PNS on coming GA

Battle over PC(USA) ordination standards is expected to dominate General Assembly

"Fidelity and chastity" clause is back on agenda after 2-year break

by Jerry L. Van Marter, Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE - 18-April-2001 - After a two-year moratorium, the issue of sexual-conduct standards for ordination in the Presbyterian Church (USA) is poised to retake center stage when the 213th General Assembly convenes in Louisville on June 9.

The current ordination standard - "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness" - was approved by the 1996 General Assembly (GA) and later ratified by the church's 173 presbyteries (district governing bodies). A move by the 1997 GA to delete the requirement - now G-6.0106b of the denomination's Book of Order - was overwhelmingly defeated by the presbyteries. The 1999, Assembly declared a two-year moratorium on amendments to G-6.0106b and asked Presbyterians to study and discuss "the unity we share in our diversity."

Now that the moratorium has expired, two dozen presbyteries have petitioned the GA to amend the ordination requirement. Most urge that G-6.0106b be excised from the Book of Order. Three presbyteries are calling for a "waiver" clause in the constitution that would exempt congregations (which ordain elders and deacons) and presbyteries (which ordain ministers) from the ordination requirements if they cannot "in good conscience" comply with them. The Chicago-area Midwest Hanmi Presbytery - composed entirely of Korean Presbyterians - wants the Assembly to simply declare that "resolution has been reached on the matter of human sexuality related to eligibility for ordination."

This year's weeklong GA also will address the deeper problem of the continued unity of the 2.5-million-member PC(USA). While there has not been much talk of schism, the presbyteries' defeat of a proposed amendment to ban same-sex union ceremonies, and a still-simmering controversy over a speaker's suggestion during a Presbyterian conference last summer that Jesus may not be the only way to salvation, have fomented several demands that the GA take stronger stands on doctrinal issues such as Christology and salvation. Several presbyteries are calling for a special committee to try to find a way out of the theological conflicts that plague the denomination.

Disgruntled conservatives, led by the Presbyterian Lay Committee, are calling for a loyalty oath that all Assembly program staff members would be required to sign, endorsing three "essential confessions": the infallibility of Scripture, Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation, and heterosexual marriage as the only permissible form of sexual expression.

Abortion, another perennially volatile issue, will also be on the Assembly's agenda. Current GA policy is moderately pro-choice: It affirms a woman's right to choose, but cautions that abortion should be the choice of last resort for women facing problem pregnancies. One measure coming to this year's GA would ban funding of late-term abortions by the church's Board of Pensions (which also administers the denomination's medical-benefits plan). Another calls for the Assembly to express "moral opposition" to any abortion of a fetus older than 20 weeks except to preserve the life of the mother. Another would require advance parental notification before the Board of Pensions approves payment for an abortion for a minor.

Likely to get lost in the hubbub, but still critical for the PC(USA), are a number of other issues that will affect the denomination's ministry and witness for years. Among them:

Domestic violence: The church's Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy is bringing a comprehensive policy statement on domestic violence that recommends scores of actions by congregations and governing bodies to combat the growing problem of domestic violence in U.S. society.

Campus ministry: A major strategy for revitalizing PC(USA) campus ministry is coming to the Assembly. At least two decades of retrenchment in church-sponsored campus-ministry programs are believed to have contributed to the denomination's membership decline.

Entrance into pastoral ministry: Faced with a clergy shortage exacerbated by a disproportionate burnout rate for new pastors, a churchwide strategy is being proposed to strengthen support systems for first-pastorate ministers. The report calls for closer relationships between candidates for ministry, their congregations, seminaries and oversight committees of presbyteries.

Ecumenical relations: After reaching agreements in recent years with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the other churches in the Consultation on Church Union, the GA will turn its attention this year to the Roman Catholic Church. After recent dialogues with Vatican representatives in Louisville and Rome, the PC(USA)'s Committee on Ecumenical Relations will ask the Assembly to declare "real but incomplete communion" with the Catholic Church, and to urge the World Alliance of Reformed Churches to join negotiations aimed at agreement between Catholic and Reformed churches on the doctrine of justification. Catholics and Lutherans signed a similar agreement last year.

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of background reports designed for journalists and other guests who will be visiting the General Assembly.