Monthly Archives: September 2006

Pastoral Letter from the Moderator of the 2006 GA PCANZ

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Here is the text of the pastoral letter the Moderator of the PCANZ
sent out following the GA decision to confirm the rule for sexuality
and leadership.

General Assembly 2006

51 Roy St
Palmerston North 4410

29 September 2006

Dear Friends

Greetings in Christ to you all, from the General Assembly.

I am writing a letter to the whole church to let you know the results of the vote taken at the
Assembly this morning on the issue of Sexuality and Leadership. The Notice of Motion read:

that the Assembly now adopt the following rule: The General Assembly now rules, in accordance
with the Supreme and Subordinate standards of the Church and with the previous Assembly decisions,
that this church may not accept for training, license, ordain or induct anyone involved in a sexual
relationship outside of faithful marriage between a man and a woman. In relation to homosexuality,
in the interests of natural justice, this ruling shall not prejudice anyone who, as at the date of
this meeting has been accepted for training, licensed, ordained or inducted. (Note “the date of
this meeting” is September 2004).

After vigorous and respectful debate, the motion was carried by 230 votes to 124 (65 percent in favour).
This means the status quo of the past two years continues.

This issue has been a significant one for us as a Church for many, many years and we can be
satisfied that this decision was reached after thorough and prayerful discussion. We recognise
that for some in the church it will be a source of much pain and distress. I invite you all to hold
those most affected by the decision in loving prayer. We belong together even as we know we do not
always agree.

Meanwhile, we in Auckland are continuing on with the Assembly, knowing that what holds us together
is greater than that which divides us. We are anticipating some excellent keynote addresses on the
theme “Christ-centred, community-facing”. We hope commissioners will return to their parishes inspired
to engage with their communities in mission.

In the meantime, may the peace of Christ be with you all,

Yours in love
Pamela Tankersley

Announced defiance of the PC of Aotearoa New Zealand Sexuality and Leadership decision

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The first news reports are coming out about churches defying, ignoring, or “disassociating” from yesterdays decision confirming conservative standards for leadership and sexuality in the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand.  Here is one article from www.stuff.co.nz focusing on St. Andrew’s on the Terrace in Wellington.

GA of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand – Day 2

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This was probably the most anticipated and most reported on day of the 2006 General Assembly.  The high-profile item, no surprise to any GA Junkie, was the “Rule on Sexuality and Leadership.”  The rule was adopted by the 2004 GA but was subject to the Barrier Act requiring a presbytery vote and the confirming vote of the GA in 2006.  The debate was described as “vigorous and respectful” and by a vote of 230 yes versus 124 no the Assembly confirmed the rule that states:

that the church may not accept for training, license, ordain or
induct anyone involved in a sexual relationship outside of faithful
marriage between a man and a woman

The PCANZ has their own press release on the action as well as a pastoral letter by the moderator the Right Rev. Pamela Tankersley which I got by e-mail but don’t see on the web site yet.  Link or text of it later.

In addition, the decision was widely covered in the press, including international coverage.  A selection from the articles including the New Zealand Herald, GayNZ.com, and the International Herald Tribune.

In other work, the Assembly adopted ad interim a new Book of Order.  The Assembly summary describes the new version as:

The decision by Assembly is the culmination of a lengthy process of
re-casting the whole approach to the Book of Order, involving
re-writing in clear and accessible language, making room for a variety
of expressions of being Presbyterian, having a mission orientation and
regulating only where necessary.

The decision is also subject to the Barrier Act so the new Book will go to the presbyteries for approval and the 2008 GA for concurrence.

Lower profile business included a new Assembly Executive Secretary, Martin Baker.  The abolishment of the compulsory retirement age of 66.  (This action removes the references in the Book of Order but until the church trustees finish analysis of the effect on the Beneficiary Fund there will be no changes there.)  And the Council of Assembly was trimmed in size from 23 to 14 members with four other “associated individuals,” that is ex officio members.  The motion passed unanimously and the general feeling was that as the rest of the church administration is trimmed the council should be reduced in size as well.

The full summary of the day in on the PCANZ GA06 web site.

GA of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand – Day 1

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The 2006 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand began in Auckland today with a traditional Maori service and ceremony.  As part of the ceremony the new moderator, the Right Reverend Pamela Tankersley was formally installed.  In the installation the outgoing moderator, The Very Rev Garry Marquand, passed her the Moderator’s korowai tapu (ceremonial cloak).

Business began with a report by the “Focus on the Future” task group that is looking at the structure of the PCANZ in the future.  The reduction of national staff over the last few years from 23 to 10 has left the remaining staff stretched and further reductions would be counter-productive.  Recommendations for the Council of Assembly to focus on core matters and for national/presbytery relations to “address” the effectiveness of presbyteries was passed with discussion.

