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Minutes of the General Assembly 2002

Session 10
St Patrick's College, Silverstream, Wellington
Thursday, 26 September 2002 at 8.30 a.m.

The Assembly met and was constituted with prayer by the Moderator.

Worship was led by the Rev Ola Tofilau and Pacific Island representatives.

The Moderator acknowledged the work of Mrs Cheryl Harray and the Assembly banner makers.

School of Ministry
The Rev Neville Emslie, School of Ministry Principal, presented a report.

Reception of Overseas Guest
The Rev Wang Kuang-syh, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan, was introduced. Mr Kuang-syh spoke to the Assembly.
.

Church Property Trustees
Mr Peter Isherwood, Chairperson, Church Property Trustees, gave a presentation.

Overture 10: Hospital Chaplaincy
Leave was granted to amend the wording of notice of motion [02.107].
Mr Cunny Atchison moved and it was seconded:

[02.107] (amended)
That the General Assembly:

The motion was debated.
The motion was carried.

Overture 3: Ministerial Stipends

The Rev Craig Kilgour moved, and it was seconded:

[02.118] That the prayer of Overture 3 be granted and be referred to the Equipping the Leadership Policy Group for its consideration and report, namely:

That the General Assembly investigate the feasibility of the payment of ministerial stipends within the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand from a common fund contributed to by every parish on a pro rata scale, and in doing so to be informed by the way this system functions in the United Reformed Church in England.

There was debate.
The motion was lost.

Beneficiary Fund and Seniority Allowance
Leave was granted to withdraw notice of motion [02.137] and replace it with notice of motion [02.152]

[02.137] (withdrawn, and replaced by [02.152] )
That parishes:

• who for 10 years or more have not called a Presbyterian minister or any other full time minister and are not likely to do so in the foreseeable future, where there has been no possibility of a uniting, union or co-operating venture in the practical sense (where this has been fully considered, tried and found unsuccessful in the past, all this can be verified by Presbytery.); who do have a part time lay ministry (mission appointment) operating successfully, that those parishes be exempted from paying towards the Beneficiary Fund and Seniority Allowance until such time that adequate provision is made by the Presbyterian Church for the retirement of lay ministers (mission appointments), alternatively that the Presbyterian Church allows and directs that these Beneficiary Fund and Seniority allowance levies be paid directly to the lay minister (mission appointment) for retirement purposes only, the Parish to ensure that regular payments are made towards a reputable Retirement Insurance Scheme.

Mr Peter Spolestra moved, and it was seconded:

[02.152] (replacing Notice of Motion [02.137] )

That the Equipping the Leadership Policy Group explore the possibility of the establishment of a fund which provides a retirement benefit for lay workers from levies paid by the parishes in which those lay ministers serve, consult with the Beneficiary Fund Work Group and report to the next Assembly.

There was no debate.
The motion was carried.

Commission of Assembly
Mr Peter Martyn moved, and it was seconded:

[02.126] That the Scheme of Variation of the GT Rae Trust as set out in paragraph 5.1 of the report from the Commission of Assembly be approved by the General Assembly pursuant to Section 15 of the Presbyterian Church Property Amendment Act 1996.

There was no debate.
The motion was agreed to.

Mr Martyn moved, and it was seconded.

[02.127] That the Scheme of Variation of the MD Stewart Trust as set out in paragraph 10.1 of the report from the Commission of Assembly be approved by the General Assembly pursuant to Section 15 of the Presbyterian Church Property Amendment Act 1996.

The Commissioner for St Andrew's Levin confirmed concern within the parish about the
proposed variation.
The motion was carried.

Inter-faith Worship

Leave was granted to withdraw notices of motion [02.029] and [02.155], and replace these with notice of motion [02.164].

[02.029] Overture 4 (withdrawn and replaced by notice of motion [02.164] )

That the General Assembly urgently resource its ministers, leaders and members with

The Rev Margaret Anne Low moved, and it was seconded:

[02.164] That the Doctrine Reference Group give guidelines and resources to the church on appropriate ways for Christians to relate to and engage with people of other faiths.

There was no debate.
The motion was agreed to.

Assembly Executive Secretary
The Clerk moved, and it was seconded:

[02.087] That Book of Order regulation 176 (4) be amended by the addition of the following words: "and the Council of Asian congregations may appoint three representatives."

There was no debate
The motion was agreed to.

The Clerk moved and it was seconded:

[02.088] That pursuant to the Presbyterian Church Property Act 1930 the following be the Commission with Assembly powers to deal with such matters as may be submitted to it by the Church Property Trustees under Section 5 of the Amendment Act 1914 and to be the Commission under section 7 of the Presbyterian Church Property Amendment Act 1996 to consider applications under Part 1 of the Act:
The Rt Rev. Michael Thawley, Moderator of the General Assembly, the Very Rev Tom Corkill, Revs Robin Lane, Alan Shaw, Shirley Simmers, Harry Swadling, Messrs Brian Chisholm, Bruce Corkill, Russell Feist, Robert Hopkirk, Ian Fraser, Colin McLeod, Peter Martyn, Mrs Margaret Inch, Assembly Executive Secretary. Associate: Secretary of the Church Property Trustees

[02.089] That the Rev. R.A. Foster replace the Rev. Brett Johnstone on the Iona College Council.

There was no debate.
The motions were agreed to.

Minutes

The Clerk moved and it was seconded:

That minutes of Sessions 1 and 2 of this General Assembly be taken as read and confirmed.

There was no debate.
The motion was agreed to.

Climate Change
Facilitation Group member, the Rev Neal Whimp reported Dialogue Group responses to notice of
motion [02.134] (Climate Change). He reported strong support for the motion.

[02.134] That this Assembly:

The Moderator declared the motion carried.

Overseas Mission & Partnership
The Rev Stuart Vogel, Overseas Mission & Partnerships Policy Group Convener, moved, and it was seconded:

[02.033] That the Council for World Mission be a primary relationship of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand.

There was no debate.
The motion was agreed to.

Mr Vogel moved, and it was seconded:

[02.034] That the relationship between the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu and the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand be a primary relationship in overseas mission.

There was no debate.
The motion was agreed to.

The Rev Barry Tetley moved, and it was seconded:

[02.141] That members of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand working with International Christian Mission agencies be recognised as an important expression of the Presbyterian Church's commitment to Christian mission and be supported as such by the Overseas Mission and Partnership Policy Group.

There was brief debate.
The motion was agreed to.

The Rev Stuart Vogel moved, and it was seconded:

[02.037] That the Assembly receive the Church of Scotland report on Iraq and ask the Service Team to prepare a statement on the bombing of Iraq and the continuing sanctions against that country for consideration and action by the Council of Assembly.

There was debate.
The motion was agreed to.

Overture 1: About Resolution 96.150

Mrs Heather Hill moved, and it was seconded:

[02.125] That this Assembly fall from the policy of the Church stated in the resolution of the 1996 General Assembly Resolution 96.150 regarding the status of Ministers, Licentiates and Elders who are practising homosexuals

There was debate.
The motion was lost.

The Assembly Guest Speaker, Rev. Prof. Nestor Miguez, gave the fourth of his keynote addresses on the theme "No one comes to the Father except through me".

The Assembly adjourned to meet again at 1.30 p.m.

The Moderator closed the meeting with prayer.

Michael Thawley, Moderator
Kerry Enright, Clerk

Go to Session 11

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