February 13, 2008
Dear Friends,
During our Presbytery of Olympia Council retreat last week,
Rev. Jeff Bursch brought the following scripture before us – hear the words of
St. Paul: “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of
the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness,
with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to
maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you
were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:1-5)
May these words from scripture find their expression in our
lives together here in the Olympia Presbytery!
We are writing to advise you of the recent decision made by
the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC) concerning our
Presbytery. The GA PJC decision is the culmination of an orderly judicial
process that began in late 2006. As the
preface to our Book of Order’s Principles of Church Discipline states, “The
purpose of discipline is to honor God by making clear the significance of
membership in the body of Christ…to preserve the purity of the church… to
achieve justice and compassion for all participants involved, and… to restore
the unity of the church by removing the causes of discord and division…” (see
D-1.0101).
We would like to provide a brief overview of how the
judicial process unfolded beginning at a meeting of the Presbytery of Olympia
on September 21, 2006. On that date,
after a verbal deliberation, which included the anticipated effects of the
Peace, Unity and Purity Report Authoritative Interpretation, the Presbytery adopted
the following Resolution: We hereby declare that in our discernment of
the movement of the Holy Spirit, every mandate of the Book of Order (2005-2007)
is an essential of reformed polity.
Therefore, any violation of a mandate of the Book of Order (2005-2007)
constitutes a failure to adhere to the essentials of reformed polity and this
presents a bar to ordination and installation.
This resolution created confusion as to its meaning and
purpose. Following this action, a group
of Complainants, believing the resolution constituted an irregularity under the
Constitution of the PC(USA), filed a Complaint with the Stated Clerk of the
Synod of Alaska Northwest concerning the resolution.
After a hearing on March 20, 2007 in Seattle, WA
in which both parties were represented by counsel, the Synod of Alaska
Northwest Permanent Judicial Commission voted to not sustain the allegations in
the Complaint. The Synod PJC further
instructed the Presbytery of Olympia as follows:
We remind and strongly
urge the Presbytery of Olympia
to hear again the call of the 217th GA to engage in processes of
intensive discernment through worship, community building, study and
collaborative work. The PJC urges both
sides to hear and consider again the words of D-1.0103 calling us to “traditional,
biblical obligations to conciliate, mediate, and adjust differences without
strife….”
Following the Synod decision, the Complainants appealed the
decision to the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission. This case was heard on February 8, 2008 in Louisville, Kentucky.
On Tuesday, February 12, 2008 the GA PJC informed all parties of its decision.
For a full text of this decision, please see
http://www.pcusa.org/gapjc/decisions/decisions.htm
The Olympia case was decided along with similar cases from Pittsburgh and Washington
Presbyteries. Reading all three together, there are two primary
conclusions: (1) Presbyteries cannot determine in advance of an individual
examination what an “essential” is; and (2) Presbyteries cannot waive or
provide any exception to the fidelity and chastity standard stated in the Book
of Order, and they cannot try to re-state or modify this standard in any way.
You can be confident that officers and staff of the
presbytery, as well as presbytery committees will all continue to work with the
entire presbytery to live into the GA PJC decision in a way that fosters
integrity, unity and effective ministry here in Olympia Presbytery.
We welcome your comments and questions. If you would like someone to visit with your
Session or Congregation concerning this GA PJC decision and its implications,
please contact any of us and we will arrange that. Until that time, we encourage you to work
prayerfully with the people of your church and the people of this Presbytery as
we incorporate this decision into our ministry as a Presbytery.
Hear again the words of scripture ----- words also read and
reflected upon by Council at its retreat:
“If there is any encouragement in
Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the spirit, any compassion
and sympathy, make my joy complete: be
of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one
mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition
or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests,
but to the interests of others.”
One accord, of course, does not mean agreement on all
theology and all issues. But it does
mean a common commitment to the love and hope of Jesus Christ. In this we stand as one.
In Christ’s Service,
Pat Williams Lynn Longfield Joyce Carr
Moderator General Presbyter Stated
Clerk