Cafeteria constitutionalism
January 22, 1999
Giving a congregation permission to defy the PCUSA constitution is, in the words of stated clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, “disappointing and very troubling.” That’s a bit of an understatement. Granting such permission attacks the connections on which our denomination depends for its continued existence. It deserves a forthright response.
The action of Northern New England Presbytery embraces a cafeteria approach to our denomination’s constitution. By permitting congregations to choose which Book of Order provisions they will obey and which they will ignore, Northern New England Presbytery is effectively creating schism within the PCUSA. If allowed to go unchallenged, its decision would set the stage for the fragmentation of a once-connectional denomination into 11,000 independent congregations.
Cafeteria constitutionalism may be judged an acceptable model of governance in presbyteries like Milwaukee (which made a similar statement last year) and Northern New England, for it allows every session to do that which is right in its own eyes. But it is a far cry from the Presbyterian (not to mention Pauline) principle that “all things should be done decently and in order” (I Cor. 14:40).
Maintaining unity
To help maintain the unity of the PCUSA, the Fort Worth GA should consider taking three related actions.
The first would be to issue a statement, perhaps even an authoritative interpretation, reminding all Presbyterians that any ordination conducted in violation of G-6.0106b (indeed any constitutional provision) is “null and void.” Such a statement would be consistent with the Presbyterian precedent that when an ordination is not conducted in accord with the constitution, there has been no ordination. This reminder would also eliminate any potential confusion concerning the status of those “ordained” in violation of the constitution.
The second would be to send to the presbyteries a constitutional amendment mandating that ministers and elders involved in such ordinations be removed from the exercise of ordained office for not less than one year. While Book of Order procedures already exist for disciplining willful violators, the specificity of this new provision might encourage ordained officers to consider their constitutional responsibilities more carefully.
The final action would be modeled after Article 13 of the agreement that reunited the former southern and northern Presbyterian churches. It would allow particular churches, after discussion with the presbytery and a supermajority vote of the congregation, a three-year period to leave the PCUSA with their property if they were unwilling to abide by G-6.0106b.
Necessary steps
Certain congregations are choosing to elect ordained officers in frank defiance of the constitution. At least one presbytery has given explicit permission to do so. As a result, Presbyterians must take the necessary steps to live out what we say we believe. For if we choose not to speak and act on this issue at this moment, we will have chosen to sit in silence as the PCUSA dissolves.