Covenant Network
outlines hopes for GA
By Edward Terry, The Layman, July 3, 2010
MINNEAPOLIS – During its General Assembly Commissioners Convocation Dinner Friday night at Westminster Presbyterian Church, the Covenant Network of Presbyterians encouraged commissioners to be faithful and trust God’s will. The group then outlined four specific areas for commissioners to consider.
The Covenant Network of Presbyterians is an advocacy group that fights for equal rights in the PCUSA for LGBTs (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender). Westminster Presbyterian Church, which is adjacent to the Minneapolis Convention Center, where most GA activities take place, is a member of the Covenant Network and host to several GA events.
Randy Bush, a Covenant Network board member and PCUSA pastor from Pittsburgh, presented the group’s guiding principles on some of the most complicated and contentious issues in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
- Supporting overtures that assist with the “pastoral crisis” over the changing structure of family lives: Specifically, he referred to overtures that will allow same-gender marriage to be performed by PCUSA ministers. He also spoke of the overture that would direct the Board of Pensions to provide benefits for same-sex spouses of PCUSA employees. (Boston overture 18-01 and New Castle overture 18-06)
- Preserve “positive” actions of the last GAs: Referring to the removal of language that “falsely defined human relations by old standards of what is true and right in our sexual identities.” He mentioned overtures that seek to restore previous definitions of homosexuality and overturn actions of the last two assemblies. “These overtures do not work for the good of the church,” Bush said.
- Amend, revise or strike altogether G-6.0106b, which requires PCUSA officers be faithful in marriage between one man and one woman, or chaste in singleness: “We urge you to continue to work to remove language that’s a hindrance to our being the body of Christ,” he said.
- Respect and honor the constitutionality of the PCUSA: Bush pointed to the New Form of Government, the new interpretation of the Heidelberg Catechism and the inclusion of the Belhar Confession – “Those processes have shown the true Presbyterian spirit.”
Dave Colby, who also spoke on the Covenant Network’s hopes for the GA and urged unity in polarizing times, said: “We don’t have an official position on every item of business coming before the General Assembly – that would be wrong. But we want to support the work that will happen in all 18 committees.”
The event included a keynote address by LGBT rights advocate and attorney Doug Nave, a worship service and a dinner that focused on table talk among commissioners based on their committee assignments. Following dinner, the six candidates for GA moderator spoke, and Westminster Presbyterian Church wrapped up the evening with a concert.