Amending Directory of Worship to Conform Blessing Ceremonies to Scripture & the Confessions November 2000 Pro 1. God made humanity good, but now we are all fallen creatures. God accepts us as we are, but calls us to turn away from our brokeness to his wholeness. 2. PCUSA should bless only what Scripture and our confessions teach. 3. Feelings of love can change; science supports the possibility of change for gay and lesbian people. To bless these relationships is to take away a person’s hope of change. 4. Currently there is a conflict between the rule on same-sex ceremonies as seen by the Advisory Committee on the Constitution and by the Per-manent Judicial Commission. This doesn’t add any new rules, it simply clarifies our historic stand. 5. All church officers voluntarily bind their conscience to our confessions in their ordination vows (G-6.0108b and G-14.0504b). There are restrictions on baptism and the Lord’s Supper; this simply clarifies confessional restrictions already in place. Pastoral care should continue to be extended in times of sickness, death and daily struggles. 6. In 1996 the Assembly authorized the stated clerk to explore filing a brief supporting same-sex unions in Hawaii. The clerk decided not to file the brief and no further action was taken. 7. Spiritual fruits need to be judged by Scripture and our confessions. Discernment takes place under the guidance of the Holy Spirit through the Scriptures and the faith witnessed to in the confessions. 8. Nurture in love by the PCUSA means encouraging each person’s faith journey as they are conformed to Jesus Christ and not to the standards and whims of the world. 9. While the essential tenets have never been defined, G-2.0500 sets out the central themes of our Reformed faith. Same-sex ceremonies deny the theme of God’s providence in redeeming humans from their brokeness. Our joint covenant life is harmed by same-sex ceremonies because they create disorder in the Church by blessing what God has called us to turn away from in Scripture and the confessions. Con 1. God made me this way and I want to have sex in a monogamous relationship. 2. Please don’t exclude us from the church. 3. We love each other and want the church’s blessing. 4. We don’t need more rules and punitive sections in the Book of Order. 5. Allow pastors to exercise freedom of conscience and don’t restrict their actions. 6. PCUSA supported same-sex civil marriage so why not these ceremonies. 7. PCUSA should bless the fruits of the Spirit shown in these relationships. 8. PCUSA should nurture love and life-giving relationships with same-sex ceremonies. 9. Endorsing gay and lesbian lifestyles is outside the essential tenets of the Reformed faith.

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