By Don Fortson
TE, Presbytery of the Central Carolinas
There is much to commend in the new Book of Government (BoG) amendment (12-17-25 Draft) offered by the Ad Interim Committee (AIC). It reflects many Biblical principles that would be imperative for church officers. Ultimately, it’s not what the amendment says that is problematic, but what it does not say. This revision still does not make it clear that same-sex attracted (SSA) persons would not qualify for church office. It is obvious that the AIC does not want to single out SSA persons in the BoG amendment, however the specific question of whether or not we will ordain SSA officers is the specific question at hand! Why the resistance to address this question directly?
In this article we will examine the new AIC BoG amendment, showing how it leaves the door open to SSA ordination. We will also look at an alternative amendment adopted by a number of EPC presbyteries that clearly closes the door of ordination to SSA persons. These two alternative amendments give the EPC a real choice. Will we allow Sessions and Presbyteries to ordain gay persons to church office as the AIC report permits, or will we maintain the historic position of the EPC?
New AIC Amendment is Side B Friendly
The AIC amendment recommends the following be added to BoG 9-3.B:
“Officers in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church must be above reproach in their walk and Christlike in their character. While office bearers will see spiritual perfection only in glory, they will continue in this life to confess and to mortify remaining sins in light of God’s work of progressive sanctification. Therefore, to be qualified for office, they must affirm the sinfulness of fallen desires, the reality and hope of progressive sanctification, and be committed to the pursuit of Spirit- empowered victory over their sinful temptations, inclinations, and actions.”
The AIC amendment states that church officers “must affirm the sinfulness of fallen desires.” This language, while Biblical, is insufficient to meet the question at hand. This wording mirrors the circumlocution used by Side B gay Christians [Side B is celibate homosexuality] to affirm that their SSA experience is a result of the Fall while denying their SSA experience is sin. That is, a person experiencing SSA is not morally culpable for his or her same-sex desires. This is the gay Christian theology of Greg Johnson and Side B. This statement allows room for a SSA person to acknowledge same-sex desires are rooted in the Fall, while simultaneously denying SSA itself is sin — therefore, claiming a gay identity with no hope of freedom from SSA. These are the verbal games being played by Side B advocates. Perhaps this was not the intent of the AIC language, but this is how it can be interpreted.
One observes similar thinking in the “Pastoral Letter on Human Sexuality” in which it is stated: “The ongoing experience of temptation is not a sign of sin or lack of sanctification.” This statement would appear to endorse SSA as fixed, since ongoing experience of SSA is not sin. On the contrary, James 1:14 states, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.”
Evil desires within the human heart can’t be blamed on God, nor are they morally neutral. They are sin. Same-sex temptations, desires, lusts, and acts are all sin according to Scripture. Experiencing ongoing SSA is a sign of sin and a lack of sanctification. The Westminster Larger Catechism Q. 139 states that “sodomy and all unnatural desires” are forbidden by the seventh commandment. The Biblical proof texts for “all unnatural desires” are Romans 1:24, 26-27 and Leviticus 20:15-16. If one has continuing SSA experience, he is not mature in sanctification but needs repentance, pastoral care, and discipleship. It would be irresponsible to place such a person in church office — it would not be safe for his soul nor the souls of those to whom he would minister.
Another insufficient part of the AIC amendment is the statement that officers must “be committed to the pursuit of spirit-empowered victory over their sinful temptations, inclinations, and actions.” It is agreed all believers should pursue spirit empowered victory over sin, yet church officers should have experienced spirit-empowered victory if indeed they are spiritually mature in Christ. It’s not enough to be in pursuit — there must be victorious fruit. There should be a strong track record of overcoming sinful desires in one’s life. The WCF 13:3 states:
“Although the old nature temporarily wins battles in this warfare, the continual strengthening of the sanctifying Spirit of Christ enables the regenerate nature in each believer to overcome. And so the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
The Confession is borrowing language from 2 Corinthians 7:1, “… let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body, and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” This should be both the aspiration and experience of any church officer. Only mature believers are called to leadership in Christ’s church.
Presbytery BoG Amendment Answers the Question
Thankfully, there is another option. A more useful overture that is allied with the historic position of the EPC has been considered by several presbyteries and approved by four: Pacific Northwest, New River, Florida and the Caribbean, and Central Carolinas. It specifically addresses SSA ordination. The overture — which I call the “Allied overture” — recommends this amendment to BoG 9-3.A:
“Therefore, persons eligible for church office shall conform in heart, mind, and conduct to God’s design for human sexuality, embracing with gratitude the calling of either chastity in singleness or fidelity within marriage between one man and one woman. Those who profess, persist in, or identify with unnatural desires or affections, contrary to God’s created order and condemned by Scripture as against nature, are disqualified from holding office in Christ’s Church.
See Romans 1:26–27 on desires contrary to God’s created order; Genesis 1–2 on the creation of male and female; Westminster Larger Catechism Q.139 on the moral duties of Christians and the proper ordering of affection.”
The Allied overture addresses directly the Biblical issues that apply to someone professing SSA and seeking ordination. A person with ongoing SSA experience would not qualify for ordination, and the BoG amendment simply states this fact. This amendment is fulfilling the task that the AIC amendment will not accomplish. The footnote at the end of the amendment supplies the Biblical foundation of its assertions.
