Coalition admonishes JKP action;
Caledonia OKs remedial complaint
By Edward Terry, The Layman , February 25, 2010
Calling the action “covenant-breaking,” The Presbyterian Coalition’s Board of Directors has called on the Presbyterian Church (USA) to discipline John Knox Presbytery (JKP) for approving the ordination of a gay man who has scrupled the denomination’s standards for sexual behavior.
Scott Anderson’s ordination was approved by John Knox Presbytery on Feb. 20 in closed session.
Leaving the Feb. 20 action uncorrected, according to the Coalition statement, breaks covenant within the church and disrupts the peace, unity and purity of the denomination. The PCUSA renewal group asks for action from the denomination’s leadership, governing bodies and individual Presbyterians in its statement.
“We commit ourselves to use all available constitutional means to address this and any other similar breach in our governing bodies so as to keep covenant within the church,” the statement says. “The Presbyterian Coalition calls on the PCUSA to administer the discipline necessary to correct John Knox Presbytery. We also call on the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly to use his office to maintain constitutional order in the face of this breach. We call on the governing bodies of our church to uphold the constitution and support those who seek to restore constitutional integrity. And we call on our fellow Presbyterians to act in every case where vows are broken and our covenant is breached.”
Also urging action is one of JKP’s congregations, Caledonia Presbyterian Church near Portage, Wis. According to Caledonia’s attorney, Whitman Brisky, the church’s session voted Wednesday to file a remedial complaint to the Synod of Lake and Prairies claiming that Anderson is ineligible for ordination pursuant to G-6.0106b in the PCUSA Book of Order.
“We think that when the record does come out in the judicial process that it will be very clear that Mr. Anderson is in violation of G-6.0106b,” Brisky said, adding that the complaint has not yet been drafted.
The attorney expects that Caledonia won’t be alone in its fight, like the complainants in a similar case in San Francisco Presbytery where another session and two presbyteries have signed on to a complaint.
“We have two or three minister members of the presbytery who will join,” Brisky said, adding that support from other presbyteries will be solicited.
The complaint is no surprise as the presbytery, following its vote to ordain Anderson through his work as director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches, announced it had reached an agreement allowing time for a complaint before the May 15 ordination ceremony takes place in Madison, Wis.
In his scruple of the “fidelity-chastity” standard – which requires that ordained officers be faithful in heterosexual marriage or chaste in singleness – Anderson acknowledges being in a long-term same-sex relationship and that excluding homosexuals in committed relationships is not Biblical or faithful.
The proceedings that led up to the ordination vote took place in executive session, meaning there is no official record of the examination or debate, which only JKP commissioners witnessed.
Both the Coalition board and Caledonia’s attorney were disappointed that the examination took place in executive session. The Presbyterian Lay Committee made an unofficial objection to the executive session at the meeting, but a strong majority of JKP commissioners voted to close it.
In its statement, the Coalition argues that conducting the examination in private “further corrodes trust in the church,” while Brisky said the lack of a transcript makes it difficult for non-members to know what transpired.
In a news release dated Feb. 22, JKP defended its vote to ordain Anderson, arguing that it has the right to determine the seriousness of the candidate’s departure based on actions by the PCUSA General Assembly in 2006 and 2008.
“These policy provisions give Presbyterians a way of affirming that the core faith which binds us together is more significant than the contemporary issues over which we sometimes disagree,” said the Rev. Ken Meunier, executive presbyter of JKP. “Not everyone is on the same page with this issue, but a great number of people have been very impressed with Scott Anderson’s gifts for ministry. I believe the vote reflects a desire of persons within the Presbytery to make room for a variety of voices and opinions within the church, and to exercise biblical forbearance toward persons with whom they disagree.”