Work is beginning to pile up for the 688 commissioners to the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s 220th General Assembly to be held June 30-July 7, 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pa.

GA theme
“Walking, Running, Soaring in Hope.

GA verse
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on the wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31

While many presbyteries are in the process of, or have already approved, overtures on various subjects, as of Dec. 1, 17 overtures have been posted on the General Assembly’s website.

Of those, three deal with the issue of permitting same-sex marriages by PCUSA pastors and in PCUSA churches; two concern the denomination’s Board of Pensions; and two request changes the new Form of Government.

Marriage
Overture 009 from East Iowa Presbytery requests an amendment to W-4.9000 in the Book of Order be approved that would uphold session and pastoral discretion in their responsibility for the covenant of marriage. The proposed amendment deletes every reference of “man and woman” and replaces it with “two people.”

The purpose of the overture, according to the rationale, is to allow same-sex marriages to be performed by PCUSA teaching elders (pastors).

“Since April 2009, Iowa has been allowing two people of the same gender to marry. Although some Iowa pastors in the Presbyterian Church (USA) have declined to perform such marriages in keeping with their conscience, many others are caught in an untenable position: Their conscience tells them to exercise their pastoral responsibility and perform the marriage but the church tells them to fear prosecution. … We are all trying to discern God’s Word for us. And as surely as we are all unique creations of the loving God, we will each of us disagree from time to time.

“But if we profess to call all people to Christ, to call all people to proclaim God’s love for us in worship, to guarantee full participation in worship to all persons, we must give teaching elders and sessions the discretion to choose to recognize the covenant of Christian marriage for two people of the same gender just as we allow teaching elders and sessions the discretion to choose otherwise. To do anything else unfairly denies this group of our membership the opportunity to fully worship our God.”

Amendments to the Book of Order must first be approved by the General Assembly and then be sent out for approval by a majority of the denomination’s 173 presbyteries. They are often amended by the GA committee to which they are assigned and they are also often amended on the floor of the GA plenary.

Overture 010 is also from East Iowa Presbytery and deals with the same subject: same-sex marriage but seeks to sidestep the constitutional amendment process and only requires approval by the assembly. The overture asks the assembly to issue an Authoritative Interpretation (AI) that would allow pastors to conduct marriages between two people and church property to be used for the ceremony. The proposed AI says:

“Teaching elders and commissioned ruling elders authorized to conduct services of Christian marriage may exercise pastoral discretion when asked to officiate at such a ceremony for two people who have obtained a civil marriage license, and sessions may permit the use of church property for such services. Teaching elders and commissioned ruling elders may refuse to conduct such services, and sessions may refuse to permit the use of church property for such purposes.”

“Teaching elders and sessions need the General Assembly’s assurance of their pastoral discretion to provide the care that their members require,” according to the rationale.

“This is based on the same principle as W-4.9002b, which provides that pastors are free, as their judgment dictates, not to officiate at marriages their members and others are contracting. … The authoritative interpretation will prevent deep grief to church members who might otherwise be denied the pastoral care of the church; it will protect pastors and sessions from judicial challenge for exercising their pastoral responsibilities; in the spirit of mutual forbearance widely urged in recent years by General Assemblies and their task forces, it will promote the peace, unity, and purity of the Presbyterian Church (USA).”

Overture 016 from Boston Presbytery also requests the assembly issue an AI that would allow teaching and ruling elders to officiate same-sex marriages and allow such ceremonies on church property. The proposed AI of W-4.9000 of the Book of Order reads:

“The 220th General Assembly (2012) declares that in the states and other jurisdictions that authorize same-gender marriage, teaching elders (ministers of the Word and Sacrament) and ruling elders commissioned to pastoral service (where jurisdictions allow) may officiate at such marriages in the context of Christian worship, and sessions may permit the use of church property for such services. This authorization does not oblige anyone to act contrary to their judgment or conscience.”

“Where same-gender marriage is recognized under the law, it is neither fair nor pastoral to exclude members of a congregation by declining to perform their marriage on the grounds of gender alone,” the rationale reads. “In practical terms, what this authoritative interpretation means is that clergy and commissioned lay pastors will be able to exercise their pastoral responsibilities without running the risk of prosecution by the church. Such prosecutions have placed a formidable financial and spiritual burden on councils of the church.”

The presbytery of Hudson River is due to vote on similar overtures at its December meeting. Overtures seeking to reaffirm the existing definition are also expected.

[Editor’s note: Some of the original URLs (links) referenced in this article are no longer valid, so the links have been removed.]