Saturday, March 8, 1997

Presbyterians debate fidelity, chastity for officials, pastors

By ED BRIGGS

c. 1997 Religion News Service

RICHMOND, Va. - The Presbyterian Church (USA), a denomination squarely in the middle of mainline Protestantism, finds itself balanced on the edge of banning some members - gay and straight - from holding church office or being ordained to the ministry because of sexual behavior outside of marriage.

The church's 171 regional jurisdictions known as presbyteries are debating a so-called "fidelity and chastity" amendment to the denomination's Book of Order.

If approved, the amendment will require church leaders to be faithful to their marriage vows or, if single, to live chaste lives. The new law also could be used in church trials to strip members of church office, including the ordained ministry.

The key wording of the amendment says anyone who doesn't repent of "any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin" can't be ordained or installed as "deacons, elders or ministers of the Word and Sacrament."

A simple majority of the presbyteries would make the change.

The debate offers a microcosm of how deeply divided the 2.7 million-member denomination is on the issue of human sexuality and sexual behavior.

On Feb. 23, the Presbytery of the James here, the denomination's second oldest regional unit, became the 37th presbytery to ratify the change.

And, whether it passes or fails, the Presbytery of Kiskiminetas in western Pennsylvania is ready with a compromise measure to make fidelity and chastity a "standard" for officers and clergy, dropping the prohibition to holding church office for those that don't comply.

Supporters of the tougher version say it is overdue. They say it clarifies the Presbyterian position on ordaining sexually active heterosexuals and homosexuals.

Opponents argue the amendment is vague, unenforceable, and aimed at keeping out-of-the-closet homosexuals from being ordained. They add that the homosexual issue, which is roiling most denominations, can't be resolved by Scripture alone, because scholars differ on the handful of biblical passages that refer to it.

The debate of the Presbytery of the James was typical of national argumentation over the amendment, and the 160-137 ratification vote reflected the current churchwide division on the issue.

About 1,000 people - five times typical past attendance - squeezed into Forest Hill Presbyterian Church to hear the debate.

Among opponents of the "fidelity and chastity" measure was the Rev. Robert Pierce, pastor of Ginter Park Presbyterian Church. Many students and faculty at the nearby Union Theological Seminary in Virginia attend the church.

Pierce said the amendment is flawed because it emphasizes one set of sins while ignoring others.

Lisa Eggleston, an elder from Crestwood Presbyterian Church, however, countered Pierce.

"There is the thinking that we have become so sophisticated that we have outgrown the guidelines in the Scripture," Eggleston said. "God has not changed his mind about sin. It's our responsibility to bring our thinking into line with his. It's a sin to be sexually immoral."

The Rev. Janet James, associate pastor of Richmond's downtown Second Presbyterian Church, differed.

"Are you ready to close the door and make some people second-class citizens when it may be Jesus who is knocking?" she asked.

Lisa Furr, a graduate of the Presbyterian School of Christian Education, said some church doors have already begun to close to homosexuals. She was a volunteer lay liturgist at Bon Air Presbyterian Church in Richmond last year until members objected to her being a lesbian.

"I can't just sit in the back of the church and not give back," said Furr. "I'll be Presbyterian until I'm dead, but there's not a place for me to worship."

The denomination began to limit the roles of gays and lesbians in 1978, when that year's General Assembly - the church's highest decision-making body - approved a set of recommendations that said "the practice of homosexuality is sin ..." The stance was reaffirmed in 1979 and made policy in 1993.

The 1993 policy allows for the ordination of nonpracticing homosexuals, but not those who are sexually active. Allowances were made for repentant gays and lesbians who marry someone of the opposite sex, or become celibate.

However, that "authoritative interpretation," as it is called, is being challenged, and some 75 congregations have declared a willingness to ordain practicing homosexuals.