3 more presbyteries considering resolutions on ordination standards The Layman Online Thursday, October 26, 2006 Presbyteries responding to calls for Constitutional enforcement Presbytery Congs. Members Actions 1 Central Florida 74 29,905 Affirmed constitutional standards 2 Donegal 62 22,822 Resolution under review 3 Eastminster 54 11,578 Seven resolutions under review 4 Holston 66 8,367 Referred to Bills and Overtures 5 Mississippi 46 6,205 Affirmed constitutional standards 6 Pittsburgh 153 43,855 Affirmed constitutional standards 7 Sacramento 42 15,941 Affirmed constitutional standards 8 San Diego 31 16,741 Affirmed constitutional standards 9 San Francisco 77 28,132 Considers competing proposals 10 Scioto Valley 113 23,940 Review scheduled 11 Sierra Blanca 22 2,162 Under review 12 Utah 24 4,009 Review at Oct. 13-14 meeting 13 Western N.C. 115 19,937 Affirmed standards but approved exemption on case-by-case basis 14 Whitewater Valley 68 23,289 Second reading Dec. 6 15 South Louisiana 67 10,322 Affirmed constitutional standards 16 New Covenant 109 39,416 Affirmed constitutional standards 17 Beaver-Butler 87 15,329 Affirmed constitutional standards 18 James 113 28,259 Vote on Oct. 10 19 San Joaquin 34 7,980 Affirmed constitutional standards 20 Olympia 50 10,800 Affirmed constitutional standards 21 Santa Barbara 30 9,378 Under review 22 Santa Fe 43 7,118 Under review 23 Mid-South 65 11,023 Affirmed constitutional standards 24 Cherokee 41 11,036 Under review 25 Great Rivers 110 19,818 First reading Nov. 14 26 Grace 180 45,040 First reading Nov. 10 27 Redstone 85 16,288 First reading Nov. 21 Three more presbyteries – Great Rivers, Grace and Redstone – have joined the list of presbyteries that are considering – or have adopted – resolutions that affirm the ordination requirements in the Presbyterian Church (USA). The three proposed resolutions bring the total to 27 that have been reported to The Layman Online in response to the 2006 General Assembly's approval of an authoritative interpretation that gives ordaining bodies the option to decide that the ordination requirement is not an essential. Twelve presbyteries have voted to abide by the "fidelity/chastity" requirement in the Book of Order, while none has voted against that requirement. Fifteen presbyteries are reviewing their proposals before taking a vote. The proposed overture to the Presbytery of Great Rivers states: "The Sessions of First Chenoa, First Farmington, Heritage United in Monmouth, First Leroy, United in Mason City, First Moline, Northminster in Peoria, First Princeville, First Quincy, Rock Creek in Tallula, and Scotland-Trinity in Macomb respectfully overture the Presbytery of Great Rivers to do the following: "1. The Presbytery of Great Rivers, in its discernment of the essentials of Reformed polity and for the sake of preserving the peace, unity and purity of the church, does adopt the principle that compliance with the standards for ordination adopted and held authoritative in the Book of Order shall remain essentials of reformed polity. Any departure from these standards will disqualify a candidate for ordination or installation by the Presbytery of Great Rivers. "2. The Presbytery of Great Rivers instructs its Examination Committee in the following areas: a. Those provisions of the Book of Order deemed to be standards and therefore essentials of polity include those statements using "shall," "is/are to be," "required," "requirement," or equivalent expressions. b. Candidates for ordination or installation shall be made aware of the Presbytery's policy that each and every requirement for ordination and installation in the Form of Government is essential, including G-6.0106. c. All candidates for ordination and installation will be asked if they are in compliance with ordination standards as stated in the Book of Order, including G-6.0106. Rationale "The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has standards for ordination to church office in the Form of Government. These standards include educational requirements, a definite set of examinations, willingness to make certain vows, and a commitment to limit sexual expression to heterosexual marriage; and whereas the church has judged each of these standards necessary for good and sufficient reasons. "The 217th General Assembly meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, approved an authoritative interpretation of the Book of Order, G-6.0108, permitting presbyteries to qualify certain requirements of the Book of Order as non-essentials of polity for ministers. Yet this authoritative interpretation of the Book of Order, G-6.0108, also states "Whether the examination and the ordination and installation decision comply with the Constitution of the PCUSA, and whether the ordaining/installing body has conducted its examination reasonably, responsibly, prayerfully, and deliberately in deciding to ordain a candidate for church office is subject to review by higher governing bodies." "The Authoritative Interpretation (AI) of G-6.0108 gives the Presbytery of Great Rivers the right to declare in its own life, ministry and practice that all statements in the Book of Order using shall, all requirements, and all mandates are essentials of Reformed polity." The proposed resolution for Grace Presbytery was proposed by the session of Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas. A statement posted on the church's Web site states: "In this challenging time in our denomination, the Session at HPPC is inspired by all the exciting things that are happening within the church, yet are also saddened by certain actions of the 217th General Assembly primarily the passing of the Peace, Unity and Purity report. "Here at HPPC, we are responding to those actions in several ways. First, at the August meeting, the Session approved the following statement from the Church Relations Committee: "'With pain and sadness we recognize that certain actions of the 217th General Assembly of the PC (USA) have jeopardized the quality and character of the covenant