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Note #7619 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Morrison ordination upheld
03127
March 5, 2003

Morrison ordination upheld

Sexual orientation alone is no disqualification, PJC rules

by John Filiatreau 

LOUISVILLE - The Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly ruled
on March 4 that sexual orientation alone "is insufficient to make a person
ineligible for ordination."
	
"If a person does not self-acknowledge a practice that the confessions call
sin, then a governing body has a positive obligation to make further inquiry
only if it has direct and specific knowledge that such person is in violation
of the ordination and installation standards," the commissioners ruled. " A
hunch, gossip or stereotype is not a sufficient ground to compel  further
inquiry."
	
The so-called "fidelity/chastity" provision of the constitution of the
Presbyterian Church (USA), G-6.0106b, says that a person who refuses to
repent of "any self-acknowledged practice that the confessions call sin" is
ineligible for ordination or installation. 
	
The PJC said "reasonable grounds must include factual allegations of how,
when, where and under what circumstances the individual was
self-acknowledging a practice which the confessions call sin." 
	
The case arose in September 2001 after the Redwoods Presbytery voted to
ordain Katie Morrison, a self-acknowledged lesbian, on the unanimous
recommendation of its Committee on Ministry. 
	
Seven minister members of the presbytery filed a remedial complaint in
October, claiming that the ordination was "irregular" because the candidate's
self-disclosure of her sexual orientation "triggered a duty of further
inquiry that was not fulfilled." They asked for a declaration of
irregularity, an order setting Morrison's ordination aside, an admonition to
the presbytery to "adhere to the Book of Order," and further examination of
Morrison. 

They had filed for a stay of enforcement, but hadn't secured one. 
	
San Joaquin Presbytery filed a similar complaint in November 2001, although
it didn't ask that Morrison's ordination be set aside. It also contended that
the Redwoods PJC had abused its discretion in refusing the stay of
enforcement. The two complaints were consolidated before trial. 
	
Redwoods moved for dismissal, contending that the complainants had not stated
"a claim on which relief could be granted" because neither complaint alleged
"that the candidate self-acknowledged a practice which the confessions call
sin."
	
The GA PJC said San Joaquin made no allegation concerning self-acknowledged
practice because it believed, on the basis of a 1993 decision, that sexual
orientation alone was sufficient for further questioning. However, the
commissioners said, that precedent was superseded by G-6.0106b's
"acknowledged practice" standard. G-6.0106b was put in the Book of Order in
1997.
	
The commissioners pointed out what it called "the theological defect" of the
1993 decision (in LeTourneau vs. Twin Cities Presbytery): an "assumption that
one category of persons is more prone to sin than other categories of
persons."

"The doctrine of total depravity teaches us that not only do all fall short
of the glory of God, but that there is no part of our person that is not in
need of the redeeming grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," they wrote. "Thus,
sexual orientation alone would be no more sufficient or reasonable grounds
for further questioning than would singleness, obesity or any other
categorization. In other words, stereotypical profiling is not a reasonable
or valid ground for singling out a candidate for additional questioning." 

James V. Jones, a California elder who represented San Joaquin Presbytery in
last week's oral hearing, emphasized that the case was not an action against
Morrison, who he said "has erred not at all."

"This is not a case about a candidate, not a disciplinary hearing," he said.
"It is about a remedy for a manifest irregularity. ... The failure of the
governing body ... to inquire and see whether or not this person is in
error."
Asked why he would have singled out Morrison for further questioning, he
replied, "The answer, very precisely, is G-6.0106b."

Jones told the commissioners, "There must be a remedy for an ordination that
has gone awry. ... If it is patently unconstitutional, how can we not
remediate?"

The GA PJC's ruling affirms the synod PJC's dismissal of the complaint. 

In another high-profile case involving homosexuality and church service, the
GA PJC ordered a presbytery trial of a church officer's objection to the
installation of an admittedly gay elder to the session of West End
Presbyterian Church in Albany, NY.
 
The commission ordered the Synod of the Northeast to return the case to the
PJC of the Presbytery of Albany for a trial of a complaint filed by elder
Daniel J. McKittrick after the West End session examined Scott Edwards and
two other elders-elect on April 29, 2000. McKittrick said Edwards'
examination was insufficient because he wasn't questioned about his
self-acknowledged homosexuality. All three elders were installed for
three-year terms the next day.
	
