Date: Thu, 23 Mar 1995 16:32:34 -0500 (EST) From: JANDERSON@zodiac.rutgers.edu MORE LIGHT UPDATE April 1995 Volume 15, Number 9 Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns James D. Anderson, Communications Secretary P.O. 38 New Brunswick, NJ 08903-0038 908/249-1016, 908/932-7501 (Rutgers University) FAX 908/932-6916 (Rutgers University) Internet: janderson@zodiac.rutgers.edu Note: * is used to indicate italicized or boldface text. CONTENTS Events Getting Ready for General Assembly A Celebration of Faith, Friday July 14-Saturday July 15 More Light Churches Conference, Baltimore, April 28-30 Capturing the Tradition -- Responding to the Challenge! Affirmation: United Methodists for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns celebrates its 20th Anniversary in Dallas, Texas, April 21-23, 1995 Gay and Lesbian Voices: Transforming the Church, Spring Convocation, April 26-27, 1995 Bound for the Promised Land, United Methodist Reconciling Congregation Program 4th convocation, July 13-16, 1995 Hurtling Toward the Millennium: Political Upheaval, Gay Power, and Our Dreams for the Church -- 15th National Gathering of the United Church Coalition for Lesbian/Gay Concerns, June 26-29, 1995 Requests Presbyterian Youth Workers Earnestly seeking a PLGC treasurer Features Love Matters, *1 Corinthians 13*, by Michael D. Smith The Welcoming Churches Movement, A sermon delivered by Roger S. Powers at Church of the Covenant in Boston on Sunday, January 29, 1995. Thank God for Westminster! An Open Letter to the Bills and Overtures Committee, National Capital Presbytery, by Hank Carde, Commander, US Navy (ret.) Our Sisters and Brothers in Australia: Lesbians and Gay Men in the United Church in Australia -- A Brief Status Report, by Warren R. Talbot, January 1995 The 'Ex-Gay' Ministries and 'Curing' Homosexuality: Analysis by Keith Clark Box 1: Don't Try to Change Gays, AMA Advises. Box 2: Deathblow for the so-called "ex-gay" ministries? Box 3: "Healing for the homosexual explored at Rochester conference" Box 4: Definitive Guidance This Strange and Mysterious Time: Commentary by the Rev. Howard Warren Dr. Mel White Fasts in Prison to Protest Pat Robertson's "Anti-Gay Rhetoric" Fast & Imprisonment Continues into Third Week John Boswell's Brother Arrests Mel White Local PLGC Chapter Supports Mel White's Witness EVENTS Getting Ready for General Assembly The 1995 General Assembly will convene in Cincinnati, Ohio, "The Queen City!", Saturday, July 15 through Friday, July 21. A church-wide theology convocation will be held on Friday, July 14 and Saturday, July 15. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender Presbyterians, their friends and families are needed at both events for a ministry of presence, witness, and proclamation to the Presbyterian Church as we mark the beginning of the third (and final) year of dialogue before the denomination decides whether there is a room at the Presbyterian table for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other Presbyterians who do not fit the "straight and narrow" heterosexual image of a "proper" Presbyterian. Here is some preliminary information. It will be updated in the May *More Light Update*: Housing. If you want to stay at one of the four General Assembly Hotels near the convention center (Hyatt Regency, Regal, Omni Netherland, Westin) at General Assembly rates, you must fill out a G.A. registration form. Call 1-800-210-9371 to request a form. PLGC hospitality suite, Regal Hotel -- hospitality begins on Friday, July 14. You may have to ask for James D. Anderson to get the room number! Lisa Furr will be our suite coordinator again this year. PLGC Exhibit Booth, Cincinnati Convention Center, Saturday, July 15, noon-7:30 p.m.; Sunday, July 16, 1-7:30 p.m.; Monday, July 17, 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m.; Tuesday, July 18, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; Wednesday, July 19, 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m.; Thursday, July 20, 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. PLGC Planning meeting, for all PLGC members and friends, 3 p.m., Saturday, July 15, in the PLGC Hospitality Suite. PLGC Executive Board Meeting, 7 a.m., Sunday, July 16, over breakfast at a nearby restaurant. Check at PLGC booth for location. A PLGC Celebration of Reconciliation, Saturday evening, July 15, 8:30-10:30 p.m., Hyatt Regency Hotel, Buckeye A & B. Featuring readings from "Called OUT: Voices of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Presbyterians," led by Lisa Larges of the Witness for Reconciliation, San Francisco Bay Area, and Doug Calderwood, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The annual Inclusive