Nora
appended from
http://ucskco.sasktelwebhosting.com/Annual_Meeting/AM_2009/Proposals_2009.pdf
- The Twenty Articles of Faith
- Equal Access to Services of the Church through Public Worship
I express concerns with two proposals coming before the 40th General Council as previously there have been instances where statement or legislation was made without recognition of the implications or constitutionality of the same.
re The Twenty Articles of Faith
The United Church of Canada Act provides
26. The Basis of Union set forth in Schedule A to this Act is hereby ratified and confirmed as such, and in so far as the terms and provisions thereof relating to polity and administration are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act they shall have the same force and effect as if expressly set out herein.
28. Notwithstanding anything in this Act contained, it is hereby declared:-
(b) That nothing in this Act contained shall be deemed to limit the independent and exclusive right and power of The United Church to legislate in all matters concerning its doctrine, worship, discipline and government, including therein the right and power from time to time to frame, adopt, alter, change, add to or modify its laws, subordinate standards and formulas and to determine and declare the same or any of them, but subject to the conditions and safeguards in that behalf contained in the Basis of Union.
(c) That the United Church by virtue of its independent and exclusive right and power to legislate in respect of the matters mentioned in the next preceding sub-section has the right to unite with any other church or religious denomination without loss of its identity upon such terms as it may find to be consistent with the principles, doctrines and religious standards set forth in the Basis of Union, or any amendment thereof made by the General Council under the provisions of the Basis of Union.Schedule A [The Basis of Union as subsequently revised]
6.4.6 to exercise faithful supervision of each Candidate; to enquire each year into the genuine call to ministry, personal character, motives, academic record, doctrinal beliefs, and general fitness for ministry of each Candidate; and to receive annual reports for each Candidate from the theological school;
8.6 The General Council shall have full power:
8.6.2 (1) to legislate on matters respecting the doctrine, worship, membership, and government of the Church, subject to the following conditions:
(a) First, that before any rule or law relative to these matters can become a permanent law, it must receive the approval of a majority of the Presbyteries, and, if advisable, Pastoral Charges also. It shall be considered advisable to obtain the approval of a majority of Pastoral Charges also only if the General Council has determined that the proposed rule or law involves a substantive change that, in the opinion of the General Council:
i. alters the nature of the courts of the Church;
ii. significantly changes the structures of the Church;
iii. redefines the Church's understanding of ministry;
iv. affects the articles of faith except for gender language applied to human beings;
v. changes the baptismal formula or vows made upon ordination or commissioning;
vi. moves a section from this Basis of Union to the By-Laws; or
vii. alters the Church's understanding of membership.10.2 The duty of inquiry into the personal character, doctrinal beliefs, and general fitness for ministry of a Candidate for the Order of Ministry recommended by a Session, Official Board, or Pastoral Charge shall be laid upon the Presbytery, and such inquiry shall be repeated each year until a recommendation is made to the Conference for ordination or commissioning.
11.1 The Conference shall make the final inquiry into the personal character, doctrinal beliefs, and general fitness for ministry of Candidates recommended for ordination or commissioning and of those recommended for admission to the Order of Ministry of the United Church.
11.2 The Conference shall examine each Candidate on the Statement of Doctrine of the United Church and shall, before ordination, commissioning, or admission, be satisfied that such Candidate is in essential agreement therewith, and as a member of the Order of Ministry of the United Church accepts the statement as being in substance agreeable to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures.
Schedule B [Trusts of Model Deed]
1. For the use and benefit of the said church, charge, circuit, preaching station or congregation, as the case may be (hereinafter called the congregation), as a part of The United Church of Canada, as well for the site of a church, chapel, meeting house, school, manse, parsonage or minister's dwelling or other place for religious, charitable, educational, congregational or social purposes, glebe or burial ground, as the said congregation may direct, as for the support and maintenance of public worship, and the propagation of Christian knowledge, according to the doctrine, discipline, by-laws, rules and regulations of The United Church of Canada.
