Family
resemblance?
11th version of
controversial paper exalts the 'marital-biological'
by John Filiatreau,
Presbyterian
News Service
LOUISVILLE --
December 17, 2003 -- The latest draft of a much-contested policy paper on
families has a new name, a new theological backbone, and a new emphasis on
what it calls the "marital-biological" relationship between a man and a
woman as the ideal foundation for the Christian family.
Its key assertion is that it is "preferable, on the
whole," for children to be raised by a mother and a father who are married
to each other and live in the same home.
It also repeats the key assertion of the original,
controversial version, that "God works through all kinds of families" --
but takes pains to point out that some kinds are better than others.
The changing-families task force of the Advisory Committee on Social
Witness Policy (ACSWP) met last weekend at Louisville Presbyterian
Theological Seminary to discuss and revise the 11th version of what is now
to be known as "Transforming Families."
The report, initially titled "Living Faithfully with
Families in Transition," failed to pass muster during last year's General
Assembly and was sent back to ACSWP for tweaking.
A highlight of the Dec. 12-13 meeting was the unveiling
of a new chapter on the theology of the family authored by the Rev.
Charles Wiley, an associate in the Office of Theology and Worship.
It says that, "while the basic marital-biological form
is not the only acceptable form of family, it ... exemplifies in a basic
way God's ordering of the interpersonal life for which he created
humankind."
"The church affirms that marriage is instituted by God,
that marriage is good for human society, and that marriage is a form of
family life that provides a suitable context for the nurture of children,"
the new section says, adding: "Affirmation of marriage's centrality ... is
by no means a claim that marriage exhausts what the church means by
family."
"God works in and through all kinds of families," Wiley
points out, noting that scripture affirms marriage but "also portrays
other forms of human flourishing appropriate to the service of God." As
examples, he cites Naomi and Ruth, David and Jonathan and Paul and
Barnabas.
The theological section puts family in the context of
baptism.
"In the baptism of children, family promises are placed
in the context of the wider community of faith," Wiley writes. "... A
Christian understanding of family flows from our ultimate commitment to
the God who has called us into covenant relationship through Jesus Christ
in the power of the Holy Spirit."
In the words of the Rev. Barbara J. Gaddis, a task force
member, "The most important family people are in is the church."
Critics of the original 43-page report claimed its
authors had refused to make moral distinctions, sidestepped Biblical
teachings and placed families headed by same-sex couples on the same moral
plane with those headed by married heterosexual couples, in violation of
scripture and Christian morality.
They corrected the perceived faults in a cryptic
one-page substitute that defined marriage, as PC(USA) doctrine does, as a
union of "one man and one woman."
Neither version managed to win approval at last year's
General Assembly. The commissioners sent both of them back for more work,
asking ACSWP to try again at next year's Assembly.
One of the authors of the substitute paper, Alan Wisdom,
of Presbyterians in Faith and Action, eventually was invited to join the
group working on the new report.
Wisdom attended the meeting, as did two members of the
work group that produced "Living Faithfully" -- elder William J. "Beau"
Weston, a sociology professor from Centre College in Danville, KY; and
Gaddis, a marriage and family therapist from Boone, IA, the original task
force chair.
A section of the new draft written by Wisdom included a
proposal that the Presbyterian Church (USA) endorse the Christian
Declaration on Marriage, a statement approved in 2000 by the National
Association of Evangelicals, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops
and the Southern Baptist Convention.
The declaration affirms marriage as a "holy union of one
man and one woman" and says "God has established the married state ... for
spouses to grow in love of one another and for the procreation, nurture,
formation and education of children."
The ecumenical statement initially also had the backing
of Robert Edgar, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches
(NCC); but a few days after signing he removed his name, explaining that
"a number of the NCC member communions interpret the document more as a
condemnation of same-sex unions than as an affirmation of marriage."
Some in the ACSWP task group had the same objection,
especially to the declaration's "one man/one woman" language, which has
become shorthand for opposition to civil or religious "unions" of
homosexual couples.
Gaddis said signing the declaration would be perceived
as taking a stand on "an issue in our church that is going to rip us apart
if we're not careful." She contended that the "one man/one woman" phrase
"would be a red flag to most of the culture," and argued that "the idea
that God established marriage for the purpose of procreation" suits Roman
Catholics but is "not an idea we want to endorse."
She called the report's section on same-sex families
"the third rail," implying that it is too inflammatory to broach directly.
Similarly, Eric Mount, a retired theology professor at
Centre College who now lives in Davidson, NC, said the marriage
declaration, if it were included, "could be the lightning rod" that shaped
the public perception of the ACSWP paper.
Gloria Albrecht, a sociology professor at Mercy
University in Detroit, said "at least two of the groups" that signed the
declaration -- the Catholic bishops and the Southern Baptists -- clearly
have "ideas on marriage and on equality between men and women" that are
not in line with PC(USA) theology.
Wisdom, who said he'd included the suggestion in "an
effort to define the common ground," said he would red-pencil the
proposal. "I sense a strong majority wanting to take it out," he said,
"but I wanted to have this discussion."
Mount was assigned the task of hammering out a final
version by mid-February, when the report has to be ready for presentation
to the General Assembly three months later.
Peter Sulyok, the ACSWP coordinator, said the report
evinces a special concern for aspects of family life that affect children,
and needs that focus. "We have a broad topic, and we can't do everything,"
he said. Sulyok added that the group is trying not to impinge on the work
of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity in the Church,
whose work touches upon many of the same issues. That group will report
its findings to the 2006 Assembly.
