“…specifically asked if he was in compliance with G-6.0106b, which requires ordained officers to be faithful in marriage between one man and one woman, or chaste in singleness, ……told the session that he was in compliance…”

In a recent decision, the GAPJC affirmed the St. Paul Presbyterian Church (San Angelo, Texas) session’s examination and approval of David Cooper as an elder-elect. The decision was overturned by the Presbytery of Tres Rios Presbytery Judicial Commission, a ruling that was later rejected by the Synod of the Sun’s PJC based on Cooper’s testimony that his same-sex relationship was non-sexual.

“It was the session’s responsibility to assess the suitability of Cooper for ordination, including the relationship between Cooper and his partner,” the GAPJC ruling states…Neither the record nor the argument of the parties reflected that the PPJC (presbytery) had extraordinary reasons for overturning the action of the session.”

According to the GAPJC’s decision, (a complaint was filed) against the session of St. Paul Presbyterian Church in San Angelo, Texas for sustaining the examination of David Cooper as an elder-elect for the class of 2011. The Tres Rios PJC issued a stay of enforcement, which was challenged by the St. Paul session…

A…presbytery level trial took place and…Cooper’s examination was reversed. The presbytery PJC cited Cooper’s violation of confessional standards by being self-affirmed homosexual living in a same-sex relationship.

Questioning the difference between “orientation” and “practice,” GAPJC member Michael Lukens called on the denomination to further clarify.

“Is the focus of the church exclusively on practice that is narrowly defined as ‘sexual practice’…or does it intend a wider application to a committed homosexual relationship in general?”