BIRMINGHAM — What the General Assembly does with the controversial report of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be a witness to the world of whether Presbyterians can find unity in Jesus Christ.
That was an argument that task force members made June 16 when they formally presented their report to the assembly’s Ecclesiology Committee — which will be deciding soon whether to recommend approval of the report or to propose changes.
The 20 task force members have been doing lots of public speaking in recent months – refining their remarks to keep in tune with the ripples in the public debate. So listening to their presentation to the committee was like catching the latest riff about what the task force members think is most important to say in the final stretch.
Some of the strongest criticism of the report has come from evangelical groups — and task force members Mark Achtemeier and John “Mike” Loudon made a point of identifying themselves as conservatives who can sign on to what the task force is recommending.
“I am a conservative evangelical, pastor of a Confessing church, and a member of the board of PFR (Presbyterians for Renewal),” Loudon said. “I think sexual activity outside of marriage is sinful.” Loudon said he supports the PC(USA)’s current ordination standards — which restrict ordination to those who practice fidelity if they’re married or chastity if they are single — and hopes they stay in the PC(USA) constitution forever.
But Loudon said he’s learned that those on the task force who want the church to ordain gays and lesbians “do share my faith in Jesus Christ as Lord” and “they honor Scripture and love the Bible just as much as I do.”
Loudon said he wants those who are wrong about gay ordination but right about Jesus Christ “to stay in this denomination where God has placed us together.”
Loudon also said he has another, more personal reason for wanting the assembly to pass the task force report — and in this, he seemed to be speaking directly to evangelicals not inclined to support the task force report. Someday, Loudon said, the PC(USA) may change its mind and permit gay ordination. And if that day comes, he said, he wants there to be room for people like him to stay in the PC(USA) and declare their own scruples, to stick around “without violating our consciences.”
Task force member Barbara Wheeler, president of Auburn Theological Seminary in New York, responded to concerns floating around the church about the task force report.
She reminded the committee that the task force report has been supported by the presidents of all the Presbyterian seminaries and by most of the General Assembly moderators since the northern and southern branches of the denomination reunited in 1983.
She said the task force is not asking for local option — the PC(USA)’s ordination standards would remain the same– and “no governing body can make a blanket deletion from the standards or add to them.”
In other words, individuals being considered for ordination can declare a “scruple” or objection based on conscience to a constitutional standard of the church, but a congregation or a presbytery can not.
Wheeler also said the task force hopes the assembly will consider its recommendations as “a balanced package” — and won’t try to pass some recommendations and ditch others. The task force would not have unanimously approved the report if all the recommendations hadn’t been there, she said, so to remove any would be to “gut” the report.
Wheeler also encouraged the committee to pass one single report — with no “minority” or objecting report — and to ask the assembly to do the same. She stressed that whatever the assembly does will be seen by the church — and the watching world — as a witness to the PC(USA)’s faith in Jesus Christ.
In urging the committee to speak with one voice, Wheeler said: “Do this as a sign that Christ has given himself for the peace, unity, and purity of the whole church.”
She also asked the committee to “wrest control of the church’s agenda from a small number of interest groups.” Wheeler acknowledged that she and some other task force members have a history of lobbying on controversial issues in the church — some of them are skilled and experienced lobbyists.
The special interest groups in the PC(USA) do help in some ways, she said — raising issues important for the denomination to consider, providing resources and support to Presbyterians who might otherwise feel isolated.
But the involvement of these groups also has meant that the General Assembly typically spends a lot of time on a relative few issues, Wheeler said — and because of their involvement, “the conflict never stops.”
Wheeler contended that the most vehement opposition to the task force report has come from the special interest groups, and asked: “Should lobbyists determine the future of the church of Jesus Christ?”
“The world is now watching this assembly” — a world accustomed to associating religion with conflict, Wheeler said. She asked the committee to consider offering another sort of headline to the world.
“It could say, `Presbyterians, embracing an older tradition, stay together to work things out.’ “ And the sub-headline could say “Jesus Christ gives them peace, unity, and purity.”
