to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), outlining what it sees as the assembly’s failings and inviting other presbyteries and congregations to join in the declaration.
The presbytery, which is located mostly in western Pennsylvania, approved the declaration at a meeting July 28. Among the actions the presbytery found objectionable: the assembly’s position on gay ordination; its decision to consider a retranslation of the Heidelberg Catechism; and its efforts to encourage the strengthening of relationships among Christians, Jews, and Muslims in part through joint worship services.
It also objected to the creation of legal defense fund the PC(USA) could use to defend property cases in civil courts.
The presbytery stated it was acting “with sadness, yet with conviction,” as called for in Scripture. The declaration states that the assembly’s errors “have fractured the trust within the denomination,” when it passed a new authoritative interpretation regarding the ordination of gays and lesbians.
Ironically, the waters regarding gay ordination remain as muddy as ever in the PC(USA). Over the last year, a majority of the denomination’s 173 presbyteries voted to reject a proposal from the assembly to remove language restricting ordination to those who practice fidelity if they are married or chastity if they are single — the third time since 1997 that the church has decided to retain that controversial language.
But the margin this time was closer than ever before, and it’s widely expected that the 2010 General Assembly will be asked to consider the issue yet again.
Beaver-Butler objected in part because the assembly also passed a new authoritative interpretation, which wipes out the impact of previous authoritative interpretations regarding gays and lesbians. The presbytery cited what it sees as procedural mistakes in how the assembly handled discussion of the issue, saying it “discouraged honest and open debate,” and that it “committed its greatest constitutional error by legislating through authoritative interpretations.”
But the PC(USA)’s ongoing debate over gay ordination is cluttered with claims and counter-claims over whether previous assemblies did essentially the same thing by adopting those authoritative interpretations in the first place.
The 2008 assembly created a special committee that’s considering proposed translation changes to the Heidelberg Catechism, and will report back to the next assembly in 2010. Any change in The Book of Confessions would have go to the presbyteries for a vote. Beaver-Butler contends that, to be Biblically accurate, the current translation should be retained.
In its critique of the 2008 assembly’s actions, Beaver-Butler contends that “our denominational covenant has been broken by our own highest level governing body.”
The presbytery promises in the declaration to closely examine any candidates for ordination or transfer to the presbytery, and not to ordain any whose behavior violates the “clear meaning” of the “fidelity and chastity” requirement.
“We will not seek or promote common worship opportunities with Jews and Muslims, when they do not recognize the Unity and the Divinity of the Trinity,” the declaration states.
And it says that Beaver-Butler Presbytery won’t be governed by the authoritative interpretation the 2008 General Assembly passed.
“Our consciences are captive to the Word of God,” the presbytery’s declaration states. “We will not accept discipline that, like many of the General Assembly actions, rests on human institution instead of God’s Word.”
