A Pastoral Letter to the Congregation on the Passage of Amendment 10-A, Removing the “Fidelity and Chastity” requirement for Ordination in the PC(USA)
Some of you likely noticed the headline in the Columbus Dispatch the other day that read “Presbyterians Decide to Accept Gay Clergy.” As often happens with such articles, a few of the details were not quite correct, but our denomination has, in fact, voted to change its Book of Order. This change will permit sessions and presbyteries to ordain those in same-sex relationships as elders, deacons, and pastors. This change to our constitution seems to end a battle that has been raging for my entire time as a pastor, but the exact impact of this change remains to be seen.
No doubt there will be some turmoil. A few conservative congregations may feel it necessary to leave the denomination. Others will stay but insist that this change is but one more step away from biblical faith and toward the eventual demise of the Presbyterian Church (USA). I, however, welcome this change in our ordination standards, and I would like to tell you why.
The first has nothing to do with gays or lesbians per se, but rather with how the ordinations standards that we are replacing strayed from traditional Presbyterian theology and polity. Presbyterians have long given presbyteries the responsibility of ordaining pastors, and sessions the responsibility of ordaining elders and deacons. Their jobs were to examine candidates for ordination and determine if their call, gifts, faith, and adherence to our theology suited them to serve as ordained leaders in our Church. But the standards about to be abandoned changed that as you can see here.
Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.
This so-called “fidelity and chastity” amendment, approved in 1997, elevated a single “sin” above all others. This not only highlighted our culture’s obsession with sex, but it erroneously implied that sexual sins are somehow more worrisome that other sins. I don’t think Jesus ever addresses chastity, but he speaks regularly on the problem of greed and possessions. Surely in our consumerist society, this is much more of a problem for most whom we ordain. Why no mention of greed?
The new ordinations standards replace this hypersensitivity to sex with, to my mind, a much more balanced statement, one much more in keeping with basic Presbyterian/Reformed theology.
Standards for ordained service reflect the church’s desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life. The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate’s ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation. Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.
These new standards are not some secular humanist, anything-goes, follow-the-cultural-flow sort of thing. They call for conformity to Scripture and our confessions. They simply do not highlight fidelity and chastity as deal breakers.
But I am happy with this change not simply because it removes one special “sin” as a disqualification for office. I am also happy because I am convinced that God does call gays and lesbians, along with all other sorts of people, to serve as pastors, elders, and deacons. I know that some will quickly insist that the Bible won’t allow it. But the biblical texts people pluck from Leviticus sit alongside other prohibitions Christians long ago said did not apply such as bans on eating shellfish or wearing clothing made from two kinds of material. (Any cotton/polyester blends in your closet?)
For 1500 years, Christendom enforced a ban on lending money at interest, a ban clearly stated in the Bible. But John Calvin, the founder of our tradition, argued forcefully for ending that ban. He said the ban had made sense in biblical times when interest was used to trap people in poverty. But in his day, when people needed loans to start companies that might employ those same people and lift them from poverty, the ban no longer served its original purpose. In fact, Calvin argued, it would be more in keeping with the original intent of the Bible to disobey what the Bible said.
That’s a pretty novel way to read Scripture, but it became the basis for the modern banking industry. And I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone object to Calvin’s creative interpretation of the Bible. The simple fact is that we are not bothered by creative interpretation of Scripture when it leads us where we want to go in the first place.
I know there are people of deep and committed faith who disagree with me, but I do not see the Bible speaking against committed relationships among gays and lesbians. We have inflated the few scant verses that seem to speak on the topic far beyond their significance in Scripture, primarily because of our peculiar fascination with sex which manages to combine squeamishness and, at the same time, obsession. And there has been an added bonus for heterosexuals. All of this pointing at the “sin” of homosexuality keeps the focus on a “sin” which doesn’t tempt many of us, and off those real sins that do, the ones Jesus talks so frequently about such as greed, resentment, and hate.
I do not expect everyone to agree with me, nor need we agree in order to be joined together as brothers and sisters in Christ. Our unity is in Jesus, not in our particular interpretations of Scripture. And so I hope that those who welcome this change, along with those who don’t, will take some time to reflect on our unity. There are those in our denomination who are fanning flames of discord, some by spreading half-truths and even lies. In truth, the actual changes most congregations experience will be negligible. Those where gays and lesbians have found themselves welcomed and valued will continue to operate as they always have. Meanwhile, those congregations that wouldn’t dream of electing a gay deacon under the old standards won’t likely start now. And as I’ve already noted, it is up to individual sessions and presbyteries to determine whom they will and won’t ordain under these new standards.
And so in closing, let me call all of you to something that has long been considered a “duty” of Christians, the practice of “mutual forbearance.” The Bible insists that we are all one in Christ, and it calls us to maintain this unity, even in the midst of our differences. When we practice mutual forbearance and maintain this bond of love, this unity in Christ, even though we do not agree on all issues, we make a powerful witness to the world. We show the world another way, the power of the Spirit to join all people together in the one family of God.
Peace in Christ,
James
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