Presbyteries within one vote of defeating Amendment 01-A
The Layman Online, February 18, 2002
The Presbyterian Church (USA) now is within one presbytery vote of overwhelmingly defeating a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the ordination of practicing homosexuals and invalidate all previous General Assembly declarations that homosexual activity is sinful.
Through votes cast Feb. 16, the unofficial tally stood at 86-39 against Amendment 01-A. Forty-nine presbyteries will vote in the next few weeks, but the defeat of Amendment 01-A is expected to be ensured this week.
The official tally is kept by the denomination based on presbytery votes after they have been mailed to Louisville. The denomination’s results sometimes trail the unofficial tally by weeks.
More than 18,000 commissioners have cast ballots at the 125 presbytery meetings that have considered the issue. The margin – 68.6 percent, or more than 2-1 – against Amendment 01-A is the strongest affirmation of the “fidelity/chastity” clause since it was voted into the Book of Order in 1996-97.
In the 1996-97 referendum, presbyteries approved what was known as Amendment B by 97-74 (56.7 percent). In 1997-98, the presbyteries voted 114-57 (66.7 percent) against a proposed amendment that would have radically revised the constitutional standard to allow the ordination of practicing homosexuals.