Another church says it will defy PCUSA constitution The Layman Online Wednesday, October 23, 2002 Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, N.Y., which was barred in 1990 from calling a lesbian activist as its co-pastor, has declared publicly that it does not have to abide by G-6.0106b, the "fidelity/chastity" ordination standard in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA). "We will continue to work to remove G-6.0106b from the Book of Order, and, in the meantime, we will interpret this law so as to permit the ordination of those whom we deem qualified," the session of Downtown said in a declaration titled "Basic Christian Principles." The declaration was adopted on Oct. 15, and recently posted on the Web site of More Light Presbyterians. Downtown's officers said they could not "agree with an interpretation of that law which subverts the welcoming essence of our faith and results in the categorical exclusion of all those persons who are in a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender relationship. We do not believe that same sex relationships are inherently sinful. We will read and apply all Constitutional provisions in the light of the Constitution as a whole, and will make judgments concerning the life and character of all persons on an individual basis." Downtown Church was in eye of the ordination storm in 1990 when it sought to call Janie Spahr, a high-profile lesbian activist, as its co-pastor. The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission prohibited that call in a precedent-setting case that has been reviewed by The Layman Online. In a 1993 ruling on that case, the denomination's highest court said the leaders of the Presbytery of Genesee Valley, who approved Downtown's call to Spahr, failed in their obligation to counsel churches "regarding the standards that represent the 'voice of the whole Church.'" In 2000, in a ruling on G-6.0106b, the court said that a resolution to defy the constitution "exceeds the constitutional bounds of freedom of conscience and therefore requires a response on the part of the governing body exercising oversight" – and that even stated "intent" to defy the constitution was not lawful. Through its declaration of intent to defy the constitution, Downtown Church joins a growing number of congregations whose leaders say they have ordained – or will ordain – self-affirming, practicing homosexuals in defiance of church law. Complaints have been filed against 19 ministers and one elder in those cases, but none has been scheduled for trial and some of the complaints have been dismissed by presbytery committees even though officers have made public statements of defiance. The unwillingness of church courts to move forward on disciplinary cases and the failure of church governing bodies to enforce compliance with the constitution have led to growing calls for a special meeting of the 214th General Assembly to consider constitutional issues.

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