4. And upon further trust, to permit, in conformity with the doctrines, discipline, by-laws, rules and regulations of The United Church of Canada and not otherwise, the following:-
and where the Act provides
15. ...and anything done in pursuance of this Act shall not be deemed to be a breach of any such trust but shall be deemed to be in compliance therewith and a performance thereof, and the entry of any congregation into The United Church shall not be deemed a change of its adherence or principles or doctrines or religious standards within the meaning of any such trust.
the General Council may completely replace the doctrinal articles without being in breach of the trusts provided it do so pursuant to the Act [ie. subject to the conditions and safeguards in that behalf contained in the Basis of Union].
However, it would be inconsistent with the Act to repetitively reference something which effectively no longer exists, except as one of several historic documents having no authority, requiring remit to remove the Twenty Articles from The Basis of Union to also provide what doctrine will take their place.
re Equal Access to Services of the Church through Public Worship
Schedule A [The Basis of Union as subsequently revised]
5.10.1 It shall be the duty of the Session to have the oversight of:
(5) the order of public worship, including the service of praise and the use of the church edifice;8.6 The General Council shall have full power:
8.6.2 (1) to legislate on matters respecting the doctrine, worship, membership, and government of the Church, subject to the following conditions:
(c) And third, that the freedom of worship at present enjoyed in the negotiating Churches shall not be interfered with in the United Church;
where worship is the constitutional prerogative of session and, at least
for the negotiating churches, may not be interfered with by the legislative
powers of the General Council; and
where the proposed policy first requires reconsideration of "...no
congregation or minister can be forced to officiate at a same-sex marriage
unwillingly" as required by appendix iii 8; and
where any defense as previously argued will be improbable, the congregation
having no separate status from the denomination and the Province of Ontario
having interpreted
--
Don Anderson
rev@magma.ca
http://www.axz.ca/
WHEREAS the Twenty Articles of Faith in The Basis of Union deserve to be honoured for achieving the significant purpose for which they were developed – that is, making it possible for three and eventually four denominations to become united; and
WHEREAS work on those articles began before the turn of the 20th century, using the language and understandings of that time, leading to sufficient agreement to form the basis for the official act of union in 1925; and
WHEREAS, even at that time, there was not unanimity among the parties to the Union, but there was a desire to accommodate a variety of understandings while holding some in common; and
WHEREAS there is no stated evidence that those who either framed The Basis of Union or those who adopted it intended it to be for all time and, in fact, there is evidence to the contrary in that The United Church of Canada Act gives authority to General Council, "To legislate on matters respecting the doctrine...subject to the conditions: First, that before any rule or law relative to these matters can become a permanent law, it must receive the approval of a majority of the Presbyteries, and, if advisable, pastoral charges also," [Sections 24 (2) (a) and 28] thus indicating an expectation that there would, in the future, be cause for change to the Articles of Faith and other sections of The Basis of Union; and
WHEREAS those who formulated the 1940 Statement of Faith were more explicit that there was an expectation of change, as indicated in the following quotation:
The Church's faith is the unchanging Gospel of God's holy, redeeming love revealed in Jesus Christ. It is declared in Scripture; it is witnessed to both in the creeds of the Universal Church and in the Confessions of the Reformed Churches; and it is formulated for a specific purpose in our Basis of Union. But Christians of each new generation are called to state it afresh in terms of the thought of their own age and with the emphasis their age needs. (Emphasis added.) This we have attempted to do for the people of The United Church of Canada - seeking always to be faithful to Scripture and to the testimony of the Universal Church, and always aware that no statement of ours can express the whole truth of God.
