Conservative Presbyterian Says Lobbyist Did Not Speak for PC(USA) on FMA
by Jim Brown
March 30, 2004
(AgapePress) - A theologically conservative pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA) is dismissing a top official's claim that the denomination does not support the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Earlier this month, the head of the PC(USA)'s Washington, DC, office testified before Congress that her denomination is officially opposed to the amendment that would ban same-sex marriage. During her testimony, Pastor Elenora Giddings Ivory called homosexual marriage a civil rights issue.
But Parker T. Williamson, CEO of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, says Giddings Ivory's statement was completely mistaken. "She misrepresented the people of the Presbyterian Church, she misrepresented our constitution, and she misrepresented the General Assembly statement," he says.
Williamson, who is editor-in-chief of the Presbyterian Layman, notes that the PC(USA)'s constitution states that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman. He says for Giddings Ivory to say otherwise "was absolutely false, and there are many of us who are very, very unhappy that she has done this."
The conservative pastor points out that Giddings Ivory does not represent her fellow Presbyterians. He says the head of the PC(USA)'s Washington office is a paid political lobbyist for the denomination, who gets a $75,000 annual salary to run that office.
But when Giddings Ivory spoke for the PC(USA) before Congress, Williamson says, "she was way out of line," and the Lay Committee's head suspects that the denominational leaders will let her know it.
"We suspect that she is being privately reprimanded because this is an embarrassment to the denomination's leadership. They realize that she blew it, that she stepped over the line," Williamson says, "but the sad thing is they are not admitting that to the Presbyterian public."
The conservative lay leader believes that admission, immediately, along with a public clarification of the church's position would have been for the best. Williamson says the highest officers of the Presbyterian Church (USA) should have issued a press release saying that Giddings Ivory was wrong.
