At its stated meeting on March 12, Iowa Presbytery approved an overture to the 39th PCA General Assembly to “Give Book of Church Order Chapter 59 The Solemnization of Marriage Full Constitutional Authority.”

Teaching Elder James Hakim explained the rational for this overture:

The gist of the overture is to acknowledge that God has given marriage a central place in the doctrine and mission of the church, so that just as the BCO chapters on the sacraments are officially part of the constitution, so also should be the chapter on marriage. Further, it would bind as constitutional the language that we added two years ago to strengthen the PCA’s avowed resolve to obey God rather than men on marriage, whatever our civil government might do. This would help our pastors, and especially our chaplains, who are on the front lines of acknowledging as marriage only that which God Himself has given us

Here is the text of the overture, which will be handled by the Committee of Commissioners on Overtures this June at the General Assembly in Virginia Beach:

Overture to the 39th PCA General Assembly

Give Book of Church Order Chapter 59 The Solemnization of Marriage Full Constitutional Authority

Whereas, in Matthew 19:4 the Lord Jesus Christ identifies male and female marriage as an integral part of the created nature of man, and of the image of God in man; and

Whereas, Ephesians 5:22-33 gives marriage the exalted purpose of conveying the mystery of Christ and His church; and

Whereas, the 37th General Assembly clearly desired to give Chapter 59 of the BCO full constitutional authority; and

Whereas, it was only possible to strengthen the language in that chapter that year; and

Whereas, the situation in the United States regarding support for biblical marriage has only worsened since the 37th General Assembly; and

Whereas, PCA chaplains, ministers, and churches need as much support as possible from their denominations as they stand in opposition to same-sex marriage (so-called);

Therefore, Iowa Presbytery hereby overtures the 39th General Assembly to grant to BCO Chapter 59 – The Solemnization of Marriage – full constitutional authority in accordance with BCO 26-2.