Committee wants purge of ban on gay officers, Biblical documents on issue
John H. Adams, The Layman, June 25, 2008
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) will consider committee proposals to eliminate any vestige of the denomination’s historic prohibition against ordaining practicing homosexuals.
The Committee on Church Orders and Ministry culled its proposals down to the following:
1. Complete revision of G-6.0106b, the “fidelity/chastity” standard in the Book of Order, so that it no longer mentions the prohibition against ordaining men and women who are sexually active outside of marriage.
2. A new authoritative interpretation that would declare all previous interpretations null and void. The previous interpretations were notable for presenting a Biblical and Reformed understanding of homosexuality.
3. Another authoritative interpretation that would countermand the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission’s ruling in Bush v. Presbytery of Pittsburgh. That decision essentially said that sessions and presbyteries could not ordain candidates who refused to comply with G-6.0106b.
Several speakers warned the committee that its sweeping actions could have a severe impact on the denomination, with one even suggesting that it could run away thousands of churches.
The committee wrapped up its business Tuesday night after two days of hearings, debate and parliamentary maneuvers. Most of the meetings had standing-room-only crowds, with some overflow into the hallway outside the meeting room in the San Jose Convention Center.
Those who voted in favor of the clean sweep were overwhelmingly opposed to any compromise with evangelicals on the committee. The final vote was 44-11 to approve an overture (05-09) from the Presbytery of Boston. The evangelicals did announce that they will file minority reports.
That Boston overture included a complete revision of G-6.0106b, removing the “requirement either to life in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001) or chastity in singleness,” and stating:
“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.”
The overture called for other constitutional changes, but with no mention of behavior other than a church officer’s willingness to do his or her assigned duties.
The Boston overture also included the proposed authoritative interpretation declaring that, “Interpretive statements concerning ordained service of homosexual church members by the 190th General Assembly (1978) of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and the 119th General Assembly (1979) of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and all subsequent affirmations thereof, have no further force or effect.”
Besides the Boston overture, the committee approved a modified version of an overture (05-12) from John Knox Presbytery. The original overture was written by Mark Achtemeier, a professor of theology at Dubuque Theological Seminary in Iowa. Achtemeier was one of the authors of the final report of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity, which convinced the 217th General Assembly to approve its controversial Recommendation 5.
That recommendation gave ordaining bodies the leeway to ordain homosexual candidates for church offices despite the constitutional prohibition. But the GAPJC ruled that impermissible, and Achtemeier convinced his presbytery to submit the overture.
It was revised by the Advisory Committee on the Constitution, which supported Achtemeier’s proposal but fine-tuned it to make it more appealing to the General Assembly. The ACC recommended disapproval of numerous overtures that sought to shore up the ordaining standards.