Moderator’s Response to requisitions for an Emergency Meeting of the General Assembly1. Papers from Presbyteries/Sessions/Parish CouncilsI have received Memorials from Presbyteries as follows: (a) Presbytery of Nelson Marlborough, requesting:(i) that the Moderator and/or the Council of Assembly urgently summon an Extra or Emergency Meeting of the General Assembly, with full representation according to Reg. 370; and that,
(ii) such Extra or Emergency Assembly rule that, in accordance with the Standards and the conventional doctrine and usage of the Church, the courts and other relevant bodies of this church should not accept for training for ordained ministry, or licence, ordain, induct into ordained ministry anyone involved in any sexual relationship outside of marriage between a man and a woman until such time as appropriate enabling legislation including an Act of Modification has been specifically approved by a subsequent General Assembly under the processes of the Barrier Act; and that,
(iii) Assembly rule by nobile officium that this ruling shall apply immediately by being adopted ad interim; and that,
(iv) This ruling be passed down under the Barrier Act to Presbyteries/Union District Councils and Presbyteries/Parish Councils and their response referred to the next General Assembly meeting in September 2004.
(Adopted by the Presbytery 19 votes for, 6 against on 25 November 2003)
(b) Presbytery of South Auckland, requesting:
(i) that the Moderator and/or the Council of Assembly urgently summon an Emergency Meeting of the General Assembly, as provided for in various regulations; and that,
(ii) such Emergency meeting receives overtures and rules on:
§ the morality of homosexual acts and/or sexual relationships outside of marriage between a man and a woman, in the light of our Standards;
§ the acceptance for training or licensing for ordained ministry, or commissioning, ordination or induction into eldership, Ministry of Word and Sacraments, or Assembly appointments, of anyone involved in any sexual relationship outside of marriage between a man and a woman;
§ the place of those in existing positions of eldership or Ministry of Word and Sacraments who are involved in any sexual relationship outside of marriage between a man and a woman; and that
(iii) these rulings be passed down under the Barrier Act to Presbyteries/Union District Councils and Sessions/Parish Councils and their response referred to the next General Assembly meeting in September 2004.
(The motion to adopt this Memorial was carried at the Presbytery meeting on 9th December 2003) (c) Presbytery of Bay of Plenty, requesting:(i) that the Moderator and/or the Council of Assembly urgently summon an Emergency Meeting of the General Assembly, as provided for in various regulations ; and that,
(ii) such Emergency Assembly rule that, in accordance with the Standards and the conventional doctrine and usage of the Church, the courts and other relevant bodies of this church should not accept for training for ordained ministry, or licence, ordain, induct into ordained ministry anyone involved in any sexual relationship outside of faithful marriage between a man and a woman until such time as appropriate enabling legislation including an Act of Modification has been specifically approved by a subsequent General Assembly under the processes of the Barrier Act; and that,
(iii) this ruling be passed down under the Barrier Act to Presbyteries/Union District Councils and Presbyteries/Parish Councils and their response referred to the next General Assembly meeting in September 2004.
(The motion to adopt this Memorial was carried at the Presbytery meeting on 10th December, 2003)
(d) Northland Uniting Church Council, requesting:
(i) that the Moderator and/or the Council of Assembly urgently summon an Emergency Meeting of the General Assembly, as provided for in various regulations; and that,
(ii) such Emergency meeting receives overtures and rules on:
§ the morality of sexual relationships outside of marriage between a man and a woman, in the light of our Standards;
§ the acceptance for training or licensing for ordained ministry, or commissioning, ordination or induction into eldership, Ministry of Word and Sacraments, or Assembly appointments, of anyone involved in any sexual relationship outside of marriage between a man and a woman;
§ the place of those in existing positions of eldership or Ministry of Word and Sacraments who are involved in any sexual relationship outside of marriage between a man and a woman; and that
(iii) these rulings be passed down under the Barrier Act to Presbyteries/Union District Councils and Sessions/Parish Councils and their response referred to the next General Assembly meeting in September 2004.
