Even if you are in favor of gay and lesbian ordination, you should vote against Amendment A, for three reasons. The same reasons pertain to battle-weary centrists eager to put the conflict to rest.
INDIANAPOLIS – What is next for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)? The 350-or-so folks who gathered in Indianapolis for the Next Church Conference, Feb. 28-March 1, know pretty much what it’s not going to be. Not a return to the 1950s … to rules and regulations and bickering …Click here to read full article.
INDIANAPOLIS – What is next for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)?
The 350-or-so folks who gathered in Indianapolis for the Next Church Conference, Feb. 28-March 1, know pretty much what it’s not going to be. Not a return to the 1950s. Not a groundswell of folks desperate to come to church because they can’t get enough of rules and regulations and bickering. Not a denomination that can be older and whiter than the rest of the nation and miraculously expect to thrive.
As of February 26, 2011, 95 presbyteries have voted. Thirteen of these presbyteries have reversed direction from their votes of 2008-09. Twelve have switched from opposing a change in ordination standards to supporting a change, whereas just one has switched from supporting to opposing.
On February 2, 2011 many members of our Presbytery received a letter circulating around the PC(USA) stating that the PC(USA) is "deathly ill" and inviting us to a conference to consider new structures for the future, including a new fellowship. This letter raises both important issues and some serious concerns, so the Council of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta feels it is important to respond…
The decades-long conflict over ordaining gays and lesbians, now bleeding into endorsing same-sex marriage, has clearly reached an impasse for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
[This essay is based on remarks I made to Foothills Presbytery on 7 November 2010, at the request of the Presbytery overture committee. The committee members came from the whole spectrum of the PCUSA—right, left, and center. The Presbytery voted to adopt Belhar by a vote of 54-42.]
This essay covers the debate over ordaining gays and lesbians in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) at three points: (A) the four stages of the argument to date, (B) where the debate leaves us theologically, and (C) where the debate leaves us as far as some kind of resolution.
