Two more presbyteries
oppose ‘fidelity/chastity’
The Layman, March 25, 2009
Two more presbyteries – Boston and Western Reserve – voted on March 23 to approve a constitutional amendment to end the “fidelity/chastity” ordination requirement in The Book of Order.
Both votes went according to pattern. Boston and Western Reserve opposed the ordination requirements when they voted in the 2001-02 national referendum. But Boston’s margin this year was surprisingly close, 54-42. In 2001-02, Boston voted 59-42 to repeal G-6.0106b.
Western Reserve voted 107-42 to amend G-6.0106b and eliminate the “fidelity/chastity” clause. In 2001-01, the vote was 131-73.
The overall vote now stands at 53-79, with 87 votes required for a winning majority. Forty-one of the denomination’s 173 presbyteries have not reported votes. Of that number, 15 are presbyteries that voted against the ordination standards in 2001 and are expected to do so again. No presbytery that opposed the ordination requirements in 2001 has changed its vote.
But 23 presbyteries that opposed jettisoning the “fidelity/chastity” requirements in 2001 have switched their votes. And 19 presbyteries that have not voted yet this year, but voted in 2001 to keep the standards did so by margins that were closer than most of the presbyteries that have already switched.