The business of the day closed with two overtures from Auckland Presbytery about financial matters.  The first overture would have capped the Assembly assessment at 5% of parish income and outlined possible reductions and reorganization at the national level.  The summary says this was defeated by a wide margin.  The second overture would have limited the Assembly assessment, including mission and Beneficiary, to no more than 10% of parish regular income.  After considerable debate the motion received 54% affirmative votes but needed a super-majority of 60% to pass.  A follow-up motion referred the 10% cap to Assembly Council for their consideration and guidance.

Interestingly, there was a third overture that would affect the structure of the church moving it to a Federal model that was listed in the docket but no mention of it is included in the summary.  I would surmise that the Assembly ran out of time and the overture was moved to the overflow time at the end of the Assembly.  We will see where it surfaces.

You can read the full Thursday Summary.

Article: Finding my way back to church…and getting kicked out

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Today’s edition of “Counterpunch,” a liberal, probably very liberal, appearing electronic newsletter has a fascinating article by Robert Jensen titled “Finding my way back to church…and getting kicked out.”  In the article Mr. Jensen details his experience at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Mission Presbytery.  He also outlines his, by his own admission, marginally Christian beliefs, and how his membership at St. Andrew’s was challenged at the presbytery because in another news piece he referred to himself as an atheist.  The presbytery instructed the church to remove him from the membership rolls by a vote of 156-114.  His membership is still in place while the presbytery decision is appealed to the Synod of the Sun.

The article is interesting on a lot of different levels. 

First, it gives a view of our denomination from a liberal, modern, and marginal perspective.  How do we present ourselves?  What do our presbytery meetings look like to someone who had never seen one before.  How does it translate to the outside world?  As Mr. Jensen points out, he was present at the meeting but was not given the privilege of the floor.  He was allowed to distribute his statement of faith which reads:

On God: I believe God is a name we give to the mystery
of the world that is beyond our capacity to understand. I believe
that the energy of the universe is ordered by forces I cannot
comprehend.
On Jesus: I believe Christ offered a way into that mystery that
still has meaning today.
On the Holy Ghost: There are moments in my life when I feel
a connection to other people and to Creation that rides a spirit
which flows through me yet is beyond me.
I believe that Holy Spirit can only be nurtured in real community,
where people make commitments to each other. I have found that
community in St. Andrew’s. I have tried to open myself up to
our pastor’s teaching, to the members of the congregation, and
to the church’s work in the world.”

I never said it was orthodox, but if the church is to address the faith that people bring with them then we need to be aware of this.  But where do we as a church go with this?  He has clarly found community so now how do we help him find the Gospel?

Do not get me wrong.  In the PC(USA) we have a specific membership requirement:

G-5.0101 Membership through Faith
a. The incarnation of God in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ gives to the church not only its mission but also its understanding of membership. One becomes an active member of the church through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and acceptance of his Lordship in all of life. Baptism and a public profession of faith in Jesus as Lord are the visible signs of entrance into the active membership of the church.

But the question that we as a denomination, and maybe as a system of church government, need to be aware of, reflect on, and be cautious about, is how do we undertake the “Proclamation of the Gospel” so that our polity helps and not hurts us?

American Presbyterian Tricentennials

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This week two important tricentennials of American Presbyterianism are being celebrated.

One of these is the celebration of the Rev. Francis Makemie founding his first church in Rehobeth, Maryland in 1706.  Makemie, Irish born and Scottish trained, was brought over to the colonies to establish churches and is frequently called “The Father of American Presbyterianism.” He established three churches in the area.  The history of the church and more on Makemie is in an article from The Daily Times on delmarvanow.com.

This does open up the question of what does it take to be “Presbyterian.”  If Makemie was the Father of American Presbyterianism than whatever churches he founded must be the first presbyterian churches, at least that is what the Daily Times article implies.  But Puritan pastors were founding “Presbyterian” churches on Long Island, NY, as early as the 1640’s.  Notably, the Rev. Francis Doughty, who arrived in New York, then New Amsterdam, in 1642 is credited with being the first presbyterian minister in the colonies.

So what does it take to be a Presbyterian, well a presbytery of course.  If we consider ourselves a connectional church the structure for the connection must be there.  And this week we also celebrate the first meeting of the first presbytery in the colonies.  In 1706 the Rev. Makemie brought together six other presbyterian pastors from the colonies at a meeting in Philadelphia and founded the first presbytery.  Ten years later the group had grown large enough to hold a Synod meeting comprised of four presbyteries.  And yes, Francis Makemie was elected the first moderator of the Presbytery of Philadelphia.

