The 2002 General Assembly
A Special Report to Witherspoon Society Members

by 
Gene TeSelle, Witherspoon Issues Analyst,
 and 
Doug King, Network News editor and WebWeaver

Our thanks to the Presbyterian News Service, whose reports have supplemented, verified, or corrected our own notes.

For more detailed reports on our own site and others, click here.  Links to many reports are included in the text that follows.

[7-1-02]

This was an Assembly whose docket was shaped largely by the self-described "Confessing Church Movement" and its allies. The end result, however, was a rejection of their agenda by wide margins. The headlines on the web site of the Layman indicate disappointment and anger: "Assembly requires no compliance to constitution," "Assembly sanctions late-term abortions," "Commissioners spurn Marriage Amendment," "Instead of missionaries, Assembly spends on causes."

Election of the Moderator

The three candidates for Moderator had agreed to work and pray with each other; while their responses to questions from the floor on Saturday night indicated their differences, they also manifested a quest for unity (none of them, for example, championed the "Confessing Church Movement"). All spoke effectively. But it soon became clear that the Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel, 58, a Palestinian-American pastor from Atlanta, was the man of the year. The Assembly wanted to send a message in favor of a just peace in the Middle East and in opposition to Palestinian and Israeli violence. Abu-Akel received 42% on the first ballot and 57% on the second. Most of the switch came from Tankersley voters; Laird Stuart's vote stayed almost the same.

Abu-Akel named as Vice-Moderator his nominator, Ann Beran Jones, commissioner from the Presbytery of Chicago and its current moderator. A retired Christian educator, she has been active in Presbyterian Women.

One of the first actions of the Assembly was to promote dialogue and understanding between Muslims and Christians, calling on individuals, congregations and governing bodies to "interact with those Muslims in their own localities who are interested in building bridges of understanding and trust, doing so ecumenically whenever possible." It also commended a document titled "Striving Together in Dialogue: A Muslim-Christian Call for Reflection and Action," written by Christians and Muslims together after discussions organized by the World Council of Churches. Four PC(USA) publications also were commended for study and reflection, although many commissioners pointed out that they emphasize conversion rather than dialogue.

Those traveling to the Middle East were urged to consult with the Middle East Office of Worldwide Ministries and the Middle East Council of Churches and to meet, when in Israel-Palestine, with Palestinian Christians and Muslims, partner groups, Israeli peace activists and other groups carrying out nonviolent witness, and (in wording that was struggled with on the floor) groups representing the positions of both the Israeli government and the Palestinian National Authority and other sectors of Israeli and Palestinian opinion.

Confessions and Christology

Case-Winters put celebration of the Confession of 1967 first in her report to the Assembly, lifting up the continued need for reconciliation in both the world and the church. A new inclusive-language text of the Confession of 1967 is to be sent to all congregations, presbyteries and seminaries, to help in their own reflection on confessing today; an amendment on the floor affirmed the need to send out the text and brief accompanying materials within calendar year 2002.

Case-Winters listed the surviving members of the drafting and revising committees that prepared the Confession: Edward A. Dowey, Jr. (its Chair), Janet Harbison Penfield, Gayraud S. Wilmore, Calvin DeVries, Charles West, Louis Evans, Robert Lamont, Lewis Mudge, and William Wiseman, who was present at the Assembly and was introduced on the platform.

The other unanimous recommendation of the committee was to adopt the brief theological statement "Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ," prepared last fall by the Office of Theology and Worship in the wake of the flap two years ago over Dirk Ficca's Socratic question "What's the big deal about Jesus?" and discontent with the statement crafted on the floor by last year's General Assembly. Many overtures demanded one-liner declarations about Jesus as God, Lord, and sole Savior. The committee preferred the longer, more nuanced approach of the "Hope" document, as more in keeping with the richness of our confessional heritage. Plenary discussion was brief, with no statements in opposition, and the vote was an overwhelming 97% in favor. (The paper and a study guide are available on the Theology and Worship web site: www.pcusa.org/pcusa/cmd/cfl/christdoc.htm.)

