Amendment 10-A
supporters gain ground
The Layman, January 24, 2011
A busy day of voting on the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s new policy for ordination standards saw most presbyteries remaining consistent with previous votes on the issue, and nearly evening up the vote total on Amendment 10-A.
The Presbytery of Eastern Virginia, which in the past had consistently voted to uphold the PCUSA’s current standard, provided the surprise of the weekend.
According to several online sources, Eastern Virginia voted 87-69 on Jan. 22 in support of removing the fidelity-chastity standard currently found in G-6.0106b in the PCUSA Book of Order, which requires ordained officers to be faithful in marriage between a man and woman, or chaste in singleness. In a failing referendum in 2008-2009, Eastern Virginia defeated similar proposed rewording by a close 72-80 vote.
Also voting on Amendment 10-A on Jan. 22 were:
- Beaver-Butler (Pa.) – No, 27-73
- Cayuga-Syracuse (N.Y.) – Yes, (voice vote)
- Elizabeth (N.J.) – Yes, 63-46
- Genessee Valley (N.Y.) – Yes, 85-29
- Mid-Kentucky – Yes, 99-9
- San Jose – Yes, 78-57
- Upper Ohio Valley (Ohio and W.Va.) – No, 19-43
For those comparing Amendment 10-A’s voting trends with the 2008-2009 results, two presbyteries (Eastern Virginia and Eastern Oklahoma) have flipped from “no” to “yes” and one presbytery (Lake Huron) has flipped from “yes” to “no.”
For enactment, the amendment must pass in a majority of the PCUSA’s 173 presbyteries making 87 the target number. In 2009, the previous attempt to remove the fidelity-chastity standard from the Book of Order failed in a 78-95 vote.
According to The Layman Online’s vote chart, and other online sources, the vote total for Amendment 10-A now stands at 15-21.
To submit voting results to The Layman, from your presbytery, please e-mail results to laymanletters@layman.org