 Former GAPJC members: Adoption of PUP proposal would cause a ‘tectonic shift’ By James Quillen and David Bridgman Special to The Layman Volume 39, Number 2 Posted May 8, 2006 Earthquakes often devastate entire communities. The severe impact of recommendation 5 of the report of the Theological Task Force for Peace, Unity and Purity (TPUP) on our judicial system and covenantal community would be a tectonic shift and therefore ought not be overlooked. Regardless of how one feels about the body of the report or how well the task force formed its own sense of community, in the end, the only thing that will be admissible in the court cases that most surely will be generated will be the exact wording of recommendation 5.
Recommendation 5 opens the door for ordination and installation but does not protect those individuals from prosecution for the very practice for which they have been granted a scruple. Furthermore, since the mere request for a scruple on a constitutionally prohibited practice is effectively a public confession of that sin, an accusation against that individual would warrant investigation and prosecution. Currently, in order for an accusation to be prosecuted, the accuser must have evidence in hand stating who, what, where and when. This standard was established in a 2002 General Assembly Permanent Judicial (GAPJC) decision known as Wier 2. The net effect of declaring a scruple on a manner of life, as opposed to belief, is to set the scene for a disciplinary trial. An important point to keep in mind is that any member of the PCUSA can make an official accusation against any other member. In recent years, there has been no shortage of persons willing to level accusations. Furthermore, a person on one side of the country can make an accusation against someone on the opposite side of the country. Since declaring a scruple will be a public event, those who declare a scruple on a manner of life will very likely face a subsequent investigation and trial. Fortunately, the great majority of Presbyterians have not had the unpleasant experience of a disciplinary trial. If the local level becomes the arena in which the ordination standard debate is played out, more and more sessions and presbyteries will undergo that ordeal. Disciplinary trials are bloody, emotional and expensive affairs in which ministries, livelihoods and careers are held in the balance. The path that TPUP is proposing as “another way” will lead us all down a very painful path. Another major consideration from a judicial perspective has to do with how our Constitution is read and how our covenant community is bound together. In a decision commonly known as Londonderry, the GAPJC ruled that every part of the Constitution must be read with force. That is, no mandate of the Constitution may be demoted from shall to should or perhaps. The theological foundation of the Londonderry decision is the covenantal nature of the Church (The Book of Confessions 5.124-141). As a covenantal community, we acknowledge that we gather together in mutual encouragement and accountability to collectively discern the guidance of the Holy Spirit. To place oneself apart, above and against the community is to stand in schism. For these reasons and having served at every level of our denomination’s judicial system, we believe that TPUP’s recommendation 5 will devastate the peace and unity of the PCUSA. |
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