wfn.org | Amendment A slips farther from passing

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

Note #6974 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

10-December-2001
01456

Amendment A slips farther from passing

Controversial measure trails 7-35 with 25 percent of the vote in

by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - With nearly 25 percent of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s
173 presbyteries having voted, Amendment 01-A - which would delete G-6.0106b
from the church's Book of Order - is losing by a wide margin.

The unofficial tally on the controversial measure, as of Dec. 10, is 7 in
favor and 35 opposed. One presbytery - Boise - rejected the measure on a tie
vote, 20-20.

More importantly, three of the 35 presbyteries that have voted "no" -
Minnesota Valleys, Ohio Valley and Western Kentucky - voted "yes" on a
similar measure in 1997 that lost 57-114. No presbyteries have "switched"
the other way, which means that if all remaining presbyteries vote the same
way they did in 1997, Amendment 01-A would lose 54-119.

G-6.0106b states: "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 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."

The votes:

YES (7): Baltimore, Cayuga-Syracuse, Eastern Oregon, Genesee Valley, Hudson
River, Northern New York, San Jose.

NO (35): Boise, Central Florida, Central Washington, Charleston-Atlantic,
Coastal Carolina, Dakota, Foothills, Holston, Inland Northwest, Los Ranchos,
Minnesota Valleys, Mississippi, Noroeste, Northeast Georgia, Northumberland,
Ohio Valley, Olympia, Peace River, Peaks, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San
Fernando, San Gabriel, San Joaquin, San Juan, Sheppards and Lapsley,
Southern Kansas, Suroeste, Transylvania, Tropical Florida, Washington, West
Virginia, Western Kentucky, Whitewater Valley.
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