[3-8-01]

Barbara Kellam-Scott, moderator of Semper Reformanda, has raised some questions about the recent report by the Presbyterian News Service about a Presbyterian Panel survey which is interpreted as indicating that "most Presbyterians oppose same-sex unions," even though the current voting on Amendment O might suggest a different conclusion.

[Attorney Doug Nave offers a more positive assessment of the implications of the survey.]

Her concerns include the use of such a study on an issue currently before our presbyteries, as they vote on Amendment O to ban all blessing of relationships deemed to be forbidden by "Scripture and our Confessions."

She continued in one note:

"I am very concerned about this politicization of our GA research function. I have long had similar concerns about PNS. I think it was ill-advised to ask these questions under these conditions and downright irresponsible to report them in such partisan fashion just at the watershed moment in the ratification vote. I will be very surprised if we don't hear the word "referendum" used to characterize the Panel survey, especially if O fails and GA213 sends to the presbyteries an amendment to strike G-6.0106b. We who support those actions need to do some strenuous education work to make clear how the Panel questions differ from the amendments and from b, how impossible it is to correlate Panel findings to presbytery and GA voting -- for instance, to remind Presbyterians that our voting processes are supposedly matters of discernment in which we ask for the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit -- how the wording of questions influences findings, and exactly what terms like "statistically valid" mean. I wish we had the help of Research Services and PNS in those educational efforts, but somebody has to do it."

Kellam-Scott also questions the timing of the PNS story, since the News Service had had the findings from Research Services since last November, and chose to report on them only in early March, as the voting in presbyteries appeared to be running against Amendment O. Further, she is concerned that the News Service story attributes to the findings greater statistical validity than they may warrant.

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