Church Award will be presented. *Called OUT* is a new book of stories and gifts from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Presbyterians -- currently living in exile from the governing bodies and blessing of our church, but earnestly seeking reconciliation with the whole family of God. Regular tickets will be $10; low income tickets will be $5.00; free tickets are also available for those without income or resources -- we don't want anyone to stay away! Full-price tickets will be available from General Assembly ticket sales, both through advance orders and at the General Assembly ticket booth. All tickets will be available at the PLGC booth or in advance from Jim Anderson, PLGC Communications Secretary, P.O. Box 38, New Brunswick, NJ 08903-0038. The annual PLGC membership meeting, Tuesday, 8-10 p.m., July 18, Regal Hotel, Colonnade Room B. The famous annual gala Witherspoon party & dance, Tuesday, July 18, following the PLGC membership meeting! Place to be announced. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A Celebration of Faith, Friday July 14-Saturday July 15 -- "We Trust in God . . . Jesus Christ . . . The Holy Spirit" -- The PCUSA is living through a time of diversity and disagreement. For the sake of Christ, it is important that we listen to each other and talk to each other, even where we differ. The 206th General Assembly (1994) called for church-wide theology convocations prior to future General Assemblies. The first of these convocations will take place July 14-15, 1995, in Cincinnati, prior to the 207th General Assembly (1995). Our theme is: trust in God, who is revealed in Jesus Christ and active in the Holy Spirit. Three sessions will address: How have we come to know and trust God? How do we live as followers of Jesus Christ in a changing world? Where is the Spirit calling us into ministry today? The convocation will include music, worship, brief presentations, and small group discussion and prayer. Purpose: Through engaging both heart and mind, we wish to recognize God's presence in our midst; to celebrate our common affirmations of trust in the Triune God; to build community and nurture communication; and to acknowledge the challenges of living the faith in our times. Please make this special event part of your preparation for the General Assembly. Registration is limited. Commissioners, visitors and staff members from the church's governing bodies are all invited. -- *from the organizing committee.* It would be great to have gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender folks around the tables, speaking to their faith in a changing world!!! -- JDA. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * More information? For up-to-date information prior to the assembly, contact Jim Anderson, PLGC communications secretary (see back of Update); at the assembly, visit the PLGC exhibit booth in the Cincinnati convention center. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * OTHER EVENTS More Light Churches Conference, Baltimore, April 28-30. Leading off this 11th More Light Churches Conference will be the Rev. Elder Nancy L. Wilson, senior pastor at the Metropolitan Community Church in Los Angeles. Rev. Wilson is a dynamic preacher, and is the author of *Outing the Bible*, which is due to appear from Harper/Collins this summer. She is also co-author of *Amazing Grace* with Fr. Malcolm Boyd. Rev. Wilson has pastored across the country, in Boston, Detroit and now in Los Angeles. She has spoken before the National Council of Churches, the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches in South Africa, and she remains at the forefront of people speaking out on issues of human rights in both the church and society. Rev. Wilson joins other outstanding church leaders at the More Light Churches Conference, including Rev. Herb Valentine, former moderator of the General Assembly, Rev. Janie Spahr, lesbian evangelist, and Chris Glaser, author of the recently released *The Word is Out*. The program will further be enriched by an optional visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington and a block party. The More Light Churches Network's coordinating committee is especially interested this year in inviting churches who may not have made more light declarations but are interested in doing inclusive ministry. For information and registration forms call First and Franklin Church in Baltimore at 1-410-728-5545 or Dick Hasbany at 1-503-345-4620. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Capturing the Tradition -- Responding to the Challenge! Affirmation: United Methodists for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns celebrates its 20th Anniversary in Dallas, Texas, April 21-23, 1995. Keynote address, workshops, mutual support and sharing, banquet Texas style, festival worship. For information, contact National Affirmation at 1-708-733-9590; P.O. Box 1021, Evanston, IL 60204, email: umaffirm@aol.com. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Gay and Lesbian Voices: Transforming the Church, Spring Convocation, April 26-27, 1995, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, 3000 5th St. NW, New Brighton, MN 55112, 1-612- 633-4311, FAX 1-612-633-4315. Keynoters James B. Nelson, Professor of Christian Ethics, has made human sexuality one of his major areas of ethical reflection, writing, and lecturing; Christine Smith, Associate Professor of Preaching and Worship, speaks primarily about preaching and the church's response to systemic evil, feminist theology, and worship. Workshops, site visits, reception, and banquet included. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Bound for the Promised Land, United Methodist Reconciling Congregation Program 4th convocation, July 13-16, 1995, Minneapolis. Preaching, Bible study, forums and workshops. For information, contact the RCP at 3801 N. Keeler Ave., Chicago, IL 60641, 1-312-736-5526, FAX 1-312-736-5475. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Hurtling Toward the Millennium: Political Upheaval, Gay Power, and Our Dreams for the Church -- 15th National Gathering of the United Church Coalition for Lesbian/Gay Concerns, June 26-29, 1995, Berkeley, California, on the campus of the University of California. Registration information and details will appear in the March issue of *WAVES*, the Coalition's newsletter. If you are not currently receiving *WAVES*, call 1-614-593-7301 or write to UCCL/GC, 18 N. College St., Athens, OH 45701. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * REQUESTS Presbyterian Youth Workers. A Director of Christian Education writes: "I would be interested in finding out if there are any other gay or lesbian Presbyterian youth workers out there in our churches. I had gone to a national conference in October and came home doubting if I should indeed be working with young people. After much praying I realized this is what I was meant to be doing. Still I would like to know how other youth workers handle it out here. I would be willing to get something started." Interested folks please write to "Presbyterian Youth Workers," c/o Jim Anderson, PLGC, P.O. Box 38, New Brunswick, NJ 08903- 0038, or email to janderson@zodiac.rutgers.edu (please put "Presbyterian Youth Workers" in subject line!!!!). VISA CARD SUPPORTS PLGC PLGC is one of 82 lesbian and gay supportive organizations on the ballot for holders of **Uncommon Clout**, "The Card That's a Credit to the Lesbian and Gay Community," who vote for organizations to receive financial support. Whenever the **Uncommon Clout** Visa card is used, 10 cents goes into a special account for AIDS, lesbian, or gay non-profit organizations. If you'd like more information, call 1-800-gay- clout (429-2568). And remember to vote for PLGC! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CHANGES Earnestly seeking a PLGC treasurer. Richard Koteras, our hardworking treasurer, has announced his attention to "retire" from the PLGC treasury at the end of this year. So we need a new treasurer, someone who knows how to keep books and work with computer-based accounting software. Our treasurer is also our liaison with the IRS -- yes, we get to file tax forms, too. A person with experience preferred. Interested folks please contact Jim Anderson, PLGC, P.O. Box 38, New Brunswick, NJ 08903- 0038, or email to janderson@zodiac.rutgers.edu (please put "PLGC treasurer") in subject line!!!!). NEW SYNOD COORDINATORS Please welcome the following new Synod Co-coordinators who were appointed by the PLGC board at its Albuquerque meeting, February 18-19, 1995: Northeast: Sally Witherell, 28 9th St., #403, Medford, MA 02155- 5140, 617-391-7033. Trinity: Rob Cummings, PO Box 394, Jackson Center, PA 16133-0394, 412-475-3285. Mid-Atlantic: Brent Bissette, 223 Riverwalk Cir., Cary, NC 27511, 919-467-5747. Living Waters: Jimmy Smith, 822-A Sutton Hill Rd., Nashville, TN 37204, 615-269-3234. The board also accepted the resignation of Art Kaltenborn, long- time coordinator in the Synod of the Covenant, with hearty thanks for his long, faithful, and effective service. Now we have no coordinator in the Synod of the Covenant, so interested folks should contact Jim Anderson, PLGC, P.O. Box 38, New Brunswick, NJ 08903-0038, or email to janderson@zodiac.rutgers.edu (please put "Synod of the Covenant coordinator") in subject line!!!!). