General Assembly (2012) #12

Civil Unions and Marriage Issues:

The debate about the definition of marriage: Minority Report Two

            The General Assembly, during its afternoon session on Friday July 6, debated the question of marriage as presented by the General Assembly Committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues. The Committee brought a Report asking for a Constitutional Amendment to change our definition of marriage. The Committee also brought TWO minority reports. The second Minority Report recommended a clear definition of marriage as a union of man and one woman.  After lengthy debate the second Minority Report was defeated:

The second Minority Report is copied here. NOTE: this recommendation was DEFEATED by a vote of 266 Yes to 397 No:

Minority Report two:

Responding to the wide variety of overtures concerning the definition of Christian Marriage in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the General Assembly makes the following statement:

Our Confessions, based on their understanding of Scripture, define Christian marriage as a union of one man and one woman. Any redefinition of marriage should recognize the confessional nature of the definition and should be preceded by careful and prayerful formal confessional amendment process. As our society debates the legal status of same-sex relationships, the church recognizes and reaffirms that any change in the definition of marriage in civil law does not and cannot change the church’s constitution. As our confessions instruct us, the church is called to lead men and women into the full meaning of life together, extending the compassion of Christ to all (The Confession of 1967).

As our church ministers amidst a contemporary culture that includes same sex couples, the church should lovingly respond with grace and truth. Additionally, the 220th General Assembly (2012) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) provides the following authoritative interpretation of W-4.9001:

“When W-4.9001 speaks of marriage, it is expounding how marriage is defined and understood by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), under the authority of the Scriptures and guided by the confessions. It is not merely describing how marriage was practiced in any particular society at any particular time. Therefore, this definition of marriage in the Directory for Worship is binding upon teaching elders and commissioned ruling elders authorized to perform Christian marriages. “Officers of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who are authorized to perform marriages shall not state, imply, or represent that a same-sex ceremony is a marriage because under W-4.9001 a same-sex ceremony is not and cannot be a marriage” (Spahr v. Presbytery of Redwoods, 2008). A change in the definition of civil marriage under state law does not alter the definition of marriage under the PC(USA) Constitution (Southard v. Presbytery of Boston, 2011). The church’s definition of marriage may be changed only through amendment of both W-4.9001 and the confessional passages upon which it is based.”

General Assembly (2012) #11

Civil Unions and Marriage Issues:

The debate about the definition of marriage.

            The General Assembly, during its afternoon session on Friday July 6, debated the question of marriage as presented by the General Assembly Committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues. The Committee brought a Report asking for a Constitutional Amendment to change our definition of marriage. The Committee also brought TWO minority reports. The first Minority Report recommended a time of discussion until 2014. After lengthy debate the first Minority Report was defeated.

The first Minority Report is copied here. NOTE: this recommendation was DEFEATED by a vote of 323 Yes to 346 No:

A Call for Listening

a. The General Assembly charges the Office of Theology and Worship to design and implement a discussion in each presbytery around the meaning of marriage and proposing ways for us to remain unified as a denomination.

These conversations would answer the following questions:

(1) What is the meaning of marriage in our post-Christendom environment in United States and Puerto Rico.

(2) How do our officers live and make faithful decisions about officiating at marriages in this environment?

(3) How can our denomination respect difference in opinion about the meaning of marriage?

These conversations are to provide a safe space for listening to Scripture, to the confessions, and to one another, and to propose solutions to the missiological issues raised by challenges to the traditional definition of marriage in our society and the prevalence of divorce in church and society. They are to take into account the effects of globalization, changing gender roles, and differences in the church over human sexuality. Each presbytery is encouraged to implement this conversation in each of its sessions around the same three questions. These conversations and the report should be completed by August 2014. Presbyteries shall report on these conversations to the Stated Clerk and the Office of Theology and Worship by August 2014.

b. The General Assembly directs the Presbyterian World Mission office to receive feedback from our worldwide mission partners about their understanding of the meaning of marriage and their suggestions about how to move forward missiologically as a denomination, and to forward this feedback to the Stated Clerk and the Office of Theology and Worship by August 2014.