(The Uniting Church Council, at its meeting on 10th December 2003 agreed unanimously to transmit this Memorial for consideration) (e) I have received the following Memorial from the St John’s, Mount Roskill Session, transmitted simpliciter through the Presbytery of Auckalnd, requesting:(i) that the Moderator and/or the Council of Assembly urgently summon an Extra, Emergency or Special Meeting of the General Assembly, as provided for in various regulations; and that,
(ii) such Extra, Emergency or Special Assembly rule that, in accordance with the Standards and the conventional doctrine and usage of the Church, the courts and other relevant bodies of this church should not accept for training for ordained ministry, or licence, ordain, induct into ordained ministry anyone involved in any sexual relationship outside of faithful marriage between a man and a woman until such time as appropriate enabling legislation including an Act of Modification has been specifically approved by a subsequent General Assembly under the processes of the Barrier Act; and that,
(iii) This ruling be passed down under the Barrier Act to Presbyteries/Union District Councils and Presbyteries/Parish Councils and their response referred to the next General Assembly meeting in September 2004
(The motion to transmit the Memorial simpliciter was carried 31 votes in favour, 28 against, at the Presbytery meeting on 9th December 2003 )
2. Extra AssemblyOnly an Assembly itself can appoint an Extra Meeting of the Assembly. (refer Regulation 351) A recent example was the 1998 General Assembly calling an Extra Assembly to be held in 1999. 3. Special AssemblyUnder Reg. 396 of the Book of Order, the Moderator, in the case of urgency, may summon a Special Assembly to determine petitions, memorials, references, appeals and complaints, after consultation with the Assembly Executive Secretary, the Judicial Reference Group and such other opinion as the Moderator thinks fit.
A Special Assembly comprises, as representative (voting) members one minister and one elder commissioned by each Presbytery (Reg. 177)
I am not granting the request of the Session of St John’s, Mount Roskill on the following grounds:
(a) All the Memorials received call for an Assembly that is representative of the whole Church to make policy decisions, and a Special Assembly with its very limited representation does not allow for such a representation.
(b) The case for urgency in the calling of a Special Assembly must be significantly robust to succeed and in the case of this Memorial the case for urgency fails to reach a sufficiently robust level for the convening of a Special Assembly. 4. Emergency MeetingUnder Reg. 352 of the Book of Order, the Moderator has power, on requisition of not fewer than 15 members, representing at least three presbyteries, to summon an Emergency meeting on occasion of some important emergency.
In addition to the above Memorials, I have received requisitions to summon an Emergency Meeting of the General Assembly under this Regulation from:
9 members of the Matuara Presbytery
53 members of Calvin parish, Gore, Mataura Presbytery
32 members of Lumsden, Balfour, Kingston parish, Mataura Presbytery
16 members of Knapdale-Waikaka parish, Mataura Presbytery
1 member of the Bay of Plenty Presbytery
The requests of all the above are the same, namely,
“to formally request that you call an Emergency Assembly with a view to regulation being sent down under the Barrier Act prohibiting the licensing, induction or ordination of anyone living in a sexual relationship outside of marriage between an man and a woman.
“I am concerned that the decisions of the recent Judicial Commission are contrary to the Standards of the Presbyterian Church and are likely to be extremely injurious to the peace and unity of the Presbyterian Church. I believe it is urgent that an Assembly be called to begin the process of restoring clarity to the church. The calling of an Emergency Assembly will potentially shorten the period of confusion and anger by two years”
Two individuals added brief postscripts to the letter.
In the light of the common text used in these requisitions they take on the nature of a petition. This does not diminish the convictions of each individual who has signed the letter in any way.
There are three grounds presented to support the case that the present situation constitutes an emergency.
1. That the present situation is injurious to the peace and unity of the Church. The Memorials state “the surprise ruling of the Judicial Commission (October 2003) that there is no legal barrier to practising homosexuals being licensed, ordained, inducted, or accepted for ministry training is controversial in the extreme, and likely to be severely injurious to the peace and unity of the Presbyterian Church in this country” (clause 12) The requisitions from members states that the decisions of the recent Judicial Commission ..are likely to be extremely injurious to the peace and unity of the Presbyterian Church.
