wfn.org | Battle over PC(USA) ordination standards is expected to dominate

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Note #6491 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

General Assembly
18-April-2001
01134

Battle over PC(USA) ordination standards is expected to dominate General
Assembly

"Fidelity and chastity" clause is back on agenda after 2-year break

by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - After a two-year moratorium, the issue of sexual-conduct
standards for ordination in the Presbyterian Church (USA) is poised to
retake center stage when the 213th General Assembly convenes in Louisville
on June 9.

	The current ordination standard - "fidelity within the covenant of marriage
between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness" - was approved by the
1996 General Assembly (GA) and later ratified by the church's 173
presbyteries (district governing bodies). A move by the 1997 GA to delete
the requirement - now G-6.0106b of the denomination's Book of Order - was
overwhelmingly defeated by the presbyteries. The 1999, Assembly declared a
two-year moratorium on amendments to G-6.0106b and asked Presbyterians to
study and discuss "the unity we share in our diversity."

	Now that the moratorium has expired, two dozen presbyteries have petitioned
the GA to amend the ordination requirement. Most urge that G-6.0106b be
excised from the Book of Order. Three presbyteries are calling for a
"waiver" clause in the constitution that would exempt congregations (which
ordain elders and deacons) and presbyteries (which ordain ministers) from
the ordination requirements if they cannot "in good conscience" comply with
them. The Chicago-area Midwest Hanmi Presbytery - composed entirely of
Korean Presbyterians - wants the Assembly to simply declare that "resolution
has been reached on the matter of human sexuality related to eligibility for
ordination."

	This year's weeklong GA also will address the deeper problem of the
continued unity of the 2.5-million-member PC(USA). While there has not been
much talk of schism, the presbyteries' defeat of a proposed amendment to ban
same-sex union ceremonies, and a still-simmering controversy over a
speaker's suggestion during a Presbyterian conference last summer that Jesus
may not be the only way to salvation, have fomented several demands that the
GA take stronger stands on doctrinal issues such as Christology and
salvation. Several presbyteries are calling for a special committee to try
to find a way out of the theological conflicts that plague the denomination.

	Disgruntled conservatives, led by the Presbyterian Lay Committee, are
calling for a loyalty oath that all Assembly program staff members would be
required to sign, endorsing three "essential confessions": the infallibility
of Scripture, Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation, and heterosexual
marriage as the only permissible form of sexual expression.

	Abortion, another perennially volatile issue, will also be on the
Assembly's agenda. Current GA policy is moderately pro-choice: It affirms a
woman's right to choose, but cautions that abortion should be the choice of
last resort for women facing problem pregnancies. One measure coming to this
year's GA would ban funding of late-term abortions by the church's Board of
Pensions (which also administers the denomination's medical-benefits plan).
Another calls for the Assembly to express "moral opposition" to any abortion
of a fetus older than 20 weeks except to preserve the life of the mother.
Another would require advance parental notification before the Board of
Pensions approves payment for an abortion for a minor.

	Likely to get lost in the hubbub, but still critical for the PC(USA), are a
number of other issues that will affect the denomination's ministry and
witness for years. Among them:

* Domestic violence: The church's Advisory Committee on Social Witness
Policy is bringing a comprehensive policy statement on domestic violence
that recommends scores of actions by congregations and governing bodies to
combat the growing problem of domestic violence in U.S. society.

* Campus ministry: A major strategy for revitalizing PC(USA) campus ministry
is coming to the Assembly. At least two decades of retrenchment in
church-sponsored campus-ministry programs are believed to have contributed
to the denomination's membership decline.

* Entrance into pastoral ministry: Gaced with a clergy shortage exacerbated
by a disproportionate burnout rate for new pastors, a churchwide strategy is
being proposed to strengthen support systems for first-pastorate ministers.
The report calls for closer relationships between candidates for ministry,
their congregations, seminaries and oversight committees of presbtyteries.

* Ecumenical relations: After reaching agreements in recent years with the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the other churches in the
Consultation on Church Union, the GA will turn its attention this year to
the Roman Catholic Church. After recent dialogues with Vatican
representatives in Louisville and Rome, the PC(USA)'s Committee on
Ecumenical Relations will ask the Assembly to declare "real but incomplete
communion" with the Catholic Church, and to urge the World Alliance of
Reformed Churches to join negotiations aimed at agreement between Catholic
and Reformed churches on the doctrine of justification. Catholics and
Lutherans signed a similar agreement last year.

Editors note:  This is the first in a series of background reports designed
for journalists and other guests who will be visiting the General Assembly.

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