Let’s help the PC(USA) move through those doors!
[from the Witherspoon Society, 7-24-08]

Gene TeSelle, Witherspoon Issues Analyst, writes:  "The actions of the 2008 General Assembly suggest that the tide has turned in the Presbyterian Church. ..."

He analyzes the significant steps toward making the ordination process more open and fair, looks at the announced plans of the Presbyterian Right to oppose those steps, and suggests ways we might move forward to bring a truly inclusive church closer to reality during the months ahead, as presbyteries will be considering their responses to the proposed amendments to the Book of Order.

A long-time leader in That All May Freely Serve, Stroud opens his thorough analysis with this comment: 

As an observer and advocate for LGBT issues at the 218th General Assembly (GA) meeting in San Jose, CA, June 21-28, 2008, it is my assessment that the 218th GA took decisive positive actions to begin to dismantle the oppressive, long divisive and debilitating homophobia that has plagued the PC(USA) as a denomination for the past thirty years.

Following a helpful explanation of some of the terms that were used in the discussions, he deals with the Assembly’s actions:
•      on the ordination and/or installation of LGBT members,
•      on the Overture from John Knox Presbytery to provide an “authoritative interpretation” on the 217th GA’s AI on G-6.0108, commonly called the “scruple process” for individual candidates for ordination and/or installation,
•      on various overtures to correct the translation problems of the Heidelberg Catechism,
•      and on overtures to amend the Directory for Worship regarding the definition of marriage, and to affirm equal rights for families of same-gender partners and call for an in-depth study on marriage.

The Department of Constitutional Services, part of the Office of the General Assembly, has issued an Advisory Opinion which states what actions of the 218^th GA, dealing with Book of Order provisions G-6.0106b and G-6.0108, are taking effect immediately, and which ones, as constitutional amendments, must be approved by a majority of the presbyteries before they might take effect.

Briefly, the new Authoritative Interpretation of G-6.0106b has gone into effect immediately following the Assembly. That means that earlier AIs, beginning with 1978 and 1979, which state that “[f]or the church to ordain a self-affirming, practicing homosexual person to ministry would be to act in contradiction to its charter and calling in Scripture,” are no longer in effect.

However, the “fidelity and chastity” requirement set forth in G-6.0106b does remain in effect, until it is removed from the Book of Order by the approval of a majority of the presbyteries. That action must be taken within one year from the conclusion of the 218^th General Assembly.

The Authoritative Interpretation of G-6.0108 also takes effect immediately. This allows a candidate for ordination to declare a departure (or “scruple”) from a standard of either belief or practice on grounds of conscience. It is still a matter for the examining body to “give prayerful and careful consideration, on an individual, case-by-case basis,” to any such departure – but the recent GAPJC decision in the case of Bush v. Presbytery of Pittsburgh, which rejected any departure in matters of behavior, is invalidated.

Media release from That All May Freely Serve, Covenant Network Presbyterians, and More Light Presbyterians     [posted here 7/6/08]

SAN JOSE – June 27, 2008 – Presbyterians took a major step toward equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Meeting in San Jose, Calif., June 22-28, just days after the implementation of legal marriage for gay and lesbian couples in California, the denomination’s national legislative body, the General Assembly, laid the groundwork to equalize requirements for ordination.

Up to now, requirements included "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness." The new passage simply states that candidates for ordination "pledge themselves to live lives obedient to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, striving to follow where he leads through the witness of the Scriptures, and to understand the Scriptures through the instruction of the Confessions."

In 2006 Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) General Assembly voted to allow any candidate to submit a statement of objection called a “scruple,” with the apparent intention to allow LGBT candidates to be approved if a presbytery (regional body) affirmed them. The decision was tested in early 2008 when Lisa Larges was approved by the San Francisco Presbytery and Paul Capetz was restored to ordained ministry by Twin Cities Presbyter, but subsequently the high court of the PCUSA ruled that a candidate could disagree with the constitution, but may not act on their disagreement.

“This week the General Assembly voted from faith rather than fear. They voted for a vibrant future of our church because young church members who are lesbian, gay bisexual or transgender came to General Assembly and shared their extraordinary gifts and deep faith. The General Assembly recognized in them a hope for our church,” said Lisa Larges, minister coordinator of That All May Freely Serve.

The decision also nullifies earlier rulings by the General Assembly which held that "the New Testament declares that all homosexual practice is incompatible with Christian faith and life."

