Saturday, July 7, 2012

General Assembly (2012) #17 Amendment to Book of Order



A Constitutional Amendment to the Book of Order approved.

            This overture, copied here, from the Presbytery of San Jose was approved by the Church Orders and Ministry Committee. The General Assembly also approved this amendment to G-2.0104a in our Form of Government by a vote of 329 YES to 275 NO. Please note this amendment adds one sentence to G-2.0104a: “This includes repentance of sin and diligent use of the means of grace.” None of the current language is deleted.


The Presbytery of San Jose overtures the 220th General Assembly (2012) to direct the Stated Clerk to send the following proposed amendment to the presbyteries for their affirmative or negative vote:
Shall G-2.0104a of the Book of Order be amended as follows: [Text to be added is shown as italic.]
“a. To those called to exercise special functions in the church—deacons, ruling elders, and teaching elders—God gives suitable gifts for their various duties. In addition to possessing the necessary gifts and abilities, those who undertake particular ministries should be persons of strong faith, dedicated discipleship, and love of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Their manner of life should be a demonstration of the Christian gospel in the church and in the world. This includes repentance of sin and diligent use of the means of grace. They must have the approval of God’s people and the concurring judgment of a council of the church.

RATIONALE
Section G-2.0104 of the Book of Order states:
a. To those called to exercise special functions in the church—deacons, ruling elders, and teaching elders—God gives suitable gifts for their various duties. In addition to possessing the necessary gifts and abilities, those who undertake particular ministries should be persons of strong faith, dedicated discipleship, and love of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Their manner of life should be a demonstration of the Christian gospel in the church and in the world. They must have the approval of God’s people and the concurring judgment of a council of the church; and
The Westminster Larger Catechism, 7.305 states:
Q.            195. What do we pray for in the sixth petition?
A.            In the sixth petition (which is, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”), acknowledging that the most wise, righteous, and gracious God, for divers holy and just ends, may so order things that we may be assaulted, foiled, and for a time led captive by temptations; that Satan, the world, and the flesh, are ready powerfully to draw us aside and ensnare us; and that we, even after the pardon of our sins, by reason of our corruption, weakness, and want of watchfulness, are not only subject to be tempted, and forward to expose ourselves unto temptations, but also of ourselves unable and unwilling to resist them, to recover out of them, and to improve them; and worthy to be left under the power of them; we pray: that God would so overrule the world and all in it, subdue the flesh, and restrain Satan, order all things, bestow and bless all means of grace, and quicken us to watchfulness in the use of them, that we and all his people may by his providence be kept from being tempted to sin; or, if tempted, that by his Spirit we may be powerfully supported and enabled to stand in the hour of temptation; or, when fallen, raised again and recovered out of it, and have a sanctified use and improvement thereof; that our sanctification and salvation may be perfected, Satan trodden under our feet, and we fully freed from sin, temptation, and all evil forever. (The Book of Confessions, The Larger Catechism, 7.305)
When a church member is found guilty of an offense because of acting contrary to the Scriptures and/or the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), that person is censured and the following is part of the public rebuke:
“We urge you to use diligently the means of grace to the end that you may be more obedient to our Lord Jesus Christ” (Book of Order, D-12.0102).
We respectfully overture for the above specified amendment to G-2.0104a.


General Assembly (2012) #16 Mid Councils



Mid Councils report

            The Report of the Mid Council Commission is sweeping, comprehensive and bold. I highly recommend careful study of their report, which is a book length analysis of our Church today. I followed the discussion of the Commission’s report at the Committee meeting. It was clear to me that the kind of bold, creative innovation which the Mid Council Commission was advocating in their report is hard to mesh into the strict process and procedures of our meeting of the General Assembly. This seemed to be almost a clash of cultures within the church itself around the huge question of how to become more flexible, innovative and willing to experiment. Thus while there was great appreciation for the Mid Council report, the Assembly was not able to approve it and simply approved further discussion. My personal and sad perception of the reality around this discussion is that there is not enough trust in the church to allow the kind of bold innovation which the Mid Council report advocated. This debate on the floor of the General Assembly was passionate and the final text, copied here, was approved by a vote of 364 to 293.

Final Text:
Refer Recommendations 1-4 to refer the Mid Council Commission report and recommendations 1-4, to a task force to further discuss, refine, and bring to the 221st General Assembly (2014) recommendations that consider the composition and organization of the Mid Councils in ways that reinvigorate their capacity to support missional congregations, and advance the ecclesial nature and character of those presbyteries, within the unity of the church. The Moderator of the 220th General Assembly (2012) will name the task force. It will be composed of an equal number of persons from the Mid Council Commission, COGA, and commissioners to the 220th General Assembly (2012). The optimal size of such a task force is twelve-to-fifteen persons. The Office of the General Assembly, including the coordinator of the MidCouncil Relations, will provide staff support to the task force.

General Assembly (2012) #15 Special Offerings



Special Offerings Taskforce rejected

            The General Assembly essentially rejected the Report of the Taskforce on Special Offerings by a vote of 530 YES to 37 NO. The final text of the Assembly’s action is copied here.

Final Text:
In the spirit of Items 10-19 and 10-5 (overtures from the Presbyteries of Pittsburgh and Western North Carolina), it is important to maintain existing programs, percentages, and designees in the One Great hour of Sharing, the Christmas Joy Offering, and the Pentecost offering and the Peacemaking Offering. The 220th General Assembly (2012) recommends that the current distribution patterns be maintained for the next funding cycle and that the existing special offerings task force be asked to report to the 221st General Assembly (2014) on the effect of new fundraising techniques, to work collaboratively with funding recipients, update progress on the $20 million by 2020 goal, and recommend additional strategies.