c. 2000 Religion News Service
LONG BEACH, Calif. _ A day after a key Presbyterian Church (USA) committee said there was more than enough room in the church for liberals and conservatives, another committee prepared to vote on whether the church should ban same-sex union ceremonies.
On Monday (June 26), the church’s Committee on Theology unanimously rejected a resolution that said the church had reached an “irreconcilable impasse” between liberals and conservatives.
The underlying issue in the “impasse” statement was the church’s inability to find a middle ground on the ordination of gays and lesbians, and whether the church should bless same-sex unions. The church’s Committee on Polity was scheduled to consider three resolutions to ban same-sex ceremonies late Tuesday (June 27).
Both the same-sex union legislation and the “impasse” statement still face a vote by more than 500 church delegates, gathered here through Saturday (July 1) for the church’s annual General Assembly policy-making meeting.
The church also postponed until next year a resolution that would allow liberal congregations to leave the church with their property if they cannot agree with the church’s call for “chastity in singleness and fidelity in marriage” for church officers. That motion, known as the “take a hike” resolution, was proposed by the same conservatives in Pennsylvania who offered the “impasse” resolution.
Delegates in the Committee on Theology struggled for hours with the “impasse” statement. Most were reluctant to say the church has irreconcilable differences, but wanted to address the concerns by those in the church who say the theological schisms are unbreachable.
The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, who as stated clerk is the church’s highest elected official, told the committee that declaring an “irreconcilable impasse” would limit the ability of God to overcome differences.
“It would be hard for me to say that Jesus Christ doesn’t have the power to reconcile the differences in the Presbyterian Church,” Kirkpatrick said.
Advocates for the “impasse” statement said it is time the church faces up to its internal disagreements.
The Rev. Dan Reuter, a Pennsylvania pastor who was pushing the measure, said before a sick patient can seek treatment, doctors must first diagnose the disease.
“We are like the family who can’t decide whether to go to the seashore or the mountains for vacation, so instead we stay at home and fight about it,” Reuter said.
DEA END ECKSTROM
