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GA backgrounder: Abortion overtures seek further restrictions

(PNS) Issues surrounding abortion have been on the agenda of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly almost every year since 1983, when that year's Assembly established the church's first basic policy on abortion. That policy supported a woman's right to choose with virtually no reservations.

Over the years, pro-life Presbyterians have persuaded Assemblies to modify the church's policy on several occasions, most substantially in 1992.

Peace, Unity, Purity Report adopted in committee as opponents try to delay implementation

BIRMINGHAM -- Here's a question the General Assembly will very likely be asked to consider: Should the presbyteries be given more time -- basically a "season of discernment" -- to consider the report of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the PC(USA)? Should the vote be put off for two years, until the next assembly meets in 2008?

Or should this General Assembly vote June 20 on the task force report -- deciding now whether the task force has recommended a better way for a divided PC(USA) to handle its disagreements?

Abortion-related resource funding overture disapproved by Health Comm.

BIRMINGHAM -- The 217^th General Assembly Health Committee on June 17 voted to recommend to the General Assembly disapproval of Overture 10-02 from the Presbytery of Beaver-Butler. The proposal asked that no funds of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) be used to support any advocacy either for or against abortion.

The overture had the concurrence of Shenango presbytery.

Jim Powers, elder of the Beaver-Butler Presbytery and overture advocate, called their proposal an even-handed, balanced approach to making sure no PC(USA) monies were used for pro-or anti-abortion support such as information materials. Presbyterians who think their contributions are going to fund a position antithetical to their own cease giving to the denomination, according to Powers.  Adoption of their overture would likely result in some donors reestablishing their giving to the PC(USA), he indicated.

Mejia says pressure is escalating in ColombiaAssembly committee pushes for change in U.S. policy

BIRMINGHAM -- When the Rev. Milton Mejia accepted one of the two 2006 Peaceseeker Awards granted by Presbyterian Peace Fellowship (PPF) at its annual breakfast here yesterday, he said it represented a covenant between two churches.

Ecumenical Committee urges study of WARC papers Nyomi calls for renewal and unity

BIRMINGHAM -- Setri Nyomi repeated several themes in his remarks to the Assembly's Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee during its deliberations here.

Economic justice. Engagement with the world. Spiritual renewal.

Nyomi, the general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), was drawing from a list of concerns raised by that body during its 24^th conference two years ago in Accra, Ghana, where delegates from its 218-member churches committed to challenge the economic order that is further dividing the world's rich and poor and squelches "fullness of life" as proclaimed in the gospels.

Abortion-related resource funding overture disapproved by Health Comm.

BIRMINGHAM -- The 217^th General Assembly Health Committee on June 17 voted to recommend to the General Assembly disapproval of Overture 10-02 from the Presbytery of Beaver-Butler. The proposal asked that no funds of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) be used to support any advocacy either for or against abortion.

The overture had the concurrence of Shenango presbytery.

Jim Powers, elder of the Beaver-Butler Presbytery and overture advocate, called their proposal an even-handed, balanced approach to making sure no PC(USA) monies were used for pro-or anti-abortion support such as information materials. Presbyterians who think their contributions are going to fund a position antithetical to their own cease giving to the denomination, according to Powers.  Adoption of their overture would likely result in some donors reestablishing their giving to the PC(USA), he indicated.

Abortion-related resource funding overture disapproved by Health Comm.

BIRMINGHAM -- The 217^th General Assembly Health Committee on June 17 voted to recommend to the General Assembly disapproval of Overture 10-02 from the Presbytery of Beaver-Butler. The proposal asked that no funds of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) be used to support any advocacy either for or against abortion.

The overture had the concurrence of Shenango presbytery.

Jim Powers, elder of the Beaver-Butler Presbytery and overture advocate, called their proposal an even-handed, balanced approach to making sure no PC(USA) monies were used for pro-or anti-abortion support such as information materials. Presbyterians who think their contributions are going to fund a position antithetical to their own cease giving to the denomination, according to Powers.  Adoption of their overture would likely result in some donors reestablishing their giving to the PC(USA), he indicated.

Abortion-related resource funding overture disapproved by Health Comm.

BIRMINGHAM -- The 217^th General Assembly Health Committee on June 17 voted to recommend to the General Assembly disapproval of Overture 10-02 from the Presbytery of Beaver-Butler. The proposal asked that no funds of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) be used to support any advocacy either for or against abortion.

The overture had the concurrence of Shenango presbytery.

Jim Powers, elder of the Beaver-Butler Presbytery and overture advocate, called their proposal an even-handed, balanced approach to making sure no PC(USA) monies were used for pro-or anti-abortion support such as information materials. Presbyterians who think their contributions are going to fund a position antithetical to their own cease giving to the denomination, according to Powers.  Adoption of their overture would likely result in some donors reestablishing their giving to the PC(USA), he indicated.

Polity committee rejects overtures curbing frivolous lawsuit complaints; requests study

BIRMINGHAM -- The Committee on Church Polity on Saturday disapproved four overtures stemming from what several speakers and committee members described as an untenable number of frivolous accusations against leaders in the church.

But it requested that the Office of the General Assembly study the inappropriate use of the judicial process and report back to the 218^Th General Assembly in 2008, and it urged individuals and governing bodies to pursue actions against church members filing such accusations falsely or in bad faith.

Polity committee recommends streamlined BOO Chapter 14, creation of new Task Force

The Committee on Church Polity recommended Saturday that the Assembly approve a streamlined, more flexible version of the Book of Order's Chapter 14 -- the provisions about Ordination, Certification and Commissioning -- and begin work toward a far more sweeping revision of Presbyterian government.

