C. Sexuality and Ordination
The task force gave sustained attention to two interconnected issues that have generated more disagreement and conflict in recent years than any others: (1) the church’s teaching on human sexuality; (2) the theology and practice of ordination.
We explored a range of opinions on issues of human sexuality. Though we have shared some of our personal opinions and positions, we focused our studies primarily on the written work of Christian scholars and denominational commissions and assemblies. We read and discussed a diverse collection of theological and biblical writings on these topics. We benefited greatly from this way of grappling with issues and we commend it to the church. Before articulating personal perspectives, groups that find themselves in conflict over issues might attempt what we did: close and careful reading, in a group setting, of carefully selected texts that represent a variety of perspectives.
Our study of human sexuality yielded several major insights:
- The theological and biblical literature on human sexuality in general and same gender sexuality in particular is diverse, subtle, and complex. It could not readily be divided into the two categories—either approval or disapproval of same-gender relationships and practices—that are assumed to anchor much of the conflict in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) today. In one session, a member of the task force offered a typology of six positions. Each position conveyed a distinctive view of sin, reconciliation, and redemption. We acknowledged that other analysts might approach the material differently and provide alternative interpretations.
- Methods of biblical interpretation, theological traditions, and policy conclusions did not line up neatly in the work we studied. As the resource, “Same-Gender Relationships in the Church: Six Theological Viewpoints,” demonstrates, scholars and writers who reached different conclusions often based their work on similar theological premises.
- Further, opinions about ordination and sexuality did not always correlate precisely with particular theological positions. Writers associated with a particular theological perspective sometimes reached conclusions different from what is often assumed to be their party’s “line” on the witness of Scripture; the morality of covenantal, same gender relationships; and the permissibility of ordination. For instance, some writers who believe that same-gender relationships are wrong nevertheless believe pastoral acceptance should be extended to gay and lesbian couples; some writers who believe that the full witness of Scripture supports the possibility of covenantal relationships between persons of the same gender nevertheless acknowledge that where Scripture speaks explicitly of same-gender acts it disapproves them. These were only two of a number of combinations and permutations of theological, biblical, and polity perspectives on the broad topic of sexuality and the narrower one of same-gender relationships.
Amid all the rich complexity of these studies, all of us deepened our understanding of our own perspectives as well as those of others. Perhaps most important, all of us found gospel themes and biblical witness in the work of scholars and writers whose theological and polity conclusions on the subject are different from our own.
We also studied ordination. This study, which also involved analysis of the work of others as well as the sharing of personal views, yielded the following key insights:
- One model of Christian leadership that is consistently offered throughout the New Testament is servant leadership. Christians are to imitate Christ in a posture of self giving and service, and to “outdo one another in showing honor” to others (Rom. 12:10) by respectful attention and loving care.
- Reformed theological tradition emphasizes:
- the common Christian vocation of the entire body, the “priesthood of all believers,” in which all members are called by God to promote the ongoing health and maturation of the body of Christ.
- that certain members of the body of Christ are called by God through the voice of the church to lead and nurture the body in its spiritual growth and in mission. These ordained officers must adhere to confessional, governance, and disciplinary standards not required for membership.
- Beyond these themes, Scripture does not provide a thoroughly developed theology of ordination, and a theology of ordination has not been clearly and consistently articulated in the development of Reformed and Presbyterian doctrine. As one might expect, then, ordination has been a source of some confusion and a matter of controversy in our history. From the outset of American Presbyterianism to the present, denominational conflicts have often centered on matters of fitness for ordination. The current controversy regarding issues of human sexuality and ordination is the latest example of this recurring pattern.
The task force was not asked to take a position on human sexuality or ordination and we have not attempted to do so. We did invest considerable time and energy in conversation, seeking to understand one another’s points of view. We did not try to convince fellow task force members of our own perspectives or to decide whether the church’s current position should be changed.
At the same time, we found we could reach ready agreement on several points:
- It is a grave error to deny baptism or church membership to gay and lesbian persons or to withhold pastoral care to them and their families.
- Those who aspire to ordination must lead faithful lives. Those who demonstrate licentious behavior should not be ordained.
- Sexual behavior is integral to Christian discipleship, leadership, and community life. It is not a purely personal matter.
- Sexual orientation is, in itself, no barrier to ordination.
The foregoing agreements left the task force with a wide range of theological views and positions before it, all of which seemed to have some grounding in the theological affirmations that head this report. Members of the task force reflect this range of views personally. Some strongly support the church’s current position; others strongly question it or want to change it; others are still forming their thinking about sexuality and ordination. Having heard a presentation to the task force by member Stacy Johnson on a spectrum of theological viewpoints on same-gender relationships in the church, many believe that, instead of beginning with the question of ordination, it would be more profitable first to explore a more basic theological question: How does God’s gracious drama of creation, reconciliation, and redemption work itself out in the lives of baptized gay and lesbian persons who are committed to exclusive, covenanted relationships?
We all were able to recognize in the views on sexuality and ordination held by other task force members concerns for the peace, unity, and purity of the church and the integrity of the gospel. The differences on these matters are strenuous and serious, but precisely because they are so important, we have been encouraged to stay together, speaking the truth in love, learning from one another, and building up the body.
Further, we were all able to agree that perspectives on questions of sexuality, ordination, and same-gender covenantal relationships are rich and complex, and our fellow task force members who hold these views are sincere, faithful, and guided by Scripture. Therefore, we believe, the church should seek constructive, Christ-like alternatives to the “yes/no” forms in which questions about sexuality, ordination, and same-gender covenantal relationships have been put to the church in recent decades. In the next section of this report, we recount our search for models of constructive engagement in the history and polity traditions of the Presbyterian church and in the practices of decision-making of other communities that seek peaceful and righteous life together.