Christmas with ‘More Light’
The Layman, December 31, 2008
“Hope and justice” are the stated goals of a Christmas Campaign by More Light Presbyterians to garner support for their 08-B Campaign to ratify the 218th General Assembly’s Ordination Amendment. They say the revised amendment “removes discrimination against LGBT people from our church’s constitution.”
More Light’s proposal states that “God knows with everything going on in our nation and world, we can use a large measure of hope!” It also asserts that the promise of Immanuel “was not limited to one kind of people, one kind of ‘us.’”
“This Advent, as we listen to the retelling of Christmas story in Luke 2: 1- 20, let us remember that Jesus entered the world as ‘God with us’ in the flesh for all persons, no exceptions. No one left out,” says a quote from their Web site which seeks to align their campaign with the Biblical Christmas story.
But 08-B is not an amendment that addresses the Gospel message. It addresses the church’s ordination standards in a way that would move them away from the Biblical “fidelity… chastity” standards originally adopted through our constitution. The old versus the new wording of the proposal being sent to presbyteries reveal that change:
“Shall the current text of G-6.0106b be stricken and new text be inserted to read as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]
“G-6.0106 b. Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament. Those who are called to ordained service in the church, by their assent to the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003), pledge themselves to live lives obedient to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, striving to follow where he leads through the witness of the Scriptures, and to understand the Scriptures through the instruction of the Confessions. In so doing, they declare their fidelity to the standards of the Church. Each governing body charged with examination for ordination and/or installation (G-14.0240 and G-14.0450) establishes the candidate’s sincere efforts to adhere to these standards.”
As of Dec. 31, the vote stands at 1 to 12; one presbytery for the change and twelve against it. The presbyteries are following the pattern established in previous votes on this issue.