The Assembly did not address section G-6.0106b of the Book of Order , the constitutional standard requiring that church officers practice "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness."
The PC(USA)'s Advisory Committee on the Constitution has said that both G-6.0106b and the authoritative interpretation would have to be overturned to clear the way for the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians.
The debate turned on whether to address changes to the denomination's ordination standards at a critical moment in the life of the TTF, which is scheduled to make its final report to the 2006 General Assembly. The PC(USA) ordination standards are among the key issues before the task force.
The Rev. Scott Schaefer, of San Francisco Presbytery, the committee moderator, gave three reasons for the proposal to render the interpretation non-binding.
"The 1978 statement was the best thinking at the time, but we felt it was based on outdated understandings of homosexuality," he said. "And unlike the constitutional standard (G-6.0106b) enacted in 1997, the interpretation was not voted on by the presbyteries, so we don't believe this changes the constitutional standard. Finally, by setting aside this antiquated policy, we believe the task force will have greater clarity by being able to focus on G-6.0106b."
The Rev. Kyle Otterbein, of East Iowa Presbytery, who spoke for the proponents of the minority report, said that, after attending the TTF's pre-Assembly conference, "I became convinced that unity is possible, but requires the rebuilding of trust." He said action to remove the authoritative interpretation "would be destructive of the climate of trust that is necessary, and will consume us in a new climate of hostility, returning us to the old ways of wrangling over words."
Youth Advisory Delegate Jennifer Coulter, of Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery, a member of the committee, called the proposal to make the interpretation non-binding "a compromise - it doesn't change the constitutional standard, but takes a step toward fairness and understanding."
But YAD Meghan Price, of Mackinac Presbytery, disagreed. "There's a lot of talk about how the authoritative interpretation isn't necessary and not very important, but even I can recognize that if it wasn't important, we wouldn't care about taking it out," she said. "Let's be honest; it does make a difference."
The Rev. David Dobler, who was the General Assembly moderator when the 1993 Assembly raised the 1978 "definitive guidance" to the status of "authoritative interpretation," pleaded for more time for the TTF to do its work. "What you have before you is the precious work of the task force - don't upset this effort to find a still more excellent way," he said. "This will be seen as a battle half-won by some or half-lost by others, and the swords will be unsheathed again. Please protect the theological task force." |