The PC(USA) will be celebrating the event in Philadelphia this Sunday Oct. 1 and more information is available in their press release.  The PC(USA) through the Presbyterian Historical Society (headquartered in Philadelphia) has information on their web site about American Presbyterian History.  However, the single best resource I know of is a great series of articles by D. G. Hart and John R. Muether titled “Turning Points in American Presbyterian History” published by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in their New Horizons Magazine.  The second in the series covers the early history in America.

Territorial disputes in Malawi between synods

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In an example of geographic synods who also want to be non-geographic synods, a news article today in African News Dimension  reports on the continuing disagreement between two synods in the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian.  The report says that the Livingstonia Synod has decided to disregard synod boundaries and establish a Tumbuka language congregation in dominantly Chewa speaking Nkhoma synod.  The article says the dispute goes back to 1960 when Chewa speaking workers migrated to Livingstonia to work on farms there and the Nkhoma synod went with them.

Doctor Who (Yes, this is GA related)

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One last GA item for today:  Airing today on BBC television is an episode of “Who Do You Think You Are?” a series that explores with an individual their genealogy.  Tonight, the individual is David Tennant, the actor currently playing Doctor Who.  (For those not familiar with this long running British Sci/Fi TV series, Doctor Who is about a time traveler and his adventures.)

According to news accounts of the episode David Tennant, in doing the research for the show, discovers ancestors active in the Orange Order in Northern Ireland as well as a Catholic branch of the family.  One of the news accounts mentions that David is the son of the Very Rev. Sandy MacDonald, a former moderator of the Church of Scotland.  (see I told you there was a GA connection)  A longer article from the Sunday Times gives a lot more detail but leaves out the important (to us) bit about his father serving as moderator.

GA of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand

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The 2006 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand will convene in a few hours in Auckland and will meet through 1 PM Monday October 2.  The theme is “Christ-centered, community-facing.”  Looking over the docket for the meeting, both the summary version and the detailed PDF version, much of the proceedings have a familiar feel to them.  There are however a few distinctive elements that caught my attention.

The first of these is the election of the moderator.  The denomination uses the moderator designate model so this year the GA will receive the moderator for the next GA in 2008.  However, the nomination and voting procedure is run by the nominating committee throughout the wider church before GA.  This year there were two nominees with the Rev. Dr. Graham Redding receiving slightly more votes than the Rev. Peter Cheyne.  But this is the other interesting part of the process:  The nominating committee report and election of the moderator does not occur until the third day of the GA on Saturday.  Logistically, it makes some sense to give the moderator a chance to prepare for the GA and be part of the planning.

Another interesting element is the structure of the church, and the meeting, with different ethnic constituancies having representation.  These are probably not much different than the PC(USA) non-geographic presbyteries.  The groups include the Pacific Islanders Synod and the Council of Asian Congregations.  There is also the Maori Synod named Te Aka Puaho meaning “The Glowing Vine.”  In the Standing Orders of the GA, Te Aka Puaho has the ability to meet and make decisions in their traditional consultative system and report back to the whole GA.  In addition, if Te Aka Puaho has questions about a GA decision relative to their Maori culture:

(e) Te Aka Puaho may advise the Assembly that, because of a distinctive Maori perspective or value on a matter affecting Maori, it wishes to stand aside from the decision-making process for a time in order to undertake full consultation amongst the Maori people, the results of which will be reported no later than at the next General Assembly.

While the highest profile item on the agenda, that of ordination standards, comes up at the meeting on Friday, Thursday’s docket has its own controversial items.  Specifically, there are three overtures from the Presbytery of Auckland that seemed to be aimed at restraining and weakening the central authority of the denomination.  Overture 1 calls for limitation on the amount of money the national offices can collect from each church.  Overture 2 is about limiting mission assessments.  And Overture 3 proposes a “Federal Model” for the church structure.  As I read the overture it appears that it is recommending a denominational structure that is more congregational than presbyterian changing higher governing bodies into support agencies more than connectional and oversight bodies.  The overture refers to “independent/togetherness.”  The Book of Order and Judicial Reference Group comments:

…without wishing to discourage full consideration of the overture, advises that it raises major constitutional issues which go to the heart of the governance of the Church.

And a final interesting twist, the GA has corporate sponsorship to supply technology for the assembly.

I am still looking for a webcast of the GA but I will post as I am updated by the various channels.

Update to PC Ireland GA location discussion

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Late last week I had posted here about a news story that the Presbyterian Church in Ireland was looking to hold their 2008 GA in Sligo in the Republic of Ireland.  Well, today the Belfast Telegraph reports that the previous report was premature, a church committee is looking at what facilities would be needed to hold the GA somewhere other than Belfast, and that there are invitations from multiple cities.  And, as we all know, the 2007 GA will have the final word.  Stay tuned.