Debate was more heated over the Pittsburgh overture calling for an authoritative interpretation of the first ordination vow, and the somewhat milder San Francisco overture asking the Assembly to make its own paraphrase of the vow. The Advisory Committee on the Constitution had advised against a binding interpretation, since its effect would be to amend the constitution without a vote of the presbyteries. These two measures were disapproved overwhelmingly in the committee.

The Rev. Nancy Gillard, from Giddings-Lovejoy, first talked about filing a minority report. In conversation with key members of the majority she developed a new proposal. It acknowledged that many in the church were awaiting a clear statement, then adapted a comment from the Office of the General Assembly that the PC(USA) is "neither confused nor hesitant" about its faith, and went on to quote an entire paragraph from the "Hope" statement, beginning with "Jesus Christ is the only Savior and Lord" and ending "Grace, love and communion belong to God, and are not ours to determine."

This motion satisfied the demands of the conservatives without going beyond what had already been affirmed by the majority. Then, as Ted Smith said, it was "sold upward" to the conservative and progressive advocacy groups, and finally to moderatorial candidates Jerry Tankersley and Laird Stuart; both spoke in favor of it on the floor, helping it gain the approval of 94% of the commissioners.

Budget Rhetoric

Although General Assemblies have met annually since 1789, this one voted by a 2-to-1 margin to convene an Assembly every other year, with the first gap coming in 2005. The rhetoric of stewardship (of time, money, and energy) made this action inevitable. (The Assembly now costs $5 million, most of which is paid out of per capita assessments.) There was plenty of grieving, and the Assembly adopted an amendment by Kitty Borchert to enlarge the evaluating process and address possible conflicts with the Reformed principle of representative government.

The Assembly is a significant educational event for ministers and elders, manifesting the richness and breadth of the PC(USA). We can expect more "off-year" gatherings; but representation of minorities, women, and youth may be endangered if presbyteries do not subsidize their travel. We can also expect advocacy groups, especially several well-financed groups on the right, to promote their own gatherings. And it has already become clear that conservatives will exploit the change, claiming that out-of-control bureaucrats and elected officials are making even more decisions without review by the Assembly.

The vote unleashed further rhetoric about money. If $4.5 million per Assembly is saved, some wanted this to be transferred to "mission" (which is not funded out of per capita, however). A commissioner from San Joaquin moved to direct the General Assembly Council to restore 34 slots for missionaries by making further cuts in other divisions. Conservative groups had already tried unsuccessfully to defund the Washington Office and the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy in order to restore these positions. The more reasonable answer given by the Assembly was to promote the Mission Initiative, a five-year $40 million campaign for new church development, redevelopment, racial ethnic churches, and 45 international positions, with the proviso that this be "over and above" the existing commitment to missions. Once again the rhetoric of "mission" and "evangelism" was used to trump concerns about social justice, where a number of staff positions have been cut in recent years. John Detterick, who has presided over this process, was reelected to another term by acclamation.

The Presbytery of San Joaquin had sent an overture asking the Assembly to set aside an authoritative interpretation that requires presbyteries to pay the per capita not paid by a session. The Committee and the Assembly bent over backwards to say that some congregations "struggle financially to pay per capita" and urge presbyteries to "work pastorally with those sessions who choose to withhold their per capita." This does not negate the facts that San Joaquin as a presbytery has been the source of repeated attacks on other Presbyterians and that its congregations have engaged in budget boycotts.

The Assembly, fed up with stonewalling by the Presbyterian Lay Committee and other groups, approved a commissioners' resolution requiring "affinity groups" to submit a copy of their latest 990 form for public posting or lose rights in the exhibition hall.

Polity Shenanigans

While the "ordination question" was not up for discussion, it was present in a number of ways.

Shenango Presbytery submitted an overture urging the General Assembly to intervene in a case in Northern New England, filed by the Londonderry session against the session of Christ Church in Burlington, VT, which had issued a statement of dissent from G-6.0106b, then "set it aside" early in June.

The General Assembly, following the advice of the Polity Committee, disapproved the overture, for several good reasons. (1) It was out of order, since a legislative body was interfering in a judicial matter, when the Rules of Discipline spell out clearly the remedial actions that are to be taken. (2) It was moot, since the session had "set aside" its action and the presbytery had declared the matter resolved. (3) All commissioners could envisage ways future Assemblies might interfere in the life of their own sessions or presbyteries.

