Dispute Over Gays May Lead to Special Assembly
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Despite a heated dispute over ordination of gays and lesbians, the Presbyterian Church (USA) is not in a “full-blown constitutional crisis” and needs no special assembly to settle internal conflicts, church leaders said.
Church officials hope to quell a petition drive for an unprecedented special assembly to deal with pastors and churches who have openly defied a church law that bans the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians.
Alex Metherell, a church elder from Laguna Beach, said the assembly is needed because denominational leaders have turned a blind eye to open defiance of the church constitution. Such defiance represents “a clear and present danger to our constitution. A constitution that is not enforced is no constitution at all,” Metherell wrote in his petition.
A special assembly can be called by 25 ministers and 25 elders from at least 15 regional presbyteries.
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