What’s at stake here is the Biblical and Reformed understanding of ministry. Overcoming sinful temptations, inclinations, and actions is expected of deacons, elders, and ministers who can say with St. Paul “imitate me as I imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). The EPC Book of Worship underscores this truth in its comments about preaching:
“… preaching demands study, meditation, prayer, and time for adequate preparation. Above all, that which is preached should be exemplified in the life of the preacher.” (BoW 2-6.B).
A pastor who identifies as SSA can’t preach with credibility. His ongoing SSA nullifies his testimony as a minister of the transforming gospel of Jesus Christ. The Presbytery amendment states clearly and positively the Biblical, Reformed, and orthodox position of the EPC — a position consistent with the 2000-year history of the Church on the issue of homosexuality.
Pastorally, can we ever say, “God may not deliver you from your sin”? When there is failure to find freedom, it is a sign of ongoing sin in one’s life. The Holy Spirit has not failed, the sinner has failed; and yes, it is a sign of undeveloped sanctification. For example, if a professing Christian has an ongoing desire for pornography, he is a severely struggling believer who needs pastoral care. Telling him, “God may not deliver you from this,” and “would you like to be a ruling elder in our congregation?” would be absurd. The AIC documents seem to have bought into the falsehood that homosexual inclination may be fixed for believers — that’s a denial of the gospel of transforming grace. We must not embrace such a sub-Christian view of sanctification that violates what our constitution teaches (e.g., WCF 13.3).
Why is the Allied Overture Necessary?
It is imperative that we all understand the historical trajectory that has made the Allied overture necessary.
First, a determined effort is underway in the AIC on SSA to change the ordination standards of the EPC by permitting the ordination to office of those “experiencing SSA” (present tense). Realize that SSA is just another way to say “homosexual.”
Second, the AIC is not recommending that the constitution be changed to accommodate celibate homosexuals. No, it is recommending a change to the Pastoral Letter on Human Sexuality that would give Sessions and Presbyteries “counsel” in examining those who “experience SSA.” That “counsel” effectively gives Sessions and Presbyteries permission to ordain these individuals (see the right column of the document linked above, beginning on page 8).
In the EPC, a Pastoral Letter has no constitutional authority. But if approved by the 46th Assembly next June, it will effectively (but unconstitutionally) allow for the ordination of SSA persons to church office. In addition, by giving Sessions and Presbyteries permission to ordain them, it makes ordaining them in the EPC a “non-essential” in that we will “agree to disagree” on a matter that has destroyed the gospel testimony of countless Protestant denominations in the U.S.
At the 45th General Assembly last year a network lunch was convened by the AIC. Commissioners were given the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback to the committee. The fact that the AIC recommendations on SSA were ambiguous and not constitutional was communicated to the committee in that luncheon and in the feedback the AIC received online in the weeks after the Assembly. Based on the feedback the AIC was given, there were reasonable expectations that the August 27 edition of the AIC report would reflect that input. However, the August 27 edition of the AIC report made clear that that input — address SSA clearly, directly, and constitutionally, had been ignored. The updated AIC amendment (12-7-26 Draft) still does not specifically address the question of SSA and ordination!
There was no change in the ambiguity of the “counsel” and rationale for opening the door to the ordination of celibate homosexuals in the pastoral letter. There was no constitutional amendment addressing the ordination of celibate homosexuals. Having been told by the AIC that it wanted input into their work and having found that input ignored is what sparked the creation of the Allied overture. So here we are with the AIC’s report on SSA which is voluminous, page after page after page of words that do not address and resolve the matter of SSA and ordination. The Allied overture’s amendment to the Constitution is a mere 70 words and would clearly resolve the issue of SSA and ordination in the EPC.
Conclusion: This is a Gospel Issue
The issue of SSA and ordination is a gospel issue. Underlying support for ordaining celibate gay persons is a presupposition that homosexuality may be a fixed sexuality. This is a lie of modern culture. According to Scripture, in Christ, persons with sexual attraction to someone of the same gender can experience freedom from this bondage like any other sin. SSA is grievous sin against God’s design for humanity as male and female, created sexually for one another. When someone with SSA is born again, the Holy Spirit enables one to progressively kill this sin within their desires and experience freedom. A host of believers bear witness to this transformation in their lives, including Christian marriage. The gospel is not just forgiving grace, it is transforming grace. An assertion that SSA is static is a denial of the New Birth, and thus a denial of the gospel. The good news about Jesus Christ is both forgiveness and new life. Ordained officers in the Church live in Christian freedom, not bondage to ongoing sin.
One of the most powerful conversion stories in Christianity is that of St. Augustine. In the Confessions he chronicles his long journey to faith and transformation. Augustine tells of his unwillingness to give up the sinful sexual desires in his life until Christ changed his heart. After a dramatic encounter with a text from Romans that shook him to the core, Augustine describes the transformation that took place in the opening of book nine:
“And what at one time I feared to lose, it was now a joy to me to put away. For thou didst cast them away from me, Thou true and highest sweetness. Thou didst cast them away, and instead of them didst enter in Thyself. Now was my soul free from the gnawing cares of seeking and getting, and of wallowing and exciting the itch of lust. And I babbled unto Thee my brightness, my riches, and my health, the Lord my God.”
St. Augustine eventually became a bishop, but without the new birth and a transformed life, including freedom from the lusts of his former life, he would never have been a leader in the Christian Church. A transformed life is a prerequisite for pastoral ministry.
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