Photo shamelessly stolen from here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/buckspot/4777775384/
So, the General Assembly of the PC(USA) met last week and voted on a lot of stuff. Perhaps the most news-worthy (or at least attention-gathering) of the happenigns, however, were the votes on LGBTQ issues. Media outlets like NPR, the Boston Globe and Associated Press weighed in on the proceedings, and organizations like Soul Force even showed up to stage dramatic protests. In short, it was a hullabaloo of Presbyterian polity.
But what actually happened, and what happens from here? I’m going to attempt to answer these questions and more in an upcoming series of posts, but – given that I realize a lot of people who read this blog either aren’t Presbyterian and/or don’t know the ins and outs of our understandably complex polity (aka – form of government) – I figured I should start by posting a little primer of what happened, how it happened, and who did the happening.
Thus…
To my politco friends: why this is important.
Depending on how you count it, the Presbyterian Church (USA) is anywhere from 2-3 million people. This means that – at best – the denomination represents about 1% of the US population. Obviously, the sphere of influence here is pretty limited.
That said, the controversy surrounding Gay Rights – whether you’re in support of them or not – is a big, national issue right now. Recent debates about repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell have dominated the news, and a recent decision by a federal judge here in Boston to deem the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional has given even more exposure to the debate surrounding LGBTQ issues. In short, LGBTQ issues are going to play at least some role in the 2010 midterm elections and will definitely be an issue during the 2012 presidential election.
As such, the decisions of Christian denominations like the PC(USA) are incredibly important. Churches, after all, are often posited (perhaps unfairly) to be the main force standing in the way of Gay Rights. But when groups like the United Church of Christ, the American Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the PC(USA) (which total 7-9 million members all told) start allowing allowing LGBTQ folks to be pastors, two things happen: 1) the American perception of what Christians believe begins to change and 2) the members of these specific denominations – who are overwhelmingly white and among the wealthiest in the nation – enter into a conversation that people of their demographic rarely engage in.
Put more simply, if it is true that 1) wealthy, white Americans usually vote conservatively on issues and that 2) people who get to know (or worship with) LGBTQ people have different perceptions of LGBTQ folks than those who don’t then the outcome of votes like those at the PC(USA) general assembly are potentially indicative of demographic/public perception trends.
To my friends who have no clue what is going on: What the heck is GA?
The General Assembly is the highest governing body of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Although it is slightly different, it is helpful to think of the Presbyterian form of government as a something similar to the United States form of government – indeed, there is lots of scholarship supporting that one created the other (although which is the chicken and which is the egg is disputed).
Basically, the Presbyterian church has four main demarcations of government:
Sessions. These run each individual church, and are made up of a church pastors, associate pastors and people called “elders” (which in greek is “presbyter”, which is where we get our snazzy name) who are elected by each congregation. Elders don’t necessarily have to be “old”, and some churches have “youth” elders.
Presbyteries. Think of these as states, but with more power. They are geographically based and are a compilation of several churches. You can find a map of them here.
Synods. These are weird. They are essentially a group of Presbyteries, and while they have power, they’re really sort of an interim body lodged between the Presbyteries and the General Assembly.
The General Assembly. The General Assembly – or GA – meets every two years to conduct business. They call representatives from every Presbytery, and committees put forth overtures (bills) and amendments that the body votes on. It’s basically as if the the Senate and the House voted together, but only did business every two years. They are the highest body in the church, but if they want to change something in our Book of Order (a Constitution, and it is often referred to as such) it has to be ratified (or voted on) by ALL the Presbyteries, just like an amendment to the constitution.
General Assembly just happened this past week.
So, what happened there with LGBTQ rights that warrants this post?
Three things happened in three different areas, and they were enough to garner protests:
That's right, even Presbyterians have protests...although those, too, are boring.
Ordination Standards: the Plenary (another word for when you get all the voting people at GA in the same room) voted to change what is typically called “Amendment B”, or the part of our Book of Order that keeps LGBTQ people from being pastors.
The last GA in 2008 actually already voted to change this amendment, but they voted to amend it (and it failed when Presbyteries voted to ratify it). This time around, however, people voted just to strike the old language and start over.
Basically, our Book of Order currently says this about people who want to be pastors:
“Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W‐4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self‐acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.”
GA voted to change that to this:
“Standards for ordained service reflect the church’s desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life (G‐1.0000). The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation (G.14.0240; G‐ 14.0450) shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate’s ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W‐4.4003). Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.”
Hypothetically, it’s vague enough to allow for Presbyteries to either allow or exclude LGBTQ people from pulpits.
The motion passed with a 373-323 vote, or (53%-46%).
Same-Sex marriage: A committee put on the table an overture that would essentially redefine marriage in a way so that the PC(USA) could officiate LGBTQ weddings. The people at General Assembly, however, decided that this was simply too scary to deal with and – in what amounted to a giant “I don’t want to deal with this right now!” – those in attendance voted 348-324 (51%-49%) to “study” the motion more and come back to it next time.
They do this a lot.
Pensions: the GA “voted to urge” the Board of pensions to extend benefits to same-gender domestic partners and dependent children. I actually have no idea how any of that works, so I’m just going to leave that where it is.
For more clarification, you can find FAQs on these resolutions here.
Well then, it looks like the PC(USA) is now able to allow for LGBTQ pastors, right?
Not yet – the presbyteries now have to vote on it, and they’ve shot it down twice before. This question, in fact, is the subject of my next post (which will hopefully go up later today), so stay tuned…
UPDATE: Mention of Sessions added.
Photo shamelessly stolen from here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/buckspot/4777775384/
So, the General Assembly of the PC(USA) met last week and voted on a lot of stuff. Perhaps the most news-worthy (or at least attention-gathering) of the happenigns, however, were the votes on LGBTQ issues. Media outlets like NPR, the Boston Globe and Associated Press weighed in on the proceedings, and organizations like Soul Force even showed up to stage dramatic protests. In short, it was a hullabaloo of Presbyterian polity.
That's right, even Presbyterians have protests...although those, too, are boring.
“Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W‐4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self‐acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.”
“Standards for ordained service reflect the church’s desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life (G‐1.0000). The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation (G.14.0240; G‐ 14.0450) shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate’s ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W‐4.4003). Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.”
