wfn.org | Judicial Panel Rejects Churches' Ordinations of Homosexuals

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

19-October-1999 
99351 
 
    Judicial Panel Rejects Churches' Ordinations of Homosexuals 
 
    Sessions instructed to uphold constitution, 
    probe into candidates' personal lives 
 
    by Alexa Smith 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Attempts by two Presbyterian churches to uphold 
ordinations of  homosexuals - despite a constitutional provision against it 
- have been stalled, if not stopped, by decisions of the Permanent Judicial 
Commission (PJC) of the Synod of the Northeast. 
 
    Both cases, considered "tests" of how church courts will interpret a 
bitterly debated constitutional provision that prohibits sexual 
relationships for unmarried church officers (G-6.0106b of "The Book of 
Order"),  have been watched closely by the denomination's left and right 
wings. 
 
    The passage, without ever using the word "homosexual," prohibits the 
ordination of gays and lesbians because the polity of the Presbyterian 
Church (U.S.A.) does not permit same-sex marriages. 
 
    In the first case, the Presbytery of Northern New England has been 
ordered to require compliance with the constitution by a congregation in 
Burlington, Vt., that declared  in 1997 that it would defy G-6.0106b. 
 
    In the second case, the synod judicial commission ordered the session 
of First Presbyterian Church in Stamford, Conn., to re-examine an openly 
gay elder's suitability for continued service on the session.  It also said 
that the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of Southern New 
England was wrong to uphold the election of previously ordained Elder Wayne 
Osborne to the Session when his examination left some questions unanswered. 
 
    The rulings were issued during a synod PJC meeting nearly two weeks ago 
in Bedford, N.H. 
 
    "The Northern New England case is a victory for connectionalism," said 
Elder Jay Poppinga, who represented the complainants - the Session of the 
Londonderry Presbyterian Church in Londonderry, N.H. "[It says] that an 
effort to really disengage at least a session, if not a whole presbytery, 
from a significant part of the constitution, is not allowed." 
 
    Christ Church Presbyterian Church of Burlington, Vt., issued a 
resolution in 1997 asserting that G-6.0106b contradicted other sections of 
the constitution, and that, therefore, as a matter of conscience, Christ 
Church would continue electing and ordaining church officers regardless of 
sexual orientation. 
 
    Northern New England Presbytery first instructed the church to comply 
with the constitution, then rescinded that action. 
 
    The synod PJC ordered the presbytery to continue to "work pastorally" 
with the Session of Christ Church, with "the ultimate goal of bringing them 
into compliance with the law as it exists."  It said further that the 
presbytery must recognize irregular actions by its sessions and record its 
disapproval. 
 
    The impact of the decision, however, is more complicated at Christ 
Church, said the Rev. Rebecca Strader, who co-pastors the congregation with 
her husband, the Rev. Michael Brown. "The congregation has been unanimous 
in its statements," she said. "There's not a sense that the congregation is 
all of a sudden going to turn its back on gay and lesbian members and 
somehow not be a safe and affirming place. 
 
    "I hope the presbytery will consider this further and try to find a way 
to act pastorally as well as legally," Strader said. "... This is where the 
rubber hits the road: with real people, with real faces, with real 
parishes. We're one. I'm sure there are others." 
 
    One of those other congregations is in Stamford, where Dan Sassi, a 
spokesperson, said the session of First Presbyterian Church  is waiting for 
the presbytery to act - because the commission didn't overturn Osborne's 
election, but remanded the case back to the Presbytery of Southern New 
England. 
 
    Osborne, already ordained, was re-elected to the church's session - but 
declined to answer a question about the nature of his relationship with 
another man. When charges were filed, the presbytery's judicial commission 
ruled that sessions aren't required to probe into a candidate's personal 
life, unless information is offered voluntarily. The language in G-6.0106b 
refers to "self-acknowledged" behavior. 
 