community we have shared as a denomination. Specifically, the passing of a new authoritative interpretation of Section G-6.0108 of our Book of Order, as recommended by the Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity, together with the approval of its report, cause us to question the extent to which higher governing bodies of our denomination reflect who we really are and Whose we are. To insure proper stewardship of our resources in faithfulness to our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ, we are reviewing carefully our gifts to these higher governing bodies. This review is under way and not yet complete. "The committee's counsel to date is that we envision changes in our giving patterns to Presbyterian institutions and governing bodies in the near future. Specifics will be forthcoming when the review is complete and we have a clear understanding of our financial contributions that have been allocated and used in the past and how they may be allocated and used in the future.' "In addition, the Session's initial course of action includes passing three resolutions to be forwarded to Grace Presbytery in response to the General Assembly's actions. The first resolution which will be presented at the November 10-11 presbytery meeting at North Park Presbyterian is a Standards Resolution for ordinations. This resolution would insure that ordinations in Grace Presbytery would continue to be guided by the Constitution of the PC(USA). The next resolution is an overture to repeal Recommendation 5 of the Peace, Unity, and Purity report which allows "local license" by presbyteries by doing away with all ordination standards and replaces them with the individual discretion of each local Presbytery and Session. HPPC is planning to present this resolution in early 2007. The last resolution to be presented in late 2007 is the Tenets resolution which lists the Essential Tenets that San Diego Presbytery adopted several years ago, and that HPPC adopted last year." The proposed resolution in Redstone Presbytery states: "The session of Third Presbyterian Church in Uniontown grieves along with so many other members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) over the passage of Recommendation 5 of the Peace, Unity, and Purity report by the 217th General Assembly. It is our hope and prayer that the next meeting of the General Assembly, or even a special called meeting of the 217th General Assembly, will reverse this unfaithful action. Until that time, we firmly believe that clarifying action needs to be taken by the Presbytery of Redstone. Therefore we respectfully request that the Presbytery of Redstone take the following immediate action: "In order to more truly fulfill the peace, unity, and purity that Christ calls His people to, the Presbytery of Redstone does hereby: Declare that the action of the 217th General Assembly in the passage of Recommendation 5 of the Peace, Unity, and Purity Task Force Report is a serious error that lacks Biblical, Confessional and Constitutional integrity; an error of such magnitude that it places the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in a state of constitutional crisis that threatens to abrogate its purpose as Christian Church. Affirm the conviction that all constitutional requirements for ordination, including G-6.0106b, are binding on all the sessions and presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A.), and none are subject to being considered "inessential" by any governing body of the Church, Resolve that no exceptions to the requirement that all deacons, elders and ministers must "live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or in chastity in singleness" will be ordained or installed within the jurisdiction of this Presbytery, and that the Presbytery of Redstone shall not receive into membership, nor recognize as a member, anyone who has been ordained or installed under a scruple (that is taking exception to any of the ordination standards as set forth in the Constitution of the PCUSA), Resolve that any governing body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) which abrogates this requirement has broken fellowship with the Presbytery of Redstone. Ministers from such unbiblical, unconfessional, and unconstitutional presbyteries will not be received for membership in this Presbytery unless they personally their willingness to be governed by this requirement. Rationale "Interaction between the governing bodies of the Presbyterian Church should be marked by mutual trust. This trust has been both threatened by some presbyteries in recent years that are openly and flagrantly in violation of Biblical, Confessional, and Constitutional standards, and broken by the action of the 217th General Assembly. "The Presbytery of Redstone, in seeking to be faithful to the Bible, the Confessions of the Church, and the Constitution as lawfully approved by the presbyteries of the Church, cannot therefore stand in full fellowship with officers engaging in unconstitutional and unbiblical behavior, or governing bodies which bless such behavior. "At the same time, we understand that within unfaithful governing bodies, there are many Ministers of the Word and Sacrament and Elders who seek to be faithful to the Biblical, Confessional and Constitutional standards of the Church. We welcome such faithful presbyters into our membership. But because of the unfaithfulness of their sessions and presbyteries, we must examine them with rigor similar to that which is required for ministers received from other denominations. "The action of the 217th General Assembly, in passing Recommendation 5 of the PUP Task Force report, jeopardizes the role that Scripture and the Constitution play in the governance of the church, thus the constitutional crisis. As we grieve over this devastating action, we pray for God's mercy and guidance as the presbytery of Redstone along with the denomination as a whole discerns its future as a part of the Body of Christ."

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