Chronological
archives of major
issues are now on Layman Online
Posted January 10, 2007
People who follow developments in the Presbyterian Church (USA) via The Layman Online often call and ask for further research and background on the major issues.
Now, with the compiling of an issue-oriented online archive on those issues, readers will be able to quickly trace the developments and background material.
The issues archive now includes 11 themed sections:
- Abortion
- Finances and membership
- Israel/Palestine
- Jesus is Lord
- Marriage
- Ordination
- Politics
- Property
- Targeting evangelicals
- Theology
- Womens issues
The articles in each archive are listed chronologically, from the most current to the oldest. To access those issues, simply click on one of the headings. That will bring up a screen of stories and resources with brief descriptions of what they contain. The next step is to click individually on the articles you wish to use.
The Web-based material dates back to 1997. For further information on stories between 1968 and 1997, you may have an archive of back issues of The Layman in your church office, at the presbytery office or a seminary library.
Abortion
This material covers the denominations evolving and
changing policies on abortion, including late-term abortion.
GA rejects past actions favoring late-term abortion
Three straight General Assemblies 2002, 2003, 2004 had sanctioned a woman's right to abort late-term fetuses until the 217th General Assembly approved a policy this week that supersedes those votes. commissioners voted to affirm "that the lives of viable unborn babies those well-developed enough to survive outside the womb if delivered ought to be preserved and cared for and not aborted."
June 23, 2006
PCUSA continues to support abortion of viable babies
Attempts to change the voice of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to protect viable babies from late-term abortion failed Thursday. For the third straight year, the national governing body continued to sanction a pro-abortion policy that permits unrestricted abortions, including those of viable babies.
July 1, 2004
Presbyterian official promotes program advocating
'pro-choice movement'
A top Presbyterian Church (USA) official, calling it "exciting news," is urging Presbyterians to watch a program about a lobbying group whose aggressive pro-abortion policies conflict with General Assembly positions calling the television show "an excellent follow-up to the very successful 'March for Women's Lives.'"
April 28, 2004
Washington Office promotes march for unrestricted abortions
The Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is using the home page of its Web site to summon women to join a political march in Washington, D.C., to oppose any restrictions on abortion. Furthermore, the Web site of the Religious Coalition of Reproductive Choice lists the PCUSA as one of the co-sponsors of what's billed as "The March for Women's Lives "
March 24, 2004
PCUSA official says legislators 'took the easy way
out' by banning partial-birth abortions
A Presbyterian Church (USA) leader has criticized U.S. legislators because they "took the easy way out" and approved a measure signed into law by President George W. Bush that bans partial-birth abortions in this country. The new law places the denomination in the position of sanctioning partial-birth abortions approved by commissioners to the 215th General Assembly when they are banned in the United States.
November 6, 2003
Congress votes to outlaw abortion procedure sanctioned
by PCUSA's commissioners
Just a few days after the 215th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) reaffirmed the denomination's approval of partial-birth abortion, the U.S. House voted to ban the procedure. Furthermore, Presbyterians in the House as had been the case in the Senate overwhelmingly voted against killing babies in the late stages of pregnancy and in the process of delivery
June 5, 2003
Pamela Daniel, commissioner from Western North Carolina urged the General Assembly to avoid "graphic language" when referring to those who kill babies at the moment of their birth. Following her counsel to speak "with sensitivity," the 215th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) crafted softer language to reaffirm its policy of blessing partial-birth abortion. its concession that it would call the parties to a late-term abortion "mother and child" rather than "woman and fetus
May 30, 2003
Board of Pensions to continue paying for partial-birth
abortions
Despite strong opposition from the floor, the 215th General Assembly has decided to continue funding partial-birth abortions over a commissioner's warning that, "in all probability, the procedure will be outlawed" in this country.
May 30, 2003
Abortion advocate to speak at Washington Office dinner
The Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has engaged a leading abortion advocate to speak during its annual awards dinner U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat who "is leading the fight in Congress to counter the Bush administration's attacks and protect a woman's right to choose," according to EMILY's list.
April 25, 2003
What Assembly blessed, U.S. Senate bans, 64-33
What the Presbyterian Church (USA) has blessed, the U.S. Senate has overwhelmingly voted to ban. The Senate voted 64-33 today to prohibit partial-birth abortions, which allows doctors to kill viable babies through a gruesome procedure just as they are being delivered.
March 13, 2003
Assembly sanctions late-term abortions
The 214th General Assembly -- by a 77 percent vote -- has approved a statement that sanctions late-term abortions.
June 23, 2002
Washington Office will honor aggressive pro-abortion
group
The Washington Office, the lobbying arm of the Presbyterian Church (USA), has decided to give a "Partners in Mission Award" to another lobbying group whose aggressive pro-abortion policies conflict with General Assembly positions.
June 12, 2002
General Assembly affirms use of fetal tissue for vital research
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) approved the "Statement on the Ethical and Moral Implications of Stem Cell and Fetal Tissue Research," which affirms the use of fetal tissue and embryonic tissue for vital research.
June 16, 2001
Clerk disavows court brief opposing Nebraska's partial-birth abortion ban
The name of General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick headed a draft of a proposed brief opposing Nebraska's law that prohibits partial-birth abortions. Kirkpatrick admits his office prepared the brief but says he never intended to sign it.
March 30, 2000
Undisclosed review of abortion policies brings mixed reaction
A team assigned to review the abortion policies of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has concluded that church entities downplayed a 1992 policy considered moderately pro-life in favor of an unbridled pro-choice policy adopted in 1983, according to the Presbyterian News Service.
February 4, 2000
Assembly allows PCUSA entities stay in pro-choice
coalition
The 211th General Assembly voted Thursday to stay in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), an organization that lobbies for unrestricted abortion rights, including partial birth abortions.
June 29, 1999
This material covers
the rapid decline in revenue and overall membership in the denomination.
Presbyteries come up $430,000 short in '05 per-capita payments
For one reason or another, presbyteries are sending less money to Louisville, Ky., to pay the operating expenses of the Presbyterian Church (USA). According to the Presbyterian News Service, uncollectible per-capita payments for 2005 will exceed $400,000 for the first time in 10 years.
