BIRMINGHAM — In a day filled with talk about Israel and Darfur, abortion and immigration, it was easy to overlook some less-flashy issues related to the internal workings of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
But the General Assembly did take time on June 21 to vote on polity issues — including an overture raising the question of whether a congregation that wants to leave the denomination can take its property with it.
Stockton presbytery had sent an overture asking that the PC(USA)’s constitution be amended to say that a congregation’s property “is the sole property of that church” except when financial assistance the denomination provides creates a lien on the property.
The assembly voted 378 to 112 not to approve that overture. But before doing that it removed a comment that had been added by the assembly’s Committee on Church Polity, which would have said, in part, that “the church is not a voluntary association of those who share the same opinions but is an organic body called into existence by God.”
The assembly also:
· Voted 391 to 106 to defeat an overture from Beaver-Butler presbytery that would allow congregations to choose their presbyteries, or presbyteries to choose their synods. Beaver-Butler contended that allowing congregations to choose their presbyteries would give flexibility and would better accommodate the diversity within the PC(USA). But the Advisory Committee on the Constitution recommended that the assembly reject the overture, calling it a “fundamental change in the church’s understanding of Reformed theology and Presbyterian governance.”
· Approved the creation of a Form of Government task force to work on proposed changes in the PC(USA) constitution. Part of the purpose, according to the report to the assembly, is give presbyteries more flexibility to adapt to changing needs — for example, to allow presbyteries to fill clergy positions faster and to change some rules about who can fill particular jobs. The task force is to report to the General Assembly in 2008 and to make its proposed revisions public by Sept. 1, 2007.
CORRECTION:
An Outlook story posted during the General Assembly in Birmingham reported that the G. A. voted 252 to 232 not to approve an overture from Stockton presbytery, which asked that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s constitution be amended to say that a congregation’s property “is the sole property of that church” except when financial assistance the denomination provides creates a lien on the property.
That vote actually was the margin by which the assembly removed a comment that had been added by the assembly’s Committee on Church Polity. That amendment would have said, in part, “the church is not a voluntary association of those who share the same opinions but is an organic body called into existence by God.”
The assembly’s vote not to approve the Stockton overture was 378-112 (corrected in this article).