A majority of presbyteries, regional bodies of the Presbyterian church, must ratify the General Assembly's decision for the change to take effect. If ratified, the decision paves the way for congregations and presbyteries to ordain openly LGBT people for all leadership positions. The organizations stressed that the rulings, even if ratified, do not prohibit presbyteries and congregations from disqualifying a candidate for ordination because of sexual orientation and gender identity.

"We will continue to work to remove artificial barriers to ordination for LGBT people, and to help the church recognize and affirm their gifts for ministry," said Deborah Block of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians.

In related actions, the General Assembly approved the first step to correct a 1962 mistranslation of the 16th Century Heidelberg Catechism. The error inserted a condemnation of homosexuality which was not present in the original German text. A committee will develop a revised version to submit for a vote in 2010 and then be submitted to all presbyteries for a vote before becoming part of the constitution.

Groups supporting equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) members of PCUSA affirmed these decisions. Affirming groups include the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, More Light Presbyterians, and That All May Freely Serve.

The General Assembly reaffirmed the church’s strong support for full civil and legal rights for same-gender couples and their families and authorized a study of the theological meaning of marriage in order to begin a serious conversation about the possibility of permitting marriages between lesbian and gay couples.

The General Assembly turned down a measure that would have defined marriage as a union between "two people," rather than "a man and a woman." The denomination maintained its policy that gay and lesbian relationships may be blessed by union ceremonies, as long as they are not called "marriages."

“Today, loving couples can marry at the courthouse but Presbyterian pastors are still banned from ministering to their own parishioners. Eventually the whole church will realize how wrong this is, but until then, our pastors will stand to the side while county clerks perform marriages for our own church members,” said Michael Adee, executive director of More Light Presbyterians, "This kind of discrimination divides the body of Christ into unequal members."

With gay marriage now legal in Massachusetts and California, and with those marriages being recognized in New York State, close to 25 percent of the population in the United States now live in states where gay marriages are legally recognized.

Katy Moore, a seminarian from Union Theological Seminary in New York, said, “The church will eventually change because younger members support inclusion of LGBT people. Our generation is going to change the church. Orientation and gender identity are really non-issues for the next generation of church leaders." Moore was part of a team of Presbyterian young adults called New Church (R)evolution, sponsored by That All May Freely Serve.

Throughout the week, the pro-LGBT organizations held luncheons, educational events, and worship services to support measures that impact the LGBT community. Covenant Network and More Light Presbyterians handed out more than 1,000 rainbow colored scarves and stoles knitted by members around the country, which participants wore in support of LGBT people. That All May Freely Serve sponsored a young adult group called New Church (R)evolution that greeted commissioners and delegates each morning with coffee and cookies, held speakouts and rallies, and organized a revival service and "techno evening prayer" at a location just off the General Assembly site.

Good News from G.A. 218
 [posted here 7/6/08]

The 218th General Assembly fully lived into its theme, “Do Justice, Love Kindness, Walk Humbly with your God.” It took important and historic steps toward a more welcoming church and spoke prophetically on many issues.

Authoritative Interpretations

The General Assembly...

Covenant Network Co-Moderators Deborah Block and Jon Walton said, "This is a day that has been thirty years in coming and we give thanks for the hope that it offers to so many in the church who have been and still are excluded from ordained office."

The effect of the two AI’s is to allow presbyteries to consider all candidates for ordination, regardless of sexual orientation, individually and on the same terms.

Amend G-6.0106b

The G.A. also passed an overture that would amend G-6.0106b, which currently requires that candidates live 'in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church' and singles out 'fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness' as an example of confessional standards.

If 87 presbyteries vote in favor, that language would be replaced with a requirement that candidates 'live lives obedient to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, striving to follow where he leads through the witness of the Scriptures, and to understand the Scriptures through the instruction of the Confessions.' The proposed amendment would reaffirm the pre-eminent authority of Jesus Christ in the life of the church, and refocus this section on discipleship rather than debates about human sexuality.

The G.A. “strongly encouraged” presbyteries to “consider this overture using a process of listening and discernment.”

Additional Overtures

The G.A. passed two other overtures supported by the Covenant Network.

Other Significant Actions

Commissioners elected the youngest-ever Moderator, Bruce Reyes-Chow (a plenary speaker at the 2003 Covenant Conference in Washington). They also elected Gradye Parsons as Stated Clerk, by a strong majority on the first ballot. (Gradye was the unanimous choice of the Stated Clerk Nominating Committee.)

