Because of Presbyterian Polity

Why We Repeatedly Revisit G-6.0106b
(and Will Continue to Do So Until It’s Amended)
Reason 3 – Presbyterian Polity

Tricia Dykers Koenig
Covenant Network National Organizer

At least one overture to amend the current paragraph G-6.0106b has been sent to every General Assembly but one since 1997, when it became part of the Book of Order in an attempt to “settle the issue” of the ordination of persons in same-sex relationships.   Until the paragraph is amended to be more consistent with Reformed theology and polity, that is sure to continue.

This is the third in a series of articles exploring the reasons that “the issue” will come back to GAs and the presbyteries again and again, until amendment is made.

Reason 3 – The current G-6.0106b is inconsistent with the rest of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Current G-6.0106b:

Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic 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. 

Amendment 10-A:

Standards for ordained service reflect the church’s desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life (G-1.0000). The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation (G-14.0240; G-14.0450) shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate’s ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003). Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.

Rather than mandating conformity to a particular contested reading of scripture regarding sexual practice to the exclusion of all other qualities, the new paragraph emphasizes the experience of call, the whole character of the candidate, and the confirmation of the examining body who knows the individual.   

Our current conflict over ordination standards isn’t new;  American Presbyterians have experienced it since the beginning of our history.  In 1729 the Adopting Act preserved the unity of the church by emphasizing the need for both national standards and their pastoral application by particular examining bodies in the consideration of individual candidates:     

…  And do therefore agree that all the ministers of this Synod, or that shall hereafter be admitted into this Synod, shall declare their agreement in and approbation of the Confession of Faith, with the Larger, and Shorter Catechisms of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, as being, in all the essential and necessary articles, good forms of sound words and systems of Christian doctrine, and do also adopt the said Confession and Catechisms as the confession of our faith…   And in case any minister of this Synod, or any candidate for the ministry, shall have any scruple with respect to any article or articles of said Confession or Catechisms, he shall at the time of his making said declaration declare his sentiments to the Presbytery or Synod, who shall, notwithstanding, admit him to the exercise of the ministry within our bounds, and to ministerial communion, if the Synod or Presbytery shall judge his scruple or mistake to be only about articles not essential and necessary in doctrine, worship or government...

This “middle way” permeates the “Historic Principles of Church Order” and has served us well for nearly three centuries.   

G-1.0305              Differences of Views

                (5)          That, while under the conviction of the above principle we think it necessary to make effectual provision that all who are admitted as teachers be sound in the faith, we also believe that there are truths and forms with respect to which men of good characters and principles may differ. And in all these we think it the duty both of private Christians and societies to exercise mutual forbearance toward each other.

At various times in our history, whenever the Church has faced polarization and division on matters of ordination standards, it has found wisdom and healing in the balance – national standards, particular application.    

Amendment 10-A requires rigorous examination and emphasizes the constitutional questions.                

It neither requires nor prohibits the ordination of any candidate, but leaves with sessions and presbyteries the responsibility to discern call and to determine whether the standards have been met sufficiently. 

One fact often overlooked is that by the Act of 1729, the decision as to essential and necessary articles was to be in specific cases.  It was no general authority that might be stated in exact language and applied rigidly to every case without distinction.  It was an authority somewhat undefined, to be invoked in each particular instance…

It was clearly the intention that this decision as to essential and necessary articles was to be made after the candidate had been presented and had declared his beliefs and stated his motives personally, and after the examining body, whether Presbytery or (General) Synod, had had full opportunity to judge the man himself, as well as abstract questions of doctrine. 

Commission of 1925 (the “Swearingen Commission”)

This is not some recent  innovation, to be disparaged as “local option.”   It is basic to our polity:  

Election by the People

The government of this church is representative, and the right of God's people to elect their officers is inalienable. Therefore, no person can be placed in any permanent office in a congregation or governing body of the church except by election of that body.          G-6.0107

Some governing bodies would ordain and install gay candidates; others would not, but the decision is made by the body that actually knows the person, and can evaluate matters related to sexuality in context with everything else they know about the candidate.  For those who are tired of talking about this, it won’t come up unless there’s a particular person whose gifts have already been recognized by the community.    

Amendment 10-A removes the theologically-deficient practice of singling out sexuality, as if sex is the church’s only moral and ethical concern. 

And it corrects the faulty hierarchy of authority that even some who support ‘fidelity and chastity’ recognize as a violation of our tradition:    

Our “hierarchy of authority” within the church is thus solidly established. It descends from Christ as God the Son and Lord over His Church. Next in order of precedence come the Scriptures from which are derived our Confessional corpus that describe our understandings of what Scripture teaches and commands, and, finally, the Book of Order as the practical framework by which we Presbyterians implement and exercise our calling as part of the universal Church of Jesus Christ...

With the hierarchy of authority understood, we must look to the reasons for this proposed change, and they are principally two: (1) the current standard contained in G-6.0106b flatly ignores the Scriptures as the superior standard and dislocate it solely to the Confessions that are subordinate; and, (2) the current language of G-6.0106b is simultaneously too vague and undefined and too narrowly focused on one particular set of sins.       – From the rationale for the overture from the Presbytery of Beaver-Butler, 219th  GA (2010) 

10-A maintains high standards for ordained office by focusing on the Lordship of Christ – as opposed to the current wording, in which Jesus Christ is entirely ignored. 

10-A removes the invitation to hypocrisy in the absurd idea that for the last 13 years we have been ordaining and installing only those who have repented of every “self-acknowledged practice the confessions call sin” – since applying that clause literally would disqualify everyone.  (Have you been resting from all worldly employments and recreations on the Sabbath [7.227]?  Do you persist in displaying a picture of Jesus [7.219]?)

 10-A returns to the time-honored Presbyterian way of maintaining unity by respecting freedom of conscience in the interpretation of Scripture and the duty of mutual forbearance;  if you disagree with my understanding , you are still free to hold your view, but without imposing it on those whose consciences lead them in another direction;  nor can I impose my conviction to exclude you. 

10-A will not end our disagreement about how to interpret Scripture; but it will allow the PCUSA to move beyond arguing about one paragraph in the Book of Order while we continue to discern God’s will. 

And it will restore the integrity of our Constitution.