The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on Tuesday approved a statement of faith that mixes traditional Christian beliefs with environmental concerns and images of God as both mother and father.
Commissioners stood and cheered after approving the statement - the church's first since a 1983 merger of its northern and southern branches following a 122-year split over slavery - in a 499-to-25 vote."I think the statement of faith is a reflection of the church's ability, even in the face of considerable diversity, that we are still capable of forming a unified statement of Christian belief that is consistent with our tradition," said the Rev. John Mulder, president of Louisville Presbyterian Seminary.
The statement must be sent to the denomination's 177 presbyteries. If two-thirds of them approve, it will come before the 1991 General Assembly for a final vote. It would then become the 11th statement of faith in the 2.9 million-member denomination's Book of Confessions.
The statement upholds centuries-old church teachings that Jesus Christ was both fully human and fully God and that God raised Jesus from the dead to offer eternal life.
Reflecting more recent church developments, the statement also declares that God calls women and men to all ministries of the church "and makes everyone equally in God's image, male and female, of every race and people, to live as one community."
The statement says God is like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child and like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal son home.
It also says that human beings have exploited nature "and threatened death to the planet entrusted to our care."
On Monday, the assembly, embroiled in a dispute over the distribution of sexually explicit literature to a youth meeting by a homosexual caucus, decided to take away semio-fficial status from some of its most severe liberal and conservative critics.
Despite criticism that it was trying to reduce voices of dissent within the church, commissioners voted to delete a part of the church's Book of Order that gives groups such as Presbyterians for Lesbian-Gay Concerns and Presbyterians Pro-Life the right to be officially represented at church meetings.
The Rev. Robert Davidson of New York City said the church should not be appearing to back away from defending the right to dissent at a time when freedom of speech is breaking out all over the world.
This vote also must go back to the presbyteries to be ratified. If two-thirds of the regional presbyteries agree, the organizations will no longer "be attached officially to the church," said Marj Carpenter, news director of the church.