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

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.

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.

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.