By all reports, the Holy Spirit had a busy summer.
Many Protestant Christians, either formally or informally, pray for the Holy Spirit to make himself felt through their denominational deliberations. They take it on faith that when they vote, something holier and more mysterious than plain old self-interest is at work in the body at large.
And this summer there was a lot of mysterious voting, from Lutherans to Episcopalians, Southern Baptists to National Baptists U.S.A.
The most surprising vote of all, however, came from the 2.7-million member Presbyterian Church U.S.A., where members were still staggering from a long, painful and seemingly conclusive battle over homosexuality.
Just a few months before the denomination’s 209th General Assembly, its regional presbyteries had ratified a clearly worded amendment to the church constitution that prohibited its clergy and lay leaders from having sex outside of a traditional marriage.
All that was left, it seemed, was to see if churches would break away from the denomination over the ruling.
Then, at the General Assembly in Syracuse, N.Y., in June, delegates suddenly reversed course, passing a new amendment that would toss out the most controversial elements of the “fidelity and chastity” amendment, and throw the whole issue back to the regional bodies one more time.
The new amendment called for “fidelity and integrity in marriage or singleness, and in all relationships in life,” removing any mention of chastity, and tacitly leaving the question of homosexual and unmarried heterosexual relationships in the clergy to be decided locally.
No one was more surprised than Rev. John Buchanan, pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, and the outgoing moderator of the denomination.
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Elected in the summer of 1996 as the church’s top-ranking officer, Buchanan had tried to set aside his personal opposition to the line-in-the-sand language of the fidelity and chastity amendment, so that his position would not unfairly tilt the raging debate.
And when the amendment was ratified in February, he set aside his own deep disappointment to argue that the unity of the church was more important than any single issue.
With a large and prominent church of his own to tend to, and enough frequent flier miles logged to keep him in the air until Judgment Day, Buchanan would have surprised few if he had decided to sit out the next round of debate. He didn’t even sit out the rest of the week.
Buchanan and Rev. Robert Bohl, pastor of Village Presbyterian Church outside Kansas City and the denomination’s moderator in 1994-1995, decided to form a coalition to support the new amendment.
Their new coalition, the Covenant Network, will meet for the first time Friday, at Fourth Presbyterian in Chicago. The meeting effectively kicks off the debate over “Amendment A,” with addresses from pastors and theologians that will attempt to put the issues in a historical framework.
If that doesn’t sound very sexy, it’s intentional. As Buchanan notes, Amendment A is about more than sex. It’s about the role of scripture, creeds and confessions. It’s about conscience versus doctrine, and congregation versus denomination.
Outside the church, that may not attract much attention. Nor, for non-Presbyterians, is sex necessarily the most pertinent part of this marathon tussle.
The interesting point to watch is whether the Presbyterians can talk themselves out of their all-too-human argument, into greater unity and perhaps a little closer to divine truth.
Across the denominational spectrum, there are people trying to talk through disagreements. They believe that they can find common ground. They believe that the gift of gab may be a gift of the Holy Spirit. And in each case, they face dogmatic opposition that sees little room for discussion.
By culture and coincidence, the champions of talk seem to rise and prosper in Chicago. Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, whose last major project before his death was the creation of the Common Ground Initiative, preached the value of hearing all sides in the Roman Catholic Church.
Episcopal Bishop Frank Griswold, who will soon leave Chicago to take over as his denomination’s presiding bishop, and H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Chicago-based Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, have reputations as listeners in their churches.
And Buchanan, though he no longer has the official responsibility for moderating the Presbyterian discussion, seems more devoted than ever to keeping the conversation alive.
“We’ve got a lot more work to do, and that’s not good news for a lot of Presbyterians,” Buchanan said this week. “But lying back and observing is not an option.”