wfn.org | General Assembly backgrounder: "Unity and Diversity"

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Note #6515 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

8-May-2001
01159

General Assembly backgrounder:

"Unity and Diversity"

by Jerry L. Van Marter

	Will schism happen in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)?  

	Most observers think not, but the 213th General Assembly will address a
number of issues related to what the church's constitution calls "the peace,
purity and unity of the church."

	While the overriding issue threatening the unity of the church for a number
of years has been human sexuality and particularly the role of gay and
lesbian Presbyterians in the life of the church, the underlying issues are
more fundamental. They include the authority and interpretation of
scripture, the person and role of Jesus Christ, such doctrines as salvation
and atonement, and the nature and purpose of the church.

	Two exacerbating controversies have erupted in the past year: a keynote
speech at last summer's Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference in which the
Rev. Dirk Ficca, a Presbyterian minister from Chicago who is the director of
the Parliament of the World's Religions, suggested that Jesus Christ may not
be the only way to salvation; and the defeat by the 173 presbyteries
(district governing bodies) of a proposed constitutional amendment that
would have explicitly prohibited same-sex union ceremonies in the PC(USA).

	Three presbyteries - San Joaquin and San Diego in California and
Beaver-Butler in Pennsylvania - have submitted overtures (resolutions)
asking the General Assembly to reaffirm traditional Presbyterian teaching
that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. All three overtures have
been assigned to the Assembly Committee on Theological Issues and
Educational Institutions.

	And a number of presbyteries have introduced overtures seeking to find ways
to preserve the unity of the church in the face of these controversies. The
Presbytery of Southern Kansas is calling for a "churchwide spiritual
discernment" process focusing on the authority of scripture and what it
means in faith and life to be "obedient to Christ's will."

	Similarly, the Presbytery of Western North Carolina wants the General
Assembly to call all Presbyterians to reconciliation "by uniting in a year
of study and prayer, by mutual repentance of our sin, and by seeking renewal
in the Holy Spirit."

	Two presbyteries - Milwaukee and John Calvin in Missouri and Kansas - are
asking for the appointment of a special commission to, in the words of the
John Calvin overture, "study the present spiritual condition of our church
and the causes of unrest" and report back to the 2005 General Assembly.

	These overtures have been referred to the Assembly Committee on the Peace,
Purity and Unity of the Church.

	Held over from last year is an overture from Beaver-Butler Presbytery that
would set in motion changes to the church's Book of Order allowing churches
which cannot "in good conscience" comply with the current ordination
standards to leave the PC(USA) and take their property with them. This
overture has also been referred to the Assembly Committee on the Peace,
Purity and Unity of the Church.

Editors note: This is a background report designated for journalists and
other guests who will be visiting the General Assembly.

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