Fait accompli
Commentary by Parker T. Williamson, The Layman, September 19, 2012
During the 220th General Assembly a special committee recommendation that Presbyterians re-define marriage to include same-sex partners was destined for approval. By all indications, the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender lobby had garnered a commanding vote cache. But when the ballots were cast an alternative proposal, namely that the denomination study the matter for an additional two years, won the day.
How did that happen?
It happened because a coalition of moderate liberals – yes, there were a few – together with a minority of bloodied but unbowed conservatives opted to delay the inevitable. The winning argument was pragmatic, certainly not Biblical. Hovering over this assembly was an awareness that some 800 congregations are on the verge of jumping ship. A nudge is all they need.
Foundering from tens of thousands of earlier abandonments, commissioners thought it best to oil the waters. That didn’t mean, of course, that they reconsidered their penchant to redefine Christian marriage. It only meant that they would do the deed incrementally.
Meantime, PCUSA institutions have gotten the message that Christian marriage is dead de facto if not de jure, and they are adjusting their policies accordingly. That’s the meaning of the Board of Pensions’ decision to include same-sex partners in the denomination’s retirement and medical plans. And that’s why Columbia Theological Seminary has amended its married student housing policy to include more variety in its couplings. And that’s the impetus for Davidson College’s move to kick the chick (Chick-Fil-A) out of its student union cafeteria. And it may be a factor in the PCUSA supported International Theological Center’s decision to sack an evangelical faculty member.
PCUSA institutions are not fooled by that vote to “study” same-sex nuptials. They know a fait accompli when they see one. So when 2014 rolls around and commissioners gather once again to ponder the matter, we know what the argument will be:
“Look, we’re already living together at seminary, in the benefit plans and ordained throughout the church, so why not call it marriage.”