Baltimore Presbytery fails to uphold constitution By Craig M. Kibler The Layman Online Friday, November 22, 2002 TOWSON, Md. – On a rainy night in Maryland, the Presbytery of Baltimore failed to uphold the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Faced with the prospect of voting on a proposed resolution that asked the presbytery to "commit itself to upholding the entire Constitution" and enforcing it "whenever non-compliance is an issue, working both administratively and pastorally with officers and congregations who, by their public statements or behavior, have declared their unwillingness or inability to comply with the constitution," the presbytery voted it down, as well as a substitute motion that one pastor said was "full of fuzzy language." 'Constitutional chaos' By voting down both proposals – in effect, taking no action – the presbytery left the issue of public defiance of the denomination's ordination standard unresolved. One of the high-profile cases involves a disciplinary case filed against a minister within the presbytery – the Rev. Donald Stroud, who works with a gay-activist organization called That All May Freely Serve. The Rev. Richard Jones, who made the motion to approve the original resolution, told the presbytery that "if we don't honor the constitution in its entirety, I am afraid there will be constitutional chaos." He said that what is at stake now is the role that the "constitution is going to play in our time. I don't believe that defiance honors Jesus Christ." Citing the recent votes affirming the constitution, Jones said that, as officers, "We agreed to be governed by our church's polity. Let's hold to our vows." The Council of Baltimore Presbytery had urged that the original resolution be rejected, terming it a "proposal for judicial action against perceived non-compliance." 'No clear word' "While some see this as a defining struggle and constitutional crisis," the council wrote in a two-page statement called "Articulation of the Council's Position in Response to the Sessions' Overture Regarding Upholding the Constitution," "most of the church does not consider the issue so central to our faith as to demand the enormous distraction of time, energy and resources averting our attention from more central issues and proclamation. "The council understands that, while many individuals sincerely believe they have a word from the Lord (and in fact they may have,) the church as a whole has not received a clear word. And so the church waits and seeks. …" No mention was made in the statement that the ordination standard has been upheld three times in national referendums by ever-growing margins – the most recent by a nearly 3-1 vote of the presbyteries. Instead, the council – referring to its statement approved by the presbytery June 27 -proposed reconciliation "for the sake of the whole church," saying that it is "dedicated to working pastorally to create "patience and mutual forbearance … without … provocative defiance or judicial enforcement." As part of that reconciliation, the council proposed that it "would like to meet with both those who are proclaiming defiance, and with those who are bringing charges. This would be to request, on behalf of the presbytery, that we live with this question without presuming we have the answer until it is a God-given answer recognized by the broad church."

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