This afternoon another seven overtures to the June 2008 Presbyterian Church (USA) were posted on the GA Business Page.

This set of overtures, while dominated by Book of Order changes, has the usual mix of business that shows up in these items.

Maybe the most unique is 023 from the Presbytery of Western Reserve which calls on the GA to honor the outgoing Stated Clerk, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, by naming him Stated Clerk Emeritus.  I’m not sure if this has ever been done before.

The other non-polity overture is 022 from the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta that calls for Presbyterians to work for peace in Iraq and the withdrawal of troops, but does not set a specific time-table.

Overture 017 takes a slightly different approach to the ordination standards debate by asking for the inclusion of wording in G-6.0106b and G-6-0108b that indicate that the ordination standards are binding.  I would note that this overture from the Presbytery of St. Andrew is a double-edged sword since by opening up the wording of these sections for editing, other changes could be made as well by the committee or the Assembly as a whole.  However, this will not be the only overture dealing with the Book of Order wording for ordination standards so the committee and Assembly will probably deal with them as a group and everything will be on the table.

Maybe the most radical of the new group is overture 019 from the Presbytery of Baltimore which would modify the whole of the Directory for Worship section on Marriage, W-4.900, to change the wording from “between a man and a woman” to “between two people.”

Another overture, number 020 from the Presbytery of Indian Nations, could lead to a dramatic shift in the way the denomination does its ecumenical business.  This overture calls for shifting funding for ecumenical relationships from the per capita to the mission budget.  This would mean a switch from a guaranteed to a more uncertain funding source.  The rationale is that the ecumenical activities are not directly related to the functioning of the General Assembly and so should not be included in the per capita funding.  The overture also asks for a review of all the items in the per capita supported budget to be sure they fall into the strict requirements of what that money can go to.

Overture 018 would modify the procedures of Permanent Judicial Commissions so that they would not have to craft their final decision immediately upon hearing and deciding the case but would create the outline and could, over the next ten days, use e-mail and conference calls to produce their final decision.  It appears that the web page for this overture needs some proofing and editing as well since one line ends mid-sentence and the text to be added is not properly formatted.  This overture comes from the Presbytery of Stockton which is in the Synod of the Pacific, one of the geographically larger synods, and the desire to use technology to bridge distances is understandable.

Finally, I have left one of the more intriguing overtures for last, and I must admit I’m not entirely sure what to make of it yet, but it might be a good change.  Overture 021 would amend G-6.0401 concerning the office and qualifications for a deacon.  Instead of the current language that “The office of deacon as set forth in Scripture is one of sympathy, witness, and service after the example of Jesus Christ.” the new language would substitute “empathy” so it would read “The office of deacon as set forth in Scripture is one of empathy, witness, and service after the example of Jesus Christ.”  In their overture the Presbytery of Albany says:

Deacons are often called to tend to the sick, elderly, lonely, grieving, and those in need. In such cases, if a deacon truly acted in a sympathetic manner, he or she would be taking on other’s emotions and carry feelings to a level that would be unhealthy, over burdensome, and emotionally exhausting. By taking on a more empathic role, deacons can tend to others by considering another’s feelings and responding to their needs, helping them move through various stages of emotion at their own pace and comfort level, with autonomy and grace.

I’m still trying to figure out how all of this related to “bear each other’s burdens.” (Gal. 6:2)

Two other items of business to note at this time.  The first is that the Final Report of the Form of Government Task Force has been posted and the two new sections are recommended to be handled as two separate items of business.  Second, if you are thinking of running for Stated Clerk you have only one more week to get your application form in to the Stated Clerk Search Committee.

I don’t anticipate any more GA updates until January and then I expect more moderator nominations to be rolling in along with plenty more overtures.