 Assembly requires no compliance to constitution By Paula R. Kincaid The Layman Online Monday, June 24, 2002
A minority report supporting the overture was submitted to the assembly, rewritten by the assembly and then defeated by a vote of 157 for and 349 against, or 69 percent of the commissioners. The motion to disapprove the overture passed by a vote of 77 percent of the commissioners. The vice moderator of the Committee on Polity, the Rev. Thomas Are Jr., told commissioners the "window through which the overture and minority report comes to us is through Standing Rule G.2.g. It stands in conflict with the Rules of Discipline [in the Book of Order] … We have engaged in no trial in this assembly. We can't comment on compliance that is not before us." Are said permanent judicial commissions, the ecclesiastical courts of the Presbyterian Church (USA), can issue orders. "PJCs do not enforce compliances. When governing bodies stand in non-compliance, the constitution requires us to respond pastorally. … The minority report asks us to declare that pastoral care no longer works." Elder John Somerville Jr. of Lake Michigan Presbytery presented the minority report, urging commissioners to vote for the report for "what it accomplishes." Somerville said the minority report respects the work of the General Assembly's Permanent Judicial Commission. When the judicial commission renders a decision, he said, the decision is an authoritative interpretation and that decision applies to the whole church. "The GA PJC deserves the support of the full assembly," he said. The rewritten minority report recognized that the Presbytery of North New England is making "significant progress" toward compliance with the church court's order in Session of Londonderry Presbyterian Church, et al. v. Presbytery of Northern New England, and hoped that the presbytery's model would become a model for others in the PCUSA. The minority report also recognized that:
Are said, "We have not as a body deliberated on judicial matters and issues of compliance" and that "due process is the reason that we haven't." Mark Tammen of the stated clerk's office said that, in the research done by his office, since the denomination has come into being, "no General Assembly has been asked or ever tried to implement" the standing rule cited in the overture or made the decision that was asked for in the overture. During debate, the Rev. Jane Johnson of the Presbytery of Pittsburgh said "We have heard a lot about love and grace, but God's expression of love to us does not leave us unaccountable. … Even Jesus said if you love me keep my commandments. … Why have a constitution if we will not be governed by it?" Elder William Leonard of the Presbytery of Philadelphia said the original overture from Shenango Presbytery and this minority report "still asks you as General Assembly commissioners to speak out on a matter that is essentially a judicial matter. It continues to be a judicial matter and it is not for this assembly or anyone else to speak out beyond the words of the decision itself." Speaking for the Presbytery of Northern New England, the Rev. Carl Hilton-VanOsdall encouraged commissioners to vote against the minority report, no matter how pastoral it sounded, saying that "anything that comes back to our presbytery speaking to this from Shenango continues to come from the nonconcilatory terms the original came from." The Rev. Karl E. McDonald of the Presbytery of Pittsburgh wanted to be "perfectly clear" about the issue. "It is about covenant life and constitutional integrity. We are talking about our polity and how we relate and account to one another. … If not now, when; if not us, who? … If you believe in covenant life, if you believe in the integrity of the constitution, please support the minority report." The Rev. Julie Adkins of the Presbytery of Grace was a member of the committee that recommended disapproval of the overture. She said the answer to "Who?" was the PJC, and that while she appreciated the pastoral approach of the minority report, "it is still not our business." Her analogy: "It is kind of like the Supreme Court electing the president of the United States. Whether you agree with the result or not, the process stank." The Rev. Donald Hoagland of the Presbytery of Shenango said he wanted "to assure the General Assembly of the good motivation of Shenango Presbytery." He said the presbytery was "not intending to butt into someone's business, nor are we attempting to put duties on the stated clerk other than those stated in the standing rules." Rather, because of the connectional nature of the church, Hoagland said the presbytery wanted to resolve the controversy by relying on the General Assembly's "standing rules to let this body express its opinion that orders of the GA PJC must be upheld." He added that a General Assembly statement on the matter "would go a long way to help keep further judicial cases out of Permanent Judicial Commissions." The original overture The original overture addressed Session of Londonderry Presbyterian Church, et al. v. Presbytery of Northern New England, when the General Assembly's Permanent Judicial Commission declared that Christ Church's dissent "exceeds the constitutional bounds of freedom of conscience and therefore requires a response on the part of the governing body exercising oversight." The court ordered the Presbytery of Northern New England "to work pastorally with the Session of Christ Church to assist it in fulfilling its obligation to comply with the Constitution." After the overture was submitted, and mere weeks before the General Assembly convened, the session of Christ Church "set aside" its resolution of noncompliance. The session's statement, dated June 2, 2002 -- two years after the court's ruling -- read: "The Session of Christ Church, Presbyterian unanimously passed the following statement today. 'We have been engaged in a continuing process of congregational discernment in light of the GAPJC decision in Londonderry Presbyterian Church vs. Presbytery of Northern New England, the help we have received from the Pastoral Committee established by the Presbytery pursuant to this decision, and recent PJC decisions interpreting and applying G-6.0106b. The Session of Christ Church, Presbyterian, grateful for new opportunities for creative witness on an issue it cares deeply about, hereby sets aside our Resolution of April 20, 1997, and the Report of June 18, 1998, so that we can clarify and strengthen our statement of present conviction.'" The statement was signed by David Boedy, clerk of session. Despite its recent statement, the church's Website still says, "We welcome all persons. regardless of sexual orientation, into full participation in the life, membership, and leadership of this church, and strive, as part of the Body of Christ, to reach out in ministry to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people both within and outside of our congregation." |
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