wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Church leaders call for reconciliation

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Note #7076 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Church leaders call for reconciliation
in wake of Amendment 01-A's defeat
4-March-2002
02086

Church leaders call for reconciliation
in wake of Amendment 01-A's defeat

by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - Jack Rogers, the General Assembly moderator, and the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the stated clerk, have sent a letter to the Presbyterian Church (USA) calling for reconciliation and healing in the wake of the defeat of Amendment 01-A.

The amendment would have repealed the constitutional provision - G-6.0106b of the Book of Order - that requires of church officers "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness." The effect of the amendment would have been to allow presbyteries and congregations to ordain gay and lesbian Presbyterians.

As of March 2, 41 presbyteries had voted for the amendment and 114 against, with one presbytery -- Western New York -- electing to take "no action."

The complete text of Rogers' and Kirkpatrick's letter, dated March 4:

A Letter to the Presbyterian Church (USA)

Dear Friends in Christ:

While there have been a number of informal reports over the last few weeks, only this week have we received enough official ballots from the presbyteries in the Office of the General Assembly to show that Amendment A has not passed. 
Therefore, G-6.0106b will continue to be part of the Constitution. Those called to office in the church and all ordaining bodies are responsible to uphold this provision for ministers, elders and deacons.

We are encouraged by the many stories we have heard from presbyteries about the spirit and manner of the debate about Amendment A. We were told that in many places the honest exchange of views was an example of the Presbyterian system working at its best. Elders and Ministers of the Word advocated their particular position on the amendment and then went on in the meeting to find agreement on the mission work of their presbytery.

In other presbyteries the debate over Amendment A has left wounds that will take time to heal. In our passion to serve and exalt Christ, some have had difficulty in acknowledging the reality of Christ's presence in the lives of those who disagree with them. Our challenge now as Presbyterians is to begin the process of reconciliation and in so doing to become a model for healing the rifts that divide our world.
The Confession of 1967 speaks of the ministry of reconciliation. In Part II 9.31 we read:

To be reconciled to God is to be sent into the world as his reconciling community. This community, the church universal, is entrusted with God's message of reconciliation and shares his labor of healing the enmities which separate men from God and from each other. Christ has called the church to this mission and given it the gift of the Holy Spirit. The church maintains continuity with the apostles and with Israel by faithful obedience to his call.

This community, our Presbyterian Church (USA), has been entrusted by God to be agents of reconciliation for the world and with one another. The Confession calls reconciliation the labor of healing. It is hard work, but it is the work we are called to do and equipped to do not by our own intentions but by the Holy Spirit. The Confession also reminds us that the long history of the church from Jacob and Esau to today has been a long story of men and women reaching out to each other across the enmities that divide them.
That is our prayer for the church. A church composed of people with varied views united around a common call from God to be God's servants of mission in this world. Let us work to be reconciled to one another and to the grace of Christ that claims us all.

Yours in Christ,

Jack Rogers, Moderator, 213th General Assembly 	Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
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