Coalition says task force’s recommendation ‘appears to permit what the Constitution currently prohibits’
The Layman Online, August 30, 2005
A renewal organization says a recommendation by the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church “raises significant concern,” warning that it “appears to permit what the Constitution currently prohibits.”
The board of the Presbyterian Coalition, in a statement, said the recommendation in the task force’s report for a new Authoritative Interpretation of G-6.0108 in the Book of Order “may, if adopted, produce inadvisable changes in the polity governing our life together.”
The Coalition statement also chastised the members of the task force for conducting “much of their substantive discussion of issues” in executive session, saying that such action “veils the intent of this recommendation in secrecy. We look for light to be shed on the work done behind closed doors, so that the church can discern truth from error.”
The full text of the board’s statement is as follows:
“Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
“The Theological Task Force has issued their recommendations after long study and discussion. The season has now begun for the church to prayerfully consider and respond to their work and the recommendations offered.
“The Board of the Presbyterian Coalition will engage in the necessary study of the Task Force report to allow a thoughtful response to the implications of this offering in the life of the PC(USA). The recommendation of a new Authoritative Interpretation raises significant concern and may, if adopted, produce inadvisable changes in the polity governing our life together. We are particularly concerned that the proposed Authoritative Interpretation appears to permit what the Constitution currently prohibits. The Task Force’s use of executive session during much of their substantive discussion of issues veils the intent of this recommendation in secrecy. We look for light to be shed on the work done behind closed doors, so that the church can discern truth from error.
“At this uncertain time in our common life, we call the church to be a “house of prayer” dedicated to seeking the will of the Savior.”
In Christ’s service,
The Board of the Presbyterian Coalition