Six committee members filed a softened minority report. It claimed to be "pastoral," "commending" the presbytery for working with the session. But the floor speeches of its supporters had the same judgmental tone as the Shenango overture. A YAD said it was like counting to three when a child misbehaves, and a commissioner asserted that the presbytery needed "help" in dealing with a congregation that was in "active disobedience."

The Rev. David Van Dyke of Columbus said that the motion was "not pastoral in any way." Carl Hilton-Van Osdall of Northern New England said that any "commendation" would be perceived as having the same non-conciliatory tone as the original overture. The Rev. Julie Adkins of Grace Presbytery suggested that the proposed action was as incongruous as "asking the Supreme Court to elect the President of the United States."

The Assembly also disapproved a series of "super-majority" overtures that would have made it more difficult to amend the Book of Order (and specifically to remove G-6.0106b) by requiring two-thirds votes by the General Assembly and/or the presbyteries. It was pointed out that the rule, if adopted, could call into question any features of the Book of Order that had passed by less than two thirds, including G-6.0106b.

And in answer to overtures calling either for a period of grace, during which the Assembly would "implore all" to refrain from judicial or legislative action, or for a five-year moratorium on legislative actions, the Assembly noted that one Assembly cannot bind the actions of another and that no Assembly has authority over judicial process. Instead it called for a season of prayer and encouraged dialogue among those who disagree. After the vote, the Rev. Steven Van Kuiken of Cincinnati still asked for a period of grace from judicial and legislative action. "Please let us send a message of grace," he said. "I find the call to prayer to be fine but woefully inadequate."

Dealing with a proposal that was sidelined last year, the Assembly voted to reaffirm several positions taken by the 1978 Assembly concerning gay/lesbian rights in civil law.

Finally, the Assembly disapproved a commissioners' resolution to support the Federal Marriage Amendment. It was presented as being compatible with domestic partner legislation, but it would enshrine in the Constitution a definition of marriage as "the union of a man and a woman" and would forbid any construal of the Constitution to confer marital status on "unmarried couples or groups," including common law marriages as well as same-sex unions.

Abortion Policy

The General Assembly approved a statement on late-term abortions that includes a list of situations in which such abortions might be permissible. The statement is not a new policy but a compilation of prior Assembly policy statements, the most extensive of which came in 1992. It is the product of two years of work by the Advisory Committee on Litigation and the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP).

The central statement is this: "The ending of a pregnancy after the point of fetal viability is a matter of grave moral concern to us all, and may be undertaken only in the rarest of circumstances and after prayer and/or pastoral care and when necessary to save the life of the woman, to preserve the woman's health in circumstances of a serious risk to the woman's health, to avoid fetal suffering as a result of untreatable, life-threatening medical anomalies, or in cases of incest or rape." The Assembly voted down an amendment to delete "only" on the grounds that it binds conscience and choice. The position of the committee was that this is a medical decision, not to be precluded with an absolute prohibition (examples included the medical condition of the fetus or the woman and the availability of medical care).

The Sexuality Curriculum

After long debate the Assembly turned back an effort to force Congregational Ministries to drop the "God's Gift of Sexuality" curriculum. This would require the destruction of inventory worth $114,000. The curriculum has been widely sought by libraries and non-profit organizations as well as churches, though sales dropped during the last two years because it was not advertised.

The Assembly voted 375-136 to grant a two-year deferment to produce a "library of resources" to supplement the current curriculum, on the understanding that a "review and revision" process ordered by the Assemblies of 1998 and 1999 will continue. Many commissioners defended the sexuality curriculum and expressed their appreciation for it, noting that it has a number of components and is used in cooperation with parents.

New Dispensation for Educators

Ending several years of debate, the committee and then the whole Assembly approved most of the report of a task force favoring the ordination of Christian educators. A number of proposed amendments to the Book of Order will be sent to the presbyteries for ratification in the coming year.

Candidates who meet certain standards (including academic degrees and demonstration of teaching skills) could be ordained as ministers of Word and Sacrament with a concentration in Christian education. At the option of presbyteries, candidates could present a lesson plan in lieu of a sermon in the examination process. A "grandparent" provision would allow a time period (through 2007) during which a presbytery, by a three-fourths vote, might waive education and examination requirements to clear the way for the ordination of Certified Christian Educators "when a strategy for mission requires it." CCEs ordained under such waivers would be eligible to serve as associate pastors in their congregations.

