Layman prematurely
reported outcome in
ordination referendum
The Layman, April 23, 2009
Percentage of presbyteries favoring “fidelity/chastity” requirements including incomplete 2008-09 results.
Presbyterians voting in a national referendum are within a single vote of rejecting a constitutional amendment that would have taken the “fidelity/chastity” requirement out of The Book of Order.
Including April 22 reports by presbyteries, 86 presbyteries had affirmed G-6.0106 and 68 had voted for the amendment. The Layman erroneously reported 86 was the majority needed to settle the issue for the fourth time. But the majority vote required is 87.
The outcome will be determined before mid-May and it’s almost certain that the denomination will reaffirm its constitutional ordination requirements. Two Puerto Rican presbyteries – Noroeste and Suroeste – are virtually sure bets to vote to leave G-6.0106b unchanged. Surprisingly, San Francisco, the last presbytery to report its vote on April 22, was the 86th to reject an amendment to G-6.0106b that would have eliminated the language requiring candidates for ordination to maintain fidelity in their marriages and chastity if single. That language forbids practicing, self-affirming adulterers and homosexuals from being ordained as deacons, elders and ministers.
San Francisco, generally regarded as a liberal presbytery, was not expected to favor the ordination requirements. In 2001-02, the last previous referendum on the issue, San Francisco voted 216-186 in favor of an amendment that would have repealed G-6.0106b. It is the home presbytery of Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow, who opposes the ordination requirements.
In the 2008-09 referendum, San Francisco became the only presbytery to reverse its position from favoring elimination of the “fidelity/chastity” clause to opposing the proposed constitutional change.
Three other presbyteries also reported their votes on April 22. Salem Presbytery in North Carolina voted 156-149-1 in favoring amending the text of G-6.0106b to eliminate the “fidelity/chastity” language. Salem thus became the fourth of five presbyteries in North Carolina to change sides. Previously, the presbyteries of Western North Carolina, Charlotte and New Hope had voted for the amendment. Only the Coastal Carolina Presbytery in North Carolina voted against eliminating the ordination requirement.
The other votes reported April 22 were Wabash Valley, 78-60 in favor of the amendment, and National Capital, 222-102-1 in favor of the amendment. Wabash Valley became the 27th presbytery to switch from supporting “fidelity/chastity” in 2001-02.
The latest tally in the national referendum is 86-68, with votes scheduled before mid-May in 17 presbyteries. Most of the remaining presbyteries are expected to vote against the “fidelity/chastity” requirements.
Currently, the percentage of presbyteries supporting the ordination requirements is lower than it was in 1997-98, when 56.8 percent of the presbyteries voted to add them to the constitution.