Editing Presbyterian Church (USA) (section)

===General Assembly 2006===
The 2006 ''Report of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church'',<ref>[http://www.pcusa.org/peaceunitypurity/finalreport/final-report-revised-english.pdf A Season of Discernment: The Final Report of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515022133/http://www.pcusa.org/peaceunitypurity/finalreport/final-report-revised-english.pdf |date=May 15, 2008 }}, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 2006, retrieved May 14, 2008</ref> in theory, attempted to find common ground. Some felt that the adoption of this report provided for a clear local option mentioned, while the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Clifton Kirkpatrick went on record as saying, "Our standards have not changed. The rules of the Book of Order stay in force and all ordinations are still subject to review by higher governing bodies." The authors of the report stated that it is a compromise and return to the original Presbyterian culture of local controls. The recommendation for more control by local [[presbyterian polity|presbyteries and sessions]] is viewed by its opposition as a method for bypassing the constitutional restrictions currently in place concerning ordination and marriage, effectively making the constitutional "standard" entirely subjective.

In the General Assembly gathering of June 2006, Presbyterian voting Commissioners passed an "authoritative interpretation", recommended by the Theological Task Force, of the ''Book of Order'' (the church constitution). Some argued that this gave presbyteries the "local option" of ordaining or not ordaining anyone based on a particular presbytery's reading of the constitutional statute. Others argued that presbyteries have always had this responsibility and that this new ruling did not change but only clarified that responsibility. On June 20, 2006, the General Assembly voted 298 to 221 (or 57% to 43%) to approve such interpretation. In that same session on June 20, the General Assembly also voted 405 to 92 (with 4 abstentions) to uphold the constitutional standard for ordination requiring fidelity in marriage or chastity in singleness.