The Top Ten issues at GA – #5 Fidelity and chastity back again Sexual orientation conversion therapies on docket By Paula R. Kincaid The Layman Online Monday, June 14, 1999 FORT WORTH – G-6.0106b, the "fidelity and chastity" provision of the PCUSA constitution, will once again be debated at the 211th General Assembly. Also on the docket are several overtures requesting the 211th General Assembly to direct its agencies to refrain from supporting sexual orientation conversion therapies. These two issues are the Layman Online's fifth-ranked issues for the Fort Worth GA. Fidelity and chastity The Assembly will be looking at overtures from three presbyteries concerning the "fidelity and chastity" clause. Overture 99-2, from Milwaukee Presbytery, seeks to delete G-6.0106b from the Book of Order. The same overture from the same presbytery was defeated at the Charlotte Assembly in 1998. Overture 99-27 from St. Andrew Presbytery would amend G-6.0106b to read: "Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Jesus Christ, under the authority of Scripture and instructed by the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness. Candidates for ordained office shall acknowledge their own sinfulness, their need of repentance and their reliance on the grace and mercy of God to fulfill the duties of their office." This language is almost identical to that of Amendment A, which lost 2-1 in the presbyteries. Overture 99-30, from Philadelphia Presbytery, replaces "which the confessions call sin" with "which departs from the essentials of the Reformed faith and policy." In a Presbyterian Layman analysis, entitled 'Fidelity and chastity' will be debated at GA, Layman associate editor Robert P. Mills wrote, "Three presbyteries have sent to the Fort Worth General Assembly overtures concerning the 'fidelity and chastity' clause of the PCUSA constitution. One overture proposes removing the provision (G-6.0106b) from the Book of Order. The other two would render it unenforceable." Related to this issue is the election of members to the Permanent Judicial Commission, which will also take place in Forth Worth. At the 1997 Syracuse General Assembly, David Dobler and Philip Hull were removed from a slate of PJC nominees because they supported the fidelity and chastity provision of the PCUSA constitution. They were replaced by people who opposed the constitution. Sexual orientation conversion therapies Calling on the church to "repent of the sin of homophobia, and of all violence – physical, psychological, emotional – and spiritual, based on perceptions of sexual orientation," Overture 99-56 requests that the 211th General Assembly direct its agencies to refrain from supporting sexual orientation conversion therapies. The overture, from the presbytery of New York City, requests that the Assembly "direct all agencies of the General Assembly, and strongly encourage synods, presbyteries, congregations, and affiliated educational institutions, to refrain from supporting, implementing, or sponsoring therapies or ministries that attempt to alter a person's sexual orientation." It also calls on the church to educate its members about the "harm done by prejudice based on sexual orientation," and to develop resources addressing the "prevalence of societal violence directed against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons and the church's complicity therein." The overture asks that all ministers of the Word and Sacrament, clerks of sessions, and presbytery and synod stated clerks be informed of the decision in a letter from the stated clerk. The presbyteries of Genesee Valley and Chicago have concurred with Overture 99-56. The Presbytery of Detroit has also overtured the GA on sexual orientation conversion therapies, but Overture 99-34 does not contain the call to refrain from supporting, implementing or sponsoring sexual orientation conversion therapies. The other point of view Stating that "Various overtures to the 211th General Assembly (1999) would prevent and condemn therapy that enables changes in sexual identity, desires, and behavior for individuals in conflict with their sexuality," and that "The aforementioned overtures disregard the truth that 'God alone is Lord of the conscience' (The Book of Confessions, Westminster Confession, 6.0109)," the Presbytery of Prospect Hill has overtured the GA in defense of sexual orientation conversion therapies. Overture 99-73 states that allegations against conversion therapy are "inflammatory and outright misrepresentations of current therapeutic methods used in treating unwanted same-sex desire." It continues that, "According to research done in 1997, more than 200 professional therapists treating 860 individuals report 'a documented shift in respondents' sexual orientation, as well as the frequency and intensity of their homosexual thoughts and actions,' which outcomes were welcomed as positive by those who sought treatment." Overtures attack evangelicals' motives, intelligence and integrity Overtures: PCUSA should not support sexual orientation conversion therapies Overture defends sexual orientation therapies

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