Note #8866 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
 

05443 August 25, 2005

Theological Task Force asks for moratorium on ordination standards repeal efforts

Group calls for 'season of discernment' and 'visible oneness'

by John Filiatreau

CHICAGO Â- The Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) unveiled its long-awaited recommendations here Thursday, urging church members and officers not to continue trying to resolve the issues and disagreements that divide the church, but instead to "seek ways for the church to live the gospel joyfully and productively amid inevitable disagreement."

Meeting Aug. 23-24 primarily in closed session, as has become common practice during its last couple of meetings, the task force put the finishing touches on its final report, which will be released to the public in final form on Sept. 15. Final action on the report will be taken by next summer's 217th General Assembly in Birmingham, AL.

The task force's first recommendation Â- and the one from which the others are derived Â- is that the currently polarized denomination "witness to the church's visible oneness" and "avoid division into separate denominations that obscure our community in Christ."

Task force member Jack Haberer of Houston said that recommendation is based on the 20-member task force's discovery during its four years together "that what we hold in common in our beliefs and practices is far greater than what divides us."

The task force was created by the 2001 General Assembly and charged "to lead the PC(USA) in spiritual discernment of our Christian identity in and for the 21st century." Specifically, the group was charged to address the issues of Christology, biblical authority and interpretation, ordination standards and power.

Insisting all along that it has no "silver bullet" that will solve all the problems and answer all the questions, the group proposes a "season of discernment" in the church and a temporary moratorium on efforts to change the PC(USA)'s constitutional ban on the ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians as church officers.

Several overtures have already been submitted to next summer's General Assembly seeking to repeal the ban, G-6.0106b of The Book of Order.

The task force's other recommendations:

- That the General Assembly urge governing bodies, congregations and other groups of Presbyterians "to follow the example of the task force and other groups that have engaged in processes of intensive discernment in the face of difficult issues through worship, study, community-building and collaborative effort."

- That the Assembly commend for churchwide study the "Theological Reflection" portion of the task force's report, released last month.

- That the Assembly direct the church governing bodies "to explore the use of alternative forms of discernment and decision-making as a complement to parliamentary procedure, especially in dealing with potentially divisive issues."

The task force adopted for itself a method of decision-making based, not on Roberts Rules of Order and up-or-down votes, but on consensus.

Victoria Curtiss of Portland, OR, the principle champion of the "decision-by-consensus" model, characterized it as an effort "to avoid premature forcing into just binary choices."

- That next year's 217th General Assembly approve a new "authoritative interpretation" of section G-6.0108 of The Book of Order, which has to do with standards for ordination.

The proposed authoritative interpretation notes that "ordination standards are determined by the whole church" and interpreted by the General Assembly and Permanent Judicial Commissions, but "ordaining and installing bodiesÂ. have the responsibility to determine their membership by applying these standards."

- That the 217th General Assembly be strongly urged "to adopt no additional authoritative interpretations, to remove no existing authoritative interpretations, and to send to the presbyteries no proposed constitutional amendments that would have the effect of changing denominational policy on any of the major issues in the task force's report, including Christology, biblical interpretation, essential tenets, and sexuality and ordination."

It further urges all Presbyterians "to acknowledge their traditional biblical obligation, as set forth in Matthew 18:15-17, Matthew 5:23-25, and in the "Rules of Discipline" of The Book of Order, to conciliate, mediate and adjust differences without strifeÂ. prayerfully and deliberatelyÂ. and to institute administrative or judicial proceedings only when other efforts fail to preserve the purposes and purity of the church."

The seventh and final recommendation merely recommends that the General Assembly accept the task force's report as the discharge of its mandate.

The proposed authoritative interpretation says that ordaining bodies must decide whether a candidate for church office "has departed from scriptural and constitutional standards for fitness for office" and whether any such departure constitutes a failure to adhere to the essentials of Reformed faith and polity under G-6.0108."

The task force described the proposal for the new authoritative interpretation as an effort to "restore a greater degree of both rigor and flexibility" to the process of examining what the report calls "officer-elects."

It goes on to say that "all parties should endeavor to outdo one another in honoring one another's decisions, according the presumption of wisdom to ordaining/installing bodies in examining candidates."

This is not, several members pointed out, a "local-option" proposal. The rationale presented for the recommendation notes: Standards are aspirational in character. No one lives up to them perfectly (for this reason, G-6.0108 permits 'departures' from standards that are not deemed essential). Essentials, by the terms of G-6.0108Â. are those matters of faith and polity that the officer-elect's governing body discerns are indispensable for ordained service."

The rationale notes: "Ordaining bodies may not dispense with the church's standards or promulgate their own. G-6.0108 also requires the application of the standards with integrity. It insures freedom of conscience in interpretation of scripture within certain bounds, requires ordaining/installing bodies to determine whether there is a "serious departure" from standardsÂ. and makes an important distinction between "standards" and "essentials."

The rationale further notes: "Though current practice varies from session to session and presbytery to presbytery, it is often reported that examinations lack rigor by not fully investigating the scope of each candidate's beliefs, practices, willingness to uphold Presbyterian polity, scruples and gifts."

Member the Rev. John "Mike" Loudon of Lakeland, FL, said the most probing question posed during many examinations is "Read any good books lately?"

Task force member the Rev. William Stacy Johnson of Princeton, NJ, said it is important to signal to the church that the group is presenting its report "not as a perfect or finished product, but as a starting point."

Scott Anderson, of Milwaukee, WI, said he began his service on the task force Â"presuming that we lived on different theological planets," but discovered during the four-year experience that "We really do live on the same theological planet."

The Rev. Milton "Joe" Coalter of Richmond, VA, said he hopes the report won't Â"begin crowding out the confessions" or be regarded as "a quasi-confessional starting point for where the church is going."

The report notes that the proposed new interpretation of G-6.0108 contains nothing new and proposes no new church policy, but affirms the "essentials of the Reformed faith and polity." It notes that a church officer "chooses  to exercise freedom of conscience within certain bounds" and says candidates for office "shall have their attention drawn to the foundational documents of the church."

Task force member the Rev. Mark Achtemeier of Dubuque, IA, said, "As Presbyterians who don't have a pope to fall back onÂ. all we have is effort to work toward a place where "we're not in intractable disagreement any more."

The full text of the Theological Task Force's report and recommendations can be found on the Peace Unity Purity Web site (http://www.pcusa.org/peaceunitypurity/).