Other business items deal with speeding up the call process (7-19), returning to minister and elder terminology (7-04), reassessing the effectiveness of ordination exams (7-07), clarifying that candidates for ministry must be examined (7-20), giving United Methodist Church clergy blanket approval to officiate at the Lord’s Table (7-15)…

One might think that the General Assembly issue of ordination standards would be quiet this year, following the decades-in-the-making victory a year ago by gay advocates. The ordination castle that had been stormed so unsuccessfully so many times in years past suddenly proved vulnerable and then fell in 2010-2011. Now practicing homosexual persons ostensibly can be ordained. So this coming General Assembly ought to be quiet about ordination matters, right? Think again.

The force that conquers a castle must also defend it. Once those opposed to the ordination of sexually active homosexual persons had to remain vigilant to fight back an assault at any time from any direction. Now the roles are reversed, and gay-liberation advocates must defend the ground they gained last time around – again, no matter what form of opposition might arise. Their counterparts do have a number of sorties planned against the rainbow castle walls.

Toggle back to “fidelity and chastity.” An overture (7-06) would simply remove the vague new language about ordination in G-2.0104b and replace it with the former language of fidelity in heterosexual marriage and chastity in singleness. Two other overtures (7-03 and 7-05) would add fidelity and chastity into the previous paragraph (G-2.0104a), accomplishing the same end.

Tighten up the new language…

Clarify current options…

Consolidate the win…

Dr. James D. Berkley is Pastor of Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in Roslyn, Washington and serves as the Institute for Religion and Democracy’s Presbyterian Action Director

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