October 16, 2006
PCUSA ranks first in per-member giving to National Council
Compared with its mainline sister denominations, the Presbyterian Church (USA) is more than twice as generous in per-member support of the National Council of Churches. Recent financial reports by the NCC showed that the PCUSA gave the organization $302,499 for the 2005-06 budget, 13.1 cents per member.
October 16, 2006
Budget proposal: Cut staff by 75, missionaries by 55
The General Assembly Council's proposed budgets for 2007 and 2008 call for reducing the national staff by 75 positions and terminating 55 missionary assignments.
May 1, 2006
Estimates: 2005 decline of 65,000; 2006 decline of 85,000
LOUISVILLE, Ky. Without a word of explanation, the number crunchers for the Presbyterian Church (USA) are projecting record-setting membership losses in 2005 and 2006. The loss in 2005 was estimated at 65,000, followed by an 85,000 projected loss in 2006.
February 13, 2006
PCUSA mission workers will have to raise own funds
Marian McClure, director of the Worldwide Mission Division of the Presbyterian Church (USA), has informed mission workers that future missionaries will have to raise their own support because of the agency's financial problems.
October 19, 2005
PCUSA loses 43,175 members during 2004; 2nd highest since reunion
The Presbyterian Church (USA) lost 43,175 members in 2004, the third straight year that more than 40,000 people have left the denomination. The 2004 loss was both the second highest numerically and as a percentage of membership since the Southern and Northern streams of mainline Presbyterians merged in 1983 to form the PCUSA.
June 21, 2005
Despite layoffs and budget cuts, PCUSA wants G.A. to maintain funding for WCC, NCC, other groups
Despite cutting $4.6 million from the 2005-2006 mission budget and eliminating 37 national staff positions in May on top of $1.47 million in cuts and 19 layoffs in 2003 and $5.7 million in cuts and 66 layoffs in 2002, as well as 10 percent of the denomination's foreign missionaries the General Assembly Council is recommending that the 216th General Assembly continue to maintain its level of funding for such controversial organizations as the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches.
June 23, 2004
PCUSA membership loss in '03 is highest since church reunited
The Presbyterian Church (USA) lost 46,658 members during 2003 higher than the projected downturn and the highest percentage loss in more than a quarter of a century. The exodus reduced membership to 2,405,311 as of Dec. 31, 2003 a loss of 1.85 million members since the PCUSA and its predecessor denominations had a peak membership of 4,254,597 in 1965.
June 7, 2004
PCUSA will continue life-support for WCC
The 215th General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to continue providing financial life-support for the World Council of Churches, a controversial ecumenical body that faces financial collapse.
May 29, 2003
PCUSA tallies another big loss 31,549 in '01
It's official. Another 31,549 Presbyterians left the pews of the Presbyterian Church (USA) during 2001. That's the loss tallied in the denomination's recently published annual report called "Comparative Statistics 2001." It was the 36th consecutive year, beginning in 1966, that the denomination has lost members.
December 18, 2002
$5 million shortfall forecast for PCUSA mission budget
Despite an April decision to balance the 2003 mission budget by cutting more than $4.2 million in unrestricted funds, including the elimination of 66 jobs in Louisville and 34 international mission workers, a top denominational official says a rising tide of red ink will require $5 million in additional cutbacks over the next two years and more job cuts are "a possibility."
November 7, 2002
'02 PCUSA curriculum losses are 15 times budget forecast
The publishing arm of the Congregational Ministries Division of the Presbyterian Church (USA) incurred a $300,721 deficit for the fiscal year that ended July 31. That's more than 15 times the $20,015 deficit that was projected for the period
September 27, 2002
Instead of missionaries, assembly spends on causes
After being unwilling to require some budget changes that would restore 34 missionary jobs, the General Assembly on Friday called for new spending of up to $124,000 to boycott Taco Bell, study government land acquisitions and champion "restorative justice."
June 23, 2002
Commissioners overwhelmingly reject restoring missionary cuts
Spurning a plea to become a "mission assembly," the 214th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has voted overwhelmingly against restoring 34 world missionary assignments that were the victims of budget cuts.
June 21, 2002
PCUSA loses 31,549 members during 2001
The Presbyterian Church (USA) lost 31,549 members in 2001 continuing a trend that has seen more than 1.76 million members leave since 1965, according to unofficial data released recently by the denomination's Office of the General Assembly.
April 30, 2002
2003 Mission budget balanced after $4.2 million made in cuts
The executive committee of the General Assembly Council voted to balance the 2003 mission budget by making more than $4.2 million in cuts in unrestricted funds, a number that includes the elimination of 66 jobs in Louisville and 34 international mission workers.
April 30, 2002
PCUSA faces big revenue shortages in 2002, 2003
Some of the top staff of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have begun bracing elected leaders for projected shortfalls of nearly $8 million for the combined 2002 and 2003 budget years.
January 29, 2002
Curriculum to be allowed to continue losing money
The General Assembly Council has approved a plan that will change its curriculum publishing area from a self-sufficient "business model" to a "service model" that will be supported by mission funds.
February 23, 2001
Council reneges on NCC funding requirement, approves $400,000
The General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (USA), reneging on conditions it adopted in February, voted overwhelmingly Sept. 23 to throw a $400,000 lifeline to the National Council of Churches.
September 25, 2000
Membership loss of PCUSA reaches nearly 1.7 million Presbyterians
Since 1965, when membership was at its peak, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has lost nearly 1.7 million members, according to data released recently by the denomination.
August 10, 2000
Assembly rejects proposals to cut NCC, WCC funding
An effort to cut funding for the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches because of their political agendas and financial mismanagement by the NCC crashed Wednesday on the floor of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
June 29, 2000
PCUSA membership loss rate increases 25.4 percent
The membership loss rate for the Presbyterian Church (USA) increased by 25.4 percent from 1998 to 1999, according to statistical data released by the office of the stated clerk on May 1.
May 1, 2000
General Assembly Council approves $400,000 for NCC
The General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted 52-6 on Feb. 19 to give the National Council of Churches $400,000 to help the council dig out of its $4-million 1999 deficit.
