 Clerk's report on dissent case doesn't mention noncompliance By John H. Adams The Layman Online Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Kirkpatrick's report does not reflect such a resolve. Submitting a report to the General Assembly a year after it was due, he merely acknowledges that the court has made a ruling and includes no reference to the fact that a Vermont congregation continues to publicly defy the church court's order. In the case, titled Londonderry Presbyterian Church, et al v. Presbytery of Northern New England, the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission – the denomination's highest court – said in October 2000 that the session of Christ Presbyterian Church in Burlington, Vt., did not have the right to declare that it would not abide by G-6.0106b, the "fidelity/chastity" clause in the Book of Order. But the session of Christ Church, in current statements on the congregation's Web site, "vow[s] to continue welcoming persons living singly or in committed relationships, regardless of sexual orientation, into the life, membership and leadership of this congregation on an equal basis, including eligibility for election and ordination as a ruling elder or deacon." "It is not within the power of any governing body or judicial commission to declare a properly adopted provision of the Constitution to be invalid," the court said in the Londonderry case. "The only appropriate avenue to change or remove a provision of the Constitution is through the process for amendment provided within the Constitution itself." The court added, "A formal declaration by a governing body whose members have taken the vow '[to] be governed by our church's polity,' and "abide by its discipline' not to comply with the express corporate judgment of the church in an explicit constitutional provision exceeds the constitutional bounds of freedom of conscience and therefore requires a response on the part of the governing body exercising oversight." Under the Standing Rules of the General Assembly, Kirkpatrick was required to report the decision and compliance measures to the first General Assembly [2001] following the decision. His year-late report is included in the packet of material that has gone to the 214th General Assembly commissioners, who will meet June 15-22 in Columbus, Ohio. Kirkpatrick's report, which will be reviewed by the Committee on Polity, takes note of a few meetings on the Christ Church case since the 2000 order, but not of any compliance. He is required by the Standing Rules of the General Assembly to "obtain from the governing body a statement of its compliance and make a full report to the next General Assembly. If the General Assembly deems such compliance inadequate, the assembly may make such further order or orders as it deems necessary to ensure compliance. …" Christ Church denounces the PCUSA's constitutional ordination standard, which has been affirmed in three national referendums – by nearly 3-1 in the recently completed vote of the presbyteries. The congregation's session calls the policy "an unjust denial of qualified persons' call to office … an abridgement of the rights and duties of congregations and presbyteries within this Church. We further condemn this action as a thinly disguised and dramatic reflection of the Presbyterian Church's hypocrisy regarding inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Christians in the full life of the church." Kirkpatrick's tardiness and his apparent lack of enthusiasm for identifying a congregation in defiance of the constitution are central issues raised in an overture from Shenango Presbytery. The overture calls on the General Assembly to require full compliance with the court's order, including rescinding declarations of dissent by the pastors and session of Christ Church. Kirkpatrick is closely related to two groups – the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly and the Advisory Committee on the Constitution – that have asked the General Assembly to reject the Shenango overture. He is the staff director of the Office of the General Assembly and an ad hoc member of the advisory committee. He is also the chief constitutional officer of the Presbyterian Church (USA), required by the Standing Rules to "preserve and protect the constitution." |
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