General Assembly ducks role in enforcing constitution By John H. Adams The Layman Online Monday, June 2, 2003 215th General Assembly Denver, Colo. May 24-31, 2003 General Assembly news index DENVER – Any possible role that the highest governing body in the Presbyterian Church (USA) might play in the enforcement of the denomination's constitution was virtually eliminated by a series of actions that the commissioners took during the 215th General Assembly. They refused to take oversight of cases in which lowering governing bodies – sessions and/or presbyteries – are defying church law by ordaining avowed and practicing homosexuals, "marrying" same-gender couples, serving communion to non-Christians and violating other constitutional and Biblical mandates. The key actions included: 1. Voting to delete G.2.g from the Standing Rules of the General Assembly. That rule says, in part: "If the General Assembly deems such compliance [with an order of the General Assembly's Permanent Judicial Commission] inadequate, the assembly may make such further order or orders as it deems necessary to ensure compliance, and may consult with the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission before issuing further orders." 2. Calling on presbyteries to more than quadruple (starting in 2006) the number of commissioners required to force the moderator to call a special meeting of the General Assembly to deal with such issues as a constitutional crisis. 3. Rather than approve any roadblocks to continued constitutional defiance by sessions, pastors and presbyteries, the commissioners directed Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick to send another kinder/gentler pastoral letter to the church. The letter includes, "Though the assembly itself is not in a position to make substantive judgment about these concerns, many of which are or have been the focus of judicial cases or administrative proceedings, the assembly is eager to do all it can to create a climate of trust, order and fair treatment for all parties …" 4. Voting against an overture that would have invalidated the decision by the 214th General Assembly to begin, in 2006, holding meetings of the governing body biennially. That means that any proposal to respond to constitutional defiance could be considered only every other year, which could exacerbate the increasing membership decline. It was announced at the outset of the 215th General Assembly that the membership loss in 2002 – a year of constitutional turmoil – was 41,000, or 1.64 percent. That was the highest percentage loss since the Presbyterian Church (USA) was organized in 1983 through the merger of the Northern and Southern branches of the mainline denomination. Standing Rule G.2.g Rule G.2.g was the gateway for commissioners who signed petitions to call the 214th General Assembly back into session. The rule never drew much attention until those commissioners considered it their duty to deal with church lawbreakers at the highest level in the denomination. After the petitions nearly succeeded, the Advisory Committee on the Constitution, which works closely with Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, declared that the rule "does not provide due process and conflicts with the role of the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission." It was the ACC's request – not an overture – that called on the General Assembly to declare the rule null and void. "I urge you not to throw that power away," argued Tom Hobson of the Presbytery of Southeast Illinois. "It is assumed that members and officers will abide by lawful orders. But we all know that this is being proved wrong." Margie Boyd of the Presbytery of Salem, moderator of the General Assembly Committee on Church Polity, presented the committee's request to scuttle rule G.2.g. She followed the argument of Kirkpatrick's office and the Advisory Committee on the Constitution by declaring that the denomination has "no police force, no enforcers, no prisons." By a show of hands, and with virtually no other debate, the commissioners scuttled the standing rule. Called special assemblies Currently, the Book of Order requires the moderator to call the General Assembly back into session upon the "request or concurrence" of 50 commissioners – 25 elders and 25 ministers. That number represents 18.2 percent of the 548 commissioners who were registered for the 215th General Assembly. The proposed amendment will require that at least one-fourth of the commissioners petition for the called meeting. With the number of commissioners being increased to 840 when the denomination begins holding biennial meetings in 2006, the number of required requesters will increase to 210 – 105 elders and 105 ministers. In effect, the General Assembly essentially prevented a recurrence of what happened earlier this year when the constitutional requirements – 25 elders and 25 ministers – were exceeded in a petition that required Fahed Abu-Akel, moderator of the 214th General Assembly, to call the commissioners back into session for consideration of disciplinary issues. Abu-Akel and Kirkpatrick managed, however, to invalidate that petition. Abu-Akel lobbied against it and Kirkpatrick's Office of the General Assembly deleted bona fide signatures after Abu-Akel had "implored in the name of Christ" signers to change their minds. The General Assembly's Permanent Judicial Commission upheld the invalidation of the petition, but reprimanded Abu-Akel. It did not reprimand Kirkpatrick. Pastoral letter The pastoral letter, which was a response to an overture from the Presbytery of Redstone in Pennsylvania, did not condemn even the most flagrant violations of the constitution, such as: The ordination of Katie Morrison by the Presbytery of Redwoods in California after she had publicly announced that she is a practicing lesbian. The refusal of the Presbytery of Baltimore to bring to trial a disciplinary case against the Rev. Don Stroud, who also has publicly announced that he is a practicing homosexual. The defiance of court orders in the case of the Rev. A. Stephen Van Kuiken of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, who has continued to "marry" same-gender couples. The declaration by Christ Church, Presbyterian in Burlington, Vt., which insists that it can still elect and install practicing homosexuals as elders and deacons despite orders by the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission not to do so. The public declarations by 13 congregations in the Presbytery of Hudson River that they will continue to elect and install practicing homosexuals as church officers and "marry" same-gender couples. Rather than calling for specific enforcement, the pastoral letter promised "resources, training, advisory opinions on the Constitution, and other assistance for synods and presbyteries as they carry out their responsibilities for administrative and judicial oversight and correction." There was little debate on the pastoral letter. Arguing for a minority report that failed, the Rev. Duwayne Hintz of the Presbytery of Wabash Valley said: "People say a pastoral approach is best … and it is. But when it doesn't work, you need something else. A lot of people are afraid of the word discipline. But it comes from the word disciple. We need guidelines along with pastoral care." But the view of Sharon Williams of the Presbytery of Hudson River prevailed. "We have the tools we need to hold one another accountable with love," she said. The vote was 366-124 to approve the pastoral letter. Biennial assemblies The vote to affirm biennial assemblies was close – 285 to 230 (55 percent to 44 percent). Jack Rogers, moderator of the 213th General Assembly, suggested that a reason for biennial general assemblies was that annual meetings posed a heavy travel burden for moderators. In fact, though, many of the moderators' junkets have been global – such as Moderator Fahed Abu-Akel's junkets to Israel, the Sudan and other nations. The General Assembly rejected arguments such as that by Hillary Livingston of the Presbytery of Huntington, who is pastor of three small congregations in central Pennsylvania. She said her churches feel disconnected from the national church. "Annual assemblies foster more participation in our church … and preserve the opportunity for all churches large and small to participate in our representative form of government. Moving to biennial assemblies means many of our best and brightest will not be able to serve the church."

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