General Assembly #10

Committee #15 Middle East and Peacemaking Issues

            With a passionate, long debate the General Assembly approved an “invest in Palestine” approach and rejected a “divest from Israel” approach. This answer was hammered out in a debate which took the Assembly until 10:30 at night and the recess of the Thursday night session. Thus as Friday morning begins, the Assembly finds itself more than three hours behind on the agenda. At one point the Moderator acknowledged more than 40 people lined up at commissioner microphones seeking to speak.

            Committee #15 brought a recommendation to approve an action of divestment from Caterpillar, Motorola and HP. Immediately a Minority Report was brought as a substitute motion asking for a policy of investment in Palestine. The committee’s majority report, after long debate, was rejected by a vote of 333 to 331. Finally the minority report was approved by a vote of 369 to 290.

            Copied here are the action items from the final action. (Item 5 here was added and approved as an amendment during the debate):

Final Text:

1.     call for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to pursue a positive and creative course of action with respect to the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict that will make a difference in the lives of those who are most vulnerable on all sides and that will preserve an effective witness to peace in the entire region;

2.     call for a process of engagement that will bring Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the U.S. into effective partnering for study, travel, and social action;

3.     advocate for the development of educational programs that expose U.S. Christians, Jews, and Muslims to the varied experiences of both Palestinians and Israelis;

4.     devise a plan of active investment in projects that will support collaboration among Christians, Jews, and Muslims and help in the development of a viable infrastructure for a future Palestinian state. We also encourage greater denominational engagement with Christians in the West Bank around issues of job creation and economic development.

5. instructs the General Assembly Mission Council to create a process to raise funds to invest in the West Bank, and the program will be inaugurated no later than the meeting of the 221st General Assembly (2014).

General Assembly (2012) #9

The Most Important Thing: Presbyterian World Mission

            When I am asked what was the single most important thing that came before the 220^th General Assembly, my answer will be the commissioning of our new missionaries through Presbyterian World Mission. This did not require a vote, or a lengthy debate, it was more liturgical than legislative. But clearly, the continuing growth of Presbyterian World Mission, our ability to create new mission positions in response to the requests of our Church partners around the world, the ability to recruit and train new missionaries for these positions, and most of all the increasing financial support from all around the church which makes this growth possible is the most important thing in our church today.

            I am proud that the Presbytery of Carlisle was involved in creating a new missionary position in cooperation with the Presbyterian Church in Honduras which is now filled by Mark and Ashley Wright serving in Tegucigalpa. I am proud that out of this relationship with the Presbyterian Church in Honduras, we were able to bring Rev. Juan Rodas to the General Assembly as an ecumenical representative.  

            Copied here is part of the Presbyterian News Service article about our new missionaries:

Continuing a 175-year tradition, the 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on Wednesday evening (July 4) commissioned 152 Presbyterian mission co-workers and young adult volunteers who have accepted assignments since the previous General Assembly.

The commissioning was held in the state where, in 1837, Presbyterians established their first national denominational mission agency. Presbyterian World Mission traces its heritage to that board formed in Philadelphia. Nine mission co-workers were at the commissioning, representing the 30 new and reassigned mission co-workers who have been appointed since 2011. 

General Assembly (2012) #8

Ordination Standards

The Committee on Church Order, which included Presbytery of Carlisle commissioner Scott Penner, responded to a whole list of overtures concerning ordination standards by approving this statement. If approved by the whole General Assembly it is recommended that this statement be shared and considered by each Presbytery, but this is not a constitutional issue. This is not a change in the Book of Order. I believe this is a helpful action. I perceive this statement to have the tone of a pastoral letter, not a legislative decree. I hope this statement, if approved, may support and encourage our conversation around this difficult question of our ordination standards:

“Because

“•            Jesus taught that our highest ethical obligation is to ‘… love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself’ (Lk. 10:27); and this is how ‘everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’ (Jn. 13:35);

“•            having experienced Christ’s gracious love for us while we are yet sinners, we are called to ‘welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God’ (Rom. 15:7);