February 19, 2000
$400,000 bailout gift to NCC endorsed by executive committee
The executive committee of the General Assembly Council, after being told that the Presbyterian Church (USA) had a financial windfall at the end of 1999, decided on Feb. 15 to endorse a $400,000 contribution to help bail the National Council of Churches out of its $4-million 1999 deficit
February 16, 2000
PCUSA posts 'articles' favoring $400,000 gift to bail out NCC
To shore up their case for $400,000 to bail the National Council of Churches out of a $3.9-million 1999 budget deficit, staff leaders of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have posted Internet "articles" on the NCC's financial problems.
January 24, 2000
NCC rescue campaign launched in Louisville
Two top officers of the Presbyterian Church (USA) are publicly promoting a $400,000 deficit bailout package for the National Council of Churches. If approved by the General Assembly Council in February, this grant will be added to a $100,000 appropriation already approved by the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly.
January 10, 2000
In a three-page memorandum dated November 19, Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA), has issued a personal plea on behalf of the National Council of Churches. Kirkpatrick rose to the council's defense after The Presbyterian Layman released numerous articles on the Internet, revealing the NCC's precarious financial condition and questionable management practices by top NCC officials.
December 2, 1999
General Assembly Council to weigh $400,000 deficit funding for NCC
A showdown vote on how much money if any the Presbyterian Church (USA) will give to the National Council of Churches to shrink its $4-million deficit will be held in February. The final decision will be made by the 96-member General Assembly Council.
December 2, 1999
Will Presbyterians bail out the NCC?
Presbyterian Church (USA) officials are being asked to help bail the National Council of Churches out of its 1999 $4-million deficit. The deficit is so deep that it has seriously eroded the NCC's reserves and threatens the organization's viability.
November 17, 1999
PCUSA is leading contributor to National Council of Churches
Who's paying the bills for the National Council of Churches? Among its member denominations, the Presbyterian Church (USA) is No. 1. According to the NCC's figures, the PCUSA contributed $2,066,202 in cash support during the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 1999.
November 17, 1999
National Council of Churches deficit: $3.4 million
$300,000 birthday party continues on schedule
Vociferous in its demands that the United States cancel loans made to third-world governments, the National Council of Churches now seeks some debt relief of its own. With their ecumenical organization $3.4 million in the red for 1999, leaders including several Presbyterian staffers are requesting a $2-million bailout from their member denominations.
November 5, 1999
Publishing agency's debt forgiven, credit extended
The Curriculum Publishing Program Area of the Congregational Ministries Division got a new lease on life after the General Assembly Council agreed to forgive nearly $3.3 million in debt and to extend a $1.2 million line of credit to the program area.
September 29, 1999
Budget woes don't deter NCC's 50th anniversary celebration
Despite a $3.4 million budget deficit for 1999, the National Council of Churches (NCC) is proceeding with its gala 50th anniversary celebration Nov. 9-12 in Cleveland
September 17, 1999
Generosity of PCUSA helps keep WCC afloat
The World Council of Churches is in dire financial straits, its governing Central Committee was told recently. But the ecumenical and controversial body would be far worse off if it were not for the generosity of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
September 3, 1999
'98 membership loss is lowest in 30 years
National membership in the Presbyterian Church (USA) declined by 21,517 in 1998, the lowest loss in more than two decades, according to the recently published "Comparative Statistics 1998."
August 18, 1999
Good news is that PCUSA membership losses decline
Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick is expressing relief over the fact that 1998 membership losses are not as bad as they have been in previous years. He was responding to data released by the Office of the General Assembly that counted 2,587,674 Presbyterians at the end of 1998, a decline of 21,517 from 1997.
May 20, 1999
Bicentennial Fund reports repeat a woeful tale
Campaign costs exceeded 29 percent
Presbyterian Church (USA) officials are eager to put their ill-fated Bicentennial Fund to bed, but as long as pledges remain outstanding, they have no choice but to face a succession of auditor's reports, recounting the story of a project that never got off the ground.
February 17, 1999
PCUSA leading U.S. supporter of World Council of Churches
The Presbyterian Church (USA) contributes more money to the World Council of Churches than any other U.S. denomination or organization, according to financial documents published by the World Council of Churches.
January 8, 1999
This material covers
the evolving policies of the PCUSA and its partisanship toward Palestine in its
ongoing disputes with Israel.
Ufford-Chase's
bid to reconsider divestment resolution is defeated
The remnants included 216th General Assembly Moderator
Rick-Ufford Chase's unsuccessful attempt to convince the commissioners to
reconsider a resolution on the Middle East because it called on the
denomination to restrain from telling other nations not to protect their
borders.
June
23, 2006
Attempt
to blame media for uproar over PCUSA divestment policy stifled
The 217th General Assembly scuttled a blame-the-media amendment and another amendment to recognize the "chronic pain" of the Palestinian people before approving a resolution calling for a balanced treatment of Israel and Palestine. The resolution was a sharp departure from a statement that was adopted by the 216th General Assembly (2004) and drew a firestorm of criticism against the Presbyterian Church (USA).
June
23, 2006
Council
OKs moderator's appeal to GA on Mideast
After Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase and some allies spent a few hours Thursday night tweaking his statement on Israel and Palestine, the General Assembly Council voted Friday afternoon to approve it. The revised statement asks the 217th General Assembly to answer more than two-dozen overtures by steering into the middle of the road on the ticklish issues in the Mideast -- an alternative to the 216th General Assembly's resolution that seeks to penalize Israel because of its defensive steps against Palestinian terrorists.
April
29, 2006
Denomination
schedules long pre-assembly presentations on task force report, divestment
Even though denominational leaders generally urge commissioners to shun the influences of groups that lobby for or against the issues they will face, the planners for the 217th General Assembly have scheduled lengthy blocks of time to present the denomination's spin on two of the thorniest issues before the assembly.
March
10, 2006
Moderator
proposes response to 2004 divestment resolution
General Assembly Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase, trying to reduce the damage caused by the 2004 General Assembly's resolution calling for "phased selective divestment" of Presbyterian Church (USA) holdings in corporations doing business with Israel, on Wednesday presented an alternative proposal to the General Assembly Council
April
27, 2006
PCUSA
leaders urge Hamas toward peace, but don't condemn terrorist group
In their joint letter, written "as long-standing friends and supporters of the Palestinian people," Kirkpatrick and Ufford-Chase appeal to the new power brokers for Palestine .
