FINAL
ACTION: Civil Unions and
Marriage Issues:
After the
defeat of the Committee’s main motion and the defeat of two minority reports,
the Committee on Civil Unions and Marriage Issues proposed the following new
business (copied below). It was also approved by amendment that this action will
answer all the action coming before the General Assembly under the topic of
civil unions and marriage.
This action is the only and the final
action of the 220th General Assembly concerning the issues of civil
unions and marriage. This action was approved by the vote of 489 YES and 152
NO.
Final Text:
That the 220th General
Assembly (2012) approve the following resolution:
“In a desire to
promote the peace, unity, and purity of the church, we move the whole
Presbyterian Church U.S.A. enter into a season of serious study and discernment
concerning its meaning of Christian marriage in the two-year period between the
220th General Assembly (2012) and the 221st General Assembly (2014). We would
further move the Office of Theology and Worship prepare and distribute
educational materials to all presbyteries and congregations. These materials
should include the relevant Scriptures, key methods of biblical
interpretations, current understandings of our Constitution, and some suggested
guidance for prayerful and reconnecting ways of listening to one another.
“We would ask that all
presbyteries report to the Office of the General Assembly on how this was
conducted in their congregations at least three months prior to the 221st
General Assembly (2014).
“This motion is
offered in the hope and trust that such discernment will genuinely seek the
rule and will of God be done in our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as it is in
Heaven under the guidance of the Triune of God.”
