Plenary Civil Unions & Marriage Legislation

Plenary

On Tuesday the Civil Union & Marriage committee approved Overture 13-04 to amend W-4.9001 to change the definition of marriage from "a man and a woman" to "two persons" by 28 to 24. Overture 13-05, the Authoritative Interpretation, was disapproved by 24 to 26. The Authoritative Interpretation could still be introduced in the plenary. The committee also approved legislation to study the meaning of Christian marriage.

This morning the General Assembly passed a motion to start considering business on civil unions and marriage at 1:50pmET. You can watch business on the live stream.

The Assembly Committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues report (pdf) includes two minority reports.

13-NB (Approved by 489-152-0)

    In a desire to promote the peace, unity and purity of the church, I move the whole Presbyterian Church USA enter into a season of serious study and discernment concerning the meaning of Christian Marriage in the two year period between the 220th General Assembly and the 221st General Assembly.  I would further move the Office of Theology and Worship prepare and distribute educational materials to all presbyteries and congregations.
    These materials should include the relevant scripture key methods of biblical interpretations current understanding of our constitution and some suggested guidance for prayerful and reconciling ways of listening to one another.
    We would ask that all presbyteries report to the Office of General Assembly on how this was conducted in their congregations at least three months prior to the 221st General Assembly.
    This motion is offered in the hope and trust that  such discernment will genuinely seek the rule and will of God be done in our Presbyterian Church as it is in heaven under the guidance of the triune God.

Majority Report, Overture 13-04 (Disapproved 308-338-2)

    The Presbytery of Hudson River overtures the 220th General Assembly (2012) to direct the Stated Clerk to send the following proposed amendments to the presbyteries for their affirmative or negative vote:
    1.     Amend W-4.9001 as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]
    “Marriage is a gift God has given to all humankind for the well-being of the entire human family. Marriage is a civil contract covenant between a woman and a man two people, and according to the laws of the state also constitutes a civil contract. For Christians marriage is a covenant through which a man and a woman two people are called to live out together before God their lives of discipleship. In a service of Christian marriage, two people make a lifelong commitment is made by a woman and a man to each other,publicly witnessed and acknowledged by the community of faith.
    2.     Amend W-4.9002 as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]
    “a. In preparation for the marriage service, the teaching elder† shall provide for a discussion with the man and the woman two people to be married concerning” [The remainder of this section remains the same.]
    3.     Amend W-4.9004 as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]
    “The service begins with scriptural sentences and a brief statement of purpose. The man and the woman two people to be married shall declare their intention to enter into Christian marriage and shall exchange vows of love and faithfulness. The service includes appropriate passages of Scripture, which may be interpreted in various forms of proclamation. Prayers shall be offered for the couple, for the communities which support them in this new dimension of discipleship, and for all who seek to live in faithfulness. In the name of the triune God the teaching elder† shall declare publicly that the woman and the man they are now joined in marriage.” [The remainder of this paragraph remains the same.]
    4.     Amend W-4.9006 as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]
    “A service of worship recognizing a civil marriage and confirming it in the community of faith may be appropriate when requested by the couple. The service will be similar to the marriage service except that the opening statement, the declaration of intention, the exchange of vows by the husband and wife two people,and the public declaration by the teaching elder† reflect the fact that the woman and man they are already married to one another according to the laws of the state.”

Minority Report 1 (Disapproved 323-346-3)

A Call for Listening, Discovery, and Forbearance

Minority report for the assembly committee action on Items 13-01 through 13-13:
In response to Items 13-01, 13-02, 13-03, 13-04, 13-05, 13-06, 13-07, 13-08, 13-09, 13-10, 13-11, 13-12, and 13-13, the 220th General Assembly (2012) approves with the following alternate resolution:

A Call for Listening

a. The General Assembly charges the Office of Theology and Worship to design and implement a discussion in each presbytery around the meaning of marriage and proposing ways for us to remain unified as a denomination.

These conversations would answer the following questions:
(1) What is the meaning of marriage in our post-Christendom environment in United States and Puerto Rico?
(2) How do our officers live and make faithful decisions about officiating at marriages in this environment?
(3) How can our denomination respect difference in opinion about the meaning of marriage?

These conversations are to provide a safe space for listening to Scripture, to the confessions, and to one another, and to propose solutions to the missiological issues raised by challenges to the traditional definition of marriage in our society and the prevalence of divorce in church and society. They are to take into account the effects of globalization, changing gender roles, and differences in the church over human sexuality. Each presbytery is encouraged to implement this conversation in each of its sessions around the same three questions. These conversations and the report should be completed by August 2014. Presbyteries shall report on these conversations to the Stated Clerk and the Office of Theology and Worship by August 2014.

b. The General Assembly directs the Presbyterian World Mission office to receive feedback from our worldwide mission partners about their understanding of the meaning of marriage and their suggestions about how to move forward missiologically as a denomination, and to forward this feedback to the Stated Clerk and the Office of Theology and Worship by August 2014.

A Call for Discovery

The General Assembly instructs the Moderators of the 220th and 221st General Assemblies (2012 and 2014) to appoint a task force of nine persons representing the diversity of the denomination to receive these reports and proposals and to make a recommendation to the 222nd General Assembly (2014).

A Call for Forbearance

During this time of listening and discovery, the General Assembly asks the officers of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to bear with one another. We implore that this be a time without judicial action related to same-gender marriages. And we implore that this be a time without disobedience to our Constitution related to same gender marriage.

Financial Implications: (2013) $19,070.00, (2014) $13,295.00 Per Capita - OG

Minority Report 2 (Disapproved 266-397-3)

    Responding to the wide variety of overtures concerning the definition of Christian Marriage in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the General Assembly makes the following statement:
    Our Confessions, based on their understanding of Scripture, define Christian marriage as a union of one man and one woman. Any redefinition of marriage should recognize the confessional nature of the definition and should be preceded by careful and prayerful formal confessional amendment process. As our society debates the legal status of same-sex relationships, the church recognizes and reaffirms that any change in the definition of marriage in civil law does not and cannot change the church’s constitution. As our confessions instruct us, the church is called to lead men and women into the full meaning of life together, extending the compassion of Christ to all (The Confession of 1967). As our church ministers amidst a contemporary culture that includes same sex couples, the church should lovingly respond with grace and truth.
    Additionally, the 220th General Assembly (2012) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) provides the following authoritative interpretation of W-4.9001:
    “When W-4.9001 speaks of marriage, it is expounding how marriage is defined and understood by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), under the authority of the Scriptures and guided by the confessions. It is not merely describing how marriage was practiced in any particular society at any particular time. Therefore, this definition of marriage in the Directory for Worship is binding upon teaching elders and commissioned ruling elders authorized to perform Christian marriages. “Officers of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who are authorized to perform marriages shall not state, imply, or represent that a same-sex ceremony is a marriage because under W-4.9001 a same-sex ceremony is not and cannot be a marriage” (Spahr v. Presbytery of Redwoods, 2008). A change in the definition of civil marriage under state law does not alter the definition of marriage under the PC(USA) Constitution (Southard v. Presbytery of Boston, 2011). The church’s definition of marriage may be changed only through amendment of both W-4.9001 and the confessional passages upon which it is based.”