February
21, 2006
Moderator
wants GAC to address divestment and head off a fight
Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase told the General Assembly Council that he wants the council to help him ward off an explosive confrontation over the 216th General Assembly's resolution calling for "phased, selective divestment" of the denomination's holdings in corporations that do business with Israel.
February
11, 2006
Chicago
Presbytery's visit with Hezbollah threatens condominium tower project
The Chicago City Council has passed a resolution condemning a Chicago Presbytery group's meeting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in October, and some members of the council say they may oppose a financially lucrative rezoning request by one of the presbytery's congregations in the city.
December
19, 2005
Protestant-Catholic
group asks PCUSA to cease Hezbollah contacts
Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East has asked the Presbyterian Church (USA) to cease sending delegations to Lebanon to meet with leaders of Hezbollah. "It is difficult to fathom their intention in meeting with Nabil Qawuq, the commander of Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon," said Ruth Lautt, the national director of the Roman Catholic-Protestant organization that includes ministers and lay people.
December
13, 2005
Jewish
groups step up criticism as PCUSA attempts to calm furor
In a letter to presbyteries and synods, Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick contends that a Presbyterian delegation that met recently with Hezbollah, a terrorist group, was not sanctioned by the Presbyterian Church (USA). Meanwhile, Jewish groups intensified their criticism of the continuing meetings between Hezbollah and Presbyterian groups.
December 5, 2005
Presbyterians say meeting in Middle East isn't official
After three delegations from the Presbyterian Church (USA) met with the leader of Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon, a denominational official has informed Jewish leaders that Presbyterians will develop guidelines for members traveling in troubled regions, according to today's New York Times.
December 2, 2005
Anti-Semitic remarks made at Presbyterian college
event
A two-day conference at Coe College, a Presbyterian school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on the disputes between Israel and the Palestinians included some anti-Semitic remarks and other "breaches of civility," a Coe professor said in a letter to a Jewish rabbi. But the conference was not in the whole anti-Semitic, according to the professor, Dr. John Lemos.
October 31, 2005
PCUSA targets 5 corporations for divestment
consideration
The Presbyterian Church (USA) has targeted four corporations, including the oft-mentioned Caterpillar, for divestment if they don't back off assisting Israel in its defense against Palestinian terrorists. A fifth corporation, Citigroup, was included because it allegedly assisted the terrorists, an allegation that a spokesman for the banking corporation strongly denied.
August 8, 2005
Seminary group led by former, current PCUSA staff
members also met with, praised Hezbollah
Three and one-half months before an official Presbyterian group met with the Southern Lebanese leader of Hezbollah, which the U.S. State Department identifies as a terrorist group, a delegation from San Francisco Theological Seminary did the same. And some of the seminary group's members had similar words of praise for the Islamic fundamentalists that the U.S. has accused of murdering 270 Americans in two bombing incidents
January 26, 2005
PCUSA's tack on Israel parallels liberation group's
One of the influences on Presbyterian policy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a liberation theology group that has extolled the late Yasser Arafat, terrorist leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and rationalized the deeds of suicide bombers who have murdered hundreds of Israelis. The organization is the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, which is based in Jerusalem. The Presbyterian Church (USA) lists Sabeel as one of its ecumenical partners and gives it a substantial voice on the PCUSA Web site.
December 22, 2004
Retired seminary professor praises Syrian terrorist group
The Anti-Defamation League issued a news release today saying it is "deeply disturbing that leaders of the Presbyterian Church would seek out a meeting with members of a terrorist organization responsible for attacks that have killed both Americans and Israelis." The news release was referring to the 24-member Presbyterian Church (USA) delegation that met Oct. 18 with southern Lebanon's Hezbollah commander, Sheikh Nabil Kaouk.
October 20, 2004
Presbyterian delegation meets with leader of group blamed for strikes against U.S.
A 24-member delegation from the Presbyterian Church (USA) met Sunday with southern Lebanon's commander of Hizbollah, an Islamic organization that is on the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist groups. Hizbollah is blamed for but denies involvement in the bombings of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut in 1984, which killed a total of 270 people
October 19, 2004
Assembly urges PCUSA divestment from companies
operating in Israel
In response to an overture calling for Israel and Palestine to implement the Geneva Accord, the 216th General Assembly approved a statement at this time, however, several months since the approval of the proposed item by said presbytery, the situation and the prospects for a negotiated just peace have so deteriorated that people in the region generally, and particularly the Palestinians, have been driven to the edge of despair and hopelessness.
July 2, 2004
Assembly approves resolution on Israel/Palestine after
committee softens, balances its language
The 215th General Assembly has voted to approve a resolution on Israel and Palestine titled "End the Occupation Now," written by the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy. The Rev. Sue Westfall said several amendments were made by the committee that were "aimed at softening and balancing the language of the report."
May 29, 2003
This material covers the cornerstone issue in the
denomination: Exactly who is Jesus, a Way or the Way?
General Assembly declares Jesus alone Savior and Lord
The 214th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), after only a 10-minute debate, has declared that Jesus Christ alone is the way, the truth and the life and that no one is saved apart from him.
June 20, 2002
General Assembly Council affirms Jesus alone is Savior
statement
With hundreds of congregations questioning whether the Presbyterian Church (USA) remains committed to Jesus Christ as the only Lord and Savior for the world, the General Assembly Council voted overwhelmingly on Sept. 29, 2001 to "affirm and commend" a statement that says he is.
September 30, 2001
General Assembly calls Jesus 'unique,' but does not affirm that he is Lord alone
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) declared by a vote of 369-163 on June 14 that Jesus Christ is "uniquely Savior." The statement fell short of what evangelicals had sought -- a clear affirmation that is consistent with Scripture and The Book of Confessions that Jesus alone is Savior and Lord for all humanity.