“•            we affirm the solemn commitments expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination, installation, and commissioning, including that we intend to fulfill our ministries ‘in obedience to Jesus Christ, under the authority of Scripture, and … continually guided by our confessions’; that that we will be friends among our colleagues in ministry; that we ‘seek to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, love [our] neighbors, and work for the reconciliation of the world’ (Book of Order, W-4.4003);

“•            ‘… we hold that interpretation of the Scripture to be orthodox and genuine which is gleaned from the Scriptures themselves (from the nature of the language in which they were written, likewise according to the circumstances in which they were set down, and expounded in the light of like and unlike passages and of many and clearer passages) and which agree with the rule of faith and love, and contributes much to the glory of God and man’s salvation’ (The Book of Confessions, Second Helvetic Confession, 5.010);

“•            the larger Catechism lifts up the duty of holding ‘… a charitable esteem of our neighbors,’ and forbids the sin of ‘… misconstruing intentions, words, and actions’ (The Book of Confessions, 7.254–.255).”

The 220th General Assembly (2012) acknowledges that faithful Presbyterians earnestly seeking to follow Jesus Christ hold different views about what the Scriptures teach concerning the morality of committed, same-gender relationships.

Therefore, while holding persons in ordered ministry to high standards of covenant fidelity in the exercise of their sexuality, as in all aspects of life, we decline to take an action that would have the effect of imposing on the whole Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) one interpretation of Scripture in this matter. We commit ourselves to continue respectful dialogue with those who hold differing convictions, to welcome one another for God’s glory, and not to vilify those whose convictions we believe to be in error. We call on all Presbyterians to join us in this commitment.

General Assembly (2012) #7

Rev. Juan Rodas: Ecumenical Representative from Honduras

                I am proud that our Presbytery in cooperation with our office of World Mission sponsored the participation of Rev. Juan Rodas with our General Assembly. Juan is the pastor of the Pena de Horeb Presbyterian Church in Tegucigalpa and a leader in the Presbyterian Church of Honduras. Our Presbytery has worked close with his congregation in our mission work in Tegucigalpa. Their congregation’s mission committee has organized the new home construction projects which we have been supporting. We have now contributed to the construction of six new homes for Presbyterian families from Juan’s congregation.  Juan is having a wonderful experience here this week. The ecumenical representatives from around the world have formed their own little community while here together.

                Juan is eager and excited that he has been invited to bring ecumenical greetings to the General Assembly when we convene in plenary session this evening at 7:00.

                Juan will be coming to the Presbytery of Carlisle after the General Assembly. He will be in worship with our Mechanicsburg Presbyterian Church this Sunday, July 8. Our mission committee is hosting a luncheon with Juan at noon on Monday, July 9 at our Presbytery office. 

General Assembly (2012) #6

The Church with broken wings.

“Rise up, church, with broken wings,

Fill this place with songs again

of our God who reigns on high;

by God’s grace again we’ll fly.

Shout to the north and the south;

Sing to the east and the west.

Jesus is Savior to all;

Lord of heaven and earth.”

            This verse is from a new praise song which will be included in “Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal.” I attended the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation breakfast today where their new hymnal was introduced, along with many of the other new books published this year. As part of our breakfast meeting, the special committee for the new hymnal led us in singing several of the new additions to the hymnal. The verse here is from “Men of Faith, Rise Up and Sing” which is a praise and worship song from Delirious?, an English Christian rock and worship band. The catchy, upbeat tune of this song and the image of the ‘church with broken wings’ spoke to me. Yes, maybe we are church with broken wings. It seems that our days of soaring high with vision and energy are past. Now, too much, contention and conflict, mistrust and a lack of collegiality burden us. Especially here at the General Assembly, we seem to bring out all our ‘issues’ again, replaying, rehashing and seeking a way forward. Often it feels like we are a ‘church with broken wings’. But this is not the message of this wonderful, new worship song. And this is not the truth that sings in my heart. I believe and I pray that “by God’s grace again we’ll fly.”

            I encourage you to check out our new hymnal at Presbyterianhymnal.org. The full text and music for “Men of Faith, Rise Up and Sing” is available there along with other new samples. Information about pre-ordering is also now available.