The G.A. also took any number of interesting and important actions, including...

In a week full of special events, Covenant Network hosted two sold-out gatherings. Our Commissioner Convocation Dinner drew 300 people to San Jose’s beautiful City Hall Rotunda on the eve of G.A. Susan Andrews, Moderator of the 215th G.A. and currently Executive Presbyter of Hudson River, recalled past attempts to remove the exclusive provisions of G-6.0106b and our hopes for the week ahead in “From Syracuse to San Jose: The Perseverance of the Saints.”

John Buchanan, Moderator of the 208th G.A., pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, Editor/Publisher of the Christian Century, and founding Co-Moderator of the Covenant Network, keynoted the Covenant Network Luncheon on Monday, June 23. He expressed Covenant Network’s continuing vision of “A Church as Generous and Just as God’s Grace.” McCormick Seminary President Cynthia Campbell remembered Jack Stotts, President Emeritus of both McCormick and Austin Seminaries, who among much else delivered the address at Covenant Network’s first G.A. Luncheon in 1998.

More Light Presbyterians Applaud General Assembly Action

PCUSA Welcomes All to Service in the Church

 [posted here 7/6/08]

SAN JOSE, CA – June 27, 2008 – More Light Presbyterians said a decision today by the 218^th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to lift its ban on ordination for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons is good news for Presbyterians and Christians across the country and world.

“This is a great moment affirming God’s love for all people. We are thankful to the Commissioners at this Assembly who upheld standards for leadership and service in our Church, and at the same time eliminated categorical discrimination that has denied ordination to LGBT persons based simply on who they are and who they fall in love with,” said Michael J. Adee, Executive Director and Field Organizer for the organization.

The action by the General Assembly removes G.60106b from its Book of Order, the Constitution which governs the Church and replaces it with new language. Formerly, it required fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness to be eligible for ordination as deacons, elders or ministers.

“The intent of this standard, passed over a decade ago, was to bar LGBT persons from full membership and service in our Church since marriage equality is not yet available to most in our country,” Adee said.

New language passed by the General Assembly reaffirms historic standards of the Church that focus on faith and character which has withstood the test of time, and did not exclude anyone based on sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status.

Looking to the Future

“A new spirit of acceptance and the recognition that we have many different kinds of families in our churches has taken hold,” said Vikki Dearing, Co-Moderator. “This reflects the hearts and spirits of people in the pews. We rejoice with the many that will now be able to answer God’s call to serve in our Church.”

by Gene TeSelle, Witherspoon Issues Analyst  [6-30-08]

Committee 5 on Church Orders and Ministry reported three issues in their logical order, and the committee's recommendations were followed by the Assembly as a whole.

1. It overwhelmingly approved the overture from Scioto Valley, with many concurrences from other presbyteries, to direct the Stated Clerk to collect or develop "best practices" for the examination of candidates.

2. It approved, by a vote of 53 to 47 percent, the John Knox overture, an AI designed to correct the decision of the General Assembly's Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) that the "fidelity and chastity" sentence in G-6.0106b is binding and cannot be "scrupled."

3. The most heated debate was over the Boston overture to replace the language of G-6.0106b with new language, and to adopt a new AI declaring that past AIs concerning "ordained service of homosexual church members" (starting with the "definitive guidance" of 1978/79 in the two churches and including the AI of 1993) have "no further force or effect."

by Doug King, Witherspoon WebWeaver    [6-30-08]

The 218^th General Assembly took significant steps to make the Presbyterian Church (USA) more open and affirming toward its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members. There are, of course, many Presbyterians who are distressed – or maybe outraged is a better word – by this modest step toward justice and (we believe) authentic peace in the denomination.

Seminary faculty letter calling for better translation will help you in the debate  
[6-24-08]

As you may know, the debate over restoring the Heidelberg Catechism to its original text was intense yesterday.  The good news is that it successfully got out of committee (33 to 26) and will be voted on by the full GA as soon as Wednesday. 

Very helpful material is found in the letter from the 32 seminary faculty calling for a better translation of the Heidelberg Catechism. 

Click here for the text, where you'll also find a link to a PDF version to print and share with others.

On Saturday morning (long, long ago!), June 21, the Witherspoon Society presented a time of orientation for commissioners and others – offering some practical hints for working effectively in the Assembly, and some perspectives on a few of the issues that, from our justice-oriented focus, seem most important.

