The first was whether this new form of government would maintain the ordination restrictions (fidelity and chastity to those who know the restrictions by those terms) found in the current Form of Government. The answer to that question is "yes." This question was asked four times by three persons and each time the answer was "yes." (People, pay attention!) Along this line was also a question about whether the definition of marriage would change. The answer is "no" because the definition of marriage is not found in the form of government, either in the current or proposed forms. This is found in the Directory for Worship, which is a part of the Book of Order but not a part of the Form of Government.
The second path dealt with something far different and in my opinion more important. This path seems to me to be the matter of trust.
To me, one of the things the new Form of Government will force Presbyterians to do is move from a starting point of function in our governance to one of formation, spiritual formation and congregational/denominational formation. It will force us to ask who we are before settling on how we do it. I believe this is a good thing.
As long as I have been an active member of the church, it has seemed that the upper governing bodies, from the Session to the General Assembly, have had more to do with how than who.
One speaker said that this new form was based on trust, a trust that he did not find in any of the four Presbyteries in which he has served, so he was speaking against the amendment. I agree with him, it is a matter of trust and that's the crux of the matter. The general line of this path seemed to be how can we trust others to follow the rules if we our new form of government doesn't have hard and fast rules? Because of this, there is a basic mistrust and fear that there are a significant number of people trying to "skirt the rules" and "get away with something."
As much as I would like to join hands and sing Kum-ba-Yah, I must say that he has a point. Trust must be developed. But honestly, let us look at what we share. We completely and absolutely share vocation and ordination. For those who say "no they don't" I ask you who "they" are. When you decide, then I say talk to them and find out. I believe that if we are called to be about formation, if we are to be about something more than a book of rules, if we are to be the children of the living God, the God who became man and walked among us, we have to do what he did--we have to get to know one another.
This fear of mistrust is real, but as with all holy fear it must be dealt with in the holiest way possible. Maybe we should do it like Jesus did in Luke, over a good meal. Let's get to know each other, let trust and grace take hold of our relationships, and then we just might discover that a book of rules is silly in the life of Christ.
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