 Presbytery wants to render ordination law meaningless By John H. Adams The Layman Online Tuesday, October 7, 2003 The Presbytery of Western New York has sent an overture to the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) that would render the constitutional standard forbidding the ordination of active homosexuals meaningless.
As it now stands, the church law says officers must live in fidelity within the "covenant of marriage between a man and a woman" and in chastity if they are single. The overture would eliminate the "covenant of marriage between a man and a woman" and insert "a covenanted relationship between two persons where a lifetime commitment is intended." The current standard upholds Biblical teaching and confessional history that forbid sex outside of the marriage of a man and a woman. But the Western New York Presbytery would allow ordination of homosexuals, bisexuals and transgendered people who formed a covenant and "intended" to have a lifetime commitment. The proposal would also eliminate a reference to practices that "the confessions call sin" – substituting "does not conform with this discipline." It might be assumed that session's elders who refused to "conform with this discipline" by not approving the ordination of a homosexual officer could be subject to discipline. "[W]e do not believe it was, or is now, Christ's own desire to condemn sexual intimacy between people of the same sex as inherently bad," the overture says. "Sexual intimacy is a gift of God intended for sealing the most committed relationships which one person can have with another." "[W]e believe all people should be guided by the same principles of sexual behavior regardless of sexual orientation, summarized as chastity in singleness and fidelity in a covenanted relationship before God with one other person where a lifetime commitment is intended," it adds. The Western New York Presbytery is the second to approve an overture that would overturn the denomination's ordination standard. The Presbytery of Baltimore has called for outright repeal. The Presbytery of Twin Cities in Minnesota may soon vote on calling for repeal of G-6.0106b. The proposed amendment that became G-6.0106b was approved in 1997 by 55 percent of the PCUSA's presbyteries. In 1998, the two-thirds of the presbyteries voted to reject a change in the language of G-6.0106b, which would have had a similar affect as the Western New York Presbytery. In 2001, the presbyteries voted nearly 75 percent against outright repeal of G-6.0106b. The following is the full text of the Western New York overture: Overture 04-1. On Amending G-6.0106b Regarding Gifts and Requirements for Officers – From the Presbytery of Western New York. Whereas, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, preached a gospel of love toward all the people of the earth (John 3:16); and therefore all people should be equally welcomed in the church, remembering that it is in the spirit of Christ to reach out most of all to those who have been persecuted and shunned by society; and, Whereas, we acknowledge that passages of Scripture have led to the condemnation of sexual intimacy between two people of the same sex; yet after long and intense discussion, prayer and study of the Scriptures as a whole, we do not believe it was, or is now, Christ's own desire to condemn sexual intimacy between people of the same sex as inherently bad. Sexual intimacy is a gift of God intended for sealing the most committed relationships which one person can have with another; and, Whereas, our Lord's gospel of love was also accompanied by high standards of self-discipline that he set for his followers, even that we should love our enemies; and, Whereas, in accord with our Lord's teachings, we believe all people should be guided by the same principles of sexual behavior regardless of sexual orientation, summarized as chastity in singleness and fidelity in a covenanted relationship before God with one other person where a lifetime commitment is intended; and, Whereas, we also acknowledge that there continue to be strong differences of opinion among our members and churches over these matters, and that contrary opinions may be held in good faith with the backing of historical precedent; yet we believe Christ wants us to move forward here; therefore, be it Resolved, that the Presbytery of Western New York respectfully overtures the 216th General Assembly (2004) to direct the Stated Clerk to submit the following proposed amendment to the Book of Order, Section G-6.0106(b), to the Presbyteries for their affirmative or negative votes. REVISION OF BOOK OF ORDER SECTION 6.0106(b) Proposed Revised Text "b. 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 |
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