Report of the Interim Committee

on Women Teaching Elders

Introduction

A guiding principle of the EPC from its beginning has been our declared intent to allow liberty on the women’s ordination question. It is in that spirit that the interim committee has approached our responsibility. The committee members hold a diversity of views that reflect the ethos of our denomination. The challenging task assigned to us is to help facilitate the EPC’s continuing commitment to liberty on this question while working within our constitution as we move forward. The issue of women’s ordination, particularly as it applies to clergy, has been a test of our genuine commitment to the EPC motto: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things charity.”

At the beginning, we must acknowledge the fundamental principles that inform the EPC’s liberty on women’s ordination. The Biblical Principle: The Holy Scriptures are the inspired Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. This authoritative Word is true in all that it teaches. The Ecclesiastical Principle: Women’s ordination is a non-essential issue about which faithful believers may have honest differences of biblical interpretation and practice. One’s view of women’s ordination is not an essential element to the catholic faith, Evangelical Protestantism, or the Reformed Tradition. The EPC has always affirmed that women’s ordination is a matter of biblical interpretation, not biblical authority.

The EPC is dedicated to Christian freedom, within the bounds of Presbyterian polity, on this subject which has sharply divided Evangelicals and Presbyterians. The General Assembly in 1984 adopted a position paper on the ordination of women that stated: “ …while some churches may ordain women and some may decline to do so, neither position is essential to the existence of the church. Since people of good faith who equally love the Lord and hold to the infallibility of Scripture differ on this issue, and since uniformity of view and practice is not essential to the existence of the visible church, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church has chosen to leave this decision to the Spirit-guided consciences of particular congregations concerning the ordination of women as Elders and Deacons, and to the presbyteries concerning the ordination of women as Ministers.” This position is incorporated into the EPC constitution: “The particular church has the right to elect its own officers” (§BOG 7-2). This right is guaranteed in perpetuity to all churches in the EPC. Similarly, the authority of presbyteries to determine their membership is granted in the constitution.

It is in the historic irenic spirit of the EPC that the committee prayerfully submits these recommendations.

Recommendations of the Interim Committee

to the General Assembly for Action

1) Reaffirmation of the EPC Position on Women’s Ordination

The following amendment is a reaffirmation of the historic EPC position, and will make explicit what has been implicit in the Book of Government and the 4th General Assembly Position Paper on the Ordination of Women throughout the EPC’s existence.
Recommendation: That BOG §2-2 be amended by adding an excerpt from the EPC Position Paper on the Ordination of Women to the existing statement. The amended BOG §2-2 would read:

The Officers of the Church as set forth in Scripture are: Teaching Elders (designated by many titles in Scripture, including Ministers and Pastors), Ruling Elders, and Deacons. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church does not believe that the issue of the ordination of women is an essential of the faith. Since people of good faith who equally love the Lord and hold to the infallibility of Scripture differ on this issue, and since uniformity of view and practice is not essential to the existence of the visible church, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church has chosen to leave this decision to the Spirit-guided consciences of particular congregations concerning the ordination of women as Elders and Deacons, and to the presbyteries concerning the ordination of women as Ministers.

Rationale: The Position Paper on the Ordination of Women has served as a de facto part of the constitution in EPC practice since it was adopted in 1984. A hallmark of the EPC from the beginning is that we do not consider the ordination of women to be an essential of the faith. Rather, we allow local congregations to elect male or female officers. This EPC principle is found in BOG §7-2: “The particular church has the right to elect its own officers.” This right is always balanced in our polity with the authority of the presbytery to concur with the call of Teaching Elders. The Position Paper has historically functioned in the EPC as a justification of BOG §7-2 and it would be appropriate to insert these succinct excerpts from the Position Paper into the constitution as an explanation of the EPC position on church officers.
We see a parallel in this instance to previous EPC deliberations about the Essentials of Our Faith. For many years the Essentials of Our Faith served as a de facto part of the constitution in EPC practice while not formally being a part of the church constitution. The EPC eventually decided to add Essentials to the constitution and make explicit what had in fact been EPC practice for many years. Likewise, we believe it would be a logical step to include the proposed excerpt from the Position Paper on the Ordination of Women in the constitution to make explicit what is already EPC practice.

2) Transfer of Congregations to Adjacent Presbyteries for Reasons Regarding Women as Teaching Elders.

The interim committee recognizes the tension inherent in our polity regarding the ordination/election of women as Teaching Elders. Basic polity rights can actually compete with one another in presbyteries on this issue. The right of the congregation to elect its officers and the authority of the presbytery to examine persons for a position as Teaching Elder can create conflict. A congregation may elect a woman as a Teaching Elder while a presbytery may decline that call due to the majority interpretation of Scripture on this issue. This creates an obvious tension that we would like to resolve.

The interim committee does not advocate running from this potential conflict but heading into it with humility and a conviction that we will honor God by treating one another respectfully. The unique ethos of the EPC on women’s ordination intrinsically implies that not all Presbyterians will be comfortable with our ecclesiastical arrangement.

While we live with this discomfort in love, we also desire to find a solution regarding the election of women as Teaching Elders in congregations that fall within the bounds of presbyteries that have not previously approved such calls. In particular, we recognize that churches entering geographic presbyteries from the New Wineskins Transitional Presbytery, as well as other non-EPC churches, may come with female Teaching Elders already installed. We desire to provide freedom for these congregations without compromising the constitutional authority exercised by presbyteries.

To that end, we recommend the following:

A) That the Book of Order, Chp. 5, be amended by adding the following:

In specific cases, for reasons related to the prohibition of the ordination or reception of women as Teaching Elders, a church may petition a geographically adjacent presbytery for membership. In order for the transfer to occur the following must take place:
a) the church session by majority vote petitions its current geographic presbytery for permission to petition the adjacent presbytery for membership, detailing its reasons related to the prohibition of the ordination or reception of women as Teaching Elders,
b) the adjacent presbytery by majority vote accepts the petitioning congregation pending “c” below,
c) the current presbytery by majority vote dismisses the congregation to the adjacent presbytery.

B) Action of Assembly Concerning Process for Churches coming from transitional presbyteries or non-EPC contexts.

Churches coming from transitional, non-geographic presbyteries or other non-EPC situations ordinarily seek admission to their geographic presbytery. In the case of such churches anticipating entering a geographic presbytery likely to prohibit the ordination or reception of female Teaching Elders, the following course may be followed:

1) The session consults with the geographic presbytery through its Ministerial Committee concerning the potential for reception of female teaching elders.

2) If, after such consultation, the presbytery discerns the need for relief for the entering congregation on this issue, then it will contact the adjacent geographic presbytery and recommend admission of the church, under the provisions of BofG 5__ above.

3) Immediate Relief for a Presbytery in Conflict

The interim committee recognizes that tension over the issue of women as Teaching Elders has been particularly difficult in the presbytery of Mid-America. Mid-America sought relief from the 29th General Assembly. Though the committee never wants to create unnecessary divisions in the body of Christ, it recognizes that the situation in Mid-America requires a solution. Therefore the interim committee recommends that:

The 30th General Assembly instructs the Committee on Administration to enter into conversation with Mid-America Presbytery for the purpose of considering becoming two geographic presbyteries.

Rationale: Creating two presbyteries out of Mid-America has for a long while been considered for reasons related to geographical size. Should this realignment occur roughly along the line of the Mississippi River, we expect that one of the new presbyteries would be able to ordain/elect women as Teaching Elders while the other would preserve Mid-America’s current status of not ordaining/electing women as Teaching Elders.