The PC(USA) & the Gays

June 29, 2008

The 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) proved to be very pro-gay, if you will. What I appreciate most about the 218th GA is that it rejected what Adam rightly called the ‘tactic of fear’ (thanks, Adam Walker-Cleveland, for this perspicacious observation - and your recent e-mails). The 218th rejected the god of empire (aka, the god of unity). Unity cannot precede justice - unity must be funded by the holy, other God - who rejects heterosexism and homophobia - as a cursory reading of the Gospels reveals. Appeals to the god of unity, however, were made: ‘Minister commissioner the Rev. William Stepp of Tropical Florida Presbytery opposed the deletion [see (1) below], saying the PC(USA) ‘needs a continuing strong witness to biblical standards for sexuality’ and warned that the proposal will ‘destabilize the denomination, obliterate trust and reduce funding for the church. Don’t send a shock wave through the church’ (quoted here).

The Presbyterian Church will quickly learn that a congregational form of government is more closely aligned with the theological premise that human beings are not free to curtail the loyalty we owe to Jesus Christ and him alone. But more about all this later - here’s the news.

1) The Assembly approved (380-325) to amend the so-called ‘fidelity and chastity’ amendment of the BoO - Book of Order (G-6.0106b). The proposed amendement, which must be approved by the PC(USA)’s presbyteries (and a similar amendment failed in 1997 [when I was a Youth Advisory Delegate for the Boise Presbytery] and 2000]), is as follows (text to be deleted is shown with strike-through and new text is in italics)

b. Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to 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 (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament. Those who are called to ordained service in the church, by their assent to the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003), 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 so doing, they declare their fidelity to the standards of the Church. Each governing body charged with examination for ordination and/or installation (G-14.0240 and G-14.0450) establishes the candidate’s sincere efforts to adhere to these standards.

2) According to the PC(USA), the Assembly also approved ‘a new authoritative interpretation of the Book of Order declaring that interpretive statements related to sexual standards for ordination that predate the adoption of G-6.0106b in 1996 ‘have no further force or effect.’

In addition, the Assembly acknowledged that ’scrupling,’ a debate that goes back to my hero, Jonathan Dickinson (a pastor most Presbyterians know next to nothing about), applies to the so-called ‘fidelity and chastity’ stuff. See here for more info.

3) The 218th did not stop there - the Assembly approved taking another look at the Heidelberg Catechism. This debate was hot in 1997 when I was at the GA. There should never have been a debate. Language such as ‘Surely you know that the unjust will never come into possession of the kingdom of God. Make no mistake: no fornicator or idolater, none who are guilty either of adultery or of homosexual perversion, no thieves or grabbers or drunkards or swindlers, will possess the kingdom of God’ is not supported by the original German or Latin = the language was supplied ‘by the 1962 translators.’ Of course, the conservatives who oppose the revision reveal only their hypocrisy and their opposition to a Reformed understanding of interpretation: respect for the ORIGINAL languages.

Not bad news to report on 29 June, 2008 - the day of the 39th Annual Celebration of the gays in Chicago and around the country and world.

Posted by Tony Posted in Current Events, Mainline, Posts by Tony, The Church