The General Assembly made several monumental decisions this past summer; and since then the presbyteries have been voting whether or not to ratify these significant changes.
Our presbytery chose to postpone voting on the 3 most controversial overtures from General Assembly. The reason for this delay was to allow sufficient time for study, and to make it convenient for a large number of pastors and elder delegates to vote by presenting all three at the same meeting.
Next week, beginning at 400PM on May 19th at the First Presbyterian Church in Orange, the Los Ranchos Presbytery will vote on these three significant proposals. If you are a pastor or elder delegate to presbytery, please attend the entire presbytery meeting to contribute to the process and vote. For more information about the presbytery meeting and for a copy of the agenda, please visit the LRP website at http://www.losranchos.org/our-learning/presbytery-gathering/.
On a personal note, I am urging a NO vote on the three proposals for the following summary reasons:
1. Amendment 10A revises the ordination standards for deacons, elders and pastors in the PCUSA – Vote NO because this proposal removes biblically faithful criteria for ordained leadership in the church. Even though a majority of the PCUSA’s 173 presbyteries have already cast their vote to change our ordination standards by approving Amendment 10-A, our vote is still very important and will help shape the upcoming dialogue in the Presbyterian Church.
2. Proposal to adopt a new Form of Government (nFOG) – Vote NO because the revised ordination standard (Amendment 10A), which will be implemented this July, is already causing great anxiety in the PC(USA). It would be imprudent to adopt a wholesale change to our constitution at a time of uncertainty.
3. Proposal to include the Belhar Confession in our Book of Confessions – Vote NO because it includes broad reaching superlative language that invites misuse and unintended consequences.
A detailed analysis of these issues from several of points of view, including opinions contrary to mine, can be found in Rev. Robert Austel’s excellent resource web site at http://www.gahelp.net/.
Thank you for considering my urgent plea and for your continued faithful service to our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church.
In His service,
Rick Hume – Elder Los Ranchos Presbytery
Commissioner to the 219th General Assembly of the PC(USA)
