Another presbytery considers overture seeking to remove 'fidelity and chastity' standard The Layman Online Friday, October 3, 2003 The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area in Minnesota may soon consider a proposed overture to remove G-6.0106b – the "fidelity/chastity" ordination standard – from the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA). One presbytery, Baltimore, already has approved a similar overture. The next scheduled meeting of the Twin Cities presbytery is Nov. 11 at Korean Presbyterian Church of Minnesota in Brooklyn Center. If the proposal by the session of St. Luke Church in Wayzata, Minn., is approved, the overture will go to the 216th General Assembly in Richmond. Besides seeking the removal of G-6.0106b, the proposed overture seeks to revoke all previous authoritative interpretations on the issue and to amend the constitution to provide a "local option" that would allow congregations and presbyteries to ordain self-affirming, practicing adulterers and homosexuals. In January, Twin Cities rejected a similar proposal from St. Luke Church, despite it being recommended by the presbytery's bills and overture committee for approval and transmission to the 215th General Assembly in Denver. Instead of voting up or down on that proposed overture, the presbytery voted to take no action. The Rev. Dr. Tim Hart-Andersen, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, who made the motion to take no action, said this "was the same proposal that was defeated in the presbyteries just two years ago [and] it would be futile to put forward the same thing again," according to a report on the Web site of the Witherspoon Society. He also argued "that any such overture would place G-6.0106b back on the Assembly's agenda, and would open the way for supporters of the ban on ordination to amend that provision in such a way that it would 'stand up in court' better than the current vague wording has done in recent judicial cases.' In 2001, the 213th General Assembly approved an identical overture with an accompanying statement that invalidated all previous guidance on the issue of ordaining self-affirming, practicing homosexuals. But, by a 3-1 margin, presbyteries voted against removing the ordination ban. In the first part of its three-part action, the assembly voted to delete G-6.0106b, "Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice with the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of Word and Sacrament." Second, the assembly proposed its own authoritative interpretation of the constitution, which was invalidated because it was contingent upon the removal of G-6.0106b: "Interpretive statements concerning ordaining service by homosexual persons by the 190th General Assembly (1978) of The United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America and the 119th General Assembly (1979) of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, and all subsequent denominational affirmations thereof, shall be given no further force or effect; and Section G-6.0106a of the Form of Government, together with the other prerequisites for ordination expressly stated in our Book of Order, hereby are affirmed as the sole and exclusive standards for ordination by ordaining bodies acting in prayerful discernment of the leading of Almighty God." Finally, it voted to add to G-6.0106a, which speaks of those called to ordained office, the sentence, "Their suitability to hold office is determined by the governing body where the examination for ordination or installation takes place, guided by scriptural and constitution standards, under the authority and Lordship of Jesus Christ." That proposal also was invalidated by the 3-1 vote in the referendum. In making its proposals, the assembly concurred with the action of its Ordination Standards committee, which approved the action by a 31-25 vote. The proposed St. Luke Church amendment, if approved by the presbytery and the 216th General Assembly, must be approved by a majority of the presbyteries before becoming part of the Book of Order. The new authoritative interpretation will not take effect unless the proposed amendments are approved. In 1996-97, the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area overwhelmingly voted against (71-194) Amendment B, which became G-6.0106b in the denomination's constitution. In 1997-98, the presbytery overwhelmingly voted for (188-65) Amendment A, which would have removed G-6.0106b from the constitution. In 2000-2001, the presbytery overwhelmingly voted against (80-168) Amendment O, which would have prohibited Presbyterian ministers from conducting so-called "same-sex" unions. In 2001-2002, the presbytery overwhelmingly voted (197-112) for Amendment A, which also sought to remove G-6.0106b from the constitution. The "local option" approach proposed in regard to G-6.0106a would move the PCUSA away from its connectional heritage by allowing sessions and presbyteries to establish their own ordination standards. In the past, the Advisory Committee on the Constitution, which is required to comment on all proposed changes to the Book of Order, has said that such proposals "do not … accomplish the purpose of the presbyteries who have proposed these overtures. The concept of 'waiver' is inconsistent with other sections of Chapter VI, and the vows as they appear in Chapter XIV." During the 213th General Assembly, Mark Tammen, director of constitutional services for the PCUSA, told commissioners that the first time the issue of homosexuality came before the General Assembly was in 1970, when a task force described the practice of homosexuality as a sin. In 1978, the northern stream of the Presbyterian Church issued a statement that is the standard for ordination and sexuality today: persons who are unrepentant of homosexual practice are not eligible for ordination. The southern stream of the Presbyterian Church adopted virtually identical language in 1979. Tammen said the term "Definitive Guidance" first was used in a 1985 judicial case to describe the 1978-79 standard. A string of judicial cases that followed essentially affirmed that standard. "In 1996, we made a change not in the standard but in the vehicle," Tammen said. The Albuquerque assembly added section b to G-6.106 and sent it down to the presbyteries, where it was approved. "That did not change the standard, but it did add it to our constitution. That's still the standard of this church." Marianne Wolfe, who chairs the denomination's Advisory Committee on the Constitution, told commissioners that "the ACC has observed several times and observes again that the deletion of G-6.0106b will be insufficient to effect the change sought by some in the church. You can take that away, but there is a prior authoritative interpretation, namely 1978, that says you cannot ordain."

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