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Minutes of the General Assembly 2002Session 8
St Patrick's College, Silverstream, Wellington
Wednesday, 25 September 2002 at 8.30 a.m.
The Assembly met and was constituted with prayer by the Moderator.
Worship was led by Mrs Mary Jane Konings and members of the Youth Group, Knox Church,
Lower Hutt.
Administration and Finance Policy Group
The Rev Brian Williscroft, Administration and Finance Policy Group Co-convener, presented the Policy Group's report.
Ministers Housing Provision
Mr Williscroft was granted leave to withdraw notice of motion [02.108].
[02.108] withdrawn
That section 2.1.2 Location b in the Book of Order from the words b) By leasing a house owned by the minister to … main worship centre, be repealed.
Mr Williscroft moved en bloc motions [02.109 - 02.106] and it was seconded.
These motions were debated jointly, but voted on separately.
Status and Standing of Ministers and Lay Workers
[02.109] That regulation 225 be amended by adding a new clause (vi) as follows (with consequential renumbering of succeeding clauses): Before a Board of Nomination makes any approach to a minister or puts a name before a Session or Parish Council the Nominator shall confer with the Assembly Office as to the status and standing of the minister or nominee and other relevant information, and shall report that information to the Board of Nomination.
The motion was agreed to.
[02.110] That regulation 226 be amended by adding a new clause (v) as follows (with consequential renumbering of succeeding clauses): Before a Board of Nomination makes any approach to a minister or puts a name before a Session or Parish Council the Nominator shall confer with the Assembly Office as to the status and standing of the minister or nominee and other relevant information, and shall report that information to the Board of Nomination.
The motion was agreed to.
[02.111] That the Book of Order be amended by the addition of a new regulation 86A and a new clause in Appendix E-17 4.1.2 (with consequential renumbering) as follows: Before a Session or Parish Council or Interim Moderator makes any approach to a minister to serve as Stated Supply the Interim Moderator shall confer with the Assembly Office as to that minister's status and standing and any other relevant information, and shall report that information to the Session or Parish Council.
The motion was agreed to.
[02.112] That the Book of Order be amended by the addition of a new regulation 86B as follows:
(1) Before a Session or Parish Council or Interim Moderator makes any approach to a person to serve as lay worker in a position with pastoral responsibilities, the Interim Moderator shall confer with the Assembly Office as to the status and standing of any prospective appointee and any other relevant information, and shall report that information to the Session or Parish Council.
(2) When a Session or Parish Council considers the appointment of a person to a position with pastoral responsibility it shall obtain from the Police a record of any convictions and shall obtain the consent of all prospective appointees to do so.
The Rev Ken Harray moved an amendment, which was seconded:
That the words "in a paid capacity" be added after the word "serve" in clause 1 and that the word "paid" be added after the word "position" in clause 2.
The amendment was lost.
The original motion was agreed to.
Notices of motion [02.113 - 02.116] were agreed to en bloc.
[02.113] That the Book of Order be amended by the addition of a new regulation 608 as follows:
Subject to the decision of a judicial body to the contrary, every complaint made to a Session/Parish Council or Presbytery/UDC under chapter 10 of the Book of Order (including Appendix E-9) and every disciplinary action taken by a Church Court or Court of Law shall be reported to the Assembly Executive Secretary immediately, and a record of every disciplinary action taken shall be placed on the minister's personal information file.
[02.114] That regulation 4 be amended by the addition of the following words at the end of the regulation after the words Chapter 5 "…whose good standing has been verified by the Presbytery and the Assembly Office."
[02.115] That regulation 230 be amended by the addition of the following words after the words "retired ministers" in line 2:"and in good standing as verified by the Presbytery and the Assembly Office."
[02.116] That regulation 245 be amended to read as follows: "When a call is sustained, if it is in favour of a minister not holding a seat in any Presbytery or of a licentiate, the Clerk shall transmit it to the Clerk of the Presbytery on whose roll the minister's or licentiate's name is listed, together with extract minutes of relative proceedings and a statement of reasons for the translation. The minister or licentiate receiving the call is asked to intimate his or her views in regard to it, which he or she may do in writing. The Presbytery considers the case and gives its decision. If the Presbytery decides to put the call into the hands of the minister or licentiate and it is accepted, the Presbytery directs the minister or licentiate to await the orders, relative to induction, of the Presbytery forwarding the call. Prayer is offered for the minister or licentiate and the process continues as set out in regulations 263 and following. (see also 231)
Single Assessment
Prof Ian Watson, Co-Convener Administration and Finance Policy Group, moved and it was seconded:
[02.117] - That one assessment be used to fund the work of the General Assembly. That all other assessments currently used to fund the work of the General Assembly cease at the time of the commencement of the new assessment. That the underlying principle for funding the work of the General Assembly remain an equitable sharing of burden among all parishes rather than user pays. That the assessment be based upon the number of members in a parish and the parish income with the weighting to be 50% membership and 50% income. That the definition of income contained in Appendix 1 in the report of the Administration and Finance Policy Group be used to determine the amount of income of a parish subject to assessment. That the single assessment be effective from 1 July 2003. [Appendix 1]
Questions of clarification were answered.
The motion was referred to Dialogue Groups.
Churches Agency on Social Issues
The Rev David Simmers, Convener of the Churches' Agency on Social Issues (CASI), spoke to the report.
Mr Simmers sought, and was granted leave, to replace Motions [02.123] and [02.136] with Motion [02.134].
[02.123] withdrawn - That General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand expresses to the Prime Minister its support for New Zealand's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change; and That General Assembly encourages its congregations to study the issue of global warming, and welcomes the study material being produced by the Churches' Agency on Social Issues.
[02.036] withdrawn
That the Assembly endorse the paper on Climate Change attached to the report of the Overseas Mission and Partnerships Policy Group. [paragraph 5.4.1]
[02.134] (Replacing recommendations 36 and 123)
That this Assembly - endorses the paper on climate change attached to the report of the Overseas Mission and Partnerships Policy Group; expresses to the Prime Minister its support for New Zealand's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change; and encourages its congregations to study the issue of global warming, and welcomes the study material being produced by the Churches' Agency on Social Issues in cooperation with the Overseas Missions and Partnerships Policy Group.
The motion was referred to Dialogue Groups.
Dr Chris Downs, Presbyterian member of the Interchurch Bioethics Council (ICBC) addressed the Assembly.
The Assembly met in Dialogue Groups.
Assembly resumed in plenary session.
Children's Assembly made a presentation.
The Assembly Guest Speaker, Rev. Prof. Nestor Miguez gave the third of his keynote addresses, on the theme "I am the Life".
The Assembly adjourned to meet again at 7.00 p.m.
Michael Thawley, Moderator
Kerry Enright, Clerk
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