wfn.org | Polity Committee prepares recommendations for Assembly action

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

Note #5998 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

26-June-2000
GA00052

	Polity Committee prepares recommendations for Assembly action

	by Nancy Rodman

LONG BEACH, June 26 -- The Assembly Committee on Polity will recommend that
the General Assembly make available a study document on the church's
foundational principles, circulate a draft revision of Chapter XIV of the
Form of Government, and clarify its policy on welcoming gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgendered persons into membership.

	"The Church's Foundational Principles for Governance" consolidates in
easy-to-study form the theological basis for Presbyterian polity.  If
received by the Assembly, the paper would be made available to the whole
church through the denominational web site.  The paper does not include
changes to the church's constitution, "The Book of Order."

	The Polity Committee will ask the Assembly to authorize the circulation for
comment by the presbyteries, synods, and General Assembly entities, a draft
revision of Chapter XIV of the Form of Government, the chapter dealing with
ordination, certification, and commissioning.  The revision has been drafted
in an effort to streamline the chapter and make it less like a manual of
operations.  The draft revision represents a 40% reduction in the number of
words currently in Chapter XIV.

	The Polity Committee will also recommend that the General Assembly have
sent to the presbyteries a proposal to add "sexual orientation" to the
conditions that do not prohibit membership in Presbyterian churches. 
Currently, the Form of Government states, "No persons shall be denied
membership because of race, ethnic origin, worldly condition, or any other
reason not related to profession of faith."

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