Presbyterians Pro-Life
Posted October 22, 2002

Just My Opinion
by Terry Schlossberg

Some commissioners are concerned enough about the state of the church to be considering a called General Assembly. It is true that there are signs of serious breech of the covenant that church leaders enter into when they are ordained. When even one ordained pastor or elder or one church session announces that he or she or they will not comply with the constitution, it is a matter of grave importance that threatens the integrity of our common life as Presbyterians. In our denomination today, there literally are scores of sessions and church officers who have broken faith with the vows they have taken and have turned their backs on decisions of our church courts as well as church law and so threaten the peace, unity and purity of our denomination. To ignore that is to put us all in jeopardy because our constitution clearly says that the act of one governing body is an act on behalf of all of us. That means that to ignore acts of disregard for the constitution is to imperil us all as a body.

The question at the moment, in light of our difficulties, is whether a called General Assembly is the most effective course of action. From my conversations with a number of thoughtful Presbyterians who are particularly competent in their knowledge of our polity, I think the negative arguments outweigh the positive. I find overwhelming agreement that the Book of Order and the Standing Rules provide the General Assembly with the power to act in these situations, but that does not require a called Assembly.

Our church court system is the means in our polity of ensuring due process for each Presbyterian where constitutional breeches are thought to have taken place. Because our church courts have no powers to enforce their own decisions, it falls to our governing bodies to see that the decisions of the courts are acted on, and it falls ultimately to our highest governing body to ensure that the decisions of our courts are carried out.

The big issue at the last General Assembly focused on the overture from Shenango Presbytery. It was an effort to ask the General Assembly to act in a case where the lower governing bodies had failed. The case involves Christ Church in Burlington, Vermont and the court action has been dubbed "The Londonderry case." Because after two years the session had not complied with the decision of the court, and the presbytery had not persevered in its constitutional oversight duties to bring about the necessary compliance, the Shenango Overture sought resolution from the General Assembly, which is clearly provided for in the Standing Rules of the General Assembly.

The situation became complicated when the church moved toward compliance just prior to and even during the meeting of the General Assembly. It is not possible to say what the General Assembly intended when it declined to act. But the outcome of the vote was a strong 70/30 percent in opposition to taking any action on the case in point.

It is not likely that the muddled case before the General Assembly in June could be decided any differently in the next few months if the same body were recalled. In fact, there is a likelihood that 600 commissioners being forced back into session by 50 of their colleagues to repeat a decision they had already made would not be welcomed.

I suspect that a vast majority of Presbyterians do not perceive a constitutional crisis. There is no groundswell of concern that has Presbyterians on the edges of their seats -- as they have been over the votes on the "fidelity and chastity" paragraph in the Book of Order. Even that huge majority that voted in support of that paragraph might be perplexed by a called meeting -- and even resentful about a move they could perceive to be unnecessarily costly, especially in light of the current budget crisis. It might look to them suspiciously like an attempt to create a crisis where none exists.

I'd be looking for something like a loud chant before I'd think it a good idea to call an assembly back into session that had already voted 70% against what I was hoping for as an outcome.

On the other hand, perception is not necessarily reality. We could be much closer to a constitutional crisis than any of us -- or at least most of us --perceive. And make no mistake, a constitutional crisis will threaten to dissolve the bonds that hold us together and leave us in an ecclesiastical limbo.

There are very serious cases pending in presbyteries. We need to expend our energies in whatever means our polity provides to see those cases come to a conclusion that holds the constitution in high regard and subjugates the will of a few to that of the majority who remain clear about the biblical teaching on marriage and on fidelity and chastity. Those in the presbyteries in question have a responsibility to act. We all have the power to pursue appeals to the next General Assembly. And we can all hope and pray for a turn to faithful fulfilling of the vows we have taken. There is work left undone that we need to do.

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