Alaska votes 24-15 against, ending referendum on Amendment 01-A
The Layman Online, April 18, 2002
The Presbytery of Alaska, with a vote of 24 “no” and 15 “yes,” ended the referendum on Amendment 01-A, a proposal that sought to delete the “fidelity/chastity” ordination standard in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Amendment 01-A
vote chartThe proposed amendment, which had to be voted on by the denomination’s 173 presbyteries, failed by a vote of 46 “yes” and 127 “no.” The opposition to changing the ordination standard in the constitution was 73.1 percent, or nearly three to one.
The 73.1 percent margin was the largest yet among the presbyteries to affirm the “fidelity/chastity” clause. The standard originally was approved in 1996-97 by 56.7 percent of the presbyteries. In 1997-98, the standard was affirmed by 66.7 percent of the presbyteries.
The Presbytery of Alaska held its meeting April 12-14 in Petersburg, according to Stated Clerk Guy Warren, who said that, “Due to the substantial geographic challenges faced by our presbytery (most of our churches are cut off from any interconnected road system and can only be reached by boat or plane), we can only afford to meet twice a year. One of these meetings is in early October (usually too early to properly consider the Book of Order amendments) and the other is usually sometime after Easter. This meeting is the one at which we take up the amendments.”
“Naturally,” he said, “our vote occurs after almost every other presbytery has voted. It has been one of the downsides of the improvements in communication technology represented by the Internet that we almost always wind up conducting our vote after the real decision has been made and reported to the entire denomination. That sometimes leaves some of us wishing that some way could be found to postpone the announcement of any results until all have voted.
“Despite this,” Warren said, “I have always stressed to our membership that our vote still counts just as much as those cast by the first to vote the previous fall, and that we should still carefully consider all of the amendments. The vote [on Amendment 01-A] was taken by secret ballot [and] there was no significant debate on this matter on the floor of presbytery, which should not be seen as a statement that nobody cared because I am certain that many of our members did have strong feelings (from both sides) on the amendment, but that it was simply time to vote.”
When Amendment B – which became the “fidelity/chastity” ordination standard in the Book of Order – was approved by the presbyteries in 1997, its opponents were quick to point out that the “popular vote” was extremely close.
Indeed it was. Only 51.2 percent of the commissioners voting at 171 presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church (USA) favored the proposal that prohibits the ordination of self-affirming, practicing homosexuals.
The presbytery vote on Amendment B was 97-74, with 56.7 percent favoring the standard.
While individual voting by elders and ministers of the Word and sacrament is moot, because only a presbytery’s vote counts in determining the outcome, there has been a dramatic change in the just-completed referendum on Amendment 01-A: both in presbytery (73.1 percent) and individual tallies (59 percent).
The outcome confirms a legal principle known as stare decisis, which is Latin for “to stand by that which is decided.” It is a general maxim that when a point has been settled by decision, it forms a precedent that is not afterwards to be departed from.
But there also are other possible explanations for the strong support for the constitutional standard:
- The vote more accurately reflects what Presbyterians think about ordaining practicing homosexuals than previous votes on the ordination standard or related matters, such as conducting same-sex unions. Presbyterian polls show that 67 percent of all members of the denomination, including lay people and ministers, favor a ban on ordaining practicing homosexuals. The numbers are significantly higher for lay people than for ministers – especially those classified as “specialized clergy” because they are not in pulpits. But, by constitutional requirement, presbyteries are supposed to have parity: 50 percent elders and 50 percent ministers. Thus, the view from the pew is diluted by votes from ministers at presbytery meetings.
- There is agreement, even among liberals, that Moderator Jack B. Rogers’ attacks on evangelicals, particularly the Confessing Church Movement, motivated the denomination’s conservatives to attend and vote at presbytery meetings.
- In the past, the advocates of ordaining homosexuals out-organized and out-hustled the evangelicals. In the just-completed referendum, the evangelicals set the standard with their rally-around-the-precinct strategy. Evangelical networks throughout the denomination prepared for presbytery votes with prayer and strategy meetings.
- Both sides produced major campaign material, but the evangelicals’ video was superior in quality and content. Produced by the Presbyterian Coalition, the video emphasized Biblical and confessional themes. A slide show by the Covenant Network called for a strained interpretation of Scripture to justify a radical change in ordination requirements.
- Presbyterians from around the world expressed astonishment that the denomination even would consider ordaining practicing homosexuals. Many threatened to break off ties with the PCUSA, isolating the denomination from the global Presbyterian community.