June 14, 2001
Three 'Jesus is Lord' overtures are scuttled
A committee of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) scuttled three "Jesus alone is Lord" overtures and substituted in their place a comment calling on the Office of Theology and Worship to prepare a broader view of Christology using The Book of Confessions and the Book Of Order.
June 12, 2001
'Jesus alone' overtures debated before committee
Three "Jesus alone is Lord" overtures were vigorously debated before the General Assembly's Committee on Theological Issues and Education on June 11. The dividing lines between those who favored the overtures and those who opposed them were sharply drawn.
June 11, 2001
Council sees no wrong in peacemaking conference
Neither the staff that planned the 2000 Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference nor the keynote speaker who made the conference's most controversial statement "What's the big deal about Jesus?" has drawn any reprimand from the General Assembly Council.
February 26, 2001
Debate over Jesus will go before full council
The executive committee of the General Assembly Council wants the full council to take another stab at resolving the theological dispute that arose when a Presbyterian minister asked "What's the big deal about Jesus?" during a denomination-sponsored Peacemaking Conference in June 2000.
February 19, 2001
Committee recommends no action in Peacemaking Conference followup
Presbyterian ministers and the staff of the Presbyterian Church (USA) will not be held accountable for statements made at PCUSA conferences that contradict the denomination's Biblical and confessional standards if a committee action becomes a General Assembly Council policy
February 13, 2001
Fuss over salvation brings apologies and retractions
After its top elected and staff leaders offered an assortment of apologies to people on both sides of the theological aisle, the General Assembly Council is about to wrestle once again with an issue that goes to the core of Christianity and Reformed theology.
January 15, 2001
No 'witch hunt' planned on conference programs
Peter Pizor, chairman of the General Assembly Council, told the Covenant Network Conference on Nov. 2 that a task force to review conferences sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (USA) will not conduct a "witch hunt" or bring disciplinary action against people involved in past gatherings.
November 6, 2000
Detterick says Peacemaking speaker was 'out of bounds'
John Detterick, executive director of the General Assembly Council, told a gathering sponsored by the Presbyterian Coalition Oct. 31 that he believes Rev. Dirk Ficca's "What's the big deal about Jesus?" speech at the Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference "conflicts with a basic tenet of the church's faith" and was "out of bounds."
October 31, 2000
Council doesn't reprimand speaker or PCUSA group
The executive committee of the General Assembly Council has issued a letter that affirms the historic Presbyterian theology that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior for the world. But the council found no reason to do anything in response to a Peacemaking Conference speaker who said Jesus is but one of many valid paths to the Father.
October 25, 2000
Controversial minister works with group that includes witches
Dirk Ficca, the Presbyterian minister who said at a conference sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (USA) that other religions are valid paths to God, works for an interfaith organization that welcomes witches and would not use the word "God" in a major policy statement on global ethics.
October 17, 2000
Presbyterian leaders back off statement conflicting with confessional standards
Peter Pizor, chairman of the General Assembly Council, and John Detterick, the council's executive director, have backed off a joint statement they made in response to a controversial keynote address to the denomination's 2000 Peacemaking Conference.
September 25, 2000
Division ducks controversy over other paths to salvation
The Congregation Ministries Committee of the General Assembly Council decided to duck the controversy that broke out in the Presbyterian Church (USA) after a Presbyterian minister told a national peacemaking conference that faiths other than Christianity were valid paths to God.
September 22, 2000
General Assembly Council may enter debate over salvation by Christ
The General Assembly Council, the governing body of the Presbyterian Church (USA) between sessions of the General Assembly, may wade into the debate over whether there is salvation outside Jesus Christ. The council will meet Sept. 20-23 at Montreat Conference Center
September 18, 2000
GAC leaders issue statement on Peacemaking Conference address
General Assembly Council chair Peter Pizor and executive director John Detterick have issued the following statement on the controversy surrounding the keynote address of the Rev. Dirk Ficca at last month's Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference:
August 25, 2000
Presbyterians debate salvation by faith in Christ alone
A theological brush fire that began at a Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference in Orange, Calif., on August 2 has flared into a national debate over whether salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone. The debate began with news accounts of an address by Dirk Ficca of Chicago, a Presbyterian minister who leads an ecumenical partnership
August 18, 2000
Pastor at peace conference: 'What's the big deal about Jesus?'
"So what's the big deal about Jesus?" With those words, the Rev. Dirk Ficca of Chicago, a Presbyterian minister, told 600 people attending the Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference for 2000 that Jesus is just one of many paths to salvation.
August 4, 2000
This material covers General Assembly actions, same-gender
marriages conducted by Presbyterian ministers and lobbying by the Washington
Office in favor of those marriages.
Lesbian couple reportedly wed at PCUSA seminary
Two prominent lesbian activists were reportedly "married" Saturday afternoon during a service performed in Caldwell Chapel of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
October 9, 2006
Former
moderator signs ad advocating gay marriages
Jack Rogers, moderator of the 2001 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), is a member of coalition of self-proclaimed religious leaders whose signatures appear in full-page advertisements that support same-sex marriages.
July 28, 2006
California commission acquits minister who performed
same-gender weddings
In a controversial two-day trial that drew a crowd of 150 spectators and media from major television networks and local stations and newspapers, a PCUSA tribunal vindicated a Northern California minister on charges that she violated church law when she married two same-sex couples. found that the Rev. Dr. Jane Adams Spahr, committed "no offense" and acted "within her right of conscience" when she pronounced each lesbian couple "bride and bride and partners in life" in 2004 and 2005.
March 6, 2006
Panel decides not to try pastor in same-sex rites
An investigating committee for the Mission Presbytery in Texas has decided that one of the presbytery's ministers will not stand trial on disciplinary charges related to his conducting same-sex "marriages" on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin.
January 25, 2006
2004 General Assembly sent mixed signals on 'marriage'
In its on-again, off-again votes on whether to support civil marriage for same-gender couples, the Presbytery of Baltimore may have been looking over its shoulder at the actions of the 216th General Assembly. But the General Assembly commissioners sent mixed signals: It decided to try to go in opposite directions at the same time.
January 14, 2005
Baltimore Presbytery backs suit seeking gay marriages
The Presbytery of Baltimore voted 51-35 Thursday to support an American Civil Liberties Union suit to convince Maryland courts that the state should recognize civil "marriages" of homosexual couples.
