Presbyterian Church (USA) is contemplating a measure that, if permitted, would add sexual orientation and gender id to their antidiscrimination coverage for individuals searching for ordination.
Often called POL-01 or the “Olympia Overture” after the Presbytery that proposed it, the measure would amend the PC(USA) E-book of Order to incorporate gender id and sexual orientation to the antidiscrimination assertion present in F-1.0403.
At current, F-1.0403 reads partly that “God unites persons through baptism regardless of race, ethnicity, age, sex, disability, geography, or theological conviction.”
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“The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) shall guarantee full participation and representation in its worship, governance, and emerging life to all persons or groups within its membership,” it continued.
POL-01 would additionally amend G-2.0104b, which focuses on requirements for ordination, in order that adherence to the antidiscrimination coverage can be a requirement for ordained clergy.
The overture handed the Polity Committee part this week and can subsequent be thought of by the 226th PC(USA) Normal Meeting when it meets subsequent week in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah.
In response to the official rationale for the overture, the proposal when individuals throughout the Washington state-based Olympia Presbytery had been ordained who had “opinions that did not fully embrace the equal and affirmed status of LGBTQIA+ persons in the church.”
“Those conversations were difficult because the Book of Order does not include gender identity or sexual orientation in its list of protected classes,” said the rationale.
“These experiences reveal the need for denominational clarity concerning the church’s ministry to LGBTQIA+ individuals as full participants in all aspects of life in the church.”
The rationale went on to state that though it supported “the freedom of councils of the church to make ordination decisions as guided by the Holy Spirit,” PC(USA) nonetheless “continues to find and confirm that the limits of each council of the church in their ‘local option’ are conditioned by affirmations found in the Book of Order: sex, race, or any other prejudicial category.”
The overture isn’t with out its critics, as greater than 150 clergy signed onto an open letter of dissent towards the proposal in Might, arguing that “key portions of this overture threaten to undermine” the theological range of the denomination.
“Specifically, the overture’s proposed changes to G-2.0104b appear to introduce an ordination question that is deeply at odds with our core Reformed tenet of freedom of conscience,” said the open letter.
“This amendment would immediately disqualify and exclude many faithful and dedicated Ruling Elders, Teaching Elders, and Deacons from serving due to their convictions. Moreover, it risks imposing a non-negotiable and rigid standard on an issue where faithful Christians hold differing views.”
A predominantly theologically liberal denomination, the PC(USA) has more and more embraced the LGBT trigger lately, permitting for the ordination of overtly homosexual people and redefining marriage to incorporate same-sex {couples}.
These measures have led tons of of congregations to depart the mainline denomination in protest, contributing the PC(USA)’s well-documented long-term decline in membership.
Final yr, the PC(USA) Workplace of the Normal Meeting launched a statistics report which discovered that the denomination has roughly 1.14 million members, which is lower than half of the roughly 2.5 million members reported in 2000.
“Well bless their hearts.”
