wfn.org | Stated Clerk Says Covenants of Dissent,

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

22-July-1997 
97283 
 
    Stated Clerk Says Covenants of Dissent, 
    Withholding of Funds Are Irresponsible Tactics 
 
    by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--Covenants of dissent and the withholding of funds -- two 
tactics that have been increasingly employed by both sides in the raging 
debate over ordination standards in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) -- 
"are not responsible means for effecting change in our church," says 
General Assembly stated clerk the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick. 
 
    "One of the great gifts of our Presbyterian system is the adequate 
means and open access to change our constitution," Kirkpatrick told the 
Presbyterian News Service in a July 21 interview.  "We have become too 
quick to disavow the constitution, and that's a fundamental violation of 
church order." 
 
    In the wake of the passage this spring of Amendment B -- the commonly 
called "fidelity and chastity" amendment -- a number of sessions and 
presbyteries adopted varying statements of defiance and noncompliance with 
what is now G-6.0106b of the "Book of Order."  Immediately after the just- 
concluded 209th General Assembly sent out to the presbyteries Amendment A 
-- the commonly called "fidelity and integrity" amendment, which would 
substantially rewrite the previous amendment -- opponents of the new 
proposed amendment such as "The Presbyterian Layman" are openly calling for 
the withholding of funds to protest it.  Amendment A will be voted on by 
the presbyteries during the coming year. 
 
    Both tactics are counterproductive, Kirkpatrick insisted.  "Whenever 
you advocate a moral violation of our covenant together as Presbyterians -- 
which both covenants of dissent and withholding of funds are -- you 
inevitably strengthen the position you oppose."  He said compliance with 
the constitution and support of the church's mission are both "moral 
obligations" of Presbyterians. 
 
    "There is no way to read our `Book of Order' and see per capita as 
optional," Kirkpatrick said.  "We have gotten away from the denomination as 
a regulatory agency," he explained, "but Chapter 9 [.0404d] is very clear 
that the presbyteries shall pay per capita to the synod and General 
Assembly -- we morally owe this to each other as members of one church." 
 
    Kirkpatrick said "Book of Order" language regarding mission giving is 
"less specific," but "efforts to undermine support for the church's mission 
is a threat to our bond in Christ."  He said he "couldn't imagine why any 
Presbyterian would undermine that which they so fervently wish to see done 
by our church because they disagree with one issue." 
 
    The stated clerk said the potential loss of funds as a result of 
withholding campaigns is not even his biggest worry.  "Of most concern to 
me is how critical it is for the church to demonstrate our unity in Jesus 
Christ and to demonstrate respect for our differences."  He said personal 
attacks on the integrity of those with whom we disagree "presents a 
terrible witness to the world of our lack of unity in Jesus Christ." 
 
    Kirkpatrick said he received many letters after the 1996 General 
Assembly from Presbyterians complaining that the Assembly was "manipulated" 
into approving Amendment B.  "This year," he sighed, "I'm getting exactly 
the same letters from the other side about Amendment A."  He said all 
Presbyterians need to understand "that we are deeply divided on this issue 
but we are also all people of integrity."  Kirkpatrick said of all the 
letters he has received charging manipulation of the Assembly by one group 
or another, "not one letter has been from a commissioner."  He said 
Presbyterians who wonder if this Assembly was manipulated into voting one 
way or another "should ask their commissioners." 
 
    Kirkpatrick said he is also concerned that Presbyterians "are reading 
too much into these amendments."  Neither G-6.0106b (the former Amendment 
B) nor the newly proposed Amendment A changes the authoritative 
interpretation of the 1978 and 1993 General Assemblies barring the 
ordination of "self-affirming, practicing homosexuals," he insisted. 
"Amendment A does make changes more possible in the future," he conceded, 
"but it does not, by itself, change current policy." 
 
    Foremost among his concerns, Kirkpatrick said, "is that people are so 
consumed by this issue that they have no energy left for the main task of 
the church -- to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world." 
Turning to Chapter 3 of the "Book of Order" ("The Church and Its Mission"), 
Kirkpatrick said, "We are called to be the provisional demonstration of 
what God intends for all humanity -- not just when we agree, but especially 
when we disagree." 
 
    Our first commitment, he concluded, "simply cannot be to get our own 
way, but to proclaim the gospel to all the world." 
 
 

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