General Assembly – BREAKING NEWS

June 27, 2008 by
Filed under: Religion 

The General Assembly passed the following resolution just now:


Interpretive statements concerning ordained service of homosexual church members by the 190th General Assembly (1978) of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and the 119th General Assembly (1979) of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and all subsequent affirmations thereof, have no further force or
effect.

And earlier they passed:

The Presbytery of Boston respectfully overtures the 218th General Assembly (2008) to do the following:

1. Direct the Stated Clerk to send the following proposed amendment to the presbyteries for their affirmative or negative votes:

a. Strike the current text of G-6.0106b and insert new text to read as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]

“b. Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of
marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament. Those who are called to ordained service in the church, by their assent to
the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003), pledge themselves to live lives obedient to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, striving to follow where he leads through the witness of the Scriptures, and to understand the Scriptures through the instruction of the Confessions. In so doing, they declare their
fidelity to the standards of the Church. Each governing body charged with examination for ordination and/or installation (G-14.0240 and G-14.0450) establishes the candidate’s sincere efforts to adhere to these standards.

b. Amend G-14.0240 as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]

“Preparation and Examination for Office

“When persons have been elected to the office of elder or deacon, the session shall confer with them as to their willingness to undertake the office. The session shall provide for a period of study and preparation, after which the session shall examine the officers-elect
as to their personal faith; knowledge of the doctrine, government, and discipline contained in the Constitution of the church; and the duties of the office; and readiness to assent to the constitutional questions for ordination and installation. If the examination is approved, the session shall appoint a day for the service of ordination and installation (see W-4.4000). If the examination is not approved for one or more elected officers, the session shall report its action to the congregation’s nominating committee, which shall bring nomination(s) to a meeting of the congregation for any office(s) not filled.”

c. Amend G-14.0450 by inserting a new paragraph “b.” and by re-lettering current paragraphs “b.” through “d.” as “c.” through “f.” The text shall read as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]

“Final Assessment of Readiness to Begin Ordained Ministry

In other cases it can be cured levitra overnight delivery by some effective herbal remedies for heartburn and few preventions mention below. 1. There are multiple reasons that contribute to the problem in 2006, when over 1 million of Xbox consoles were stolen from a greyandgrey.com viagra prescription lorry near Hillards Cross. Before viagra generic discount going for all those enhancing pills and related products, you can try some natural process of curing impotence. viagra samples no prescription Saw palmetto and Maca are also popular herbs that provide relief to the problem of weak pelvic floor muscles. “In the final year of theological education or when a candidate has satisfied all of the requirements of this section, and before the candidate has received a call, the committee on preparation for ministry of the candidate’s presbytery shall conduct a final assessment of the candidate’s readiness to begin ordained ministry. A summary of this assessment shall be reported to the presbytery and shall be transmitted to a calling presbytery when requested. The committee on preparation for ministry shall report to the presbytery when it has certified a candidate ready for examination for ordination, pending a call. This consultation shall focus on the outcomes of inquiry and candidacy and shall include each of the following requirements of certification:

“a. demonstration of readiness to begin ministry of the Word and Sacrament as required to fulfill the candidacy phase of preparation;

“b. demonstration of readiness to assent to the constitutional questions for ordination and installation;

“b. c. presentation of a transcript showing satisfactory grades at a regionally accredited
college or university, together with a diploma;

“c. d. presentation of a transcript from a theological institution accredited by the Association of Theological Schools acceptable to the presbytery, the transcript showing satisfactory grades, and presentation of a plan to complete the theological degree including Hebrew and Greek and exegesis of the Old and New Testaments using Hebrew and Greek texts;

“d. e. presentation of satisfactory grades together with the examination papers in the five
areas covered by the Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations for Candidates.”

2. Provide the following authoritative interpretation:

That the 218th General Assembly (2008) to approve the following authoritative interpretation of G-6.0108 of the Book of Order:

“[The 218th General Assembly (2008) affirms the authoritative interpretation of G-6.0108 approved by the 217th General Assembly (2006). Further, the 218th General Assembly (2008), pursuant to G-13.0112, interprets]the requirements of G-6.0108 [to] apply equally to all ordination standards of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Section G-6.0108 requires examining bodies to give  prayerful and careful consideration, on an individual, case-by-case basis, to any departure from an ordination standard in matters of belief or practice that a candidate may declare during examination. However, the examining body is not required to accept a departure from standards, and cannot excuse a candidate’s inability to perform the constitutional functions unique to his or her office (such as administration of the sacraments).”

Here’s my reading.

  1. Right this second, it is legal for a gay person who does not admit to sex to be ordained.  This was true before, but it’s bolstered a bit now.
  2. If the Book of Order changes pass, gay ordination will be allowed, regardless of sexual practice.  It will be up to the presbyteries to determine whether an individual’s practice is a sin.
  3. It is now more difficult to file a case against a body’s examination of an individual if you aren’t involved (“fly-over” judicial cases).

The real decision will happen between now and June 28, 2009 when the presbyteries are required to vote on these changes.  I suspect we’ll have an answer next March.

I predict that the progressives will party (particularly MLP and the pro-gay folks), the conservatives will make a lot of noise about lack of faithfulness, and a few conservatives will leave.  The news media will misinterpret this as allowing gay ordination today, and this will confuse many pew-sitters.

And we’ll all still be in worship someplace on Sunday.

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Comments

5 Comments on General Assembly – BREAKING NEWS

  1. Christine Kooi on Fri, 27th Jun 2008 3:44 pm

    2. Praise God!

  2. pligg.com on Fri, 27th Jun 2008 3:56 pm

    3. Mark Time: General Assembly – BREAKING NEWS

    You know we’re gonna talk about this. I figured I’d start the thread. GA passed the “delete B” amendment AND removed all previous AIs.

  3. Alan on Fri, 27th Jun 2008 4:02 pm

    4. “I predict that the progressives will party (particularly MLP and the pro-gay folks), the conservatives will make a lot of noise about lack of faithfulness, and a few conservatives will leave. The news media will misinterpret this as allowing gay ordination today, and this will confuse many pew-sitters.”

    Yup, yup, yup, and yup. 🙂 As the Cylons say on Battlestar Galactica, “All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again.”

  4. IdentityMixed on Fri, 27th Jun 2008 5:22 pm

    5. There are some presbyteries that would never hire someone not white. We don’t ever talk about that. But why are churches allowed to discriminate in this way? And no, obviously I do not think homosexuality is a sin.

    I find nothing wrong with each presbytery and each church deciding for itself who they will hire and whose ordination they will support (at least when it comes to this issue).

  5. Andy on Sat, 28th Jun 2008 3:04 pm

    6. “There are some presbyteries that would never hire someone not white. We don’t ever talk about that…”

    Name them.

    [crickets chirping]

    Thought so.

    It’s the height of rhetorical cowardice to throw charges of racism at those who disagree with you, and then defend it by saying that you were just speaking generally, you know, that there are probably some somewhere…

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