St. Andrew seeks another vote on ‘Amendment A’
By Robert P. Mills, The Presbyterian Layman, February 4, 1999
An overture that would effectively reverse the “fidelity and chastity” provision of the Book of Order has been sent by St. Andrew Presbytery to the Fort Worth General Assembly. If the Assembly approves, it will send to the presbyteries a proposed constitutional amendment nearly identical to the Syracuse Assembly’s Amendment A, which the presbyteries defeated by a vote of nearly 2-1.
The St. Andrew proposal would amend G-6.0106b to read:
- “Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Jesus Christ, under the authority of Scripture and instructed by 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 or chastity in singleness. Candidates for ordained office shall acknowledge their own sinfulness, their need of repentance and their reliance on the grace and mercy of God to fulfill the duties of their office.”
The only substantive difference between Amendment A and St. Andrew is the second sentence, where Amendment A read, “Among these standards is the requirement to demonstrate fidelity and integrity in marriage or singleness, and in all relationships of life.”
The most significant difference between St. Andrew/Amendment A and the current constitutional language is the proposed elimination of the phrase “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.”
By striking that provision from the Book of Order, the St. Andrew overture would achieve Amendment A’s goal of removing the only constitutional impediment to the ordination of those who openly engage in sexual activity outside of marriage.
Milwaukee Presbytery has already overtured the Fort Worth Assembly (Overture 99-2) to send to the presbyteries an amendment that would delete G-6.0106b from the Book of Order, an action that clears the way for the dramatic change proposed by St. Andrew overture to be hailed as “moderate.”
How the vote happened
The overture was not on the docket for the presbytery’s Feb. 2 meeting, where GA Moderator Douglas Oldenburg preached at worship. Instead, it was brought up at the end of the day under old business, having been tabled a year ago as the presbyteries debated Amendment A. When the motion was taken off the table, the presbytery moderator (whose church had originated the overture and was hosting the Feb. 2 presbytery meeting) stepped out of the chair and delivered an 8-10 minute speech urging commissioners to vote in favor of the overture. Debate was then limited to two minutes for each subsequent speaker.
Much of the discussion centered around the “Whereas” clauses of the overture, which were out of date following the defeat of Amendment A. St. Andrew’s executive presbyter David Snellgrove reportedly was not active in the debate. Snellgrove, who had opposed the overture last year, had returned from a mission trip to Cameroon the night before and was suffering from pneumonia.
The overture passed by voice vote, reversing the presbytery’s stand on the nearly identical Amendment A, which was defeated by voice vote. St. Andrew Presbytery had approved the current constitutional language by a vote of 68-32.