The Assembly reconvened on June 23, at 8:00 a.m.
The Assembly heard reports from Covenant College, Committee on Discipleship Ministries, Mission to the World, and Mission to North America. We will post highlights from those reports later today.
The Assembly heard the report from Overtures Committee and voted to accept the Overtures Committee recommendations en gross on the following overtures:
Overtures 2021-19, 2021-20, 2021-21, 2021-34, 2021-35, Ov. 2, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 33, 35. The vote was 2062-33.
Read more about those overtures and the recommendations here and here.
The Assembly voted to answer the following overtures in the affirmative:
Overture 29, Amend BCO 16 by Adding 16-4 Regarding Qualifications for Church Office, as amended. The vote was 1922-200. The amended language is as follows:
16-4 Officers in the Presbyterian Church in America must be above reproach in their walk and Christlike in their character. While office bearers will see spiritual perfection only in glory, they will continue in this life to confess and to mortify remaining sins in light of God’s work of progressive sanctification. Therefore, to be qualified for office, they must affirm the sinfulness of fallen desires, the reality and hope of progressive sanctification, and be committed to the pursuit of Spirit-empowered victory over their sinful temptations, inclinations, and actions.
Overture 2021-40, Amend BCO 32-13 and 35-5 to Allow Victim Protection Provisions, as amended. It was affirmed by voice vote.
Overture 15, Amend BCO 7 to Disqualify from Office Men Identifying as Homosexual, as amended. This was the position of the minority report. The vote was 1167-978.
The new paragraph BCO 7-4 would read as follows:
Men who describe themselves as homosexual, even those who describe themselves as homosexual and claim to practice celibacy by refraining from homosexual conduct, are disqualified from holding office in the Presbyterian Church in America.
Overture 8, Amend BCO 33-1 and BCO 34-1 Establishing Percentage Threshold for Original Jurisdiction Requests, as amended. The vote was 1245-521.
The Assembly voted to answer the following overtures in the negative:
Overture 26, Statement On Political Violence. The vote was 1108-371.
Overture 42, Forbid TE and RE Participation in “Political Groups,” in the negative. The vote was 851-411.
Grounds: This Overture is broad enough to raise questions about private conversations between elders that are appropriate as they prepare for issues at presbytery and General Assembly, and even of “political groups” like those that helped found the PCA.
The Assembly also voted to take the following actions:
Refer Overture 2021-41, Amend BCO 35-1 to Expand Potential Witness Eligibility, to the 50th General Assembly. The vote was 1794-49.
Answer Overture 41, Declare Critical Race Theory Flawed, by postponing the matter indefinitely. The vote was 1193-303.
According to Robert’s Rules of Order, “Postpone Indefinitely is a motion that the assembly decline to take a position on the main question. Its adoption kills the main motion (for the duration of the session) and avoids a direct vote on the question. It is useful in disposing of a badly chosen main motion that cannot be either adopted or expressly rejected without possibly undesirable consequences.”