Exception to the rule: PCUSA eyes 'third way' on homosexuality

"I have become profoundly dis-enchanted with our General Assembly process ... the unsatisfactory way we were dealing with difficult and complex theological issues ... and the toxic by-products of perpetually creating winners and losers, friends who are with us and enemies who oppose us."

--Peace, Unity and Purity task force member Scott Anderson

"In place of national-level ideological conflict that shouts entrenched positions past the opposition in hopes of rallying superior numbers of the already-convinced, the task force counsels a careful, attentive engagement of differences among neighbors and coworkers at the local level."

--PUP task force member Mark Achtemeier

Last year the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) enjoyed its first summer in years without a General Assembly fight over homosexuality. But that's because it was the first year that the church implemented its decision to hold assemblies every other year rather than annually. Meanwhile, the possibility of a more substantive resolution to the debate in the 2.3-million-member denomination emerged in the form of a proposal, offered by a theologically diverse task force, for a "third way" solution to the question of ordaining gays. Many Presbyterian leaders anticipate a breakthrough on the issue at the General Assembly June 15-22 in Birmingham, Alabama.

The 20-member Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church (PUP) concluded four years of study last August with a unanimous vote for a compromise position--one that critics denounce as contradictory.

The PUP task force is recommending that the General Assembly retain the national standards against ordaining noncelibate gay and lesbian persons. At the same time, the task force suggests that candidates for ordination who disagree in conscience with those standards in a way that does not depart "from the essentials of Reformed faith and polity" may be ordained by local churches and regional presbyteries, subject to review by higher governing bodies.

The task force said its proposed "authoritative interpretation" offers ordination principles "that are, we believe, closer to Presbyterian tradition than some of our current practices." If adopted by General Assembly delegates (called "commissioners"), the measure would "restore a greater degree of both rigor and flexibility in ordination decisions," according to the PUP report.

Pointing to what they called "an important distinction between 'standards' and 'essentials,'" task force members declared, "Standards are aspirational in character. No one lives up to them perfectly."

The changes would be effective immediately if a simple majority of General Assembly delegates gives approval. That procedure contrasts sharply with the process on three separate occasions in the past decade when assembly-approved measures on homosexuality required approval by a majority of the PCUSA's 173 presbyteries.

Prospects for the proposal are good, judging from the endorsements by a number of former PCUSA moderators and by the presidents of all 12 theological schools related to the denomination. The seminary presidents said the report is "a positive contribution toward a constructive and faithful future," according to a statement in November.

"We seminary presidents are a diverse group ourselves and we know our denomination quite well," said Cynthia M. Campbell, president of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, in an interview. While "extremely hopeful" that the proposal will pass, she said that the recommendations' complexity ensures that the deliberations in Birmingham will not be easy.

Task force members acknowledged that they still differ on whether same-gender sexual intimacy is sinful. Campbell called the task force's solution an attempt to apply "practical wisdom" to protracted battles. To hold two sets of principles in tension "is one of the geniuses of the Reformed tradition," Campbell said. "It is an affirmation that more than one value and more than one theological idea can be true at the same time."

But 35 ministers of large Presbyterian congregations--with an average membership of nearly 3,000--collectively stated their objection to the "local option" on ordinations, calling the proposal a matter of "deep concern." Members of the pastors group, associated with ten of the church's 15 largest congregations, said that they "grieve the continuing decline of our denomination on multiple levels," apparently alluding to yearly membership declines and smaller contributions to national budgets. "Something is deeply flawed at the core," said the signers.

The local-option provision was faulted also by Richard A. Ray, president of the board of the independent Presbyterian Outlook magazine, one of three writers assessing the PUP report in a pamphlet published by the church-owned Geneva Press. Ray said that "the leading Presbyterian renewal organizations" believe that the recommendations contain "a poison pill that could kill our entire church." To allow local entities to make exceptions to nationwide standards "draws blood right out of the veins of biblical authority," he said.