"Transforming Families" -- the title is meant to suggest
both the transformation of families themselves and the transformation of
the culture that Christian families could help bring about -- looks as if
it may be 80 pages or more long.
The paper urges parents to nurture their children "to
become suspicious of prevailing cultural attitudes towards wealth,
consumption, entertainment and sexual self-indulgence." It identifies
"infidelity, physical and emotional abuse, lovelessness, lack of
mutuality, and casual divorce" as instances of "the disordering of God's
intention."
"God works in and through all kinds of families," it
says, following up with a demurral: "This affirmation does not bless every
form of household, or lift up every conceivable form of family life as a
model."
As a model, it lifts up marriage -- which it says "is
associated with many positive outcomes for women and men."
"Married people are, on the whole, happier, healthier,
better off financially, and more likely to be employed, than are single
people," it says, adding: "Research provides strong evidence that, on
average, children do better in healthy, intact two-parent (biological)
families than they do in stepfamilies, adoptive families or single-parent
families."
But a section on socioeconomic conditions also says: "No
significant differences have been found between children reared by
homosexual parents and children reared by a traditional set of
heterosexual parents."
A sentence in the section Wisdom wrote -- "Research on
same-sex partners and their children is inconclusive so far" -- was
excised after several members pointed out that the research isn't
inconclusive at all.
"The gravest danger that faces all U.S. Christians," the
report says, "is the extent to which popular American values of
materialism, consumerism, hedonism and individualism shape our theologies,
ethics, liturgical practices, and church programs."
The draft says the church should work toward a society
in which:
· "Chaste and disciplined singleness" is honored as an
important vocation within the family of God;
· The "marriage of man and woman is honored and
recognized in law and custom as a unique relationship of social
importance" and "commended as an aspiration for most adults";
· Other "family and family-like (family-extending)
relationships," such as adoption and stepparenting, are encouraged
"insofar as they fulfill the functions of family in a way that
demonstrates and nurtures godly character."
The draft encourages Presbyterians to consider
foster-parenting or adopting children, and encourages parents and
guardians who are unable to care adequately for a child to consider making
an "adoption plan."
Mount suggested lifting up the concept of "betrothal"
for co-habitating couples who say they intend to be married.
"Living together" before or in lieu of marriage came in for a lot of
discussion. According to the report, more than half of all first marriages
during the 1990s began with a period of cohabitation.
Researchers have found that cohabiting couples have more
relationship problems, less commitment and less happiness, than married
couples; and that divorce rates are higher in marriages preceded by
cohabitation. But they also have found that cohabiting couples who say
they intend to marry do much better than those who don't. That made some
consider whether the report -- and the church -- ought somehow to endorse
the intention to marry, perhaps with a rite of some kind to celebrate
"betrothal."
"It's not true that if you've seen one cohabitation
you've seen them all," said Mount, who contended that "serial marriage" is
little better than cohabitation.
The betrothal idea didn't get enough support to make its
way into the report.
The task force also declined a recommendation from
Wisdom and Jim Berkley, of Presbyterians for Renewal, that the report
include a restatement of the PC(USA)'s "enduring understanding" that
homosexuality is contrary to scripture and not part of God's design.
A visitor, Charlyn "Sam" Stare, of Cincinnati, who said
she attended the meeting because "a number of folks in the (Presbyterian)
Coalition asked me to come," called the current families document "a very,
very positive and embraceable statement" that next year's Assembly will
likely endorse. She called the new material on theology and worship
"wonderful," but said the task force missed "an educational opportunity"
by not including a section on PC(USA) beliefs about homosexuality.
Berkley, noting that he was "not a fan of the previous
report," said of the new version, "You have the makings of an excellent
report here." He also commended the theological section, and said he is
"confident that this can pass the GA."
But he did have some quibbles. He said the report ought
to point out that some forms of family are "sinful, immoral, destructive,
uncaring," and should be less perfunctory in its treatment of
homosexuality. He agreed with Stare that a statement of PC(USA) policy on
same-sex relationships and the rationale behind it would be beneficial.
Berkley also said he detected a "sourness" and
"jaundice" in the paper's attitude towards traditional marriage, and said
he thought some parts "make Christianity sound un-pleasurable" and make
the faith "look like a weak sister of hedonism."
He counseled against "dancing around" controversial
issues, urging the task force to "tackle them head-on" and not to "leave
doors open, kind of cleverly," as when the report slips in the loaded
word, "partner."
At Weston's suggestion, the group agreed that the report
on "changing families" will include a section on what hasn't changed.
"The basic pattern of family life ... has not changed at
the core," he said. "... The kind of family life traditionally favored by
the Presbyterian Church is, in fact, still normal for Presbyterians, and,
to a lesser extent, for most Americans."
In a written commentary, Weston, a researcher and
author, questioned many of the authors' assumptions.
On divorce: "It is worth emphasizing that most first
marriages do endure, especially for Presbyterians and other religious
people."
On socioeconomic conditions affecting families:
"Americans, even poor Americans, are better off than they were 30 years
ago. ... The absolute material condition of Americans is significantly
better than it used to be."
On anti-poverty efforts: "The greatest public policy to
reduce the economic security of children ... is to promote the marriage of
their parents."
On teen pregnancy: "It is worth reiterating the
reassuring point that ... most of these dire numbers ... do not apply to
Presbyterians."
On the causes of economic inequality: "Family structure
is now the main force affecting the poverty of families of African-diasporan
descent."