And
WHEREAS the Theology and Faith Committee, which worked on A Song of Faith, was not mandated to replace any other statement of faith, it explicitly reported that the proposal to General Council 39 was not intended to replace any other formulation, but observed, "Each statement—the Twenty Articles of Faith (1925), the Statement of Faith (1940), A New Creed (1968), and this current document—has its own particular character, use, and place in the church's life. Each speaks to its time and context in its own way; and
WHEREAS most members and adherents of The United Church of Canada are unfamiliar with the Twenty Articles of Faith, but are familiar with the New Creed and are becoming more familiar with A Song of Faith; and
WHEREAS both our language and our understandings have changed in the last 70 to 100 years; and
WHEREAS candidates for Ordered Ministry and for Designated Lay Ministry within the United Church are required, prior to their ordination, commissioning or recognition, to declare that they are in essential agreement with "the statement of doctrine of the United Church" (meaning the Twenty Articles – Sections 26 (d), 343 (a) viii); and
WHEREAS this requirement places many candidates in a dilemma of conscience since their theological thinking is far removed from the expression of doctrines as found in the Twenty Articles of Faith; and
WHEREAS in recent years the Twenty Articles have been more a source of division than unity:
THEREFORE BE IT PROPOSED that Wascana Presbytery propose to General Council 40 through Saskatchewan Conference that:
· The Twenty Articles of Faith in The Basis of Union be separated out and declared an historic document; and
· A suitable celebration honouring the significant achievement of that document in uniting several denominations be arranged; and
· A remit be authorised to remove the Twenty Articles from The Basis of Union; and
· The Twenty articles of Faith, the 1940 Statement of Faith, A New Creed, and A Song of Faith be identified as expressions of the faith of The United Church of Canada in their time; and
· The Theology and Inter-Church Inter-Faith Committee be requested to determine what other expressions of Faith might be included with those listed above; and
· The Manual Committee be authorized to make the necessary
changes in The Manual.
and That Saskatchewan Conference transmit Proposal Twenty Articles
of Faith with concurrence.
__________
Title: Equal Access to Services of the Church through Public Worship
Origin: Saskatchewan Conference Division of Mission
Financial Implications:
Staffing Implications:
Source of Funding:
WHEREAS in The United Church of Canada, the Session (or Church Board or Church Council) of a Congregation has duty of oversight of the order of public worship under 5.10.1 of the Basis of Union; and
WHEREAS this duty of oversight gives the Session (or Church Board or Church Council) the right to establish policies related to public worship such as baptism, communion, confirmation, marriage, funerals, lay participation and choice of liturgy for the congregation; and
WHEREAS an Appeal Panel of the General Council Judicial Committee recently decided that the authority of the Session (or Church Board or Church Council) to determine issues relating to public worship, is subject only to the oversight of the Presbytery; and
WHEREAS The United Church of Canada has committed itself repeatedly to the principles of justice, compassion and inclusion for all; and
WHEREAS there is, at present, no explicit requirement in the Basis of Union that the authority of the Session (or Church Board or Church Council) to determine issues relating to public worship be exercised in a way that is consistent with the principles of justice, compassion and inclusion for all; and
WHEREAS we affirm the work begun on racism with the approval by the
37th General Council (2000) of "That All May Be One",
Policy Statement on Anti-Racism which states:
that 'our calling, as Christians, [is] to work for a society in which the
words of the Gospel are brought to life"'
that "It is based on the belief that all humans are sacred, whatever
their culture, race or religion and that God is found in our common diversity";
that the church is called to act "justly by endeavouring to act justly
within its own structures, courts, policies and practice. We realize we
need to address systemic racism and work for just relationships within
our body"; and
WHEREAS in 2000, the 37th General Council affirmed that sexual orientation (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, heterosexual) is a gift from God, part of the marvelous diversity of creation; and
WHEREAS in 2000, the 37th General Council encouraged courts,
congregations and members to learn ways to offer healing for the damage
inadvertently caused by the historic stance of our church on homosexuality;
and
WHEREAS in 2006, the 39th General Council requested resources
to change our behaviour and establish just relations with persons of varied
orientations and gender; and
WHEREAS in 2006, the 39th General Council also called for the creation of resources for the purpose of recognizing homophobia and changing our behaviour and establishing just relations, with attention given to strategies for intervention and support on behalf of those who are caught in situations of homophobic abuse; and
WHEREAS equal access to services of the church through baptism, communion, confirmation, marriage, funerals, lay participation and liturgy for the congregation should be assured for all throughout The United Church of Canada, regardless of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, disability or status as divorced persons;
THEREFORE Saskatchewan Conference proposes
That the 40th General Council (2009) adopt a policy that the Session (or Church Board or Church Council), in the exercising its duty of oversight of the order of public worship under 5.10.1 of the Basis of Union, may not discriminate against any group of persons on the basis of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, disability or status as divorced persons to the fullest extent, subject only to the laws of Canada, its provinces and territories as may exist from time to time, especially those which protect the vulnerable; and authorize a remit to test the will of the church with respect to this policy.