Overtures for the 217th General Assembly

Twenty-one presbyteries have now passed overtures to the 217th General Assembly asking it to remove arbitrary barriers (G-6.0106b and the earlier Authoritative Interpretations) that are commonly held to prohibit ordained service by otherwise qualified lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Presbyterians.

1) April 19, 2005 - Heartland Presbytery - Plain Text HTML

2) May 25, 2005 - Presbytery of the Western Reserve - Plain Text HTML

3) June 25, 2005 - Cascades Presbytery - Plain Text HTML

4) June 30, 2005 - Detroit Presbytery - Plain Text  HTML

5) August 20, 2005 - Des Moines Presbytery - Plain Text HTML

6) September 13, 2005 - Twin Cities - Plain Text HTML

7) September 17, 2005 - Mid-Kentucky Presbytery - Plain Text HTML

8) September 27, 2005 - Genesee Valley Presbytery - Plain Text HTML

9) November 8, 2005 - Lake Michigan Presbytery

10) November 8, 2005 - Newton Presbytery - Plain Text HTML

11) November 12, 2005 - Newark Presbytery - Plain Text HTML

12) November 12, 2005 - East Iowa Presbytery - Plain Text HTML

13) November 17, 2005 - Baltimore Presbytery - PDF File (see pages 4-5)

14) November 19, 2005 - Presbytery of Southern New England - Plain Text HTML

15) November 29, 2005 - Hudson River Presbytery - concurrence with Heartland Presbytery Overture

16) December 13, 2005 - Chicago Presbytery - Plain Text HTML

17) January 10, 2006 - San Francisco Presbytery - Plain Text HTML

18) January 20, 2006 - Redwoods Presbytery

19) January 23, 2006 - Boston Presbytery - Plain Text HTML

20) January 28, 2006 - De Cristo Presbytery

21) January 31, 2006 - New York City Presbytery - concurrence with Heartland Presbytery Overture

22) February 11, 2006 - Winnebago Presbytery

Some commentators have suggested that the Theological Task Force asked presbyteries to stop their regular process of addressing concerns to the G.A. via overtures. However, that misreads their report. The Task Force recommends that the General Assembly adopt a new Authoritative Interpretation about ordination standards and roles of governing bodies and, if they do so, to allow the church two years to see how it works before taking other actions on ordination. The General Assembly will, as always, have the responsibility of deciding how to weigh the various proposals before it.

For advice on possible overtures in your presbytery, feel free to contact National Organizer Tricia Dykers Koenig by phone at  (216) 658-1770 or by email at triciadk@covenantnetwork.org or  Southeast Regional Coordinator Lou East by phone either at (336) 324-2525 or at (336) 643-9424 and by email at loueast@covenantnetwork.org.