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Minutes of the General Assembly 2012
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
Advocating for vulnerable children as a Church and with other
Church Leaders.
Acting wherever we can to care for vulnerable children
Raising awareness in our congregations and communities of
the plight and needs of children in our midst.
Supporting and strengthening families
The substantive motion, as amended, was agreed.
The Assembly adjourned at 10.15pm, to resume at 10.30 am, Sunday 7 October, 2012.
Ray Coster, Moderator
Martin Baker, Clerk
Addendum to Minutes of Session 8
Reasons for dissent to motions [12.108] and [12.109]
(Doctrine and Marriage)
There is no agreement in the Church about a historic Christian understanding of marriage. The
Church has refused to engage in a thoughtful theological reflection about the nature of
marriage. The 1991 and 2004 statements arose out of highly contested debates about
leadership of gay and lesbian people in the church, not about the nature of marriage itself. We
must be willing to do our theology anew in every moment if we are to be open to the movement
of the Holy Spirit in our Assemblies and in the life of the church.
Marriage is made for humanity, not humanity for the institution of marriage. Church and culture
have changed traditional understandings of marriage before (about polygamy, slavery,
subordination of women, institutionalised racism) and we can do so again. Marriage has a social
meaning that is not limited to religious marriage. For many New Zealanders, the Civil Union Act
does not achieve the desire for full equality for all committed couples.
The Bible makes many references to sex but does not address love-based marriage as we
understand it today. It is not an ahistorical rule book on sexual ethics. What endures in the Bible
is a love ethic, which is constantly being brought to bear on whatever sexual mores are
dominant in any given culture or period. So we must critique the relational mores and laws of
any given time by the love ethic exemplified by Jesus. Such a love ethic is responsible, mutual,
caring, and loving. For contemporary Christians this is the basis on which same-sex marriage
must be judged. And on this basis, it is clear that same-sex marriage is not simply acceptable,
but desirable, in the framework of the ethics of Jesus.
This Marriage Amendment Bill relates to civil, not religious, marriage. It will allow religious
bodies that do not support same-sex marriage to continue with current theology and practice.
No clergy person will be required to perform a same-sex marriage. As people of faith, we have a
right to make our views known in the public sphere but we do not have the right to expect a
particular theological view to be enshrined in law.
Passing these anti-marriage equality decisions further damages the mission and ministry of the
PCANZ. The church appears judgmental and increasingly irrelevant. Public opposition to samesex
marriage will be interpreted by society as the church’s rejection of gay and lesbian people. It
will send a destructive and damaging message to young gay, lesbian and transgender people
within the church and society. To take this stance without engagement with the people whose
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