Overtures target biennial meetings, war, abortion policy
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, March 26, 2003
The 215th General Assembly will be asked to snuff out an action taken last year when commissioners approved meeting every two years instead of every year.
Overture 03-15 from the Presbytery of National Capital calls for “setting aside the action on biennial assemblies and returning to the denomination’s historic practice of holding annual meetings.”
The proposal is one of more than 35 overtures that will be on the agenda when the national meeting is held in Denver on May 24-31.
Some of the other high-profile proposals include:
- Overture 03-31 from the Presbytery of Hudson River, an anti-war proposal that wants the denomination to provide a safe registry for conscientious objectors – protecting their “free speech, civil liberties and due process” – and spread the word about peacemaking.
- Overture 03-21 from the Presbytery of Eastminster would remove incest and rape from the circumstances allowed for late-term abortion.
- Overture 03-18 from the Presbytery of Huntingdon asks the General Assembly to provide moral counsel to protect mothers and their babies late in pregnancy – an action that would conflict with the 214th General Assembly’s advocacy of late-term abortions.
- Overture 03-26 from the Presbytery of San Gabriel would amend the denomination’s open meeting policy to allow the Theological Task Force on Peace, Purity and Unity to conduct some its discussions behind closed doors.
- Overture 03-07 from the Presbytery of Des Moines would repeal the constitutional “fidelity/chastity” ordination standard, which has been affirmed three times by increasingly wide margins in national referendums (55 percent in 1997, 65 percent in 1998 and 75 percent in 2001).
- Overture 03-13 from the Presbytery of Baltimore calls for a constitutional amendment that would more than double the minimum number of commissioners who might force the moderator to call the General Assembly back into session.
- Overture 03-09 from the Presbytery of Detroit would scold the Chevrolet Division of General Motors for sponsoring the “Come Together and Worship Tour” that features evangelist Max Lucado.
Biennial meetings
The Presbyterian Church and its predecessor denominations have held their national meetings annually since 1789, but the 214th General Assembly voted to meet every other year, beginning in 2006.
Overture 03-15 would cancel that decision. It notes that “the General Assemblies of the denominations that preceded the Presbyterian Church (USA) felt it important to meet through civil wars and world wars, through times of economic depression and social upheaval.”
The overture argued that the annual meeting “is the only time that the world, nation, staff at Louisville and the General Assembly Council have a chance to hear, in actual votes, the voice of the Presbyterians from across the country.”
“Biennial meetings will inevitably increase the role of the General Assembly Council and staff, and while we have great trust in the GAC and staff, this unnecessarily narrows rather than broadens the decision-making base in our denomination,” the overture added.
Anti-war proposal
The Hudson River overture, which gives no consideration to whether military action in Iraq is just, includes a list of seven peacemaking objectives and, in its final point, commends “pastoral care and prayers for families of those who have loved ones in the armed services and those members who are serving on active duty.”
But peacemaking, and not prayer, is the priority of the overture. U.S. political and military strategies are dismissed as un-Christian. The overture says the U.S. is becoming “more of an empire” even though President George W. Bush, with bipartisan support, has clearly stated otherwise.
Among the peacemaking goals are interfaith – i.e., Christian-Muslim discussions. The overture also calls on the denomination to prepare anti-war material for seminarians and young people.
Late-term abortions
The two overtures on late-term abortions offer different slants. Eastminister’s overture would eliminate the conditions of rape and incest from consideration for late-term abortions, but not for purposes of any moral persuasion.
The overture says that the statement by the 214th General Assembly failed to build a case for endangerment to the health of mothers who are impregnated during rape or incest. Besides, it adds, abortion in those early stages of rape or incest is already acceptable to the church.
The Huntingdon overture is a moral declaration. It reminds the commissioners of the counsel of the 1992 General Assembly: “After a human life has begun, it is to be protected and cherished as a precious gift of God … The strong Christian presumption is that since all life is precious to God, we are to preserve and protect it.”
Open-meeting policy
Members of the denomination’s Theologicial Task Force on Peace, Purity and Unity have met five times. They have mostly skirted having open debate on the theologicial issues they’re supposed to deal with – the ordination law, the authority and interpretation of Scripture, the person and work of Christ and divvying up power in the PCUSA. They have repeatedly expressed reluctance to have an open discussion because the church press covers their meetings.
The San Gabriel overture wants the task force to be able to handle some of its discussions without the press. “Such a policy, which would allow members to be free with each other to consider possible new approaches to difficult and complicated matters, is essential for wrestling with the major and vital issues facing the church,” the overture says.
“Premature spreading as fact those matters which are still undecided would only hamper the results the whole church is expecting from this special group. When conclusions have been reached, they should be widely reported, of course, for full discussion, consideration and review.”
The overture would not allow Presbyterians to be privy to those discussions. Current church law requires that denominational meetings be open to the public – with few exceptions: personnel matters, legal issues and property acquisition or sale.
Ordination standard
The Des Moines overture says “the presence of G-6.0106b within our Book of Order has created a hostile and divisive environment in our church that is contrary to God’s reconciling love and the spirit of our Reformed faith.”
The prohibition against ordaining practicing homosexuals “is not an essential of the Reformed faith, drawing precious resources away from the primary mission of the church.”
In its rationale, the Des Moines Presbytery – with concurrence from the Baltimore Presbytery – repeats the same arguments that have been made by advocates of ordaining practicing homosexuals for more than 30 years.
The Synod of the Mid-Atlantic has begun an investigation of the actions of the Baltimore Presbytery because of its unwillingness to uphold the constitutional ordination standard.
General Motors protest
The Detroit Overture raises an interesting question at a time when the Presbyterian Church (USA) is targeting wealthy widows as a prime source for $40 million in new mission money. Is it wrong for big business – or wealthy people who earned or inherited fortunes from business – to sponsor Christian evangelism?
The overture answers that question by calling on the 215th General Assembly to express “its deep concern” that the Chevrolet Division is sponsoring the Max Lucado evangelical outreach. It asks that Chevrolet “discontinue all marketing strategies that seek to use religion for corporate economic gain.”