November 19, 2004
Washington Office, 7 other agencies violate 216th G.A.
lobbying ban on Marriage Amendment
In a paper edited by the Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (USA), eight denominational agencies are directly violating the instructions of the 216th General Assembly regarding lobbying against the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment.
September 23, 2004
RICHMOND, Va. The 216th General Assembly approved a statement on recognizing civil rights for same-gender couples but also amended it to reaffirm the denomination's historic definition of marriage
July 2, 2004
General Assembly declines to endorse 'A Christian
Declaration on Marriage'
The Presbyterian Church (USA) will not be signing on to "A Christian Declaration on Marriage," following a debate and vote by the 216th General Assembly.
July 2, 2004
PCUSA to explore possibly providing benefits to
partners in long-term committed relationships
By a 2-1 margin, commissioners to the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) agreed Wednesday night to explore "the feasibility of providing domestic partners in long-term committed relationships the same benefits accorded to married couples."
July 1, 2004
Once again, Washington Office promoting opposition to
proposed marriage amendment
The Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (USA), despite attempts by the Office of the General Assembly to clarify the denomination's stance, continues to lobby against a proposed Federal Marriage Amendment.
June 8, 2004
Synod court says ministers may 'wed' homosexual
couples
In a blockbuster decision that could add fuel to the fiery battle over homosexual issues in the Presbyterian Church (USA), a synod court has declared that the denomination's constitution and its highest court do not prohibit Presbyterian ministers from "marrying" same-gender couples.
May 3, 2004
Ivory speech omitted constitutional prohibition
against gay marriage
In her untrue declaration that the Presbyterian Church (USA) supports civil marriages of homosexual couples, Elenora Giddings Ivory, director of the denomination's Washington Office, quoted from the Directory of Worship in the Book Of Order. Whether intentionally or arbitrarily, she omitted a sentence that states just the opposite of what she declared.
March 9, 2004
Pastor defies church order, 'marries' another gay
couple
On April 21, a Presbyterian Church (USA) court convicted A. Stephen Van Kuiken of Cincinnati of "marrying" same-gender couples, rebuked him for doing so and ordered him not to do it again. After appealing the slap on the wrist, Van Kuiken, the pastor of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church, defied the court's order by conducting, on May 17, yet another service of "marriage" for a same-gender couple.
May 19, 2003
Rebuked pastor vows to continue defiance
On Monday, A. Stephen Van Kuiken solemnly stood facing elder Barry Harrison, a member of the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of Cincinnati, while Harrison rebuked the pastor of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church. "[Y]ou have been found guilty of the offense of performing same-sex marriage ceremonies, and by such offense you have acted contrary to the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA)," Harrison said, [Van Kuiken] has appealed the verdict and declared that he will not repent.
April 22, 2003
Defiant pastor gets slap on the wrist
PJC: Guilty on
same-sex marriage charge, not guilty on charge of ordaining gays
The Presbytery of Cincinnati's Permanent Judicial Commission
has given the Rev. A. Stephen Van Kuiken a slap on the wrist after a trial in
which the presbytery's investigating committee accused him of two violations of
the Presbyterian Church (USA) Constitution.
April 21, 2003
Report wants PCUSA to affirm 'diverse families,' gay
couples
The 215th General Assembly will consider a document that could spawn sweeping changes in how the denomination views and provides resources for "diverse families." By diverse, the proposal by the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy would include single-parent families and homosexual couples and their adopted children as acceptable examples of God's purpose for families.
April 15, 2003
Minister defies church law again in 'marriage'
ceremony
The November Web newsletter of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church says the church's pastor, the Rev. A. Stephen Van Kuiken, along with the Rev. Judy McBridge, conducted a "marriage" ceremony Oct. 12 for a lesbian couple in violation of church law.
November 12, 2002
Commissioners spurn marriage amendment
A marriage is a marriage is a marriage .? Not necessarily, says the 214th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), which voted Friday against a statement about marriage that is essentially the same as what Presbyterians say in their Book Of Order.
June 23, 2002
Congregation reports 'marriage' of gay couple despite
prohibition
Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church, a congregation whose leaders have declared publicly that they have defied and will defy the "fidelity/chastity" ordination standard of the Presbyterian Church (USA), has repudiated PCUSA rules in another matter.
February 12, 2002
Session votes to allow pastor to conduct same-sex
unions
The session of a Presbyterian congregation has interpreted the national vote on same-sex unions in the Presbyterian Church (USA) as a green light to begin conducting the ceremonies. But even if the results of the referendum had turned out otherwise, the Rev. Thomas Schmid, pastor of Falls Church Presbyterian Church in Virginia, said he was prepared to be "ecclesiastically disobedient" and conduct services to bless homosexual couples.
May 21, 2001
Amendment O, which would prohibit Presbyterian Church (USA) ministers from conducting same-sex unions, has been defeated in a referendum among the denomination's 173 presbyteries. "No" votes on March 13 by four presbyteries New Brunswick, Utica, Pacific and Cincinnati ran the unofficial tally to 87-63 against the amendment.
March 14, 2001
Stated Clerk's office shows bias against Amendment O
An official document of the Office of the General Assembly, which is under the direction of Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, includes an evaluation of Amendment O that focuses on reasons to oppose the constitutional amendment.
December 29, 2000
General Assembly asks presbyteries to prohibit same-sex union ceremonies
In a vote preceded by silent and spoken prayers and the spontaneous, hushed singing of Spirit of the Living God, Fall Afresh on Me, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) recommended that the denomination prohibit ministers from conducting same-sex unions.
July 1, 2000
Language in same-sex decision does not compel compliance
In language that reads more like a recommendation than a requirement, the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly has added an ambiguous approval to the conducting of same-sex rites by ministers in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
May 26, 2000
Same-sex rites termed euphemism for marriage
With their lead counsel, attorney Julius "Jay" Poppinga, sidelined because of medical problems that began just hours before the hearing, members of a committee of counsel attacked same-sex "holy unions" as violations of the church law and euphemism for marriage.
