Today we received the following statement:

October 11, 2002

From the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly

To Commissioners to the 214th General Assembly (2002)

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

At its regular meeting this week, the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) became aware of a petition circulating among the commissioners of the 214th General Assembly. The petition calls for a special meeting of the General Assembly, providing the rationale that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is in the midst of a “constitutional crisis.”

We as elected members of COGA unanimously believe that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is not in a constitutional crisis. Rather, we are very encouraged and moved by those who, regardless of where they might place themselves on the theological spectrum, are faithfully and diligently honoring our Constitution. The constitutional process is working. Our church has a network of competent stated clerks and judicial commissions at all governing body levels and a vast array of Presbyterians who uphold the Constitution. We are confident that as judicial cases move through these governing body levels, the Constitution will be upheld in content and process. When processes do not move as some would prefer, or decisions are made that do not match particular expectations, it does not mean that the system is faulty or broken.

In a letter on August 21, 2002, the Stated Clerk wrote that the Constitution protects the right of dissent, but provides no right of defiance. The Ministers of the Word and Sacrament and the congregations who have issued statements of defiance, including the specific situations cited in the petition, are at various stages of the judicial process within their appropriate governing bodies of jurisdiction as set forth in our Constitution. In our judgment, it would be unconstitutional and beyond the authority of any regular or special meeting of a General Assembly to intervene in any ongoing judicial case.

Please remember: The Book of Order requires that a request for a special meeting of the General Assembly must specify exactly the items of business to be considered, and all proposals for changes to, or interpretations of, the Book of Order would still require a 120-day deadline before the session of the General Assembly could begin. A special meeting would include commissioners only, no advisory delegates. We anticipate that the cost of such a meeting will be in excess of $400,000 and would have to be met by a special per capita assessment to the presbyteries or other extraordinary means. It is worth reminding the church that, despite often difficult and trying times in our denominational life, there has never been a special meeting of the General Assembly.

You dealt with exactly these same issues at the Assembly and affirmed the constitutional system as it is functioning in the governing body levels of our church. The 214th assembly was clearly a time of mutual forbearance in the church. It is our earnest hope that you will trust that the judgments you made then will continue to guide the church now and in the days ahead.

Praying for the peace of God,