 1758 principle proposed for 2001 PCUSA overture By John H. Adams The Layman Online Monday, December 11, 2000
The overture would provide a seven-year escape hatch, from July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2008, for dissenting congregations to separate with property to "another association, union or denomination." The Presbytery of the Cascades in Oregon will consider the overture at its March 2001 meeting. If approved, the General Assembly will be asked to schedule a national referendum on the provision, which was included in the Plan of Reunion of 1758 between the Synods of New York and Philadelphia. The 1758 Plan of Reunion established the basic pattern of government under which American Presbyterianism has continued to operate. It held that members were obligated to either concur with majority decisions or submit to them in essential matters. The proponents of the Principle of 1758 overture, members of the session of Gateway Presbyterian Church in The Dalles, Ore., say they want to provide an orderly means by which congregations may leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) if they cannot concur with indispensable doctrine. They say section G-6.0106b of the Book of Order, which prohibits the ordination of self-affirming, practicing adulterers and homosexuals, is an indispensable doctrine. A footnote to G-6.0107b quotes the 1758 principle. If sent to the General Assembly, the Cascades overture will collide head-on with other overtures that seek to overturn G-6.0106b and permit the ordination of people who do not confine their sexual activity to marriage. Since the "fidelity/chastity" standard was included in the PCUSA Constitution in 1997, and even after it was affirmed in a second national referendum, many Presbyterian gay activists and their allies have neither concurred with the standard nor passively submitted to it. Instead, a number of congregations, particularly in the Northeast, has challenged G-6.0106b by electing openly gay elders. One presbytery has accepted as a candidate for the ministry of Word and Sacrament a man who told the presbytery's Committee on Ministry that he intends to live in a gay relationship. The relentless assault on the Presbyterian standard, and acrimony created by that assault, have not been eased by so called "unity in diversity" conferences in the denomination. "We are faced with a choice," said Gateway elder Stephen Rose."We can continue down the road called 'division' until we reach a point of violent schism, or we can allow congregations who cannot abide by the prohibition against the ordination of self-affirming, practicing homosexuals to peacefully withdraw. The Plan of Reunion of 1758 provides a way for us to part as friends rather than adversaries." Jim Hazlett, pastor of Gateway Church, said the purpose of the overture is not to say, "There is the door, you can leave," but to allow each congregation to exercise freedom of conscience. "It is clear that remaining a part of the Presbyterian Church (USA) may, in fact, be injurious to the conscience of those who favor ordination of self-affirming, practicing homosexuals, Hazlett said. "Therefore, they should be given the opportunity to peacefully withdraw." The 2000 General Assembly defeated an overture that called for a task force to propose ways that there could be an amicable separation of Presbyterians who cannot agree with the majority. Known as the Beaver-Butler Overture, that proposal said there was an "irreconcilable impasse" on major issues in the denomination, including the authority of Scripture and the ordination of homosexuals. |
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