest legacies we have that we've used to keep the church together through many crises."

The authoritative interpretation, Monie added, "includes four important Presbyterian ordination principles: maintaining standards, rigorously examining candidates, protecting individual conscience and protecting the church through judicial review."

Former General Assembly moderator, elder Marj Carpenter of Big Spring, TX, said, "I'm against the ordination of homosexuals, though I love 'em. But we've been fighting in this ditch for 28 years and ditch is getting deeper." Her voice quavering with emotion, Carpenter continued, "It's starting to affect our mission work, our youth ministry and our evangelism and I'm ready to try something else. Please, let's get on with being the church, taking the gospel into the world and offering them something else other than arguments."

But the Rev. David Miller of Tampa Bay Presbytery called the measure "a wrong turn." He called it "a license…to overlook clear standards that have been set, a license to ignore the larger discernment of the body of Christ and a license to legislate by interpretation."

Saying that people are "looking for churches where people are gracious but have clear boundaries," the Rev. Michael Carey of Central Florida Presbytery said approval of the measure would "open the floodgates of controversy."

A minority report asking that the authoritative interpretation be stricken from the recommendations failed 234-287. A subsequent motion to refer the tandem proposals to presbyteries for further discussion and comment also failed, 234-281.

The TTF was created by the 2001 General Assembly "to lead the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in a time of discernment of our Christian identity in and for the 21st century." The group was specifically asked to address issues of Christology, biblical authority and interpretation, ordination standards and power.

"We were not instructed to solve any of the issues included in our mandate," TTF co-moderator, the Rev. Gary Demarest of Pasadena, CA, told commissioners. "It was our mandate then and it is now that the issues run deep and will not end soon. But we know that winner-take-all solutions will only perpetuate the conflict."