 G.A. directs Washington Office director to stop lobbying against Federal Marriage Amendment By Paula R. Kincaid The Layman Online Friday, July 2, 2004
The commissioners approved the following statement proposed by the National Issues Committee on Thursday night,: "Nothing the 216th General Assembly (2004) has said or acted upon is to be construed to state or imply a position for or against the Federal Marriage Amendment. General Assembly entities shall not advocate for or against the Federal Marriage Amendment."The original resolution called on the stated clerk, the Washington Office and all governing bodies and church members to communicate to Congress: 1. The historic and continuing support of the Presbyterian Church (USA) for the institution of marriage, defined as "a civil contract between a woman and a man" (Book of Order, W-4.9001). 2. The desire of the church to see that definition safeguarded in civil law by all appropriate means, including the Federal Marriage Amendment now proposed in Congress.The Rev. Deborah DeBoer of Northern New York Presbytery spoke against the committee's motion, saying, "We have already signed on to communications with other denominations against the Federal Marriage Amendment." A motion was made to strike the last sentence of the committee's statement, but it failed. Giddings Ivory said that, in March and June, a letter was released by about 19 different religious communities because, "as it was understood by those of us looking at it, that it [the proposed marriage amendment] would deny the civil rights of gays and lesbians." In addressing the General Assembly, Giddings Ivory mentioned only two of the 19 organizations – "Baptists" and "Episcopalians." Although many commissioners did not know what she meant by "Baptists," she was not speaking about Southern Baptists, the 20 million-member denomination that upholds traditional marriage between a man a woman. Also, she did not mention that several of the 19 are non-Christian bodies. The result of the General Assembly's ban on lobbying would be that, "We would be removed from that letter," Giddings Ivory told the commissioners. She also did not tell commissioners that she had erroneously stated in a press conference that the church supported same-sex marriages, a claim that Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick later discreetly corrected with a statement saying what the PCUSA's constitution says about marriage. |
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