Two more overtures oppose PUP proposal
The Layman Online, April 25, 2006
Two more presbyteries have joined the growing list of lower governing bodies that have declared that recommendation 5 of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity should not be approved by the 217th General Assembly.
An overture from the Presbytery of Tropical Florida calls recommendation 5 “a de facto local option which will lead to a congregational and not connectional form of government.”
It says the recommendation “blurs the explicit authority of the Book of Order … subverts the church’s constitutional position on God’s will in matters of sexual morality … will give ordaining bodies and courts latitude to reinterpret the Book of Order provisions which have an unambiguous ‘shall’ into a permissible ‘may’ or ‘might’ … will further strain the peace, purity and unity of our denomination, not to mention our relationships with the worldwide church where many brothers and sisters find our moral confusion troubling and unscriptural.”
The overture asks the General Assembly either to reject the task force report as a whole or to delete Recommendation 5.
The gist of the overture from the Presbytery of the James was to ask the General Assembly to vote ad seriatim on each of the recommendations of the task force rather than to vote once on the document as a whole. Such a vote would increase the likelihood that recommendation 5 would be defeated.
The James overture also zeroed in on recommendation 5, saying that its approval by the General Assembly would “enact far-reaching change, perhaps even equivalent to constitutional amendment.”
Bypassing the presbyteries’ normal process of debate and vote on constitutional issues would “would run the risk of damaging the very peace, unity, and purity of the church it intends to promote,” the overture said.
The Tropical Florida and James overtures ran the total submitted to the General Assembly on the task force report to 18. Only two of the overtures support the task force report in whole.
The text of the overtures:
Overture 132. On the Report of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity – From the Presbytery of Tropical Florida.
Whereas the General Assembly’s Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church has issued a report to the denomination which is to be presented to the 217th General Assembly in Birmingham, Alabama on June 15-22, 2006, and,
Whereas, we appreciate that Task Force members worked diligently to create an instrument whose purpose is to help the church discern how to live in peace, unity, and purity, with Recommendations 1-4 providing a sound basis to that end, but,
Whereas Recommendation 5 will not promote the peace, unity, and purity of the church because it radical change, though claiming to make no change, through a de facto local option which will lead to a congregational and not connectional form of government, and,
Whereas, Recommendation 5 blurs the explicit authority of the Book of Order by giving ordaining bodies the right to determine what is “essential” in the faith, allowing them to disregard explicit constitutional standards, including, but not limited to the well-debated fidelity/chastity requirement of G-6.0106b, effectively making these and other “standards” optional, and
Whereas Recommendation 5 subverts the church’s constitutional position on God’s will in matters of sexual morality for its officers which have been repeatedly reaffirmed by the PCUSA, guided by careful biblical exegesis, centuries of church tradition, and authoritative interpretations for the past quarter century, and,
Whereas higher governing bodies reviewing the work of lower ordaining/governing bodies are encouraged in this report to “honor” the work of those who disagree with the Book of Order with a “presumption of wisdom” by them rather than being directed to respect the Presbyterian way of delineating and maintaining appropriate boundaries for our connectional community by honoring the constitution of changing it through constitutionally-mandated processes, and
Whereas the proposed authoritative interpretation will give ordaining bodies and courts latitude to reinterpret the Book of Order provisions which have an unambiguous “shall” into a permissible “may” or “might” in matters they deem non-essential to faith (though the Book of Order may deem those issues essential), even though the Book of Order carefully distinguishes between these distinctions, and,
Whereas many faithful and conscientious Presbyterian leaders and organizations are voicing disappointment and opposition to the Task Force’s Report, and
Whereas, we believe that the adoption of the Task Forces’s Report, as printed, will further strain the peace, purity and unity of our denomination, not to mention our relationships with the worldwide church where many brothers and sisters find our moral confusion troubling and unscriptural, now,
Therefore, be it resolved that the Presbytery of Tropical Florida:
1. Takes the position that the report of the of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church, as written, constitutes a blend of truth and error that, if adopted, will undermine the PCUSA’s peace, unity and purity, furthering the denomination’s disunity and, thereby, promoting deeper schism;
2. Overtures the 217th General Assembly of the PCUSA to either reject the report in whole or delete Recommendation 5.
Overture 133. On the Report of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity – From the Presbytery of the James.
The Presbytery of the James humbly overtures the 217th General Assembly (2006) to take up the report and recommendations of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church ad seriatim.
Rationale
1. We are grateful for all that is good and faithful in “A Season of Discernment: The Final Report of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church to the 217th General Assembly (2006)”.
2. The said report and recommendations urge us all to strive for the peace, unity, and purity of the church.
3. Recommendation 5 in particular would enact far reaching change, perhaps even equivalent to constitutional amendment, by means of Authoritative Interpretation on the part of the General Assembly (G-13.0103r).
4. The process of Authoritative Interpretation would not allow any debate or input on the part of the several presbyteries of the church.
5. Such absence of any debate or input on the part of the presbyteries would necessarily forfeit the consideration and wisdom of those presbyteries.
6. Such process on the part of the General Assembly would run the risk of damaging the very peace, unity, and purity of the church it intends to promote.
7. The peace, unity, and purity of the church would be served best by the fullest possible debate, discussion, and consideration on the part of those making the decision.
8. The Book of Order gives to each presbytery the responsibility “to maintain regular and continuing relationship to the higher governing bodies of the church, including…proposing to the synod or General Assembly such measures as may be of common concern to the mission of the whole church (G-11.0103t).