wfn.org | Amendments Giving CLPs More Authority Pass

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

16-April-1997 
97160 
 
                  Amendments Giving Commissioned 
                 Lay Pastors More Authority Pass 
 
                         by Julian Shipp 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--As indicated by initial and subsequent tallies, proposed 
amendments giving commissioned lay pastors (CLPs) the authority to carry 
out additional functions of ministry have been ratified by a majority of 
presbyteries for inclusion in the "Book of Order." 
 
     Passage of the amendments was confirmed March 24 by the Office of the 
General Assembly (OGA).  The final tally will be certified by the stated 
clerk, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, at the 209th General Assembly (1997) 
in Syracuse. 
 
     Before the passage of the amendments, commissioned lay pastors had the 
authority to lead worship, preach and administer Communion (if so 
authorized by their presbyteries).  Now CLPs will also be allowed to 
baptize, counsel, moderate session, provide pastoral care and perform 
weddings (where allowed by civil law) and have voice and vote in presbytery 
meetings. 
 
     The 208th General Assembly (1996) added a provision to the proposed 
amendments requiring that commissioned lay pastors be ordained Presbyterian 
elders.  An attempt on the floor of the Assembly to allow nonordained 
persons to perform that role was defeated. 
 
     However, Assembly commissioners narrowly approved giving presbyteries 
the power to authorize nonelders to perform these functions as well as 
others already assigned to commissioned lay pastors. Such authorization 
would require a 75 percent majority vote of the presbytery. 
 
     Limiting the CLP position to ordained elders brings to it 
education/training standards and accountability (through ordination vows). 
The presbyteries -- which will decide which of these powers each 
commissioned lay pastor may exercise -- will be responsible for training 
and monitoring the work of CLPs and will have to specify the period of time 
for which each CLP will serve. The CLP's role in one church will not 
automatically transfer to another church or another presbytery. 
 
     As mandated by the Assembly, CLPs must receive training in the Bible, 
Reformed theology and sacraments, Presbyterian polity, preaching, leading 
worship, pastoral care and teaching. Lay pastors already commissioned by 
presbyteries will not have to meet the elder requirement for the term of 
their current commissions. 
      
     Supporters of the amendment's passage say the changes will provide 
much-needed ministers to small congregations that are unable to find or 
afford ministers of the Word and sacrament and to racial-ethnic 
congregations that need leaders who know their language and/or culture. 
 
     The Rev. Sun Bai Kim, associate for Korean congregational enhancement 
in the National Ministries Division, supported the amendments' passage 
because the denomination "has many congregations which presently do not 
have any pastoral leadership at all. 
 
     "This is a very serious matter to all racial-ethnic congregations and 
even some Caucasian churches in the larger [metropolitan] areas," Kim said, 
adding there are roughly 68,000 active African- American PC(USA) members, 
35,000 Korean-American members, 25,000 Hispanic-American members; 10,000 
Native American members and 9,000 other Asian group members.  
 
     Kim said he believes the PC(USA) should retain its standards for 
ordination and ordained minstries since they are the church's "legacy and 
heritage." However, in terms of evangelism and ministry, he said, "the 
denomination needs to be flexible too, and the passage of these amendments 
will be a very effective tool for nurturing and evangelizing in the 
church." 
  
     The Rev. William B. Ailes, executive presbyter of Inland Northwest 
Presbytery, based in Spokane, Wash., said that expanding the roles of CLPs 
will enable the denomination to make progress in approaching new immigrant 
populations, some of which are experiencing much growth, while 
strengthening its presence in rural areas. 
 
     For example, Ailes said, more than 20 percent of the congregations in 
Inland Northwest Presbytery are served by commissioned lay pastors and the 
presbytery has 10 years' experience with CLPs. 
 
     "As the executive presbyter of the presbytery that has been a leader 
in the use of CLPs, I am delighted that finally the overture to empower 
them has passed," Ailes told the Presbyterian News Service. "Some of us 
have been at the last five General Assemblies urging this passage. I am 
convinced that CLPs are God's gracious gift to the church for its renewal. 
The empowerment of CLPs represents a radical departure from how we have 
done ministry since the Reformation." 
 
     "I understand some of our clergy see [CLPs] as second-class clergy, 
but basically I don't," said the Rev. Robert C. Sackman, who in January 
retired as executive presbyter of Ohio Valley Presbytery in Bloomington, 
Ind. "I think there are enough safeguards on it, and if the Committee on 
Ministry is doing its job, no one need worry. We're talking about churches 
here no one else wants to serve, least of all our ordained clergy." 

------------
For more information contact Presbyterian News Service
  phone 502-569-5504             fax 502-569-8073  
  E-mail PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org   Web page: http://www.pcusa.org 
  mailed from World Faith News <wfn-news@wfn.org>  

--