Washington Office publishes revised version of paper, deletes portion urging defeat of Marriage Amendment By Craig M. Kibler The Layman Online Tuesday, September 28, 2004 The Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (USA), without offering any explanation, has published a revised version of a paper that now correctly follows the instructions of the 216th General Assembly regarding lobbying against the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment. The new paper is part of an "Election Year Packet" called "Christian and Citizen," compiled by eight denominational agencies and edited by the Washington Office, that was widely disseminated in the denomination. It replaces a paper that was removed from the Washington Office's Web site Friday after The Layman Online reported Thursday that portions of the section titled "Personal Reflection and Group Study Guide" directly violated the instructions of the 216th General Assembly regarding lobbying against the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment. Commissioners, who met June 26-July 3 in Richmond, instructed all agencies to cease lobbying against the amendment, approving a statement that read: "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." In the original paper, from which The Layman Online quoted extensively and provided a link to in its report, the agencies urged "Congress to reject any proposed amendment to the federal Constitution that would prohibit the marriage of same-gender persons," saying that this was the action of the 216th General Assembly. In the revised version of the paper posted Tuesday on the Washington Office's Web site, this paragraph has been deleted. The agencies responsible for the packet are the Advisory Committee On Social Witness Policy, the Office of the Stated Clerk, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, the Racial Justice Policy Development Office, Social Justice Ministries, the Washington Office and the Women's Advocacy Office. In another story, The Layman Online reported that the same section called civil rights for same-gender couples "marriage" – substituting that word for "civil union" throughout the statement and deleting a paragraph affirming the denomination's "historic definition of the meaning of marriage as a civil contract between a woman and a man" – in contravention of the PCUSA's Constitution and directly violating the instructions of the 216th General Assembly. Commissioners to the 216th General Assembly approved a statement that reads: "The 216th General Assembly (2004) does the following: Offers prayerful thanks for the Scriptures informing us that all persons are created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). Affirms the PCUSA historic definition of the meaning of marriage as a civil contract between a woman and a man' (W-4.9001, as quoted in a resolution of the 208th General Assembly (1996), Minutes, 1996, Part 1, p. 122) Declares that all persons are entitled to equal treatment under the law (Constitution of the United States of America); therefore Urges state legislations to change state laws to include the right of same-gender persons to civil union and, thereby, to extend to them all the benefits, privileges, and responsibilities of civil union, and urges all persons to support such changes in state laws. Urges the Congress of the United States of America to recognize those state laws that allow same-gender union and to change federal laws to recognize all civil unions licensed and solemnized under state law to apply in all federal laws that provide benefits, privileges, and/or responsibilities to married persons." This statement was recommended by the General Assembly commissioners' Committee on National Issues to the full General Assembly, which approved it with an amendment incorporating the denomination's historic definition of marriage (bullet item #2). Earlier, the committee had rejected a proposed resolution that called on commissioners to "Recognize Civil Marriage for Same-Gender Couples." This rejected resolution, however, was included in the original version of the section titled "Personal Reflection and Group Study Guide" prepared by the Washington Office as representing the action of the 216th General Assembly. In the revised version of the paper posted Tuesday on the Washington Office's Web site, the original wording of the statement approved by 216th General Assembly's has been restored.

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