Presbyterians Reject Committee's Proposal for New Ethic of Sexuality
Episcopal News Service. June 12, 1991 [91139]
After months of controversy and six hours of debate, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) decided the church was not ready to consider changes in its official stance on sexual morality. The action is being watched by several other churches dealing with the issue at meetings this summer -- including the Episcopal Church General Convention in Phoenix.
In an overwhelming vote at its annual meeting in Baltimore, June 4-12, the 600 commissioners rejected by a vote of 534 to 31 the report of a special committee calling for openness toward sexual relationships outside of marriage. They reaffirmed "the sanctity of the marital covenant between one man and one woman to be a God-given relationship to be lived out in Christian fidelity." The General Assembly also restated its 13-year official opposition to the ordination of homosexuals. It issued a pastoral letter summarizing its position.
The Rev. Gordon Stewart of Cincinnati, who chaired the committee that forged the final resolution and pastoral letter, said members of the committee spent "a long, difficult, excruciating 36 hours" in the successful attempt to bring a single report to the General Assembly. Stewart pointed to six boxes on the edge of the platform and said they contained "voices of the church" in reaction to the sexuality issue.
Since the special committee report, Keeping body and soul together: sexuality, spirituality, and social justice, was issued last February, over 45,000 copies were sold. Reaction has been decidedly negative, with half of the church's regional jurisdictions, called presbyteries, passing resolutions against the report. Many presbyteries didn't even want the report included in official minutes of the General Assembly.
"We tried to find as much common ground as possible -- without blowing the family apart," Stewart told the commissioners. "We have two groups of people in this church who feel excluded" -- not only gays and lesbians but also those who take a more conservative approach to Scripture, especially on sexual morality.
"We are being torn apart by issues related to sexuality," Stewart added in describing how his committee tried to take a pastoral approach. He said it is "very clear" that the Presbyterian Church "is not ready or prepared to reverse the 1978-79 position," especially on ordination of gays and lesbians.
In a response to the introduction of the report, Howard Penn spoke for the church's gays and lesbians, saying the church's current position means that gays can be denied church membership and will continue to be second-class citizens since they may not be elected to leadership positions or ordained. "Don't give that message," he pleaded.
During a press conference, Stewart said the report of the special committee ended up being more of a position paper than a study document and therefore it polarized the church. "As a vehicle for discussion it doesn't work," he said.
Authors of the special report strongly disagreed. Sylvia Talbot-Smith of Grinnell, Iowa, said the pressure to find a peaceful solution led the General Assembly to accept a pastoral letter designed to mollify those who are disturbed by the issue. She said that the pastoral letter is based on "unjust common ground," and that she finds it "incredibly painful to see that done on the backs of lesbians and gays." The clear message of the pastoral letter, in her opinion, is "Don't worry, nothing has changed."
"We proposed an ethic for sexual relationships based on justice and mutuality," Talbot-Smith said in a news conference. "A church that doesn't do justice in its own life is not faithful to the Gospel," she added. "Until gays and lesbians have an equal voice, diaologue is hollow."
Prof. John Carey of Georgia, who chaired the committee, said, "We didn't create the pain -- we named it." While disappointed with the repudiation of the committee's report, Carey said the committee perceived its task to be a more prophetic one, to remind the church that its white, middle-class members must listen to other voices. "The issues are more important than our answers," he said in a news conference after the vote.
Despite rejection of the report, Carey said he was encouraged that the base of dialogue has been broadened -- and that the assembly avoided some attempts to condemn homosexuals. The issues raised by the report will be referred to the church's theology and worship unit for a plan on how the church can discuss the issue without polarization.
After a full day of discussing sexuality, the General Assembly paused for a silent demonstration by those who opposed the final decision. Protesters carried a wooden cross through the assembly hall, and several participants stepped forward to hammer nails into the cross. Carey said it was a sign that "there are still many people carrying a deep pain in the church."
Bishop George Hunt of Rhode Island, who chairs the Episcopal Church's Standing Commission on Human Affairs, said in an interview that the Presbyterian action will probably not have any direct effect on the General Convention in Phoenix. "For one thing, their polity is so different," he said. "I don't think our people in Phoenix will be overly encouraged or overly inhibited by what the Presbyterians did."