| Overture 01-08, as approved by the 213th
General Assembly, has now received its official name for the coming
year: Amendment 01-A. Ordination Standards - On Amending G-6.0106
[7-23-01]
01-A. Ordination Standards -- On Amending G-6.0106
The 213th General Assembly (2001) directed the Stated
Clerk to send the following proposed amendments to the presbyteries for
their affirmative or negative votes:
1. Shall G-6.0106a be amended by adding a new sentence
to the end of the paragraph to read as follows: [Text to be added is
shown as italic.]
"a. To those called to exercise special functions
in the church -- deacons, elders, and ministers of the Word and
Sacrament -- God gives suitable gifts for their various duties. In
addition to possessing the necessary gifts and abilities, natural and
acquired, 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 governing body
of the church. Their suitability to hold office is determined by the
governing body where the examination for ordination or installation
takes place, guided by scriptural and constitutional standards, under
the authority and Lordship of Jesus Christ."
2. Shall G-6.0106b be stricken. [Text to be deleted is
shown with a strike-through.]
"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."
Background and Rationale
These proposed amendments to the Book of Order
came before the 213th General Assembly (2001) by way of consideration of
Overture
01-8
from the Presbytery of New York City (Minutes, 2001, Part I, p.
401).
Concurrences
to Overture
01-8 were
received from the following presbyteries: Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse,
Presbytery of Genesee Valley, Presbytery of Long Island, Presbytery of
Northern New York, and Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. Each of these
presbyteries submitted additional rationales which presbyteries may wish
to consider as they vote. The concurrences to Overture
01-8 are listed
in the General Assembly Minutes, which should be available by the time
most presbyteries vote. They may also be found on the web at: http://www.pcusa.org/ga213/business/OVT018.htm.
Overture
01-8 sought to
change the church's position regarding the issues of sexuality and the
standards of ordination by the deletion of G-6.0106b and the approval of
a new authoritative interpretation.
The
following amended authoritative interpretation was recommended by the
Assembly Committee on Ordination Standards and approved by the 213th
General Assembly (2001):
"Interpretive
statements concerning ordained service by homosexual persons 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
denominational affirmations thereof, shall be given no further force or
effect; and Section G-6.0106a of the Form of Government, together with
the other prerequisites for ordination expressly stated in our Book
of Order, hereby are affirmed as the sole and exclusive standards
for ordination by ordaining bodies acting in prayerful discernment of
the leading of Almighty God, pending the approval of the related
proposed amendment." [Note: Emphasis added by editor.]
[Note: This new authoritative
interpretation is explicitly contingent upon the approval of the changes
to G-6.0106a and b.]
The assembly committee recommended an amendment to
G-6.0106a, adding a new sentence to the end of the paragraph as seen
above.
The Advisory Committee on the Constitution advised the
213th General Assembly (2001) that the two-stage approach recommended by
Overture
01-8 would
change the church's position regarding the issues of sexuality and the
standards of ordination, and advised that if it was the wish of the
assembly to accomplish this change, the approval of Overture
01-8 would
achieve that goal.
The overture
was referred to the Assembly Committee on Ordination Standards (pp. 6-2
through 6-3). The assembly committee amended the overture (as described
above) and recommended approval of the amended overture by a vote of
31/25/0. The assembly approved the assembly committee's recommendation
with an additional amendment from the floor by a vote of 317/208/3.
That
additional amendment directed the Moderator of the 213th General
Assembly (2001) to send a pastoral letter to the presbyteries and
sessions interpreting the assembly's action. [Editor's Note:
That letter was sent July 2001.]
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