Sacramento: Belhar Confession
‘used’ to press non-racism issues
The Layman, January 25, 2010
Another round of overtures has been approved for consideration by the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s 219th General Assembly.
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A preview of the 2010 PCUSA General Assembly
Among those on the agenda for GA consideration is the Presbytery of Sacramento’s call to discontinue efforts to include the Belhar Confession in the denomination’s Book of Confessions. The proposed action also commends current and past efforts to embrace racial and ethnic equality within PCUSA.
In 2008, the GA approved a study of Belhar, which grew out of the experience of Christians during South African apartheid, for inclusion in the Book of Confessions.
Calling the confession “complex and somewhat confusing,” Sacramento raises concerns that Belhar has been used to press issues beyond racial equality, and the denomination already has statements that address such issues.
“This overly broad application of the Belhar Confession to champion liberation theology in general or same-sex causes in particular produces a conflicted response to its antiracism message,” the overture states. “The confessions of the Presbyterian Church (USA) already contain clear and explicit directives against racism. They are far more applicable to the present context and less likely to introduce a confusion of issues. … The Belhar Confession, for all its strengths for its time and setting, does not qualify as a confession of the church for all times in all places, since it centers on local circumstances rather than on Jesus Christ.”
The Belhar Confession overture will be among dozens of proposals considered July 3-10 when the GA meets in Minneapolis, Minn.
Ordination standards
The Presbytery of Hudson River, based on action at its Jan. 14 meeting, has forwarded five overtures to the GA. Two seek major changes to the ordination standard in the PCUSA’s Book of Order.
In its call to delete the oft-debated and oft-ignored “fidelity/chastity” rule (G-6.0106b), Hudson River argues that the church’s need to protect the “mystery and the integrity of calls to ministry” is already met in G-6.0106a.
“The exclusionary provisions of G-6.0106b do violence to Scripture’s clear teaching on God’s clear intention that everyone is to be welcomed within the gates of the city and no one is to be made to feel unworthy or afraid (Micah 4:4),” Hudson River’s rationale states. “G- 6.0101b has usurped our Reformed tradition. Its effect has been to create a second class membership which is against our faith and our historic principles based on the ‘priesthood of all believers.’ The ordination policies of G-6.0106b are in conflict with numerous parts of the Book of Order that underscore the church’s call to welcome and inclusiveness (G-3.0401, G-4.0100-0404) and the privileges granted to all members (G-5.0102 and G-5.0103, G-6.0107, and G-6.0108). The failure of the church to embody this hospitality ‘constitutes a rejection of Christ Himself and causes a scandal to the Gospel.’”
The “fidelity/chastity” standard requires deacons, elders and ministers to be faithful in marriage between a man and woman, or chaste in singleness. The most vocal opponents of the standard include supporters of practicing, unrepentant lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgender (LGBT) people, who perceive the standard as discriminatory.
Hudson River also advanced an overture to reword G-6.0106b, removing the fidelity/chastity language and replacing it with the following:
“Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, striving to follow Him through the witness of the Scriptures, and through the historic discernment of those Scriptures expressed in the confessions of the church. Living obediently, we are called to proclaim the Gospel to all peoples, to love neighbor and enemy, and to express the love of Christ in faithful relationships with others. Persons who are ordained and/or installed are nonetheless sinners in need of God’s grace. The governing bodies of the church are called to be communities of support and accountability, as together we labor to be an obedient people, and seek to be disciples of the living Christ.”
In its rationale, Hudson River argues that ordination is not a “mark of sinlessness” and the standard’s current language lifts up one “supposed sin” above the rest.
“The current language … supposes that ordained persons can manage the task of repentance for all forms of sin in their lives,” the overture states. “This is impossible, and the very notion a scandal to the Gospel. If we could live lives utterly free from sin, if we could be wholly repentant, we would not need the grace of God in Jesus Christ.”
The 2008 PCUSA GA approved new language that would have removed the standard, but the proposed constitutional amendment did not receive the required approval from a majority of the denomination’s 173 presbyteries. However, the vote was closer than in past attempts and G-6.0106b opponents are predicting its removal or rewording with the next anticipated vote.
Definition of marriage
Hudson River also has called for a change to the denomination’s, also oft-debated and oft-ignored, standards regarding marriage. The proposal replaces “man and woman” with the more ambiguous “couple” and add the words “civil union” in the PCUSA’s Directory for Worship in the Book of Order.
“Marriage is beyond gender,” the overture states. “Recognizing this, some states are already ahead of the church in moving the legal definition of marriage beyond gender. … The proposed changes would grant all loving couples the right to have their marriages performed in our congregations, strengthening all our communities and families, gay and straight, since they allow us to recognize the love of two hearts declaring themselves to be a home to each other, before God, with gratitude.”
Additional overtures
- Hudson River also approved an overture calling for the GA to oppose further military operations in Afghanistan, and another amending and adding language to section G-11 of the Book of Order regarding commissioned lay pastors.
- The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area has proposed new language in G-13 that would discourage “improper” litigation within the denomination and require that authoritative interpretations of the constitution that affect the entire body be adopted by the GA in plenary sessions.