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * FEATURES Love Matters *1 Corinthians 13* by Michael D. Smith *For Barbara and others who matter.* If I speak in the tongues of heterosexuals or of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I preach at Louisville headquarters, and understand all definitive guidance and all authoritative interpretations of the constitution, and if I have all Reformed faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I deny all I am, and if I deliver my patriarchal body to be burned, and have not love, I gain nothing. Love is open and inclusive; love is not closeted or selective; it is not hostile or unjust. Love does not insist on its own orientation; it is not fearful or phobic; it does not rejoice in moralisms, but rejoices in freedom. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all Presbyterians. Love never ends; as for General Assemblies, they will pass away; as for permanent judicial commissions, they will cease; as for the *Book of Order*, it will pass away. For our confessions are imperfect and our ordinations are imperfect; but when the perfect comes, hierarchies will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I affirmed my sexuality. For now we see in a governing body dimly, but then whole sexual body to whole sexual body. Now I know in parts; then I shall understand in connections, even as I have been fully connected. So Bible, tradition, theology matter, these three; but what matters most is love. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Welcoming Churches Movement A sermon delivered by Roger S. Powers at Church of the Covenant in Boston on Sunday, January 29, 1995. Jeremiah 1: 4-10 I Corinthians 13: 1-13 [Roger Powers has been a member of the Church of the Covenant in Boston since 1989. He lives and works in Cambridge, serves on Boston Presbytery's Committee on Ministry, and is on the National Committee of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship.] Today, we join with churches across the country in celebrating the growing witness of the "Welcoming Churches Movement" -- those congregations that publicly welcome gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons into full membership and participation in the life of their churches. There are more than 140 "Open and Affirming" congregations in the United Church of Christ and over 60 "More Light" congregations in the Presbyterian Church (USA). The movement includes congregations in other denominations as well: Methodist "Reconciling" congregations, Brethren and Mennonite "Supportive" congregations, Unitarian Universalist "Welcoming" congregations, Lutheran "Reconciled in Christ" congregations, American Baptist "Welcoming and Affirming" congregations, and Disciples of Christ "Open and Affirming" congregations. As most of you know, Church of the Covenant counts itself among these "Welcoming Churches." Our church was one of the first Presbyterian congregations in the country to declare itself a "More Light" church, doing so almost fifteen years ago in September of 1980, and until recently we were the only "More Light" Presbyterian church in the state of Massachusetts. Our church was also one of the first U.C.C. congregations in the nation, and the first in the Massachusetts Conference, to declare itself an "Open and Affirming" church. And so it seems only appropriate, given the leading role that our church has played in the past, to lift up today the witness of the more than 400 churches in the "Welcoming Churches Movement." For those of you who are new to Covenant or don't follow this issue as it plays out in denominational politics, a brief review. Church of the Covenant is a federated church of two national denominations: the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA). The United Church of Christ as a denomination affirms the ordination of gay and lesbian persons to leadership positions in the church. In practice, however, gay and lesbian U.C.C. clergy find few opportunities for parish ministry, because of the widespread homophobia that exists in many local congregations. In the Presbyterian Church, the denomination allows gay and lesbian Christians to become members but prohibits them from being ordained to leadership positions as deacons, elders, or clergy. Presbyterian theologian Robert McAfee Brown has said that to open the doors of church membership to gays and lesbians but not to allow them to hold office is "unjust, un-Christian, unbiblical, and very bad theology." It relegates gay and lesbian Christians to the status of second-class citizens in the church. In response, Presbyterian "More Light" churches and U.C.C. "Open and Affirming" churches proclaim their intention to welcome all persons into the