wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] COGA rejects call for 'special' GA session

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Note #7469 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

COGA rejects call for 'special' GA session
02097
October 11, 2002

COGA rejects call for 'special' GA session

Committee says PC(USA) is not facing a 'constitutional crisis'

by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) has sent a letter to commissioners to the 214th General Assembly (2002), urging them not to sign petitions calling for a "special meeting" of the Assembly.
	Alex Metherell of Laguna Beach, CA, an elder commissioner to the 214th Assembly from Los Ranchos Presbytery, has been collecting signatures on a petition that has been circulating informally among conservative groups in the Presbyterian Church (USA). No group has formally endorsed it.
	Metherell charges that the PC(USA) is in "a full-blown constitutional crisis" because church courts have failed to deal with defiance of the constitution by ministers and congregations opposed to G-6.0106b of the Book of Order - the so-called "fidelity and chastity" provision.
	COGA disagrees. "The constitutional process is working," it said in a letter dated Oct. 11. "Our church has a competent network of stated clerks and judicial commissions at all governing body levels" and "we are confident that as these judicial cases move through these governing body levels, the Constitution will be upheld in content and process."  
	Section G-13.0104 of the Book of Order stipulates that the moderator shall call a special meeting of the Assembly "at the request or with the concurrence of" 25 ministers and 25 elders who served as commissioners to the previous Assembly from at least 15 presbyteries and at least five synods.
	PresbyWeb, an independent Web site run by the Rev. Hans Cornelder of Brooklyn, IA, reported on Oct. 8 that 12 ministers and 11 elders from 18 presbyteries and 8 synods had signed Metherell's petition.
	COGA estimated the cost of a special meeting at somewhere between $400,000 and $500,000.
	Reminding the commissioners that they have dealt with the issues raised in Metherell's petition, COGA said it "earnestly hopes you will trust that the judgments you made then will continue to guide the church now and in the days ahead."
	The full text of Metherell's appeal can be found at www.presbyweb.com. 
Here is the text of COGA's letter:

 From the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly

To Commissioners to the 214th General Assembly (2002) 

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
At its regular meeting this week, the Committee on the Office of the General
Assembly (COGA) became aware of a petition circulating among the
commissioners of the 214th General Assembly. The petition calls for a special
meeting of the General Assembly, providing the rationale that the
Presbyterian Church (USA) is in the midst of a "constitutional crisis."

We as elected members of COGA unanimously believe that the Presbyterian
Church (USA) is not in a constitutional crisis. Rather, we are very
encouraged and moved by those who, regardless of where they might place
themselves on the theological spectrum, are faithfully and diligently
honoring our Constitution. The constitutional process is working. Our church
has a network of competent stated clerks and judicial commissions at all
governing body levels and a vast array of Presbyterians who uphold the
Constitution. We are confident that as judicial cases move through these
governing body levels, the Constitution will be upheld in content and
process. When processes do not move as some would prefer, or decisions are
made that do not match particular expectations, it does not mean that the
system is faulty or broken.

In a letter on August 21, 2002 (see enclosed), the Stated Clerk wrote that
the Constitution protects the right of dissent, but provides no right of
defiance. The Ministers of the Word and Sacrament and the congregations who
have issued statements of defiance, including the specific situations cited
in the petition, are at various stages of the judicial process within their
appropriate governing bodies of jurisdiction as set forth in our
Constitution. In our judgment, it would be unconstitutional and beyond the
authority of any regular or special meeting of a General Assembly to
intervene in any ongoing judicial case.

Please remember: The Book of Order requires that a request for a special
meeting of the General Assembly must specify exactly the items of business to
be considered, and all proposals for changes to, or interpretations of, the
Book of Order would still require a 120-day deadline before the session of
the General Assembly could begin. A special meeting would include
commissioners only, no advisory delegates. We anticipate that the cost of
such a meeting will be in excess of $400,000 and would have to be met by a
special per capita assessment to the presbyteries or other extraordinary
means. It is worth reminding the church that, despite often difficult and
trying times in our denominational life, there has never been a special
meeting of the General Assembly.
 
You dealt with exactly these same issues at the Assembly and affirmed the
constitutional system as it is functioning in the governing body levels of
our church. The 214th assembly was clearly a time of mutual forbearance in
the church. It is our earnest hope that you will trust that the judgments you
made then will continue to guide the church now and in the days ahead.

Praying for the peace of God,

Rev.  Sandra L. Peirce, 
Moderator Elder Vernon Carroll
Rev. James M. Collie
Rev. William R. Forbes
Elder Allie B. Latimer
Rev. Catherine Ulrich
Rev. John Bartholomew	
Elder Brian Child		
Rev. Katherine Cunningham	
Elder Kyung-II Ghymn	
Elder Lena  P. Prewitt		
Elder Kathleen Walker				
Rev. Helen Baily Cochrane			Elder Stephen S. Grace	     
  
Rev. Steven T. Yamaguchi	

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