2. That uncertainty and confusion should be addressed. The Memorials state “it is now obvious that the Presbyterian Church would benefit from a clear regulation on sexual morality and ministry, to remove any uncertainty or confusion about the policy of the Presbyterian Church” (clause 19). The requisitions from members states that it is urgent to begin the process of restoring clarity to the church, and that an Emergency Assembly will potentially shorten the period of confusion and anger by two years.
3. That “it would be is the best interests of the Church not to have this matter drag on for several more years but instead addressed as quickly as possible” (clause 21 of the Memorials)
In addressing each of these I have been mindful of the following:
1. Peace and Unity of the Church.
The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand recognises diversity of opinion “on such points in the (Westminister) Confession as do not enter into the substance of the Reformed Faith”, but is committed “to guard against any abuse of this liberty to the detriment of sound doctrine or to the injury of her unity and peace” (Declaratory Act, App.C-1, Book of Order)
The petitioners for an Emergency Meeting of the Assembly are of the view that the decisions of the Judicial Commission constitute an abuse of this liberty in that those decisions “are likely to be extremely injurious to the peace and unity of the Presbyterian Church”
I have not found this view to be widespread in the Church. In most places I have visited since the Judicial Commission’s decisions were released, the decisions are not threatening the peace and unity of the Church.
Furthermore, in the light of General Assemblies in the 1990’s, there is no guarantee that a decision or regulation approved by an Emergency Meeting of the General Assembly will restore the peace and unity of the Church.
2. Certainty and Clarity.
Debates in General Assemblies that have discussed the matter of homosexuals in leadership since 1991 have not led to the certainty or clarity being sought. There is no more reason to believe at this stage that an Emergency Meeting of the Assembly will bring the certainty and clarity sought.
3. The processes of commissioning ministers and elders to a meeting of the Assembly require decisions of both presbyteries and Sessions/Parish Councils. In the realisation that these courts hold ordinary meetings no more frequently than monthly, and in some case bi-monthly, there can be no prospect of an Assembly being properly convened before mid April. The General Assembly is due to be convened about five months later, on 19th September 2004. That Assembly may resolve, if it is of the view that the matter is of such urgency, to adopt any regulations that require the Barrier Act procedure ad interim, thus enacting its decisions immediately. The 2004 Assembly can, therefore, address the concern about the matter dragging on further, if it so wishes. In this way the requests of the Memorials calling for a definitive decision by the September 2004 Assembly can, in essence, be met, if the Assembly so decides. DeliberationThere are two further questions upon which I have deliberated.
The first is whether the current situation comprises an “important emergency”. Emergency is understood to mean “an unforeseen or sudden occurrence, esp. of a danger demanding immediate remedy or action” (Collins English Dictionary). The most substantial claim that this is an emergency comes from the Memorials in their statement “the surprise ruling of the Judicial Commission (October 2003) that there is no legal barrier to practising homosexuals being licensed, ordained, inducted, or accepted for ministry training is controversial in the extreme, and likely to be severely injurious to the peace and unity of the Presbyterian Church in this country” (clause 12). This view is arguable, and, in view of the fact that the Commission was drawing on a decision of the 1994 Assembly that stated the current position of the Church at that time, the claim does not adequately establish that the finding is an unforeseen and sudden occurrence requiring immediate remedy or action.
The other question relates to the threshold that might be expected in the calling of an Emergency Meeting of the Assembly. To hold such a meeting that is fully representative of the Church, a meeting (potentially) of about 500 people from throughout the country, a strong case has to be made, and that case should attract widespread support if the matter is of significance for the whole Church. In terms of
(a) the urgency of the situation
(b) the danger to the Church, and
(c) the support for the request
the case for an Emergency Meeting of the Assembly has not reached the threshold that might be expected for such a serious step to be taken by the Moderator 5.ConclusionIt is these considerations, when taken together, that persuade me to decline the requests for an Emergency Meeting of the Assembly, and allow the matters raised to proceed for the consideration of the next ordinary meeting of the General Assembly to be convened in September 2004. This conclusion is reached without prejudice to the consideration of the question by the Council of Assembly at its next meeting.
Michael Thawley
Moderator
27th January 2004
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