Fireworks - Presbyterian Style!

There were plenty of fireworks inside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center today at General Assembly. In a surprise move, the Vice-Moderator resigned her position in the first item of business this afternoon. The Presbyterian Outlook website has a good summary article with more details here. The short version is that this past summer the vice-moderator (Rev. Tara McCabe) conducted a ceremony, and signed the marriage license, for a same sex couple. The marriage was legal in the state where she pastors, but it's still a no-no in the PCUSA (Presbyterians still define a marriage as between a man and a woman regardless of what the civil law of any given state says). Many were upset that Rev. McCabe was allowed to stand for the position of vice-moderator when she had violated the rules of our church constitution.  Apparently those who were upset by her election put up enough of a fuss that Rev. McCabe decided the Assembly would be better served by her resignation.

At this evening's session, a commissioner moved to adjust the docket to allow for 20 minutes of discussion about the day's events.  In a vote that reflects just how profoundly divided this Assembly is, the motion failed literally by one ballot. 

I can see how folks on both sides of the issue are upset about this. Progressives feel that McCabe was simply being faithful to her calling as a pastor in caring a couple that wanted to get married. They reason, it's not her fault that in some states our polity hasn't caught up with the law. On the other hand, conservatives see McCabe's action as an blatant disregard for the Book of Order. Perhaps the PCUSA will change the definition of marriage. But the definition hasn't changed yet. What does it say about our denomination if our second highest elected official is permitted to willfully ignore the constitution of the church she is being elected to steward?

In the end, I believe McCabe did the honorable thing in stepping down. And going back a step, I think she probably did the honorable thing, given her pastoral context, in dealing with the same sex couple. What remains to be seen is whether or not the Assembly responds with honor in dealing with one another and the weighty business that remains.