 Panel approves overture making it more difficult to call special G.A. The Layman Online Wednesday, May 28, 2003
The Committee on General Assembly Procedures voted 50-5 on May 27 to approve an overture from the Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery that seeks to change the current petition requirement from at least 25 minister delegates and 25 elder delegates to at least 25 percent of that General Assembly's minister delegates and 25 percent of its elder delegates. A commissioner's resolution asking the Office of the General Assembly to draft recommended amendments to the standing rules to clarify the procedures for calling a special meeting was approved by a 54-1vote. The overture was in response a petition drive earlier this year to call the 214th General Assembly into special session to consider constitutional issues. After nearly two weeks of exerting pressure on commissioners to change their minds, Moderator Fahed Abu-Akel told a press conference in Louisville on Jan. 27 that the petition to force the called meeting did not include enough signatures and Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick said "no further petitions are in order." When presented to the moderator on Jan. 14 by Dr. Alexander F. Metherell of Laguna Beach, Calif., the petition included 57 signatures – more than the number required to ensure, as the Book of Order says, that the moderator "shall" call the meeting. The clerk's office eliminated the names of six ministers and seven elders, saying that they had changed their minds. He ignored the later signatures of two ministers, who, in reaction to attempts to torpedo the called meeting, joined the original 57. The full text of the overture is as follows: "Shall the current G-13.0104 be amended as follows: (items to be deleted appear with an underline, items to be inserted appear in italics between brackets) "The General Assembly shall hold a stated meeting at least biennially. The Moderator shall call a special meeting at the request or with the concurrence of twenty five elders [at least one fourth of the elder commissioners] and twenty-five ministers, [one fourth of the minister commissioners to the last preceding stated meeting of the General Assembly] representing at least fifteen presbyteries, under the jurisdiction of at least five synods, all of whom must have been commissioners to the last preceding stated meeting of the General Assembly. Should the Moderator be unable to act, the Stated Clerk shall, under the same conditions, issue the call. If both the Moderator and the Stated Clerk are unable to act, the most recent Moderator shall, under the same conditions, issue the call. Commissioners to the special meeting shall be the commissioners elected to the last preceding stated meeting of the General Assembly or their alternates. A presbytery may, however, elect a commissioner or alternate instead of one who has died or changed presbytery membership. Notice of a special meeting shall be sent not less than sixty days in advance to each commissioner elected to the last preceding stated meeting of the General Assembly and to the stated clerk of each presbytery. The notice shall set out the purpose of the meeting and no other business than that listed in the notice shall be transacted. "A quorum of the General Assembly shall be one hundred commissioners, fifty of whom shall be elders and fifty of whom shall be ministers, representing presbyteries of at least one fourth of its synods. Rationale "The current Constitutional requirement of 25 minister and 25 elder commissioners to the previous Assembly, is in fact less than ten percent of the commissioners who are elected and present under the current rules of representation. Consequently the current provisions for a called meeting could allow a minority of less than ten percent of elected commissioners to require the reconvening of the Assembly for consideration, reconsideration, or action on any matter it deemed important. "The General Assembly has acted to begin meeting Biennially in 2004, and The Office of the Assembly has indicated that it may recommend an increase in the number of elected commissioners. If this does occur the current G-13.0104 will allow an even smaller minority to require the reconvening of the Assembly for any issue or agenda. Additionally, during the time of transition from annual to biennial Assemblies, there may be a great temptation to conclude that called meetings are necessary for items which may appear urgent in the heat of the moment, but which can be dealt with through prudent and diligent attention to standard process in the polity of the Church. "The financial, cost of a called meeting of the General Assembly is significant, requiring funds that would otherwise be used for mission, congregational services and support. Prudent stewardship of resources requires us to place reasonable limits and requirements for called meetings of the whole Assembly. "While it is important to provide the church with the flexibility to respond to issues which a substantial portion of its representatives may believe amount to a crisis requiring immediate action and it is also important to provide reasonable protections and recourse to minorities within the church; "It is equally important to provide protection to an overwhelming majority of the church from the dedicated zeal of a small minority. Our Historic principles of Church Government make it clear that "a representation of the whole should govern and determine in regard to every part, and to all the parts united: that is that a majority shall govern; and consequently that appeals may be carried from lower to higher governing bodies, till they be finally decided by the collective wisdom and the united voice of the whole Church. For these principles and this procedure, the example of the apostles and the practice of the primitive Church are considered as authority" (G-1.0400). "The stability unity and peace of the church require that decisions made or accepted by a significant majority be allowed to stand until such time as they may be amended through the normal and standard legislative and judicial processes provided by the constitution. "If small but dedicated minorities within the Church may require the entire Assembly to dedicate called meetings to minority agendas, then the principle of government of the majority, and the stability of the church may be at risk." |
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