Newsletter, March 2005

NOT confidential:  please copy and distribute freely

PO Box 84-133, Westgate, Waitakere City, Auck.1250

Websites:    http://www.presaffirm.org.nz    

http://www.NAPEC.org.nz

E-mail:        PresAffirm@xtra.co.nz                             

Office@NAPEC.org.nz

NATIONAL EXECUTIVE AND COUNCIL: Steve Jourdain and Stuart Lange (Co-Chairmen), Cynthia Tracey (Administrator), Brian Brandon, Peter Bristow, Peter Cheyne, Heather Coster, Peter Dunn, Keleva Faleatua, Mark Farmer, Ian Guy, David Hope-Cross, Ian Hyslop, Martin Macaulay, Colin Marshall, Wilson Orange, Ann Owen, Rhys Pearson, Tom Phillips, Ralph Penno, Alistair Smales, Stuart Vogel.

ACTION AND PRAYER REQUIRED !!!

In the next month or so, the rule passed by the Assembly late in 2004 (“that this church may not accept for training, license, ordain or induct anyone involved in a sexual relationship outside of faithful marriage between a man and a woman”) will be debated and voted on by Presbyteries/Union District Councils. If less than 50% of Presbyteries vote “yes”, the rule will lapse. If at least 50% of Presbyteries vote “yes”, the rule will be put before the next Assembly (in 2006) for ratification. If at Assembly, the rule gets at least 60% support, it will become church law. 

Obviously, the outcome of the Presbytery vote (and later of the next Assembly) are of critical importance to the future health, unity, and direction of the Presbyterian denomination in this country. If the rule is enacted as church law, the denomination will be set free to move ahead in confidence. If the rule is not enacted, the denomination would be thrown into more serious turmoil than ever, and some form of collapse probably made inevitable.

It is extremely important that ministers and Presbytery elders attend the Presbytery meeting when the rule will be voted on, and that they vote “YES”.  Please ensure you are there, and/or that your parish (and other like-minded parishes) will be represented in full. This is no time for lesser commitments - or apathy - to intrude. The future of the denomination is once again at stake, and every vote counts.  (Please remember, too, that any amendments are counted as “No”).

In some places, ministers and elders will face a highly emotional campaign against the rule. They are urged to stand their ground…

• It will be argued that the rule is “unloving”: but it is not loving to disregard the Word of God, and to say that sexual immorality is okay. 

• It will be argued that the rule is “legalistic”: but the church has rules on all sorts of things, and this one simply safeguards what the church has always believed.

• It will be argued that the rule is “divisive”: but it would be much more divisive if the rule were not enacted, because it represents the convictions of the majority of church members.

• It will be argued that that the rule is “not where society is at”: but the church will be respected not when it blindly follows society, but when it is true to its own beliefs and standards.

• It will be argued that this rule “excludes” all sorts of people (including de facto couples) from church: but this rule excludes no one, and is only about leaders.

·         It will be argued that Presbyteries “have no business snooping in other people’s bedrooms”: but this rule will be applied only to those would-be church leaders who openly acknowledge that they are in a same-sex partnership, adulterous affair, de facto relationship etc. (or where there is other clear evidence of it, or where they flout the ruling).

• It will be argued that “people in our parish have very different convictions on the matter of homosexuality, and we all get on very well together”: but this rule is not about forcing everyone to think the same, but about a national church having one consistent moral standard for ministry (just as it has other standards for ministers). It is about how we answer the question: “Does the PCANZ permit the ordination of de factos, adulterers, and practising homosexuals?” Without such a rule, all  ministers and parishes are compromised by the denomination’s toleration for behaviours that are unacceptable to mainstream biblical conscience.

• It will be argued that the rule is “discriminating” against a particular class of people: but in fact the rule is simply holding up a biblical standard of morality for church leaders.

• It will be argued that people who live in homosexual relationships are “born that way”: but the claim is unproven  (Even if it were ever proven that homosexuality is innate, that would simply reflect the brokenness of a fallen, sin-marred creation, rather than God’s intention).  The Bible never affirms either homosexual thoughts, actions, or relationships.

• It will be argued that “women will be the next target”: but this common slur has no basis in reality (almost all evangelical parishes have women elders, and other women leaders including sometimes women ministers).

• It will be argued that the rule represents the rise of (“militant, “bigoted” “intolerant,” “narrow-minded”) “fundamentalism”: but in fact - in our Presbyterian context - it simply reflects the enduring strength of mainstream, conservative Christian faith, especially among younger people, and the steady decline of theological liberalism.

·        It will be suggested that this puts us “out of step with the Methodists”: but is that denomination really an example we want to follow? 

The arguments for and against the rule are usefully summarised in the “Reasons for dissent and the Responses to the reasons for dissent.” Note especially the latter! Suffice to say, the rule is the only way forward that is consistent with biblical teaching. The rule will enable the denomination to move forward in confidence, and with growing unity.

