wfn.org | Supporters and Opponents Agree Amendment A Is Lost

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

18-March-1998 
98095 
 
    Results Not Official Yet, But Supporters 
    and Opponents Agree Amendment A Is Lost 
 
    by Alexa Smith 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--Though official results are not in yet, supporters and 
opponents of Amendment A agree that a majority of the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.)'s 173 presbyteries have rejected the measure by a more than 2-1 
vote. 
 
    Unofficial tallies - published on the Internet by the Presbyterian Lay 
Committee and the Presbyterian Coalition, staunch backers of existing 
constitutional language prohibiting the ordination of gays and lesbians or 
sexually active but unmarried heterosexuals - reported that a majority of 
votes favoring retaining those restrictions was reached March 7, with 91 
presbyteries voting against the proposed Amendment A and 46 in favor. 
 
    As of March 18, the informal tally was 50 affirmative and 105 negative. 
 
    Eighty-seven presbyteries constitute the majority necessary to either 
reject or approve a constitutional change.  The official count - prepared 
by the Office of the General Assembly after tallying ballot cards submitted 
by presbytery stated clerks - was 84 negative and 41 affirmative on March 
18. 
 
    The language of Amendment A, approved by commissioners to the 209th 
General Assembly last June, was virtually contradictory of the more 
explicit language approved just one year before by the 210th General 
Assembly and then by a 97-74-1 vote of the denomination's presbyteries.  It 
was titled Amendment B and is now G-6.0106b of the "Book of Order." 
 
    Describing sexual standards for church officers with the words 
"fidelity and chastity," defining marriage as a covenant "between a man and 
a woman," and requiring repentance of "self-acknowledged" practices that 
church confessions call sin, "B" was quickly adopted as the premier 
theological and ideological litmus test by both liberal and conservative 
Presbyterians during heated presbytery debates in late 1996 and early 1997. 
 
    "I  really do believe the majority has spoken in fairly clear terms. 
And consistent with the historic principles [of the church], we need to 
honor the vote of the majority," said the Rev. Jack Haberer, moderator of 
the Presbyterian Coalition, an advocacy group formed when the 205th General 
Assembly authorized a three-year study of issues tied to sexuality and 
ordination to church offices.   "And the second thing we all need to 
remember ... is the intent [here].  Grace precedes and follows repentance. 
 
    "Amendment B was never intended to be the graceless declaration its 
opponents made it out to be," said Haberer, insisting that the "spirit of 
the amendment" is true to the Reformed tradition, where dissenters submit 
to the determination of the majority - while still working for change -- 
and the majority avoids triumphalism so that it may redirect its energy 
into other aspects of ministry. 
 
    The Coalition has sent a mailing to pastors citing the 1758 Plan for 
Reunion (footnoted in the "Book of Order"), which lays out that logic, 
saying: "When any matter is determined by a major vote, every member shall 
either actively concur with or passively submit to such determination; or 
if his conscience permit him to do neither, he shall, after sufficient 
liberty modestly to reason and remonstrate, peaceably withdraw from our 
communion without attempting to make any schism." 
 
    But exactly what kind of spirit will prevail in the denomination's more 
polarized presbyteries worries more moderate backers of Amendment A, 
including former General Assembly moderator the Rev. John Buchanan of 
Chicago.  Buchanan is one of the co-conveners of the Covenant Network of 
Presbyterians, a group formed to work for passage of A and arrest what it 
calls a "rightward drift" in the denomination. 
 
    "The church," Buchanan said, "needs to show a divided world how to stay 
in dialogue and service with each other, even when we disagree ... because 
the disagreement is so vehement and so profound and includes very nearly 
half of our family."  (The Covenant Network claims that 46 percent of all 
votes cast on Amendment A in presbyteries to date were "yes" votes.) He 
told the Presbyterian News Service that he hopes the denomination avoids 
not only witch hunts, but prosecutions in the coming months, and that it 
will simply "live with what we've done.  See what it feels like across the 
church." 
 
     It some circles "what it feels like" is already clear. 
 
    The More Light Churches Network (MLCN) - a coalition of 95 Presbyterian 
churches that openly ordain gays and lesbians - and Presbyterians for 
Lesbian and Gay Concerns (PLGC) are planning a merger to create what a 
March 17 press release calls a "stronger and more unified organization" and 
are hiring a staff person for the first time to do organizing and 
education.  Presbyterian Welcome, a coalition of 10 New York City 
congregations, is, as its spokesperson, the Rev. Cliff Frazier of Jan Hus 
Presbyterian Church, says, "preparing ourselves for the deepening crisis," 
since its members do not intend to implement the reaffirmed constitutional 
provision in "any fashion." 
 
    "I hope we'll be allowed to be able to continue to live faithfully in 
response to the gospel as we understand it," MLCN's co-moderator, the Rev. 
Richard Lundy of Excelsior, Minn., told the Presbyterian News Service. 
 
    But the network has already established a legal fund and has secured 
volunteer lawyers anticipating possible disciplinary cases.  "What they're 
[the Coalition] saying is, `We've listened to the minority long enough,'" 
said Lundy.  "`It's time to listen to the majority. If you don't agree and 
you can't submit, leave.'" 
 
