By Verity A. Jones, DisciplesWorld editor and publisher

INDIANAPOLIS (4/14/08) — The Administrative Committee of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) took action Saturday to respond to critics of General Assembly resolutions by convening a task force to promote ways to support military personnel, and by taking a step toward having the next General Assembly consider the elimination of Sense-of-the-Assembly resolutions.

In response to a number of congregations upset by the passage of Sense-of-the-Assembly Resolution 0728, "The Church's Response to the War in Iraq," at the Disciples’ 2007 General Assembly in Fort Worth — which opposed the war — the Administrative Committee authorized Disciples’ General Minister and President Sharon E. Watkins to “convene a group to discern and promote ways that congregations can support our active military personnel and those who return from abroad to their state side posts, as well as their families and congregations,” according to business item AC-08-1991. 

The Administrative Committee also approved a request that would eventually ask the 2009 General Assembly to vote to remove Sense-of-the-Assembly resolutions from its proceedings altogether. The committee’s actions would not affect other types of resolutions, such as Operational Business Items and Items for Research and Reflection.

Last fall, a group from First Christian Church in Edmond, Okla., signed a letter calling for some of the changes the Administrative Committee is considering, citing the damaging impact the resolution had within their own congregation when members learned about the General Assembly's action. Watkins, Disciples Moderator Newell Williams, and others have been in conversation with some of the church's members to hear their concerns.

Citing the divisiveness of plenary debates on the floor of General Assemblies occasioned by many Sense-of-the-Assembly resolutions, the current request from the Office of General Minister and President says the process “polarizes the church while failing to honor the diversity of thought and viewpoint that is part of our historical identity, [and] failing to provide appropriate resources for congregational study.”

Sense-of-the-Assembly resolutions were created in 1989 as way for the church gathered at biennial General Assemblies to give voice to pressing social issues and to call congregations to a period of study and reflection.  Such resolutions over the years have included opposing capital punishment, supporting farm workers’ rights, and more recently, calling for the elimination of torture. In Disciples’ polity, the resolutions are non-binding.

The Administrative Committee also asks for “other more effective ways to explore challenging issues from our varied faith perspectives,” in the request.

The request will go to the Standing Committee on Renewal and Structural Reform asking that group to submit a resolution to the 2009 General Assembly that would modify the special rules of the General Assembly to eliminate Sense-of-the-Assembly resolutions in favor of other ways to tackle the issues.