The Chapter 14 changes would give presbyteries the authority to fill local clergy positions more quickly and remove some barriers about who can do which jobs. The larger revisions, to be developed over the next several years by a task force the Assembly would approve, likely would vastly simplify the Book of Order and give even more flexibility to presbyteries.

Social justice committee approves overture to oppose immigration legislation

The Committee on Social Justice on Saturday approved an overture urging the Presbyterian Church to oppose proposed federal legislation that would make felons of undocumented immigrants and those -- including clergy -- who assist them.

Church Polity committee rejects church property retention after split with PCUSA

The Committee on Church Polity voted on Saturday to disapprove an overture (05-08) that would have allowed churches that leave the denomination to take their property with them.

Committee members voted 35 to 5 against the overture, with four abstaining, and added a comment that affirms the current policy, that churches' property is considered to be held in trust for the use and benefit of the PC(USA):  

Church polity committee rejects overture for churches to select presbytery

Greg Wiest presents his case

A proposal to allow churches to choose their presbyteries, and presbyteries their synods, was resoundingly rejected by the Committee on Church Polity Saturday.

Rick Ufford-Chase appointed executive director of Presbyterian Peace Fellowship

BIRMINGHAM -- At an early morning breakfast here, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship (PPF) announced that it is launching a $2 million endowment campaign to fund peace activism and that the denomination's former moderator, Elder Rick Ufford-Chase, will serve as its first executive director.

"We can't predict what the future holds," the Rev. Jim Atwood of Washington, D.C. and the head of the endowment campaign, told a packed ballroom audience. "But we can be confident that PPF members will be there -- after all of us here are dead and gone -- to witness to the power of non-violence, as seen in the life of Jesus.

Committee recommends approval of Trinity paper, sacramental study

BIRMINGHAM -- Two highly visible study documents -- one on the nature of the Trinity and the other on sacramental practices -- will go to the floor of the General Assembly after prolonged debate in the Assembly Committee on Theological Issues and Institutions

The report on the nature of the Trinity -- called "The Trinity: God's Love Overflowing" -- was approved by a huge margin (42-16-3) after a strong Christological statement was inserted into a much-debated section of the document that offers a plenitude of images of the Trinity.

Ecclesiology Committee considers recommendation to approve PUP report

BIRMINGHAM -- Although the committee still needs to take a few parliamentary twirls, the General Assembly's Ecclesiology Committee seems on the cusp of recommending that the General Assembly approve the report of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The committee ran out of time June 17 -- the assembly's shuttle buses taking commissioners back to their hotels were about to stop running.

But earlier, the task force's controversial Recommendation 5 survived an attempt to delete it from the report -- by a vote of 40-22. A series of other proposed amendments to the report failed by similar margins.

Task Force report presented to GA Committee; unity the key

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.

Widely different views in TF Report heard by committee

Former moderator, Marj Carpenter, appeals
to Ecclesiology Committee on behalf of TTF report

BIRMINGHAM -- They lined up 60 strong to have two minutes apiece to speak their minds.

And my, what they think about the report of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

It's a miracle, an act of grace, a polarizing force. It's a fresh breeze, a mirage, a "five pound rock going through the windshield of this church."

The task force members are saints. The task force members are flat wrong.

"God love you. Aren't you lucky the computer picked you to be on this committee?" former General Assembly Moderator Marj Carpenter asked the members of the assembly's Ecclesiology Committee, who will be voting on the task force report.

For more than two hours June 16, the committee listened -- hitting the mother lode of passion the report has aroused among some folks in the PC(USA).

Connecting churches with collegians

BIRMINGHAM -- College-bound Presbyterians and those serving in the military often fall through the cracks, never finding a church home, because no one lets university ministers and military chaplains know they are coming, according to speakers to the Committee on Church Polity Friday.

It should happen -- but it doesn't often, said several campus and military pastors.

$150 million gift announced for the PC(USA)

BIRMINGHAM -- A Denver businessman has announced a $150 million gift to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) -- saying he is tired of watching the continuing decline of the denomination he loves and challenging Presbyterians "to reverse all negative trends. We can grow."

The money from the new Loaves and Fishes Church Growth Fund will be used for grants to presbyteries -- from $250,000 to $1 million apiece. Presbyteries will have to apply for the funds and will have to match part of it. The money will be used for church growth, mission work and theological education.

Candidates reveal their visions for the PC(USA)

Editor's note: The four candidates running in the election for moderator of the 217th General Assembly have responded to several questions from the Outlook.

•  In your opinion, what is the most significant matter to come before this General Assembly and how do you propose that the Assembly respond to it?
• What are your goals for your moderatorial years and what strengths do you bring to the task?
• In your opinion, what is the most urgent need in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) over the next five years?

PC(USA) life and ministry after downsizing

So where does the church go from here?

The recent $9.1 million downsizing of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)'s national staff and the reorganization of what's left leaves people asking questions.

Among them: In a shrinking denomination with fewer members and less money, but with significant enthusiasm for mission work at the grassroots, what's the role of the national church structure?

And specifically, where do Presbyterians want to focus their energies in evangelism and international mission work?

Valentine officially nominated; GA to vote in Birmingham

CHICAGO -- The General Assembly Council has nominated as its new executive director Linda Bryant Valentine, a lawyer who says she likes to bring "clarity to complexity" and who thinks the Presbyterian church has "fresh and exciting stories to tell."

At a May 23 meeting in Chicago, the council voted 41-13 to nominate Valentine, following more than a year of work by a search committee. If the General Assembly agrees and elects Valentine when it meets in Birmingham in June, she would begin work July 1.

Valentine will succeed John Detterick, who is retiring this summer after serving as executive director for eight years. She would be paid $160,000 a year.

Many of the questions council members asked Valentine before they voted concerned her vision for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which has just endured a $9.1 million downsizing, and the differences between working for large corporations, which she mostly has done, versus an organization built around religious faith.