A summary of the 219th General Assembly’s actions on issues of civil union and Christian marriage:
What did the General Assembly do? What has changed?
The General Assembly approved both the final report and the minority report of the Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union and Christian Marriage and ordered they be sent out for study by the wider church. The vote was 439 in favor, 208 against, with 6 abstentions. By this action (sending both reports for study) the Assembly maintained the definition of marriage as between “a man and a woman.” With the action to …
The 219th General Assembly Committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues voted 47-8-2 Monday to approve a report that urges Presbyterians to further study the issues and stay in covenant with each other while they do so.
The Rev. Jim Szeyller’s voice choked as he recalled the year-long work of the special committee he moderated, which studied issues of civil unions and Christian marriage in a report to the 219th General Assembly.
If all the documents to the "paperless" 219th General Assembly here were printed out, they'd rival Tolstoy’s War and Peace in length. By the time the Assembly concludes July 10, the 712 commissioners and roughly 200 advisory delegates will have acted on more than 300 items of business that would span about 1,400 printed pages.
Nearly half the business of the Assembly comes as overtures from presbyteries and synods. Added to the reports of Assembly agencies and permanent and special committees, the range of concerns presented to commissioners and advisory delegates for their deliberation and action is breathtaking in …
The General Assembly Special Committee on Civil Union and Christian Marriage has approved its final report — ending its journey with civility and mutual respect, but also with the clear possibility of a minority report.
The committee did not recommend any change in the definition of Christian marriage currently in the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). That definition — that Christian marriage is between a man and a woman — was off-limits to the committee, according to its mandate from the 2008 General Assembly.
Nevertheless, three evangelical members of the committee voted against the committee’s recommendations, expressing concern they …