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| Commenting on 00-A
and reflecting on the Stated Clerks' analysis
by Janet Tadano Arbesman
[11-28-00]
Ms. Arbesman is a member-at-large of the
Presbytery of Grand Canyon, and is working on a Ph.D. at Claremont
Graduate University.
Recently I read the document, "Analysis of
Proposed Amendments to the Constitution, Approved by the 212th
General Assembly (2000) Prepared by the Association of Stated Clerks of
the Presbyterian Church (USA)." (p. 1) The purposes of the document
are the following:
They are intended to be an impartial presentation of
each amendment to the Constitution of the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (herein "PCUSA")
proposed to the presbyteries by the 212th General Assembly,
including the background and implications of the proposed amendment
and arguments which have been made for and against adoption.
They are not to be considered as representing a consensus or a
majority view of the stated clerks, but rather
as a guide to the presbyteries' Bills and Overtures
Committees as they consider their recommendations to
Presbyteries. (Analysis, p. 2)
One of the document's problems is that it does not
represent "a consensus or a majority view of stated clerks,"
yet the title page reads "Prepared by the Association of Stated
Clerks...." How can a document, which lists seven stated clerks as
participating, constitute and represent the Association's guide
"to the presbyteries' Bills and Overtures Committees as they
consider their recommendations to Presbyteries?"
Another difficulty I have with the Association's guide
is its claim of "an impartial presentation of each amendment"
especially as the document pertains to Amendments 00-A and 00-O. For
example, the "Implications" section for Amendment 00-A reads:
The amendment will make no change in existing
polity, which prohibits exclusion from
membership for any reason of any person who has
been baptized an who publicly professes "faith in
Jesus Christ as Savior and acceptance of His Lordship in all of
life." (G-50l01a, b) (Analysis, p. 3)
Our Presbyterian polity represents a complex web of
historical, biblical, and theological issues and in this way Amendment
00-A does propose a change to our "existing polity." If passed
by a majority of presbyteries, the amendment will delete the painful
history of our church to exclude persons on the basis of race, ethnic
origin, worldly condition or any other reason from membership, which
provided the historical need for the present wording of G-5.0l03. If
adopted, 00-A will deny the theological urgency to name the ways we as
the church may continue to exclude persons from our membership and may
prohibit the concomitant privileges of full participation and access to
representation in the decision making of the church. (See Comparative
Statistics 1998) The present wording of G-5.0103 represents a
prophetic voice not only to the church but to the world about one of the
implications of our biblical witness, specifically our oneness in Christ
(G-4.0202; G-4.0403; Ephesians 4:5-6).
I suggest that others read the "Analysis of
Proposed Amendments to the Constitution Prepared by the Association of
Stated Clerks" and ask, "How do the Implications sections
undercut or support the arguments for and against approval of a proposed
amendment? Can the 'implications' be used to make one side or another
appear to be misunderstanding "the implications" of the more
controversial amendments? What does the Book of Order say about
the role of stated clerks in our polity? How have a few become the
experts of our church polity, which is intended to be accessible to
everyone?
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PVJ's
Facebook page
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You can post your own news and views,
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Voices of Sophia blog
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John Harris’ Summit to
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
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