One of those issues, of course, is the question of whether our church will truly welcome lgbt members into its life and leadership. Witherspoon Co-Moderator Jake Young presented this perspective:

Dr. Jack Rogers, Professor of Theology Emeritus at San Francisco Theological Seminary, and former Moderator of the PC(USA), has just posted his reflections on the overtures proposing a correction to the Heidelberg Catechism. He also considers the meaning of the “essential tenets” of the Reformed faith.

The Importance of Restoring the Heidelberg Catechism to Its Original Text

He begins:

There are seven overtures to the upcoming Presbyterian General Assembly that ask the church to restore the Heidelberg Catechism to its original text. Why the interest in the Heidelberg Catechism? Recent scholarship has shown that in 1963 two Reformed Church in America translators made several unauthorized and theologically unwarranted changes to the Heidelberg Catechism. They appear to have inserted their personal biases into an official church document. The erroneous version was unwittingly adopted by the Presbyterian Church in our Book of Confessions. The overtures coming before this General Assembly present the opportunity to correct these unauthorized changes and restore the Heidelberg Catechism to its original wording.

Rogers goes on to outline the changes that were introduced, specifically to add a condemnation of “homosexual perversion.” He reports a conversation with Eugene Osterhaven, who with Allen Miller made the unauthorized insertion. He reports that “when I asked why they chose to insert the phrase, ‘homosexual perversion,’ even though there is no corresponding word or phrase in the original text he replied, ‘We just thought it would be a good idea.’ "

From a scholarly perspective, it is inexcusable to insert words that were not in the original text of the Catechism. Second, from a Christian perspective it is inexcusable to create a mid-twentieth century rendition of the Catechism that appears to condemn all same-sex relationships when that condemnation is not present in the 16th century original. The fact that this unauthorized and theologically incorrect insertion is used to condemn a whole class of church members makes it all the more egregious.

He concludes:

This issue comes down to a simple question of honesty. Do we want our confessions to honestly reflect the original text? Or will we allow the biases of two translators in the early 1960s to continue to taint this official church document? The overtures to restore the Heidelberg Catechism to its original text present a wonderful opportunity for the PC(U.S.A.) to restore honesty and integrity to our Book of Confessions.

His short essay begins:

A ruling of the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly released on February 11, 2008 stated that “it is not permissible for a presbytery or a session to define ‘essentials of Reformed faith and polity’ outside of the examination of any candidate for office. Such a determination must be made only in the context of a specific examination of an individual candidate.” (Leslie Scanlon, “Top court prohibits scrupling fidelity-chastity standard,” The Presbyterian Outlook March 10, 2008, 6.)

There are good reasons, rooted in our history for that view. However, the GAPJC then violated its own ruling by creating one functional “essential tenet” that must be adhered to prior to “a specific examination of an individual candidate.” The ruling stated that “the fidelity and chastity standard [G-6.0106b] may only be changed by a constitutional amendment. Until that occurs, individual candidates, officers, examining and governing bodies must adhere to it.”

I believe this ruling is unwise and contrary to two centuries of American Presbyterian history.

He concludes with an affirmation of hope for the PC(USA):

The day will come when we are no longer fighting over the implications of the sexual orientation of some of our members. The day will come when we finally adhere to our own constitution that declares: “An active member is entitled to all the rights and privileges of the church, including the right…to vote and hold office.” (BO, G-5.0202.) At that point we will have allowed our differing views of human sexuality to take their rightful place on the periphery, but not at the center of those beliefs that we hold to be essential.

The Rev. Ray Bagnuolo, who describes himself as a gay Presbyterian minister of Word and Sacrament, is currently serving as interim pastor of Palisades (NY) Presbyterian Church.

Over the past few months he has posted six carefully considered and documented papers dealing with the ongoing debate about ordination of lgbt Presbyterians.

Moving Beyond The Theological Task Force Report: A Call for Progressive Advocates to Unify for GA 218 (March 30, 2008) PDF Document
     This essay is also farther down on this page >>

Myth 1: We Threaten the Unity of the Church (April 15, 2008) PDF Document
     Also on this page >>

Myth 2: Timing is Everything (May 1, 2008) PDF Document
     Also on this page >>    

Myth 3: Full Inclusion for LGBT Folk Will Produce Schism (May 10, 2008) PDF Document     

Myth 4: It's about "the Middle" (May 20, 2008) PDF Document

Myth 5: We Can Accept Compromise... (June 12, 2008) PDF Document

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