By Charles Cochran, DisciplesWorld contributing writer

FORT WORTH, Texas (7/26/07) — After a bit of overnight tweaking, delegates attending the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) approved a resolution Wednesday “conscientiously opposing” the war in Iraq.

The Assembly’s Committee on Reference and Counsel, working late Tuesday evening, had eliminated verbiage “condemning the war in Iraq as contrary to the teachings and example of Jesus Christ.” Instead, delegates ultimately went on record “as conscientiously opposing the war in Iraq as an action inconsistent with the teachings and example of Jesus Christ.”

During the debate on Tuesday, several delegates had objected to the original language, which they said appeared to call into doubt the Christian commitment of those who opposed the resolution.

Other changes were made, too. A paragraph affirming the Disciples tradition of “honest dialogue in which a respect for the faithful viewpoints of others is expected as a matter of both conviction and conscience” was moved up to near the document’s beginning.

Also, verbiage was eliminated that would have offered the church’s “moral support – as well as legal support, to the extent that it is possible” to soldiers who refuse to fight in Iraq. Instead, in the adopted resolution the church simply “affirms the God-given right of conscience and offers moral support” to such soldiers.

The changes passed muster with the Disciples Peace Fellowship, the 72-year-old Disciples-affiliated peace advocacy organization that drafted the resolution, member Tom Quigley told the Assembly.

 “We want the Assembly to know we wholeheartedly support the changes that have been presented,” Quigley said. Members of the Peace Fellowship participated in the Tuesday evening deliberations in which the changes were made, he said.

Many of those who spoke in favor of the resolution said it is long overdue. Some, like Tom Plumbley, pastor of First Christian Church of Fort Worth, noted that the church remained silent regarding the war during the Assemblies of 2003 and 2005. “It is high time this church got off its duff and spoke the truth regarding this war,” Plumbley said.

Although no precise tally was available, the vote was far from unanimous with many of the delegates standing to cast “no” votes.

Some pastors, like Rob Scofield of Hill Memorial Christian Church of Fort Worth, worried that the resolution may fracture local congregations. “In my own congregation, a vote such as this can be – and will be – very divisive,” Scofield said. “… Individual congregations can do as they will, but an Assembly making a statement can have implications that may follow us all of our days.”

On Wednesday afternoon before the full Assembly, the resolution survived motions that would referred it again to the Committee on Reference and Counsel or kicked it back to the General Board. Either motion, had it passed, would have effectively killed the resolution.

A lively debate preceded the final vote. Immediately afterward, Moderator Bill Lee – pastor of the Loudon Avenue Christian Church in Roanoke, Va. –  offered a pastoral prayer that appeared intended to remind the delegates of their essential unity as members of the body of Christ.

The Iraq war is “not the first time your church has had difficulty with tough decisions,” Lee prayed, recalling the early church disputes between Jewish and Gentile believers. “Although we disagree, we leave in the spirit of unity,” he prayed. “In the spirit of Christ we pray – and count this done. Amen.”