May 22, 2000
Minister describes rites used in same-sex unions
Exactly what does happen at a same-sex union ceremony, the court asked. William Wersenbach, a Presbyterian minister and a member of the Committee of Counsel for the Hudson River Presbytery, took the witness stand and told the members of the General Assembly's Permanent Judicial Commission about services he had conducted.
May 22, 2000
Gays say Presbyterian pastor 'married' them during ceremony
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported May 8 that two men said they were "married" to each other at Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati. But the pastor of the church, the Rev. Steve Van Kueken, told The Layman Online that "marriage" was not the word he used when he conducted a service of "holy union" for the two men, Jack Harrison and Paul Brownell.
May 10, 2000
Appeal to highest PCUSA court filed in same-sex union
case
A regional court's decision that authorized ministers to conduct same-sex unions as long as they are not considered marriages has been appealed to the highest ecclesiastical court in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
December 10, 1999
Church court says 'same-sex' rites do not violate constitution
The sessions of Presbyterian congregations may authorize their ministers to conduct so-called "holy unions" of same-sex couples and to use church property for the ceremonies as long as they are not the same as marriages, according to a ruling by a synod court.
November 22, 1999
Church court to review same-sex 'holy unions'
A long-running debate over whether Presbyterian ministers should be allowed to conduct "holy union" ceremonies for same-sex couples will be reviewed by a church court on Nov. 4 in Newark. The Permanent Judicial Commission of the Synod of the Northeast will consider a complaint against the Hudson River Presbytery which voted 105-35 in January 1999 to affirm "the freedom of any session to allow its ministers to perform ceremonies of holy union [within or outside the confines of the church's sanctuary] between persons of the same gender."
October 29, 1999
Hudson River Presbytery OKs same-sex 'holy union'
The Hudson River Presbytery, which has one of the steepest membership declines among Presbyterian Church (USA) presbyteries, has approved a recommendation to allow clergy to participate in "holy unions" of same-sex partnerships and to use church property when performing the ceremonies.
February 2, 1999
This material covers the unending battle over whether
sessions and presbyteries will ordain as they have already done men and
women in violation with the PCUSA Constitution.
GAPJC
affirms complaint against 'lesbian' ordination
The General Assembly Permanent Judicial
Commission issued an order on Oct. 16 that requires the Presbytery of Heartland
to bring to trial a complaint by one church session alleging that another
session ordained a lesbian in violation of the "fidelity/chastity"
requirement in the Book of Order.
October 19, 2006
GA says ordaining bodies can shun ban on choosing gays
as elders, deacons, ministers
The 217th General Assembly voted Tuesday afternoon to declare that ordaining bodies in the Presbyterian Church (USA) have the leeway not to comply with the constitutional prohibition against ordaining practicing homosexuals and adulterers. . [The AI] provides guidance to candidates for ordination on how they may qualify for selection and installation as deacons, elders and ministers despite sexual behavior that is constitutionally prohibited.
June 20, 2006
Synod court dismisses Heartland dispute over
ordination of elder
The Permanent Judicial Commission of the Synod of Mid-America has ruled against an accusation that the session of one of the congregations in the Heartland Presbytery violated the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s prohibition against ordaining a self-acknowledged homosexual
November 11, 2005
Hudson River Presbytery approves openly gay man for
ordination
Hudson River Presbytery has approved for ordination an openly gay man in defiance of the "fidelity/chastity" ordination standard in the Book Of Order of the Presbyterian Church (USA). At its meeting Sept. 27, the presbytery voted 88-9 to approve for ordination Ray Bagnuolo, who in the past has described himself as a "self-affirming, practicing, non-repentant homosexual."
September 30, 2005
Protest is filed after presbytery accepts lesbian
activist as member
The Presbytery of Twin Cities in Minnesota has received into its membership as a minister of the Word and Sacrament Elisabeth "Eily" Marlow, a self-described lesbian activist.
September 14, 2005
Task force proposal on ordination comes close to local
option
Insisting it was not proposing that sessions and presbyteries be granted local option on whether to ordain practicing homosexuals, the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church nonetheless has proposed a close kin. The proposed authoritative interpretation, they said, would restore a balance to the process of ordaining officers, allowing them to declare a "scruple" if they cannot in good conscience support a constitutional provision. Furthermore, it would allow a presbytery to determine whether a candidate's homosexual practice was violation of an "essential" policy.
August 25, 2005
Milwaukee Presbytery approves ordination of lesbian activist
The Presbytery of Milwaukee voted 104-20 on Feb. 22 to approve Elisabeth "Eily" Marlow, a lesbian activist, for ordination as a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). In a news release about the vote, the presbytery said Marlow had informed the presbytery "that she was a lesbian. Currently, the Presbyterian Church (USA) prohibits self-avowed, practicing homosexuals to be ordained to the offices of elder, deacon or minister of Word and Sacrament."
February 23, 2005
Church in forefront of defiance scene of ordination of gay pastor
On Sunday, in defiance of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Ray Bagnuolo was ordained as a Presbyterian minister during a service at South Presbyterian Church in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. Bagnuolo has repeatedly and publicly stated that he is a practicing homosexual and that he will not submit to G-6.016b, the "fidelity/chastity" ordination standard in the Book Of Order.
November 14, 2005
More Light 'sadomasochist' on presbytery committee
considering pulpit candidates
The attempt by the former lay moderator of the Presbytery of San Francisco to become a candidate for the ministry of Word and Sacrament has had its twists and turns, costing the presbytery an estimated $100,000 in legal fees. disclosed that one of the members of the Committee on Preparation for the Ministry is a homosexual sadomasochist.
August 17, 2004
Prayer becomes political statement on behalf of gays
Two of the denomination's most outspoken critics of the denomination's "fidelity/chastity" ordination law were accorded the opportunity Thursday to stand before the full General Assembly and lobby against the standard under the guise of offering a prayer.
July 1, 2004
Outgoing moderator again presses for the ordination of
gays, lesbians
The outgoing moderator, in her final report to the General Assembly, continues to press for the ordination of gays and lesbians despite the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s constitutional prohibition against such action.
