Overture 54

On Amending the Form of Government to Provide for No Further Amendment of G-6.0106b for Eight Years—From the Presbytery of the Upper Ohio Valley.

The Presbytery of the Upper Ohio Valley overtures the 217th General Assembly (2006) to direct the Stated Clerk to send the following proposed amendment to the presbyteries for their affirmative or negative votes:

Shall G-6.0106b be amended as follows: [Text to be inserted is shown in italics.]

“Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historical confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament. This paragraph may not be amended for eight years from the time it is amended by the addition of this last sentence.”

It is God’s desire that the church live in purity, peace, and unity, for without any one of these, recurring strife will be a constant battle within the church. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has experienced strife for decades concerning the intent of the above section of the Book of Order. The presbyteries (the people in the pews) have voted on this section of the Book of Order three times, each time affirming with an ever-increasing margin their support of this paragraph. It is time to put this matter to rest and to affirm what God has told us in his Word and to listen to what the people in the pews have voted upon. The constant and perpetual nature of this conflict has not been good for the ministry, mission, and welfare of our denomination. The provision in our Book of Order section G-6.0106b, commonly known as “fidelity and chastity,” has been a fitting expression of the purity, peace, and unity Jesus Christ seeks for his church. Let us not be hesitant to proclaim what God has told us in Scripture.

This amendment to the Book of Order is in conformity with our Reformed tradition. Our Reformed tradition calls upon us to be a church reformed, always reforming, according to the Word of God, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. We must always be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit when He calls upon us to change, but that reformation must always be according to the Word of God. It is in the conjunctive and not the disjunctive. Second Timothy 4:1-5 gives us guidance to take a stand.

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.

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. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.

Section G-6.0106b is reflective of what God’s Word tells us. To change or delete this section from the Book of Order so that any other standard would be permissible is contrary to God’s Word. There is long-standing precedent already in our Constitution for an amendment such as the one proposed by this overture. Section G-8.0701, for instance, concludes with, “This paragraph may not be amended.”

However, the intent of this overture is not to preclude further discussion, but to encourage further dialogue prior to the end of the eight-year time frame.

Let us affirm, let us proclaim, let us embrace what God has told us in his Word. Let us put this matter to rest for a period so that we may live out the great ends of the church, so that we may truly be One Body! Amen!