Committee answers
overture on deleting
sections of AI with earlier actions on G-6, AI
By Paula R.
Kincaid
The Layman
Online
Monday, June 19,
2006
217th General Assembly
Birmingham, Ala. |
BIRMINGHAM -- It took almost two hours, many motions,
amendments and two challenges of decisions made by the moderator, but
the General Assembly Committee on Church Orders decided to answer an
overture recommending deleting portions of the 1978 Authoritative
Interpretation with earlier actions they had taken on other overtures.
The committee voted 28-27 with one abstention, on Saturday, to answer
the overture from the Presbytery of Cincinnati with the recommendations
it made concerning overtures 04-01 from Heartland Presbytery and 04-05
from Stockton Presbytery.
The recommendation for 04-01 was that the assembly keep G-6.0106b in
the Book of Order and leave the authoritative interpretations
intact.
For 04-05, the committee recommended that the assembly direct the
stated clerk to send the AI to each PCUSA congregation along with a
pastoral letter "explaining the role of an authoritative
interpretation of the Constitution," and a brief study guide. The
committee recommended the use of electronic communication to save money.
The original motion was to approve the overture, which asked the
assembly to delete the following statements form the 1978 AI:
- 1. "We conclude that homosexuality is not God's wish for
humanity. This we affirm, despite the fact that some of its forms
may be deeply rooted in an individual's personality structure."
(Minutes, UPCUSA, 1979, Part I, p. 262; Minutes, PCUS, 1979, Part I,
p. 203, lines 108-110).
- 2. "In many cases homosexuality is more a sign of the
brokenness of God's world than of willful rebellion. In other cases
homosexual behavior is freely chosen or learned in environments
where normal development is thwarted.." (Minutes, UPCUSA, p.
262; Minutes, PCUS, p. 203, lines 111-114).
- 3. "Even where the homosexual orientation has not been
consciously sought or chosen, it is neither a gift from God nor a
state nor a condition like race; it is a result of our living in a
fallen world." (Minutes, UPCUSA, p. 262; Minutes, PUCS, p. 203,
lines 114-116).
- 4. "As we examine the whole framework of teaching bearing
upon our sexuality from Genesis onward, we find that homosexuality
is a contradiction of God's wise and beautiful pattern for human
sexual relationships revealed in Scripture and affirmed in God's
ongoing will for our life in the Spirit of Christ." (Minutes,
UPCUSA, p. 262; Minutes, PCUS, p. 204, lines 174-178).
- 5. "Homosexual persons who will strive toward God's revealed
will in this area of their lives, and make use of all the resources
of grace, can receive God's power to transform their desires or
arrest their active expression."(Minutes, UPCUSA, p. 263;
Minutes, PCUS, p. 205, lines 197-200).
- 6. "Yet the New Testament declares that all homosexual
practice is incompatible with Christian faith and life."
(Minutes, UPCUSA, p. 263; Minutes, PCUS, p. 206, lines 239-240).
- 7. "On the basis of our understanding that the practice of
homosexuality is sin, we are concerned that homosexual believers and
the observing world should not be left in doubt about the church's
mind on this issue during any further period of study."
(Minutes, UPCUSA, p. 264; Minutes, PCUS, p. 207, lines 324-328).
A youth advisory delegate offered a substitute motion to answer
the overture with the following statement:
- We regret any statements made by the PCUSA that have caused pain
to lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender persons and to those who
are discerning their sexual orientation, such statements have caused
them to question their sacred worth and call to Christian service in
the world. We recognize that gay, lesbian bisexual and transgender
people have served faithfully and nurtured others in the faith
across the history of the church, Baptimisal identity supersedes
sexual identity. Therefore, we made the following affirmation.
- All people are created in the image of God, and God calls each
Christian by name to a vocation in the world gifting them for their
work on behalf of the gospel. Statements that denigrate the worth,
personhood and status of people based on sexual orientation are
inconsistent with the mercy of God, the life of Jesus and the
commandment to love yourself. The PCUSA values affirms the work and
ministry of gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual persons.
Elder Robert Gagnon of Pittsburgh Presbytery challenged the
substitute motion, saying it wasn't related to the overture. He then
challenged Moderator Karen Akin's ruling that the motion was an
appropriate motion. The committee voted against her ruling.
Another substitute motion was them submitted to answer the overture
with the committee's actions on overture 04-05, and it was later amended
to add the committee's actions on 04-01, as well.
A committee member tried to amend that motion by adding the earlier
statement which was slightly amended to read:
- We recognize that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people
have served faithfully and nurtured others in the faith across the
history of the church, baptismal identity supersedes sexual
identity. Therefore, we made the following affirmation.
- All people are created in the image of God, and God calls each
Christian by name to a vocation in the world gifting them for their
work on behalf of the gospel. Statements that denigrate the worth,
personhood and status of people based on sexual orientation are
inconsistent with the mercy of God, the life of Jesus and the
commandment to love yourself. The PCUSA values gay, lesbian,
transgender and bisexual persons.
That motion was challenged again, and the moderator ruled it out
of order because it was against the substitute motion. This time, the
committee sustained her ruling.
Before the committee voted to make the recommendation of answering the
overture with its earlier actions, Elder Manley Olson of Twin Cities
Area Presbytery called the proposed action "being disingenuous,"
and an "act of subterfuge."
Gagnon took exception to the remarks, saying it was inappropriate to
call the it "subterfuge. … It is a way of stating [the
committee's recommendation] positively."
The committee finished debating the issue at 10 p.m. and even though it
had three more items of business on the agenda, the moderator asked the
committee for a motion to adjourn because of the "lateness of the
hour," and "the spirit of the place."
The committee member who made the motion, did so saying that he felt
that those voting in the majority were "not only rejecting my
convictions and my feelings but they are rejecting me. … I hope
that perhaps a good nights rest will give me a different perspective
tomorrow."
The committee finished its business in a Sunday afternoon meeting.
|