c. 2006 Religion News Service

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. _ The nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination entered the home stretch of its eight-day General Assembly on Monday (June 19), poised to take up the contentious issue of gay clergy and the thorny question of the use of church investments in the Middle East.

On the gay issue, delegates, known as commissioners, will debate a proposal that seeks to forge a “third way” that would allow a “local option” for ordination.

The proposal, which will be debated on Tuesday, is technically a proposed new “authoritative interpretation” of the church’s constitution that would maintain all of the denomination’s current ordination standards _ including the ban on non-celibate gays in the ordained ministry.

However, it would give local bodies _ such as congregations and regional presbyteries, which are similar to dioceses _ more leeway in determining whether a candidate’s conscientious objection to the ban is a disqualifying factor.

An effort to defeat the proposal in committee failed on 40-22 vote, but is certain to be resurrected in the debate on the assembly floor.

During the committee debate, some commissioners argued that if accepted, it would lead to a “balkanization” of the denomination, while others argued it was a way to put the issue behind “and get us back to being the church.”

“This balance we’ve spoken about has to do with putting responsibilities in the right place,” Dubuque Seminary professor Mark Achtemeier told the committee, according to Presbyterian News Service.

“We say the whole church defines standards, but when it comes to the individual person before you, the people best qualified are the ones who know that person best,” he said. “So the whole church establishes the teaching while the ordaining body decides if the individual is the right fit.”

But opponents said that despite efforts to maintain national standards against gay ordinations, the proposal ultimately amounts to “local option” that jettisons virtually all standards.

On the Middle East, delegates will be asked to roll back a policy adopted in 2004 that called for “phased, selective divestment” by the church in some companies doing business with Israel and that are perceived as aiding Israel’s controversial military occupation of the Palestinians.

The policy came under intense criticism from Jewish groups, as well as prompting harsh words from some prominent Presbyterians like former CIA chief James Woolsey.

“We have, I’m afraid, moved into a posture … that unless what we did two years ago is rejected, we are clearly on the side of theocratic, anti-Semitic, genocidal beliefs and nothing less,” Woolsey said during an unofficial gathering on Friday at the Assembly.

On a 53-6 vote, the Assembly committee studying the issue recommended that the language called for “phased, selective divestment” be replaced.

The new language calls for the church’s financial investments “as they pertain to Israel, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, be invested in only peaceful pursuits,” and charged the church’s investments committee to follow course.

The proposal also apologizes to the Jewish community for the church’s 2004 action.

“We are grieved by the pains that this has caused, accept responsibility for the flaws in our process, and ask for a new season of mutual understanding and dialogue,” the proposal said. It will be debated Wednesday.

Committee members disagreed on the impact of the changed language if it is adopted by the assembly, with some arguing that it will end any divestment and others saying it does not preclude that possibility if “engagement” with the multinational companies is unsuccessful.

Also on Monday, delegates debated _ and finally voted to receive rather than accept _ a theological paper on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. The paper urges study on the many biblical names and metaphors for God while retaining the historic formula of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as central to the church’s understanding of God.

Opponents said the theological paper confused the “name” of God with “metaphors,” such as that God is like a rainbow or a mother hen.

KRE/JL END ANDERSON