wfn.org | Re: [Ga212reports] Commentary

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #20 from PCUSA NEWS to GA 212 REPORTS:

The re-election of Cliff Kirkpatrick as Stated Clerk was a popular Assembly
decision.  The committee recommended him by a large margin.  And after a
process that took nearly two hours the Assembly followed suit.  While his
challenger Winfield "Casey" Jones hoped to build upon dissatisfaction with
Kirkpatrick's regime, it was clear there just ain't that much out there.  In
his speech Cliff told about his physical exam just before he ran for Clerk 4
years ago.  His blood pressure was low as is true of most of his family. 
The nurse praised him for it and suggested he would be a natural for a job
that had plenty of stress.  I've never thought of blood pressure as a way of
discerning a call..but it worked for Cliff and our Church.

As a church founded by a lawyer, we Presbyterians have many advantages.  I
value decency and order.  Our weakness is our tendency to arrange books on
our library shelves.  We seem to want every book to be the same size and
bound in the same leather.  We prefer a world where every minister and every
church is bound in the same leather.  So this same sex union amendment calls
upon every church and pastor to be the same.  The disorder of some folks
going one way and others another bothers a lot of us.  Shall we require
uniformity right now?  Or will we value freedom of conscience and thus live
with books of different sizes on the shelf.

How does one become a Christian?   Many Christians have been loved into the
kingdom, growing up in a loving home, finding a loving pastor or friend, a
loving community and at some point realizing I am Christ's.  He is my Lord
and Savior.  Other Christians come thru conviction of sin.  This is the
sawdust trail experience.  Thru some life experience of failure, or the
preaching of an evangelist or the words of friends or loved ones..the soul
is convicted of sin and in repentance moves to Christ for acceptance and
salvation.  Thus proceeded the assembly debate on the question of same sex
unions.

Is the church called to love all people and assist and encourage same sex
couples to affirm before God a committed monogamous relationship with each
other, and thus by living in love  discover Christ's saving grace. Or does
the church serve God and these couples best by convicting them of sin, so
they may repent and be open to Christ's saving grace.

As the commissioners debated  the pros and cons of church participation in
same sex union,. it was clear people read the Bible differently; understand
Christ in different ways; and have different views of the task of the church
in these days.  It is also true that the confessions are seen differently. 
Are they expressions of the faith of the church at certain points of
history?  Or are they to be used to define orthodoxy today?

The vote came down to the wire 51 to 48 percent (4 abstentions).  It passed
by the narrowest of margins and will be sent to the Presbyteries for their
ratification.  It was a sober group that was led in prayer by the moderator
and clerk.  It was a sober group that wandered the hall during the post vote
intermission.  If there was a sense of joy and victory it was not expressed
openly.

So now the question moves to the local arena in the Presbyteries.  And we
now can join the debate with our thoughts and words and lives.

This is David Steele...thanks for listening...shalom friends.

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