Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 19, 1991 TAG: 9104190403
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE RELIGION WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
More than 175 voting members of the regional administrative body met in a specially called session at Bedford Presbyterian Church.
They overwhelmingly adopted a resolution - formally called an overture - to be sent to the denomination's General Assembly when it meets in Baltimore in June.
The overture asks that the report on sexuality be received but not recorded in the minutes. It seeks to have the General Assembly deny a proposed two-year study period, and asks that further study of sexuality issues be undertaken "in accord with the Reformed tradition" from which Presbyterianism sprang.
The report - "Keeping Body and Soul Together: Sexuality, Spirituality and Social Justice" - began drawing fire in the denomination even before it was released.
At least 16 churches called on the presbytery to oppose the sexuality report. The presbytery includes all of the Roanoke and New River valleys, and stretches south to Martinsville and east past Lynchburg to Farmville - about 140 churches.
The report has been criticized in denominational literature and church debate for straying too far from Scripture.
The 200-page document, prepared over the last three years, addresses a wide range of sexuality issues - including spouse and child abuse, pornography, sexual misconduct by clergy and the sexual needs of the elderly and handicapped.
What has drawn the most attention, however, have been sections dealing with homosexuality and on what should be acceptable heterosexual behavior.
The report endorses homosexual relationships and the ordaining of homosexually active clergy. It concludes, as have studies in some other denominations, that Scripture that condemns homosexuality cannot be lifted out of its historical context and applied today.
The document urges the church to redefine its view of marriage - "to refocus on pleasure rather than duty" among other things - and declares that single people should not be expected to be celibate.
Scriptural authority was the focus of the overture from the presbytery. One clause contains the concern that people inside and outside the denomination will see the sexuality report as a declaration that "public opinion, social tolerance and cultural relativity" are more important than Scripture in determining moral stances.
With the action of the Presbytery of the Peaks, more than 65 of the nation's 180 presbyteries have gone on record opposing the report. Denominational publications indicate that as many as 80 are expected to take similar action by the time of the General Assembly.
Six former moderators, or elected leaders, of the denomination recently have urged that the report be received without being acted upon, and the theological foundations have come under attack from some scholars in denominational schools.
Technically, however, the final disposition of the report rests solely with the General Assembly, a representative body that is not bound by communications from any of the presbyteries.
by CNB