      Based on the complainants' charge, the synod PJC instructed the 
presbytery to look at the implications of another constitutional provision, 
G-6.0108b, which addresses matters of conscience and gives the governing 
body the responsibility for determining whether a person has departed from 
the essentials of the Reformed faith and polity. 
 
    The commission cited three deficiencies in the Session's examination of 
Osborne - a failure to further explore his assertion that he is "chaste in 
God's eyes"; his refusal to answer the question, "Is this a sexually active 
partnership?"; and allowing his statement that many sins in "The Book of 
Confessions" are "outdated" to pass without further inquiry. It directed 
the presbytery's PJC to direct the Stamford Session to reopen and complete 
the examination. 
 
    The synod PJC did not sustain the charge that the Session "knowingly" 
acted in violation of the constitutional amendment. 
 
    Since the hold is still in place barring Osborne from serving on the 
Session, Sassi said of the hearing: "We're right back where we were the day 
after the Session acted. Wayne Osborne is not able to serve ... while we 
wait." He said the Session will conduct a re-examination only if the 
presbytery orders it to do so. 
 
    "In the synod's opinion, we should have asked a follow-up question when 
Osborne declined to answer [our] question," Sassi said. "But they didn't 
tell us what that question is." 
 
    Close to half of the three-year term Osborne was elected to serve has 
elapsed while his case is moving through the judicial process. 
 
    The demand to probe further into the personal lives of candidates for 
church office is what worries More Light Presbyterians, the gay/lesbian 
advocacy network within the denomination.  "Amendment B (or G-6.0106b) is 
at best ambiguous, and if we open the door to scrutinizing same-sex 
relationships, we open the door to examining candidates for all the sins in 
`The Book of Confessions' for which they are unrepentant," said Scott 
Anderson, the organization's co-moderator. "If we take Amendment B 
seriously, no one in the Presbyterian Church is eligible for ordination." 
 
    In a press release, More Light argued that the church overlooks some 
sins listed in "The Book of Confessions" (the doctrinal companion to "The 
Book of Order" in the PC(USA) constitution), including working on the 
Sabbath, gluttony, and displaying pictures of Jesus. It said other elders 
at the Stamford church had confessed guilt of other sins, but the challenge 
has been made only to the examination of the gay elder. 
 
    The Executive Committee of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians - a 
group that is working to rid the constitution of G-6.0106b -  issued a 
statement on Oct. 18 in which it said that the two PJC rulings illustrate 
"too well the harm that G-6.0106b can cause to the service and witness of 
the church." 
 
    "The PJC's directives in both of these cases appear to us to constrain 
the legitimate authority and responsibility of sessions and presbyteries to 
determine the facts, qualifications and beliefs of the officers and 
churches within their jurisdiction and under their care," the committee 
said. "It would appear moreover in light of the Stamford case that sessions 
are being asked to pursue a line of intrusive personal questioning of 
candidates' lives that few sessions would seek to undertake. 
 
    "Covenant Network continues to believe that governing bodies that 
actually know the candidates and churches in questions are in the best 
position, guided by the Spirit, to discern God's call on them." 
 
     More conservative groups disagree. 
 
    Acknowledging that the Stamford case probably isn't over yet (an appeal 
to the General Assembly's PJC is expected), the Rev. Bill Giles, executive 
director of the Presbyterian Coalition, said backers of G-6.0106b are 
"pleased" with the decisions of the judicial commission. "The [PJC] seems 
to follow `The Book of Order' ... requiring sessions and presbyteries to 
 ... uphold the constitutional standards of the church," he said. 
 
    The coalition, formed in 1993 to oppose the ordination of homosexuals, 
has since become a multi-issue group. 
 
    Poppinga argued several times during last month's annual gathering of 
the coalition that an institution cannot survive when its members no longer 
voluntarily follow its constitution. "That's the real issue," he said 
during an interview with the Presbyterian News Service. "... When we come 
to the point where people cease to live by the constitution, we have a 
constitutional crisis." 
 
    "Then you're no longer part of the institution, almost by 
self-definition."  

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