Unable to reach consensus,
committee wants more input
By Edward Terry , The Layman , September 24, 2009
Approximately 15 months after the Presbyterian Church (USA) formed a special committee to study the contentious issue of civil unions and Christian marriage, the group was unable to reach a consensus in its preliminary report.
What would $60K buy?
FUNDING FOR SIX CHURCH PLANTERS IN INDIA – According to Mission India, $3,500 will finance a lifetime of work for one church planter. A $60,000 budget would fund approximately 17 church planters in a country where an estimated 400 million people haven’t even heard the name Jesus Christ.
TRAINING FOR SIX PASTORS IN AFRICA – For $10,000, an African Presbyterian can attend four years of seminary ($2,500 per year) with all living expenses covered. The Nkhoma Synod of the Church Central Africa Presbyterian currently has 20 churches needing pastors, but not enough funding. A $60,000 budget would train six pastors.
KEEP 833 CHILDREN FROM STARVING – According to The Outreach Foundation, $6 will supply a North Korean orphan with dry milk for a month. At a cost of $72 per year per child, a $60,000 annual investment would keep 833 babies from going hungry.
SEND A MISSIONARY INTO THE FIELD – According to the PCUSA Web site, the average yearly cost of a mission co-worker in 2006 was $51,110. The cost includes salary, housing, pension, health insurance and travel. The denomination is in the midst of sending 30 new missionaries into the field and is raising $8 million in funds to support the growth in mission work.
The 31-page report offers an informative introduction and Biblical summary, which is followed by commentary on the relationship between civil union and Christian marriage; the effects of marriage laws on same-gender partners and their children; and the place of covenanted same-gender partnerships in the Christian community.
In the end, the document offers no conclusions about the PCUSA’s position on marriage and the group has agreed to disagree. The group calls on Presbyterians to embrace “our Christ-given duty to exercise mutual tolerance and forbearance” in areas of disagreement.
“We see no agreement in the laws around this issue, on any level of government, and these very laws have changed even as we have embarked on this study,” the group’s statement said. “We have reached no consensus on a faithful response to the changing nature of civil marriage.”
Even if the group’s indecision accurately reflects a denomination that’s similarly split, it may leave some who are certain of their stance questioning the need for such a study. According to the overture that created the Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Unions and Christian Marriage, the estimated price tag for the committee’s work from 2008 to 2010 is just shy of $60,000.
Committee Moderator the Rev. Jim Szeyller, of Charlotte Presbytery, said that approximately 1,000 individuals and groups responded to a June call for input. The next step for the committee is another round of input.
“Now we are asking the church to prayerfully read and study our preliminary report and share suggestions on how we as a denomination can co-exist in the midst of our disagreements,” Szeyller said. “We are also interested in hearing from congregations where folks are actually living that out.”
Responses are limited to 1,000 words and can be e-mailed to civilunion.marriage@pcusa.org or via regular mail at: Civil Union and Christian Marriage Committee, Office of the General Assembly, Room 4621, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202-1396.
The deadline is Nov. 15, 2009. The final meeting of the committee, which will report to the 219th General Assembly in July 2010, will be in January.
The Presbyterian Lay Committee released its official statement to the committee in July, and published dozens of additional responses to the committee on The Layman Online.
The committee’s preliminary report follows actions this summer by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and Episcopal Church (USA) in support of same-sex marriage. In a Presbyterian News Service article, committee member Tony de la Rosa of Pacific Presbytery was quoted as predicting that the General Assembly will receive overtures proposing changes to the denomination’s definition of marriage, which is consistent with strategies discussed by same-sex marriage advocates within the PCUSA since the defeat of Amendment 08-B earlier this year.
Previous attempts in the PCUSA to sanction same-sex marriage and the ordination of homosexuals have been unsuccessful. But the gay rights lobby was encouraged in 2008 and 2009 as it gained ground in its fight for full inclusion in the PCUSA.