McKittrick asked the presbytery PJC to set aside Edwards' installation. He
said Edwards had acknowledged during the examination that he was gay and was
in a 15-year relationship with another man. He also complained that the
session moderator had cut the examination short, then hurried the
installation, to forestall debate. 

McKittrick said during last week's hearing that Edwards "made some
statements, basically said he understood the constitution, but didn't agree
with it and didn't intend to abide by it."
"There's some social action at work here," he added. "They want to send a
message."
	
Arguing that Edwards' installation violated the "fidelity/chastity" clause,
McKittrick asked the presbytery PJC to declare the examination "irregular"
and set aside Edwards' installation pending a proper examination. 
McKittrick claimed that officials of Albany Presbytery, "a couple of
self-appointed guillotines," put out "terrible disinformation ... accusing my
wife and myself of un-Christian acts in this case" and pursued "a two-year
campaign to keep me quiet." He charged the presbytery with "bullying,
stacking the deck, silencing dissent."
He said pursuing the case had made him "a pariah in my own church ...
considered a homophobic type of person, which I am not."

"I just want the record set straight," he said. "I have no evil intent for
Scott Edwards. ... (But) if we throw our process out the window, there goes
Presbyterianism."

Jerry McKinney, representing the West End session, said its members had
"attempted to comply with the constitution ... to the best of their ability."
He argued that McKittrick should have filed a disciplinary case rather than a
remedial case.
McKittrick responded, "How do you file a disciplinary case against a whole
presbytery?"
The presbytery and synod PJCs both ruled that, because ordination and
installation are essentially the same, an installation cannot be set aside by
remedial action, but only by disciplinary action. McKittrick disagreed,
arguing that installation and ordination are separate. He drew a distinction
between "perpetual" and "temporal" functions of office, contending that the
"temporal" function of service on session could be set aside without
impairing the "perpetual" function of ordination. The GA PJC agreed with
McKittrick.
	
The commissioners also said the synod PJC erred when it ruled that
McKittrick's complaint did not "set forth facts upon which relief could be
granted." They said a PJC has authority to "either order such action as is
appropriate, or direct the lower governing body to conduct further
proceedings in the matter." 
	
The GA PJC urged the synod and presbytery PJCs to "act with all due speed" to
schedule a trial and reach a decision before Edwards' term expires on April
30.

As to McKittrick's request that the installation be set aside, the commission
ruled that, when a challenge to an installation is "predicated upon presumed
guilt of an individual installee, then a disciplinary case, not a remedial
(one), is in order." They said a presbytery PJC could set aside an
installation only "after a full trial on the facts alleged to constitute an
irregularity," and only if it concluded "that the session erroneously decided
that the candidate was eligible (an irregularity) or that the session failed
to conduct a proper examination (a delinquency)."

The commissioners agreed with McKittrick that the one-day period between
examination and installation offered "no practical opportunity for a
protesting or dissenting party to seek a stay of enforcement."

"The Presbyterian custom of conducting business 'decently and in order'
should not be converted into a race," they wrote. " We encourage governing
bodies to permit sufficient time  so that there can be no intimation that
any governing body intended to shield its action from scrutiny."  

The GA commission also decided, in a case from the Presbytery of Elizabeth
(NJ), that an investigating committee formed in response to a request for
"vindication" must follow "all established investigative procedures,
including the notification of the accused of his or her rights."

The Rev. Thomas D. Lynn requested a vindication inquiry by the presbytery in
1999 in a dispute over his sale of a car to a couple in his congregation. He
was vindicated in that matter; but in the course of its work the committee
heard negative testimony about his pastoral care and counseling practices. 

Formal charges were filed against Lynn, and he eventually was found guilty of
threatening and intimidating members of his congregation and failing to
maintain confidentiality of information shared with him in a counseling
setting. He was assigned to a program of rehabilitation and appealed.

"To some, it may seem a bewildering result that, in the course of requesting
vindication for unfounded allegations of misconduct, one can be found
innocent of wrongdoing ... but guilty of misconduct in other situations that
come to light in the course of investigation," the GA PJC said in its ruling.

While the commission agreed with Lynn that he should have been advised of his
rights, it agreed with the synod PJC that the failure to do so didn't have
any effect on this case. 

Thus it upheld the synod PJC's dismissal of Lynn's complaint.

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