The Presbyterian Church (USA) is a relatively liberal denomination
whose name is often confused with the Presbyterian Church in America, a smaller
and more conservative denomination. The latter group's beliefs and practices concerning homosexuality
are discussed in a separate essay.
Quotations:
"One side says we understand Scripture to say
homosexual behavior is sinful, the other says it is a gift from God.
Those are pretty disparate positions." Bob Davis,
director of Presbyterian Forum, at the 212th General
Assembly (2000)
"...religion is a great source of pain among families dealing with
sexual orientation and gender identity issues." Kirsten Kingdon,
spokesperson for Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) at a
dinner meeting of the 2000 General Assembly.
"Involvement in the issues of our day and church, including meeting
with those with whom we disagree, has never been, nor is it now, about our way,
or their way, or some other third way which might be mutually satisfying. Rather
it is about Christ's way. Alone. Therefore, we have not, and we will not, engage
in any search for an alternative to Scripture's clear and plain teaching."
Joint statement by five Presbyterian Coalition leaders, rejecting an
overture to dialog.
"Having
lost sight of her clear, Christ-centered identity, the PC(USA) has continued
to embrace our culture's beliefs and morals."
Presbyterians for Renewal reacting to the 2008 General Assembly's
liberalizing decisions. 4
In brief:
Of the thousands of Christian denominations in the United States,
it is the mainline faith groups who are most actively discussing homosexuality:
Liberal and progressive Christian groups have accepted homosexuality as a normal
and natural sexual orientation experienced by a minority of adults, and have
eliminated bars to membership and ordination based on sexual orientation.
Fundamentalist and other evangelical churches and
denominations have generally not engaged the question; they have retained unchanged the historical Christian
beliefs which condemn all same-sex behavior.
The Episcopal Church (USA), the Presbyterian Church (USA),
and theUnited Methodist Church are in transition. They are probably
experiencing the greatest amount of conflict over equal rights for their gay and
lesbian members.
There have been over 25 cases pending in church
courts in which clergy have been charged with violating the Church's
constitution by knowingly ordaining gay clergy. 1 Some believe that the
denomination is in danger of splitting over the issue. A few have
endorsed its "gracious separation" into a conservative and a
liberal denomination.
For the past few annual General Assemblies:.
Liberals in the denomination wanted the bars against sexually active
homosexuals as clergy and lay officers lifted.
Conservatives seek to clamp down on infractions of existing church
laws that have allowed a few gays and lesbians in loving committed relationships to hold
church office.
Section G-6.0108 of the Book of Order -- the 1997 church law which requires office holders to "live
either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a
woman, or chastity in singleness" has been challenged. Proposals have
been made to replace the marriage phrase with "a covenanted relationship
between two persons."
This is one massive deadlock. There is a general agreement that a "winner
take all" solution whereby the majority completely imposes its will on the
denomination would seriously
threaten its unity. Even a local option compromise in which individual ordaining
bodies in the denomination are given freedom to deviate from G-6.0108 would be
too much for conservatives to handle. Meanwhile, liberals in the PCUSA would
only be happy if ministerial candidates of all sexual orientations were treated
equally.
A small breakthrough occurred in the General Assembly of 2006. A type of very
limited local option was created so that ordaining bodies in the denomination
have a small degree of wiggle room to ordain gay
and lesbian candidates in loving, committed same-sex relationships.
The Ordination
Standards Task Force of North Como Presbyterian Church in Roseville,
MN, has produced a most impressive book on homosexuality. Its main theme is
whether candidates who are in loving committed same-sex relationships should be
allowed to be ordained in the Presbyterian Church, (USA). It also covers many
other topics associated with sexual orientation, including reparative therapy,
suicide among gay and lesbian youth, homosexuality in the natural world, etc. Unlike almost all other books which take
either a liberal or conservative approach, this book attempts to explain all
viewpoints objectively. An amazing accomplishment.
Other books:
R.G. Hutcheson, P.L. Shriver, "The Divided Church: Moving
liberals and conservatives from diatribe to dialogue," Intervarsity
Press, (1999) Read
reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store This is
written by two Presbyterians: Hutcheson is a conservative Evangelical;
Shriver is a liberal feminist.
Clifton Kirpatrick & William Hopper, Jr., "What Unites
Presbyterians: Common ground for troubled times," Geneva Press, (1997) Read
reviews or order this book
Jack Rogers, "Claiming the Center: Churches and conflicting
worldviews," Westminister John Knox Pr, (1995)
Read
reviews or order this book safely From
a reviewer: "Rogers presents a persuasive case for the moderate
majority within denominations to take center stage, reasserting the
common ground among us in spite of our controversies. He combines
effectively historic perspective with contemporary relevance."
He uses the Presbyterian Church (USA)) as an example.
Sources of information from Presbyterian groups:
The official home page of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is
at: http://www.pcusa.org/
The Presbyterian Forum, a conservative renewal group,
maintains a page of links to Presbyterian groups, both liberal and
conservative. See:
http://www.pforum.org/links.htm
Reference:
"Presbyterians May Debate Gay Clergy Ban," The Associated Press,
2003-MAY-23. Online at: Beliefnet.com at:
http://www.beliefnet.com/