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Overture 8, to repeal ban
on gay ordination, is approved by committee
by Doug King [6-13-01]
On Tuesday afternoon, the Committee on Ordination
Standards voted by 31 to 25 to recommend to the Assembly that Overture
8, from New York City, with the addition of language from Overture 12
from the Presbytery of the Western Reserve, be approved. This came after
hours of debate, during which there were at one point some 25 committee
members waiting to speak.
The Presbyterian News
Service report provides a helpful report of the
discussion, although the lead line ("A colossal battle looms on the
floor of the 213th General Assembly ...") might be read as
a bit more inflammatory than necessary. The tone of the debate in
committee, at least, was generally decent and orderly, with few moments in
which commissioners seemed to show disrespect for other commissioners or
their views.
One exception came in the closing moments of the debate,
as one commissioner stepped to the microphone, Bible in hand, to read a
verse or two from the Old Testament in which sin was roundly condemned. He
closed by reading from 2 Timothy 4:3-4: "For the time is coming when
people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they
will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and
will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths."
He wondered aloud whether these words describe what is happened in our
church.
The final speaker, the Rev. Molly Douthett of Miami
Presbytery, recalled a recent conversation with her husband as she
prepared for the hard issues she would be facing at the Assembly. He
assured her that "if it is the will of God, we cannot stop it. And if
this is not the will of God, God will correct us." And in that
assurance, she said, "It is time now to trust the Spirit."
Perhaps that note of trust in the Spirit was the
dominant tone among the arguments offered in favor of Overture 8. But
there were a number of other points as well, which might be summarized
thus:
 | The real issue here is not sexuality, but the church;
we need to recover our Reformed heritage of mutual forbearance
and respect for the Christian conscience |
| This action, by returning us to the situation in our
church in 1978, does offer "a third way," middle
ground, partly by returning to the presbytery and session their proper
role in ordination. |
| This is a necessary step for any study commission
that may be created by the Assembly; it is not an either/or choice,
between study and the deletion of G-6.0106b. These can be parallel
processes which may move us beyond constant wrangling and allow us to
engage more fully in the church's true mission. |
| As our church has long affirmed, there are various
ways of interpreting scripture, and we do not impose any one
interpretation on anyone. The statement
issued by 33 professors of Bible at our Presbyterian seminaries
reinforced this view. |
| The deletion of the current ban ordination of gay and
lesbian persons does not compel any session or presbytery to do
anything; it simply allows those who in good conscience, and in light
of their understanding of the Bible and our confessions believe that
ordination is appropriate, do act accordingly. |
| The classic Reformation view that God alone is our
judge, and that we are called not to judge but to love, was
frequently mentioned. |
| The biblical injunctions against idolatry were
also seen as important in this matter, as a number of speakers
expressed their concern about the elevation of certain biblical
passages, or particular human views of sexuality and morality, to the
status of absolutes. |
| Finally, personal stories -- from people who
gave testimony during the open hearing and from members of the
committee -- led a number of committee members to rethink their own
positions. [You can read to of those personal statements here -- one
from a woman who has served our church at
the national level, the other from a Youth
Advisory Delegate who has dealt with this issue in the life of her
own family .]
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Check out our listing
of resources for the discussion of overture 01-08.
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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