Overture 19: New Constitution of the Church

At St Andrews Uniting Church, on 19 July 2004, the Northland Uniting Church Council met and was constituted.

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The Council agreed to transmit simpliciter the following overture from the Session of St Andrews Uniting Church, Whangarei, to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand appointed to meet in Christchurch on 19 September 2004.

Whereas the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand is very diverse on matters of doctrine and style of worship

And Whereas the Presbyterian Church has irreconcilable differences on understanding sexuality and leadership

And Whereas we no longer have a unity to preserve

And Whereas our debate will forever be a distraction from the mission of God

And Whereas congregations already function congregationally in their understanding of mission locally

And Whereas our decision making structures no longer serve us adequacy in a rapidly changing, post modern and post denominational world

And Whereas the Presbyterian Church is very diverse in theology, style and practice

And Whereas we have a significant distrust and suspicion of one another (given our diversity)

And Whereas our present decision making process serve only to divide us further than we already are divided

And Whereas we have already set a precedent for allowing different expressions of Presbyterian Association through the creation of Te Aka Puaho, the Pacific Islanders´ Synod, and the Council of Asian Congregations

That General Assembly instruct the Council of Assembly to draft a new constitution for the church that includes the following principles:

that the Presbyterian Church become a Federation of Presbyterian Churches

affirming congregational autonomy on matters of life, faith, doctrine, finance and property and mission

freedom of Association

a structure that affirms "eldership" as the means of church government

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That all debate on sexuality and leadership "lie on the table" until such time as a new constitution has been put into place.

That the Council of Assembly report to Assembly in 2006, with a new constitution to come into place as soon as possible

Or that the General Assembly determine otherwise in its wisdom it shall consider best.

The Uniting Church Council appointed Rev Wayne Matheson to support the overture before the Assembly.

Extracted from the records of the Uniting Church Council by

Mary Jones
Secretary