A Call to Prayer for the Unity
of the Presbyterian Church USA
What will heal the deepening
schism in the PCUSA? Only a vital faith in Jesus Christ, who is revealed to us
in the Bible and attested by our Reformed Creeds and Confessions. We cannot
legislate such living faith but we can and must do the work of prayer that such
faith enables and requires. Therefore, we are called to:
The Holy Spirit says in Acts
3:19-20 – “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped
out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the
Christ, who has been appointed for you--even Jesus.”
To allow same-sex unions in
our denomination is against the clear revelation of God’s intentions for human
sexuality as revealed in the Bible and confirmed in our Reformed Creeds and
Confessions.
·
Repent
that we have not offered Jesus’ love and forgiveness to those who are
committing same-gender sexual sin.
·
Repent
for offering “cheap grace” that robs people of Christ’s forgiveness and the
power of the Holy Spirit to set people free from their sins.
2. Pray for truth to prevail over deception.
The Holy Spirit speaks to
our present situation in 2 Cor. 4:2 “Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use
deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth
the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight
of God.”
·
Repent
of deceptive arguments that distort the Word of God.
3. Pray for true unity in Jesus Christ.
· Pray for unity based on following Jesus Christ as revealed in the Word of God rather than through conforming to the ways of the world. (Romans 12:2, Romans 15:5)
· Repent of trying to sustain unity by substituting a worldly reality for Biblical truth.
We urge you to take seriously this work of prayer. Also, to uphold the true peace and unity of the Church, we must pass Amendment O, which upholds God’s vision of marriage and rejects the blessing of same-sex unions which God does not bless.
In Christ,
Brad Long, Executive Director, Presbyterian-Reformed Ministries
International
The Arguments against
Amendment O are deceptive
In a number of presbyteries, the arguments being
presented against Amendment O actually have nothing to do with the amendment.
Know what you are voting for or against:
These are the words of Amendment O (W-4.9000).
Scripture
and our Confessions teach that God's intention for all people is to live either
in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or in
chastity in singleness. Church property shall not be used for, and church
officers shall not take part in conducting, any ceremony or event that
pronounces blessing or gives approval of the church or invokes the blessing of
God upon any relationship that is inconsistent with God's intention as
expressed in the preceding sentence.
Below are some of the arguments against the amendment
that we have read in the Covenant Network newsletter and heard on the floor of
a number of presbyteries: The arguments avoid discussing what our
constitution says about marriage and about sexual practices outside marriage.
Objection 1.
The session is responsible for the use of church property. This
amendment intrudes on that responsibility and takes away the freedom of the
session.
But the truth is: There are already many constraints on our local
churches' use of property (See Chapter 8 of the Book of Order).
Amendment O ensures that church property will not be used for purposes that
conflict with God's will for the church, and it is in accord with principles
related to property already in our constitution.
Objection 2.
The amendment will rob the pastor of the freedom to provide pastoral
care. Pastors won't be able to conduct funerals for gay persons; we won't be
able to provide pre-marital counseling for heterosexual couples living together
before marriage; we won't be able to baptize children of same-sex couples.
But the truth is: The amendment does not limit the pastoral care offered
to homosexuals. It does not address funerals, baptisms, or marital counseling.
There are already constraints on these matters of pastoral ministry in the Book
of Order, but not in this amendment.
The wording of the amendment is clearly
limited to the blessing and approval of same gender sexual relationships. In
the case of a man and a woman living together outside the bounds of marriage,
marital counseling would not be directed toward the blessing or approval of the
current relationship but rather toward the blessing and approval of their
impending marriage. The matter of their relationship outside those bounds is a
different matter and not one that our constitution has ever given consent to
blessing. These matters are outside the scope of Amendment O and are already
addressed elsewhere in the constitution.
Objection 3.
Amendment O is too sweeping in its restrictions and therefore
unnecessarily binds the conscience?
But the truth is: Its wording is carefully constructed. Since our
theology teaches that marriage of a man and a woman is the only union blessed
and approved by God, it is proper that our practice reflect that teaching.
