Nineteen former Moderators urge defeat of
amendment 00-O, citing restrictions on pastoral and session
responsibility
Pastoral Letter to the
Presbyterian Church (USA)
As former moderators of the General Assembly
of the Presbyterian Church (USA), we the undersigned oppose proposed
Amendment 00-O, which would prohibit the use of church property
and the participation of deacons, elders, or ministers in "any
ceremony or event that pronounces blessing or gives approval of the
church or invokes the blessing of God upon any relationship that is
inconsistent with God's intention for all people to live either in
fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or in
chastity in singleness."
A range of arguments will be presented by faithful
Presbyterians in opposition to Amendment O, including theological,
cultural/social, liturgical, pastoral, and historical concerns. We find
many of those arguments compelling. We note especially that this
amendment might have an unintended consequence: to argue against
committed relationships in an age of "sexual anarchy," in the
language of the Confession of 1967. And as Reformed Christians, we are
concerned about any human endeavor that would claim with such certainty
to comprehend "God's intention."
Yet our concerns focus primarily on the polity
and governance issues presented by the proposed amendment.
While we are not all of one mind on the issue of "holy
unions," we do firmly assert that Amendment O raises significant
constitutional concerns that would lead us away from the traditional
rights and responsibilities exercised by sessions and ministers.
Sessions -- Amendment O suggests a
kind of "ecclesiastical micro-managing," prohibiting local
church sessions from making the appropriate, thoughtfully considered
decisions that our constitution asks them to make. Sessions will
certainly choose to address the issue of holy unions in differing ways,
and we believe such choices to be an appropriate exercise of a session's
"responsibility and power to provide for the management of the
property of the church, including determination of the appropriate use
of church buildings and facilities" (G-10.0102 o) and "to
oversee and approve all public worship in the life of the particular
church" (W-1.4004 e).
Ministers -- Amendment O suggests a
kind of "pastoral gag order," prohibiting ministers from
exercising pastoral discretion, sensitivity, and leadership. Can we
really go on record as prohibiting prayer in a specific pastoral
circumstance? Again, ministers will choose to address this issue in
differing ways, but the implications of an amendment that would prohibit
that choice from being made are troubling. Surely a minister should be
permitted to exercise fully the God-given "suitable gifts for their
various duties" (G-6.0106a) in their calling to "pray with and
for the congregation" (G-6.0202).
Other pastoral implications of Amendment O are
manifold and significant: for instance, the prohibition of the baptism
of an adopted child, the banning of the presence of an elder at a
beloved child's union service, the inability to conduct the funeral of a
partner in an unmarried relationship.
For all these reasons and more, we oppose Amendment O,
and encourage presbytery commissioners to search their hearts, to
discern the mind of Christ and to vote in a manner that affirms session
responsibility and pastoral integrity.
The Pastoral Letter is signed by
Dr. Thelma Adair (188th G.A., UPCUSA) (1976)
Ms. Dorothy Barnard (121st G.A., PCUS) (1981)
The Rev. Robert W. Bohl (206th G.A.) (1994)
The Rev. John M. Buchanan (208th G.A.) (1996)
The Rev. James H. Costen (194th G.A., UPCUSA) (1982/3)
The Rev. John Fife (204th G.A.) (1992)
Ms. Freda Gardner (211th G.A.) (1999)
The Rev. Robert C. Lamar (186th G.A. , UPCUSA) (1974)
The Rev. William Lytle (190th G.A. , UPCUSA) (1978)
Ms. Sara Bernice Moseley (118th G.A., PCUS) (1978)
The Rev. Harriet Nelson (196th G.A.) (1984)
The Rev. Douglas Oldenburg (210th G.A.) (1998)
The Rev. Howard Rice (191st G.A., UPCUSA) (1979)
Dr. Isabel Rogers (199th G.A.) (1987)
Dr. J. Randolph Taylor (195th G.A.) (1983)
Mr. William P. Thompson (177th G.A., UPCUSA) (1965)
The Rev. Herbert Valentine (203rd G.A.) (1991)
The Rev. Benjamin Weir (198th G.A.) (1986)
The Rev. Albert C. Winn (119th G.A., PCUS) (1979)
