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Report on Civil Union and Marriage among the Conversation Mix
Hard to come to agreement with such different assumptions
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Woman with a microphone

Elder Commissioner Doris Mabrey asks a thoughtful question during a the 
Riverside Conversation on civil unions and marriage. ?Photo by Danny Bolin.

> Posted at
> July 3, 2010 11:59 p.m.

The Rev. Jim Szeyller?s voice choked as he recalled the year-long work of the 
special committee he moderated, which studied issues of civil unions and 
Christian marriage in a report to the 219th General  Assembly.

?What we found early on was we had to find a new way to talk and be in 
relationship with each other,? he said during a Riverside Conversation 
Saturday. ?Part of that is we cannot continue retreating to theological bunkers 
and lob hand grenades.?

He continued, ?We have got to find some way to gather around the table of Jesus 
Christ that binds us together and work out these issues.?

The report, assigned to the General Assembly?s Committee on Civil Unions and 
Marriage Issues, calls for more resources for sessions and pastors grappling 
with such issues as biblical interpretation and affirms ?the church?s call to 
extend Christ?s compassion to all.?

The minority report, signed by three committee members, urges sessions and 
presbyteries to study issues presented by the minority, which calls the church 
to ?a radical inclusivity that invites all people to be transformed by the 
radical redeeming love of Jesus Christ.?

Szeyller said committee members on both sides want sessions to address 
differences in biblical interpretation.

?Many issues are argued on interpretive assumptions,? he said. ?When we get 
into a discussion, we wonder why we can?t come to agreement when we start from 
such different assumptions. It is time to have those conversations in 
accordance with our constitution.?

Speaking for the minority, the Rev. Bill Teng, said that like the majority, ?We 
believe the church needs to confront those differences, and we?ve laid them out 
in a way we hope is fair for all. We minister senstively and mercifully to all, 
heterosexual and homosexual alike, trying to guide them in paths of confession, 
forgiveness and restitution.?

According to Teng, ?radical inclusivity? for the minority means ?understanding 
that the gospel is good news for all people. But there?s an exclusive part to 
that: Once we follow the gospel, aren?t we excluding other options? When you 
marry, you exclude all others, and when you say yes to Jesus, you are saying no 
to the rest of the world.?

The minority report, said Rev. Tracie Mayes Stewart, who also signed it, 
?affirms God?s gift of sex is only to be expressed within the bounds of 
marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that?s especially important for 
young people facing a culture of sexual hedonism.?

If ?neither party in this conflict in good conscience can relent, what are we 
to do?? asked committee member the Rev. Clay Allard. His answer: ?Draw near to 
the one who saves us, and remember the gifts that Christ places in our heart. 
We are a people who have always fought. Our call to the church is to find a 
more excellent way to begin the process of being able to disagree without 
binding the conscience of another and without throwing the other under the bus.?