    And while some backers of current constitutional language undoubtably 
agree with that logic, others are less strident.  Some dissenters, they 
acknowledge, will simply leave the denomination.  Options for those who 
stay are varied, including giving up their ordinations "for the sake" of 
church unity.  But  "outing" closet homosexuals, disclosing the contents of 
confidential pastoral conversations or "purging" those not in compliance 
with G-6.0106b is not the intent of those who drafted the original 
amendment, according to spokespersons within the Renewal Network, a 
coalition of conservative and evangelical groups who worked jointly for the 
passage of Amendment B and the defeat of A. 
 
    Some disciplinary action is to be expected, said Presbyterians for 
Renewal executive director the Rev. Joe Rightmyer of Louisville, 
particularly when noncompliance is openly flaunted.  Ongoing judicial cases 
will also be carefully watched, he added.  But none of that, in Rightmyer's 
view, was the purpose of Amendment B. 
 
    The point of G-6.0106b, he argued, is for Presbyterians to reexamine 
their lives and their church in light of what scripture defines as "the new 
creation" in Christ.  "I think what the church is trying to say right now - 
and has said - is that we have not lost sight of the fact that scripture is 
our final authority for faith and practice.  We're clinging to that. 
 
    "We need to recover what is offered in scripture, not just what is 
opposed," he said, adding that "`the Book of Order' certainly is not going 
to change us.  The hope is to get beyond the `Book of Order' to Spirit and 
life." 
 
    The Coalition's view, Haberer said, is that there is "no constitutional 
basis for defrocking" already ordained deacons, elders and ministers. 
G-6.0106b calls for examination of new candidates for ministry and of 
elders, deacons and clergy who are to be installed or reinstalled. 
 
    "The only [disciplinary] cases that I expect to see are of those who 
flagrantly defy the constitution," said Haberer, who believes there are 
ways to submit to the church's standards yet still work for change. 
"There's a compelling call to say stop being so militant, so defiant. 
Respect the majority call on that issue," he said, adding that defiance may 
simply provoke chain reactions of judicial cases. 
 
    The Covenant Network has not adopted a platform urging its members to 
"not abide" by the existing constitutional provision.  Buchanan said he's 
hearing that the response of members to A's demise varies.  "It has been a 
Presbyterian principle ... to trust local people to make responsible 
decisions, to do what God calls them to do," he told the Presbyterian News 
Service. 
 
    "There are some who will abide.  There are some who cannot in good 
conscience abide.  But that is a qualitatively different principle than 
aggressive dissent." 
 
    Like Buchanan, Rightmyer hopes that the denomination will live with the 
contested constitutional language and let time test it.  "A lot of what's 
coming," he said, "depends on what the next Assembly does." 
 
    Milwaukee Presbytery, for example, has submitted an overture calling 
for G-6.0106b to be deleted from the "Book of Order." 
 
    Though formed around a single issue, both the Coalition and the 
Covenant Network intend to continue functioning as broader based 
organizations, according to their spokespersons. 
 
     The Coalition has formed a visioning team that will report on 
strategies for denominational renewal at an Oct. 8-10 conference in Dallas. 
The Covenant Network intends to announce dates for a theological conference 
at the General Assembly. 
 
                   The official vote as of March 18 
 
Affirmative (41): Albany, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Des Moines, East 
Iowa, Eastern Oklahoma, Eastern Oregon, Genesee Valley, Geneva, Heartland, 
Hudson River, Long Island, Louisville, Maumee Valley, Miami, Milwaukee, 
Minnesota Valleys, New Brunswick, New Castle, New York City, Newark, North 
Central Iowa, Northern Kansas, Northern New England, Northern New York, 
Northern Plains, Palisades, Redwoods, San Jose, Santa Fe, Southeastern 
Illinois, Southern New England, Susquehanna Valley, Twin Cities Area, Utah, 
Utica, Western Kentucky, Western New York, Western Reserve and Winnebago. 
 
Negative (84): Abingdon, Arkansas, Carlisle, Central Florida, Central 
Washington, Charleston-Atlantic, Charlotte, Cherokee, Cimarron, Cincinnati, 
Coastal Carolina, Dakota, de Cristo, Donegal, East Tennessee, Eastern 
Korean, Eastern Virginia, Flint River, Florida, Foothills, Great Rivers, 
Greater Atlanta, Hanmi, Holston, Homestead, Huntingdon, James, John Calvin, 
Kendall, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lehigh, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, Midwest 
Hanmi, Mission, Mississippi, Monmouth, Nevada, New Covenant, New Harmony, 
New Hope, North Alabama, North Puget Sound, Northeast Georgia, Northern 
Waters, Northwest, Pacific, Palo Duro, Peace River, Peaks, Philadelphia, 
Pines, Pittsburgh, Plains and Peaks, Prospect Hill, Providence, Pueblo, 
Redstone, St. Andrew, St. Augustine, Salem, San Diego, San Fernando, San 
Joaquin, San Juan, Santa Barbara, Shenango, Sheppards and Lapsley, 
Shenandoah, South Alabama, South Louisiana, Southern Kansas, Southwest, 
Stockton, Tampa Bay, Transylvania, Tres Rios, Trinity, Wabash Valley, West 
Virginia, Western North Carolina, Whitewater Valley and Yukon. 

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