Ø     Please pray about this matter, and check with your minister and Presbytery elder when the Presbytery/UDC vote will be occurring.

AFFIRM/NAPEC CONFERENCES

Over the next eighteen months, AFFIRM/NAPEC are arranging several  inspirational conferences: four regional conferences, and one national conference…

   (1) THE FIRST CONFERENCE:

“Real Christians in the Real World,” Warkworth: Friday evening 18 March to Sunday lunchtime 20 March (this coming weekend).

Speakers include Martien Kelderman, Helen Blaxland, Cherith Vaha’akola, David Hope-Cross, Glyn Carpenter, Renier Greef, Thelma Chapman: the brochure is in the other attachment.

Come for the whole weekend, or for part of it. Come from anywhere in New Zealand – at least one person is coming from Southland!

(2)        LATER CONFERENCES:

Four more conferences are being planned (some dates and venues may change)…

·        Southern South Island: Dunedin or Gore, 17-19 June 2005

·        Bay of Plenty/Waikato: Rotorua, 9-11 Sept. 2005 OR 24-26 March 2006

·        Northern South Island: Blenheim, 16-18 June 2006

·        National Conference (and southern North Island): Palmerston North, April 2006 

FORTHCOMING “CONSULTATIONS” ON THE SPENDING OF THE NATIONAL CHURCH

Parishes are urged to send people to these, and to instruct them not to accept waffle and spin. It is apparent that the national church has a disastrous deficit. But it also apparent that there is very little willingness in some quarters to make radical change. The national church is still funding far too many dubious causes and inefficient programmes. More of the same simply will not work. Nor will berating parishes: the fact is, the vast majority of parishes dutifully pay their levies, but many are not happy with how that money is spent. The national church exists to serve the local church, not the other way round. AFFIRM believes that the national spending priorities budget should be completely re-worked, with the retention of only what is self-evidently necessary, useful and widely-supported. Also, the national budget should be subject to Assembly scrutiny and approval prior to implementation – just as with parish AGMs!

SHOULD PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS BE PERMITTED  TO CONDUCT “CIVIL UNIONS”?

In our view, no…

·        “Civil Unions” are primarily about giving legal status to homosexual relationships. The Church has no proper role in solemnizing or “blessing” such relationships. To do so would be inconsistent with the church’s own beliefs, which honour marriage alone. It would also be inconsistent with the Assembly decisions of 1985, 1991, and 2004, which declare – among other things – that homosexual acts are sinful, that God’s intention for human sexuality is loving faithful mutual marriage between a man and a woman (and that sexual relationships outside of that context fall short of God’s standards).

·        Civil Unions are intended in law as a secular, non-religious alternative. The Church or its ministers should not therefore be involved.

·        Some suggest that ministers might conduct (and so “bless”) such relationships in their “private” capacity. But is any minister conducting a public legal ceremony really acting in “private”? It is also highly likely that some Presbyterian ministers conducting Civil Union ceremonies will seek the maximum media publicity – and thus again compromise the PCANZ.

·        Several other denominations have shown appropriate moral leadership and have instructed their ministers not to conduct civil unions. Our denomination needs to do the same, at the very least until the matter is considered by the 2006 Assembly. Some suggest that since Assembly has not had time yet to consider the matter, it is still open. But the implication of successive Assembly decisions is surely clear enough, and the Council of Assembly should rule that way.

MAKING A STAND TOGETHER: JOIN NAPEC!

Despite the very encouraging decision at the last Assembly, the Presbyterian denomination in this country remains in a precarious state. It is important that biblically-faithful parishes and people continue to pray and stand together. This is no time for evangelical parishes to work in isolation. Just on 75 parishes have now publicly nailed their colours to the mast, by declaring their membership of NAPEC: the National Association of Evangelical Presbyterian Churches. This sends a strong signal, at a time when many around the denomination are conducting a campaign of agitation against the 2004 Assembly decision on biblical morality, in an effort to prevent it being confirmed by Presbyteries and the next Assembly. We emphasise that NAPEC is not about schism, or being separate or divisive, but about making a united stand within the PCANZ. It is about like-minded parishes encouraging one another. At this stage NAPEC is still essentially a register of parishes making a stand, rather than a separate organization. So if your parish has not yet joined, please consider doing so. The application form is on the NAPEC website (http://www.NAPEC.org.nz), or email us at PresAffirm@xtra.co.nz.

PLEASE ADVISE OF CHANGES OF ADDRESS AND EMAIL!!!

Ø      To keep receiving this newsletter, please advise us of changes. The newsletter can be either e-mailed or snail-mailed, or both. It is over to you - just let us know what you want. (If you prefer an e-mail version only, we like a street address on file too, as a back-up).

Ø      We want contact with NAPEC churches to be primarily by e-mail. But already many e-mail messages have been bouncing, presumably because of changed addresses. If you have had a change of address or key contact in the last few months, please let us know.

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