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Overture 65
On Making Resources Available to Aid in the Implementation
of the Report of the Theological Task Force—From the Presbytery
of Albany.
The Presbytery of Albany overtures the 217th
General Assembly (2006) to instruct the Office of the General
Assembly and the Office of Theology and Worship to prepare and
make available to sessions and presbyteries resources to aid
in the implementation of each recommendation of the report of
the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the
Church.
Rationale
We believe the entire report of the Theological
Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church should
be approved by the General Assembly. In addition, the report
deserves careful consideration through fresh eyes, setting aside
the old lenses through which we have
grown too accustomed to identify our own “side”
and the “side” in opposition.
In the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity,
and Purity of the Church report, we find a refreshing and hopeful
vision of the church that
- Upholds Scripture and theological reflection
as the proper ground for all decision-making within the church;
- Upholds a spirit of community that not
only tolerates but benefits from faithful disagreement of
views;
- Refrains from coercing those who disagree;
- Commits to serious consideration of agreed-upon
standards for ordination in the examination of all candidates.
These are not things the Theological Task
Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church has done, but
rather things the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and
Purity of the Church has called upon the church to do. In endorsing
the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the
Church report, we recognize it as a call to action, not as a
plea for waiting. Much work will be required for us to learn
together how to engage actively in the process of discernment
for which the task force offers a model. |
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