BIRMINGHAM — Consider it a last chance before the big event for the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to make its case.
The morning of June 15, just before the General Assembly was to open for business, about 300 Presbyterians gathered for a three-hour “pre-assembly event” — a chance to meet the 20 members of the task force; to ask questions; to hear a last pitch.
Among their themes:
· The task force wants the PC(USA) to make room for what task force member Sarah Sanderson-Doughty described in her presentation as a “large, substantial minority” in the denomination on the issue of gay ordination. The denomination’s pattern on divisive issues has been to hold “winner-take-all” votes, she said — a technique that Sanderson-Doughty suggested does not work well “in times of persistent disagreement.”
· With its report, the task force is proposing what it considers to be “a more excellent way” — a way that echoes what the Bible says about how Christians should act, and gives Presbyterians a chance to work together to discern the will of God. “We believe this patient, disciplined waiting upon God together is more faithful and more biblical than the alternative,” said Sanderson-Doughty, a pastor from Lowville, N.Y. Task force member John Wilkinson described “a church facing deep conflict that hopes to live together differently.”
· The free exercise of conscience is part of Presbyterian history. “We are heirs of the Reformation,” said task force member Mark Achtemeier, who teaches systematic theology at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. “We are here today as Protestants because the voice of the majority was not always right.”
This presentation was made right on the cusp of the assembly commissioners themselves taking up the task force report — and made it clear how much some people think is at stake in what the assembly ultimately does. There were hints in what was said about the possibility of schism or of some Presbyterians leaving; of the long, conflicted history over homosexuality in the PC(USA) and other Protestant denominations; and of the difficulty, in all the conflict, of showing respect for one another and being quiet long enough to listen for God’s voice.
Rick Ufford-Chase, as moderator of the 216th General Assembly, has led the PC(USA) over the last two years. In brief introductory remarks, Ufford-Chase said he didn’t hear much about the task force’s work when he first started traveling around the denomination two in 2004. But over the past six or nine months, “I’ve noticed a change,” he said.
“Most presbyteries I visit have in fact attempted to step up and to begin conversations in their presbyteries around difficult issues,” he said.
And in most cases, “I’ve discovered people who are grateful for the opportunity,” Ufford-Chase said. “They have discovered they actually kind of like being together. That’s the point, isn’t it?”
Since making their report public in August, task force members have hit the road — speaking at more than 135 presbytery meetings, and giving presentations to synod, seminary and congregational groups. “We discovered deep appreciation for the theological basis for our work,” and “a yearning for a different, more effective, perhaps more faithful way to live together as the body of Christ amid our differences,” said Wilkinson, a pastor from Rochester, N.Y.
And “holy cow, did we get questions,” Wilkinson said.
Part of the pre-assembly event involved task force members giving their answers to “frequently asked questions” they ran into during their travels — they handed out written answers to 15 of those questions
And those attending the pre-assembly event gathered in groups of eight around small tables to talk about the task force report — and to put some questions of their own in writing. Those questions poured in.
Among them:
· How big is the Presbyterian umbrella, really? Where are the boundaries of what’s acceptable and what’s not?
· What will be the impact of allowing candidates to declare an objection or “scruple” to the current ordination standards, which limit ordination to those who practice fidelity if they’re married or chastity of they are single?
· Won’t the PC(USA) end up with red presbyteries and blue ones — with ministers and elders who would be acceptable in one place but not in another?
Task force members took turns trying to give answers — emphasizing that their report is not trying to change the rules (something some critics of the report disagree with), but to give the church a chance to talk about its disagreements in a different way.
Here’s some of what they said.
What are essential beliefs and practices? The PC(USA) has never had a simple checklist of essentials, said task force member Milton “Joe” Coalter, library director at Union Theological Seminary-Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond. Instead, the church sets the standards at the national level, “and left the essentials to determinations made frequently and regularly at the presbytery level. They have set the standards. They have not assumed that presbyteries would ignore these standards.”
And it is in those individual examinations of candidates where the church shapes what is essential and what is not, Coalter said. When a candidate makes a statement of faith, “we’re certainly looking for where the boundaries are and for whether they fit within the boundaries of the Reformed faith.”
“It’s not a mechanical process,” he said — presbyteries and sessions are supposed to interview candidates and probe to see what they really believe.
Coalter said he listens knowing that no one is perfect, but “now there’s imperfect, and there’s just downright imperfect. And the second is the boundary. It requires an analysis by the governing body on the ground, and that’s really what our report recommends.”
Won’t presbyteries have differing interpretations? In essence, there already are red and blue presbyteries, said force member Scott Anderson, a task force member who’s executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches. “This pattern of acceptance in some places and perhaps not acceptance in some others has been around for a long, long time in this church. This is nothing new.”
And in his visits to presbyteries, Anderson said he’s discovered that while some are bright blue or bright red, “the vast majority are some shade of purple” — particularly when it comes to considering actual candidates, “flesh and blood people with gifts for ministry.”
How will the process of judicial review work? The PC(USA) already has a process of judicial review — and that won’t change if the task force report is adopted, said William Stacy Johnson, a professor of systematic theology at Princeton Theological Seminary and a lawyer.
Some contend a review of a presbytery’s decision could only involve procedural matters, not anything substantive — but “that misconstrues the way our judicial review process works in the church,” Johnson said. Those conducting the review are supposed to assess whether a presbytery or session acted reasonably, responsibly and deliberatively (the task force adds, “prayerfully.”)
That review “also includes substantive matters,” Johnson said. But “I don’t think we’re going to see decisions reviewed constantly and willy-nilly on the merits,” he said. A permanent judicial decision would only substitute its judgment for that of the presbytery or session in extraordinary circumstances.
Could the task force report affect women’s ordination? Some suspect that, if the assembly approves the task force report, some Presbyterians could declare scruples on matters not related to gay ordination — for example, declare an objection to ordaining women.
As a practical matter, “the ordination of women is secure in the PC(USA),” Johnson said. No advocacy group is working against it — and even conservatives who leave the PC(USA) tend to go to other denominations that will ordain women, he said.
“This is secure politically,” he said, and PC(USA) constitution indicates that ordination is open to both men and women.
Coalter acknowledged the possibility of “multiple scruples” as looking “kind of like the mumps.”
Finally, after the time ran out for questions, task force member Frances Taylor Gench, who teaches New Testament at Union seminary, led the gathering in Bible study — using as the story from Matthew’s gospel of Jesus asking the disciples to step out of the boat and walk on the water, a text the task force itself has studied.
As the task force began its work, “fear in fact was a central reality we faced,” Gench said. “Our fear of conflict. Fear of what this journey might cost us personally, professionally. Fear of failure. And fear above all of the enormous risk we were being asked to take.”
She challenged the assembly commissioners to take that risk themselves.
The task force represents the breadth of theological diversity of the PC(USA) — “and all of the diversity on our task force is in your presbytery, your back yard,” Gench said.
To build relationships with those who are different, to try a new way of doing things, “requires a risk,” she said. “You’ve got to step out of the boat and attempt something you maybe have never done before.”
The assembly’s Ecclesiology Committee will begin discussing the task force report June 16.
