Four Questions

Last week it became official that the language describing marriage in my denomination's (The Presbyterian Church U.S.A.) constitution will change. The new definition that takes effect this summer says marriage is "a unique commitment between two people, traditionally a man and a woman..."

In my denomination pastors have always had the exclusive right to decide whether or not to marry a couple. Similarly, our church governing boards (Sessions) have always had the right to permit or deny the use of the church building for a wedding. The change to our constitution expands the freedom of conscience for pastors and sessions to include same-gender couples.

However, this change is not so innocuous. That's because the new language about marriage in Part Two of our constitution (the Book of Order) stands in contradiction to the language about marriage in Part One of our constitution (The Book of Confessions). We Presbyterians claim that our Book of Confessions has more authority than our Book of Order. We say that our Book of Order (how we order our corporate lives as the church) is based on the teachings of the Book of Confessions. But in this case we have reversed the two. With this most recent vote, we seem to have said that our practice, when it comes to marriage (Book of Order), is more important than our belief about marriage (Book of Confessions).

What's done is done. The majority of our Presbyteries voted for the change. Marriage in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. now may include same-gender couples. I have no desire to try to reverse this change. And, I genuinely appreciate that the new constitutional language includes a statement explicitly preserving the freedom of conscience for pastors and session not to conduct same-gender weddings.

However, I am curious to see how, or if, our denomination will close the gap that exists now between our Confessions and our Book of Order. Is there a solution that does not simply ignore the Confession's teachings about marriage but one that re-frames what we believe to match the new practice?

During floor debate at our Presbytery meeting (recognizing that our vote would not change the fate of the amendment) I posed these questions:

1. How will the LGBT community help address what ails the institution of marriage which continues to hover at a 50% failure rate? 
2. What does Christ's healing and redemptive power look like in the arena of sexual brokenness? 
3. What does sexual fidelity and covenant faithfulness look like in this new era?
4. Having voted on what marriage is NOT limited to, what then shall we say marriage IS? (The definition in the revised book of order is inadequate. It's a beautiful description of meaningful relationships, but the definition isn't really unique to a marriage.)

Much of the rhetoric in our denomination's same-gender marriage debate seems borrowed from the civil rights movement. The issue is dubbed one of equality and inclusion. Somewhere along the way, in a debate about gay marriage, we stopped talking about... marriage. Instead of exegeting Scripture's teaching on marriage, we talked about how Jesus accepts and loves everyone. I want to know what redemptive or prophetic word the PCUSA has for the world about marriage? Surely we have something more to say about marriage than that everyone is welcome.