The amendment prohibits no more and no less than the blessing of same sex
unions. We should not have ceremonies to bless other unions in our churches and
our pastors should not conduct any ceremony that blesses relationships in
unions other than marriage between a man and a woman. That is what the
amendment says. That is all it says, and that is its only intent. The limit to
the exercise of conscience is the Word of God in Scripture.
Objection 4.
Amendment O is divisive and should not be passed because everyone is
split on this.
But the truth is: No, everyone is not split on this. Our
denomination’s own Research Services shows that a majority of Presbyterians do
not approve of homosexual practice or same-sex unions. Furthermore, we
Presbyterians are fully united in our constitutional statements regarding
marriage. Even the church court acknowledged that same-sex unions which are
meant to be marriages are not permitted under our constitution. The difficulty
is that those who favor same-sex unions expect them to be respected as
marriages. Jane Spahr, advocate for the unions, said publicly during
last summer's G.A., "These are weddings; these are marriages; let's call
them what they are!" Those responsible for dividing the unity of the
Church are those who advocate for same-sex unions and not those who are being
faithful to the Bible and to the constitution of the PCUSA.
Objection 5.
Forbidding same-sex unions is inconsistent with the grace of God in the
Gospel for gays and lesbians who only want the church to bless their committed
relationships.
But the truth is: The 1978
Definitive Guidance concludes after careful study of the Bible that; “The New Testament declares
that all homosexual practice is incompatible with Christian faith and life. No
Scriptures [of the Old or New Testaments] permit or condone any of the forms of
homosexuality.” Same gender sex is a sin in the eyes of God. To bless behavior
that God has clearly revealed as sin rather than calling for repentance is to
offer “cheap grace”. This is unloving.
It keeps people in bondage to their sin and robs sinners of the costly
grace that forgives and transforms them through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Objection 6.
Take a third way. Defeat the amendment or just abstain from voting
(which is the same as a no vote) and let each church make its own decision
about performing these ceremonies.
But the truth is: "The particular churches of the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.) wherever they are, taken collectively, constitute one
church" (Book of Order, G-4.0301a). "All governing bodies of
the church are united by the nature of the church and share with one another
responsibilities, rights, and powers as provided in this Constitution. The
governing bodies are separate and independent, but have such mutual relations
that the act of one of them is the act of the whole church performed by it
through the appropriate governing body." One pastor pointed out in our
debate that defeating the amendment will lead to Balkanizing the PCUSA.
Consider this question, "If Presbyterian Church A is permitted to bless a
same-sex union, must Presbyterian Church B recognize that union as
blessed?" Our polity makes the answer obvious since the act of one church
is the act of the whole church. We are not congregational. We are Presbyterian.
Amendment O is a faithful reflection of Presbyterian polity. The local option
proposal is not only a contradiction of our polity, it will do great harm to
the church.
What Amendment O will do for the Church and why we
need this now.
A. There is
wide consensus in the worldwide Church that the marriage of a man and a woman
is the union blessed by God. If you listen carefully to the arguments against
Amendment O, you will discover a careful avoidance of that subject and an
effort to raise objections to matters that are simply not stated or intended by
the amendment. Amendment O intends to preserve marriage in our denomination. If
the amendment is defeated, the PCUSA’s witness on marriage will be in
disrepute. It is not possible to distinguish between a same-sex union and a
marriage, and if this amendment is defeated, our denomination will be blessing
both.
B. Amendment O
will resolve the ambiguity created by the decision of our high church court
last April when it found no bar to same-sex unions in our church law. The court
left us with a conflict between what we profess to believe constitutionally and
what we are permitted to do in practice. Amendment O will bring our practice
into conformity with our clearly stated beliefs. This court decision broke the
moratorium on actions concerning homosexuality. Amendment O is in response to
this action.
C. Our
constitution, both in the Book of Confessions and in the Book of
Order, upholds the Biblical teaching that marriage is the "holy
union" of a man and a woman that is blessed by God. Our understanding of
God's institution of marriage historically has made it obvious that
Presbyterians would not give blessing or approval of relationships outside that
bond, including same-sex relationships. Amendment O is now necessary to ensure
that same-sex unions do not occur with the blessing of the Church of Jesus
Christ. Without Amendment O we have no such assurance.
Amendment O is necessary to preserve our peace, our
unity, and the purity of our stated beliefs in the Presbyterian Church (USA).