Covenant-allied congregation elects homosexual to become elder By John H. Adams The Layman Online Wednesday, May 26, 2004 The congregation of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Overland Park, Kans., a church that is affiliated with the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, has elected at least one prospective elder who is openly living in a homosexual relationship. Rev. J. Dicks McKell When the election was held recently, the congregation's pastor, the Rev. J. Dicks McKell, informed the members that the person elected could be challenged in church courts if the session approves the candidate and schedules her installation. But in an interview with The Layman Online Wednesday, McKell was vague about the issue and precisely what he said after the church's members elected eight persons to serve on the session. "There is potential that one or more of these nominees referred to do not comply with all of what the confessions call sin," McKell told The Layman Online. But, he added, "We have not talked with any of these" regarding their sexual behavior. Personally, McKell favors the ordination of practicing homosexuals. He said he did not understand how the question had become such a major issue. McKell said the candidates for the session are currently undergoing training. Before being ordained and/or installed as new elders, they must also be examined and approved by the session. Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Overland Park, Kan. While the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA) gives the members of a local church the "inalienable right" to elect their officers, it also specifically prohibits the session from approving the ordination and installation of practicing, self-affirming homosexuals or adulterers. There is no provision for judicial complaints challenging how a congregation's members vote during its election of officers. However, judicial complaints have been filed against sessions that approved the ordination and installation of Presbyterians, albeit duly elected, who are openly defying the denomination's ordination law. In his reference to the possibility that one or more of the people elected by the Grace Covenant members are not in full compliance with the confessions, McKell was using the broader language of G-6.0106b, the "fidelity/chastity" clause in the Book of Order. 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 (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament. The Covenant Network has argued that the denomination ignores other prohibitions in the confessions – such as usury (bankers) – and singles out homosexuals. Grace Covenant is a 850-member congregation and one of 324 churches affiliated with the Covenant Network.

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