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Delegates Approve Human Sexuality Report
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (June 22, 2004) - Delegates to the 119th Annual Meeting of the
Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) overwhelmingly accepted a Board of the
Ordered Ministry recommendation regarding Human Sexuality and Marriage
Ethics as part of the Tuesday morning business session held at the Hyatt
Regency Hotel.
After more than 90 minutes of discussion, the board's recommendation was
approved by delegates by a margin of 529 to 46. The announcement was
made during the opening moments of the afternoon session.
The approved motion states: The Board of the Ordered Ministry
recommends to the 119th Annual Meeting that the Resolution on Human
Sexuality adopted by the 1996 Annual Meeting serve the ECC as: 1) the
guiding statement on human sexuality and the marriage ethic, and 2) the
basis for ECC policy, practices and guidelines on these matters.
David Kersten, executive minister of the Ordered Ministry, and Board of
the Ordered Ministry member Dwight Nelson, pastor of Libertyville
Covenant Church in Illinois, led the discussion on the referral,
presenting an informational report on the recommendation. The report is
the culmination of a year-long study after last year's Annual Meeting
referred to the board a delegate's proposed "Resolution on Sexual Morality."
The 1996 Resolution on Human Sexuality "upholds celibacy in singleness
and faithfulness in heterosexual marriage as the Christian standard,"
among other things. The Board of the Ordered Ministry stated in its
report that "it views celibacy in singleness and faithfulness in
heterosexual marriage to be the standard for all Covenant clergy,
reiterating that the Board does not credential people who are in
violation of this standard." Nelson added that the Board of the Ordered
Ministry does not permit credentialed Covenant clergy to officiate at
same-sex unions, blessings or marriages.
Covenant Ministerium delegates endorsed the Board of the Ordered
Ministry's recommendation during its annual meeting Monday afternoon.
The ECC's Executive Board, Council of Administrators and Council of
Superintendents also endorsed the report.
Two amendments were proposed from the floor, but both were rejected. The
first, proposed by Jeremy Males of the Evangelical Covenant Church in
Evanston, Illinois, would have added a third element to the main motion,
worded as follows: "The annual meeting urges clergy and churches to
neither seek or nor maintain standing within the Covenant unless they
affirm this position both privately and publicly." Delegates debated the
proposed amendment for 20 minutes before rejecting it.
Covenant pastors who spoke against the proposed amendment argued that
the amendment would keep Covenant pastors and congregations from a
grace-filled dialogue with those who disagreed with the Covenant's views
on human sexuality and the marriage ethic. The difference between
homosexuality and other sins is not a matter of degree, said one
delegate. It is a matter of one sinning and calling that sin good. "We
cannot allow those people in our congregations who call this sin good to
remain in our congregation."
Another pastor described the amendment as a way to further establish a
boundary on the manner in which the issue of homosexuality should be
handled. "We can only deal in grace when we have law," said the pastor.
"We have standards and guidelines in our community and we have to hold
to them. I think we have to take a stand on this issue."
A second proposed amendment was presented by Lenore Johnson of North
Park Covenant Church in Chicago, Illinois. She asked that a task force
be assembled through the auspices of the Board of the Ordered Ministry.
The task force would include people of differing opinions to extend the
dialogue and consider the implication of doing pastoral care in Covenant
churches in light of the many issues surrounding human sexuality and the
marriage ethic. The amendment was ruled "out of order" by the moderator.
There were 830 total registered conference attendees, including 566
delegates from 309 conference and region churches, participating in
Tuesday's morning session. Delegates heard a report on Covenant
Ministries of Benevolence (CMB) given by CMB President David Dwight.
They also approved a list of Covenant pastors, staff ministers and
administrators who were being recommended for ordination and
commissioning. The names of those people and their educational
credentials will be found in a separate story as part of the online
Covenant news coverage.
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