The Assembly approved a recommendation to refer the troublesome matter of major revisions to Chapter XIV of the Book of Order to the Office of the General Assembly for resubmission to the 2006 Assembly, following "broad-based conversations" with presbyteries and others regarding the role of the constitution in the life of the PC(USA).

International Issues

The Committee on Peacemaking and Global Issues worked into Tuesday night, rewriting a paper on global security and arms control that will be distributed by the Peacemaking Program as a study guide. The Assembly also voted to authorize a study on violence and terrorism, examining the relationship between religion and violence as well as asking how U.S. military, political and economic actions may contribute to global problems.

By a two-vote margin that reflected a close and confused vote in committee, the Assembly endorsed creation of a United States Department of Peace. Legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives to create such a department, and Moderator Fahed Abu-Akel had been slated to be overture advocate in presenting this proposal from the Presbytery of Atlanta.

Other actions include a "Plan of Christian Compassion to Ameliorate the HIV/AIDS Crisis in Africa," "Guiding Principles for Decisions Concerning Religious Freedom around the World," and a number of calls upon U.S. officials: to lift economic sanctions against Iraq, to release funds approved by the Congress for the United Nations Population Fund, to support the new nation of East Timor, and to sign the Ottawa Convention banning antipersonnel land mines.

National Issues

An important paper on restorative justice, prepared by the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, was approved. There was also a resolution to clean up power-plant pollution, enforce clean-air laws, and end the "grandfather" loophole that exempts older, coal-fired plants.

The complex issue of "takings," which had been confused by last year's sympathy vote for ranchers in the Klamath Basin, was referred to the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy and the Advisory Committee on Litigation. This will be a tough one, since the troubles of local congregations with zoning and historic preservation have led to claims that these are "takings" deserving compensation under the Fifth Amendment. The Bible has a few things to say about this kind of marketizing of the common good.  (Bob Stivers of Presbyterians for Restoring Creation has provided a good summary and commentary on the Assembly's actions on environmental issues.)

Responding to an effort in Ohio to force the state Board of Education to require the teaching of "intelligent design" along with evolution in public schools, the Assembly issued a more general statement, affirming that "there is no contradiction between an evolutionary theory of human origins and the doctrine of God as Creator" and calling on Presbyterian scientists and educators to help Presbyterians and the public "understand what constitutes reliable knowledge." The Office of Theology and Worship is currently developing study materials on "the relationship of the finding of the sciences to the affirmation of God as creator of the universe."

In response to an overture from Tampa Bay, the Assembly voted to support a national boycott of Taco Bell restaurants, focusing attention on working and living conditions among the Immokalee workers (pronounced Im-MOCK-a-lee) who pick tomatoes used in Taco Bell products. There were the expected doubts from the floor: What about other tomato companies? (The others, unlike Taco Bell, use machine-picked tomatoes.) Wouldn't the workers be hurt? (Several of them appeared at the Assembly to ask for the boycott.)

The Assembly also approved "We Are What We Eat," a document produced in response to the farm crisis and its impact on farmers and ranchers. It calls for prayer for farmers around the world, lawmakers, directors and employees of trans-national corporations in the food industry, and for "each of us as we make choices related to the food we produce, process and consume." Since around 30% of the 11,000 PC(USA) congregations are located in rural areas, the document is seen as a step toward revitalization of rural congregations.

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This Assembly reaffirmed, not only in words but in deeds, the Confession of 1967, which tells us in no uncertain terms, "To be reconciled to God is to be sent into the world as God's reconciling community" (C-9.31). In this hopeful situation we ask Witherspooners to take the lead in their congregations and presbyteries, urging them not only to read C-67 but to study it with the aid of the Witherspoon resource guide and the much fuller discussion in the new issue of Church & Society. You might also think about organizing a conference in your presbytery.

For more information and copies of the resource guide to go with Church & Society, contact Witherspoon Program Coordinator Ann Euston.  
E-mail:  sustain@trailnet.com
Phone:  (505) 623-1094.

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