wfn.org | Re: [Ga212reports] News from the 212th General Assembly for Tuesday, Ju

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

Note #21 from PCUSA NEWS to GA 212 REPORTS:

	This is Jerry Van Marter of the Presbyterian News Service with news from
the 212th General Assembly for late Friday, June 30 and Saturday, July 1.

	After just an hour of impassioned but civil debate, the 212th General
Assembly tonight voted by a margin of 268-251 (51 percent to 48 percent) to
send a proposed constitutional amendment to its 173 presbyteries that would
flatly prohibit same sex union ceremonies in the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.).  Four commissioners abstained.  The proposed amendment -- which
came to the Assembly as Overture 00-26 from San Joaquin Presbytery, would
add section W-4.9007 to the "Directory for Worship" that reads: "Scripture
and our Confessions teach that God's intention for all people is to live
either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman
or in chastity in singleness.  Church property shall not be used for, and
church officers shall not take part in conducting any ceremony or event that
pronounces blessing or gives approval of the church or invokes the blessing
of God upon any relationship that is inconsistent with God's intention as
expressed in the preceding sentence."	A minority report, brought to the
Assembly by Madeline Jervis of National Capital Presbytery, representing 16
members of the Assembly Committee on Physical and Spiritual Well Being,
asked the Assembly to "support the spirit of dialogue" around unity and
diversity issues and to honor what it says is "our denomination's
longstanding tradition of valuing the discretion of pastors and sessions in
ordering worship and pastoral care."  The minority report failed
247-273.	The debate in plenary echoed the debate earlier in the week in the
Assembly Committee on Physical and Spiritual Well Being, which recommended
the amendment to the Assembly on a 25-22 vote.  Supporters of the proposed
amendment – which must be ratified by a majority of the presbyteries between
now and next year's Assembly – argued that the church simply cannot bless
what the Bible plainly calls sin.  Elizabeth O'Brien, a Youth Advisory
Delegate from the Presbytery of the Peaks, said the church "has a
responsibility to provide a clear standard to upcoming generation.  If we
bless what Bible calls sin, what kind of standard are we setting?  We cannot
deny the word of the Lord."  Opponents argued that such an amendment would
interfere with the pastoral responsibilities of ministers and sessions.  The
Rev. Dick Carlson of Mid-Kentucky Presbytery, who said he is the father of
gay child, said, "The people coming before us asking [for their same sex
unions to be blessed] are not strangers or aliens – they are our children
who we have baptized and confirmed.  They have not changed.  What has
changed is our perception of them – they are seen as outsiders and as
odious."  Pleading for freedom as a pastor, Carlson said, "Instead of giving
stones when they ask for bread, we should be a community of support for
them.  Closets are for praying in, not living in."  During a brief recess
after the vote, the corridor outside the plenary filled with about 50
supporters of same sex union ceremonies, who sang hymns in solemn protest. 
They did not enter the hall.

	Late Friday afternoon, the Assembly approved, by a vote of 467-81, a
resolution calling on Presbyterians to refuse to participate in organized
and institutionalized forms of gambling and to advocate that state sponsored
forms of gambling, such as lotteries, be eliminated.  By a margin of
382-111, the Assembly agreed with its Assembly Committee on National and
Social Issues to eliminate a provision from the resolution that would have
called on Native Americans to reconsider the spread of casino gambling on
their reservations.

	Also in concurrence with its National and Social Issues Committee, the
Assembly, by a vote of 441-43, approved a resolution on police
accountability that supports the creation of community-based programs for
civilian review of police forces.  The resolution also urges churches to
work with law enforcement agencies to develop programs to screen out police
candidates with racial and cultural prejudices.

	In other National and Social Issues Committee-related actions, the Assembly
voted by substantial margins to support needle exchange programs to halt the
spread of AIDS and Hepatitis; to support efforts to remove the Confederate
flag from state buildings in the South; to reaffirm the church's support for
effective gun control measures, including safety devices for all weapons; to
urge a moratorium on capital punishment in the U.S.; and to support
nonviolent efforts to stop U.S. military training and practice bombing on
the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.

	This is Jerry Van Marter.  Thank you for calling VoiceLine.  For a wrap-up
of the 212th General Assembly in Long Beach, call VoiceLine Saturday, July 1
after Noon, Pacific Daylight Time.  Pray for peace.  Good bye.

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