c. 1997 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ Sexuality issues, especially the role of gays and lesbians in the church, are likely to continue to play their dominant and divisive role when the Presbyterian Church (USA) meets for its annual General Assembly in Syracuse, N.Y., June 14-21.”I expect this (sexuality) to be the most discussed and controversial aspect of the assembly,”said Jerry Van Marter, director of Presbyterian News Service. the official news agency of the PCUSA.”Although there certainly are other issues vital to the church,”he added.

Among those other”vital”issues are two major ecumenical concerns. The first involves developing closer ties with Lutherans, an issue that has only recently begun to receive high visibility attention in the denomination. The second, involving the denomination’s continued participation in the Consultation on Church Union (COCU), has been hotly debated for four decades.

The current controversy over sexuality stems from a simple three-sentence statement widely known as”Amendment B”or”the fidelity and chastity amendment.” It requires ordained church leaders _ deacons, elders and clergy _ to maintain sexual fidelity if married and celibacy if single. While directed at all church leaders, Amendment B is widely perceived as a means of denying church office to sexually active homosexuals.

The amendment was ratified by a majority of the denomination’s 172 presbyteries _ local jurisdictions of several congregations. The results of the voting will be formally presented to the Assembly, Van Marter said. He said while no changes can be made in the”fidelity and chastity”amendment, as Amendment B is called, several overtures are expected to address the same issue.

Issues of sexuality are controversial across denominational lines, and the Presbyterians are no exception. The matter could well come up at other denominational meetings throughout the summer, including those of the Reformed Church in America, the American Baptist Churches USA, the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

Numerous overtures, or amendments, to modify Amendment B are expected to be floated at the assembly, said Van Marter.

More seriously,”covenants of dissent,”in which presbyteries indicate they will defy the new rule if adopted, have been circulated. At least two dozen churches and the Milwaukee, Wis., presbytery have indicated they will defy the rule, said Van Marter.

The ecumenical issues are not expected to create the controversy generated by the”fidelity and chastity”rule but have significant and long-range ramifications for the church.

The Presbyterians will be one of four denominations _ along with the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Christ and the ELCA _ voting this summer on a proposed plan for”full communion”among the four churches. It calls for the mutual recognition of one another’s faith, ministries and sacraments.

If adopted, the churches will pledge”to live together under the gospel, affirm and mutually admonish one another,”and, as Lutheran theologian Michael Root has stated,”focus on what is really fundamental.”All four churches must approve the plan prior to implementation.

The 40-year issue that may become a footnote in PCUSA history is the Consultation on Church Union, the effort by nine Protestant denominations to create a”covenant communion”of the participating churches.

The denomination’s presbyteries, voting at the same time as on the”fidelity and chastity”amendment, voted 61 percent to 39 percent to reject a mechanism that would have allowed the church to continue to participate in COCU’s envisioned structure of a united Christian church in the United States. The PCUSA withdrew from COCU once before, but later returned.

Presbyterian officials remain optimistic the denomination will stay with COCU. But privately, they acknowledge the reality may be more accurately reflected in the view of Bob Dooling, a Colorado pastor and long-time activist to end PCUSA participation in COCU.”As far as I’m concerned, this thing’s a dinosaur,”Dooling has said of COCU.”It’s an effort left over from the early ’60s, and it’s not going to work.” Also on the agenda of the 3.7 million-member denomination’s 209th General Assembly is a vote on a newly created”call system,”a method for matching church professionals with congregations. The current system for calling pastors and other professionals has been undergoing an overhaul for 11 years. It is now completed, and church officials expect it to be approved.

Church officials said they expect about 3,000 people to attend the assembly.

DEA END WARNER