June 24, 2004
Denied right to install one lesbian pastor in 1990,
Rochester church hires another one
Lesbian activist Pat Youngdahl has been named interim co-pastor of Downtown Presbyterian Church in Rochester, N.Y., a congregation that unsucessfully tried in 1990 to install another lesbian minister, Janie Spahr.
June 1, 2004
Covenant-allied congregation elects homosexual to become elder
The congregation of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Overland Park, Kans., a church that is affiliated with the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, has elected at least one prospective elder who is openly living in a homosexual relationship. the Rev. J. Dicks McKell, informed the members that the person elected could be challenged in church courts if the session approves the candidate and schedules her installation.
May 26, 2004
Group on West Coast affirms standard for ordination; East Coast group ignores it
Just days after a presbytery committee on the West Coast rejected a lesbian's request to be certified ready for ministry, a presbytery committee on the East Coast declared that a gay man was ready "in all respects to seek a call to ordained ministry." The cases involve Lisa Larges in the Presbytery of San Francisco and Ray Bagnuolo in the Presbytery of Hudson River.
April 30, 2004
East African churches sever ties with PCUSA presbytery
The unwillingness of Presbyterian Church (USA) leaders to rein in presbyteries and sessions that are violating the PCUSA's constitutional prohibition against ordaining practicing homosexuals has begun to have global consequences. The Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) has ordered one of its presbyteries immediately to discontinue its partnership with National Capital Presbytery and has informed the PCUSA that it will not continue fellowship with any church that supports homosexuality.
April 29, 2004
Episcopal champion of homosexual causes is member of
General Assembly Council
Bishop Douglas E. Theuner, who retired as the leader of the Diocese of New Hampshire of the Episcopal Church USA and was replaced by V. Gene Robinson, is a ecumenical advisory member of the PCUSA's General Assembly Council.
March 12, 2004
Noted gay activist will preach at PCUSA worship service
Chris Glaser of Atlanta, a gay activist who has long been a leader in the movement to allow the ordination of practicing homosexuals and adulterers in the Presbyterian Church (USA), will be one of the preachers during the denomination's official worship services at the 216th General Assembly. General Assembly Moderator Susan R. Andrews selected Glaser and the other preachers
February 27, 2004
Presbyterians enforced ordination law when it applied
to women
The Presbyterian Church (USA) has been far less tolerant of ministers who expressed their Biblical reasons for opposing the ordination of women than it is toward those today who actually defy church law by ordaining practicing homosexuals. In fact, a number of ministers were forced out of the denomination or denied calls to congregations because they dared to state their opposition to the ordination of women, even though they found some basis for their dissent in Scripture.
January 7, 2004
Called synod council meeting seeks review of case
involving gay pastor
The council of the Synod of Mid-Atlantic has called a special meeting on Dec. 18 to talk about possible further action in the case of the Rev. Donald Stroud, who acknowledges that he is a practicing homosexual. The synod council will reconsider the report of its own administrative review committee. The review panel claimed that the Baltimore Presbytery and its investigating committee met constitutional requirements in concluding that there was no reason to bring Stroud to trial because of his defiance of church law.
December 5, 2003
Hudson River to take no action against ministers
accused of gay ordination, same-sex marriages
The Presbytery of Hudson River is accepting a committee's report that no action be taken against two ministers accused of conducting same-sex "marriages" and ordaining lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people as deacons and elders.
September 24, 2003
Boston Presbytery may be first to ordain man who
became female
The Presbytery of Boston's Committee on the Preparation for the Ministry has accepted a Presbyterian who underwent gender-change surgery to become a woman as a candidate for ordination as a minister of Word and sacrament Herwig would be the first transgendered person in the Presbyterian Church (USA) to be ordained after declaring that he was surgically altered to change his gender.
August 21, 2003
Moderator using her position to lobby for gay
ordination
General Assembly Moderator Susan R. Andrews is using her office to lobby for the ordination of homosexuals, bisexuals and transgendered people in the Presbyterian Church (USA). on July 28, Andrews again called for "full inclusion" of "GLBT" (gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people) in the Presbyterian Church (USA), according to a report by Erin Swenson, a transgendered Presbyterian minister whose previous name was Eric.
July 30, 2003
Former moderator to renew attack on gay-ordination ban
Jack B. Rogers, moderator of the 213th General Assembly (2001) of the Presbyterian Church (USA), has gained another platform to continue telling Presbyterians that they ought to ordain practicing homosexuals. Rogers will deliver the keynote address "Why I Changed My Mind on Homosexuality" at the Covenant Network's Northwest Regional Conference in Seattle on Oct. 11.
July 29, 2003
Transgendered minister addressed YADs, Theological Task
Force
Erin Swenson, the transgendered Presbyterian minister, has called the 215th General Assembly "the assembly where transgender Presbyterians really made their denominational debut." She said that "perhaps the best occurred on Tuesday evening, when I was invited to address the Youth Advisory Delegates (YADs) to tell them about a new organization devoted to educate and advocate for the full inclusion of gender-different/transgressive people in the PCUSA."
June 25, 2003
Letter reveals investigating panel sought leniency for
Van Kuiken
Nearly three months before the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of Cincinnati rebuked the Rev. A. Stephen Van Kuiken for breaking church law, the presbytery's investigating committee urged the court to go easy on the minister the investigating committee expressed its sympathy for Van Kuiken and outlined a defense for his actions.
May 21, 2003
General Assembly Bible study has pro-gay ordination
script
The questions above are some of those included among "Questions for Reflection" at the end of each session of the 215th General Assembly Bible Study, "A House of Prayer for all Peoples." The Bible study, produced by the Office of the General Assembly, is based on Isaiah 56 and closely follows the themes of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender lobby in the PCUSA, including the buzz words of hospitality, justice and inclusion/exclusion.
May 7, 2003
Mount Auburn again issues statement of defiance
Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, whose leaders have declared their defiance of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA) for the past 12 years, again has issued a statement of defiance against the ordination standards of the denomination.
April 3, 2003
Similar cases: one dismissed, trial ordered in the
other
In what may be viewed as similar cases one involving the ordination of a self-acknowledged, practicing lesbian as a Presbyterian minister, and the other the installation of a homosexual man as a church elder the Permanent