life, membership, and leadership of their congregations regardless of sexual orientation. Though there are more than four hundred churches in the "Welcoming Churches Movement," we are very much in the minority. The Holy Spirit is moving in the world, but most of the church is being dragged along behind, kicking and screaming. Most churches still are afraid to discuss the subject of sexuality, not to mention homosexuality, and are even less apt to publicly welcome gay and lesbian Christians into their midst. Most churches today might as well have a sign over their doors saying "For Heterosexuals Only." Oh sure, there are many churches who claim to welcome all people, but there is a subtext in their welcome. You are welcome, but if you're gay you can't be ordained to a leadership role in our church. You're welcome, but we will encourage you to repent of your lifestyle. You're welcome, as long as you're celibate. You're welcome, but don't ask us to bless your union with someone of the same sex. You're welcome, and you'll be glad to know that we have a counseling program that can cure you. You're welcome, but please don't come out of the closet; we don't really want to know who you are. Many gay and lesbian Christians know this all too well from personal experience and as a result feel terribly alienated and ostracized by the church. Thank God for "Welcoming Churches" like Covenant. To be homosexual in a homophobic and heterosexist society is hard enough. But to also be a person of faith and have no faith community where you feel loved and accepted and where you can be yourself is a tragedy. "Welcoming Churches" are oases of living water for gay, lesbian, and bisexual Christians who have wandered through a desert of homophobic churches. Now, of course, you will hear many Christians and church leaders say (and not just those sometimes labeled the Religious Right) that the Bible says homosexuality is wrong in the eyes of God. But how often have we heard those words: "the Bible says"? The Bible says slaves shall be subject to their masters. So the church justified slavery and segregation. The Bible says women should be subject to their husbands. So the church justified sexism and patriarchy. The Bible portrays women as servants rather than leaders. So the church said women have no business being ordained. Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians: "As for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect." How right he was. The fact is there are only a handful of passages in the entire Bible that are offered as proof texts that homosexuality is wrong. You don't find these verses in the Ten Commandments. The prophets are silent on the subject of homosexuality. Neither Jesus nor the Gospel writers say anything about homosexuality. No, the few texts used to condemn homosexuality are found in Genesis 19, Leviticus 18 and 20, Romans 1, I Corinthians 6, and I Timothy 1. And of these six passages, only the two in Leviticus are clearly about homosexual acts *per se*. Leviticus 18:22 says: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." Leviticus 20:13 says: "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them." Now to start with, you will notice that these passages are written from a patriarchal perspective, and say nothing about a woman lying with a woman. So the lesbians in our midst are off the hook. The historian, John Boswell, writes that "The Hebrew word 'toevah,' here translated 'abomination,' does not usually signify something intrinsically evil, like rape or theft (discussed elsewhere in Leviticus), but something which is ritually unclean for Jews, like eating pork or engaging in intercourse during menstruation, both of which are prohibited in these same chapters." Jewish laws also prohibit eating shellfish, wearing clothes of more than one type of fabric, and cutting hair. Now let's take a poll. How many people here eat pork or shellfish? How many people here are wearing clothes of more than one type of fabric? How many people have had a haircut in the last few months? I thought so. Most of us disregard these laws. So why should we single out two verses in Leviticus that condemn homosexual acts between men as being ritually unclean, greatly inflate the importance of these two verses, and insist that they be obeyed as God's law, when we feel perfectly free not to abide by the other laws? Moreover, how can we compare the few passages that purport to say anything about homosexuality with the hundreds of passages throughout the Bible about God's love for us and the love we ought to have for one another, about truth, justice, compassion, freedom, and forgiveness? Many in the religious community will say that of course we are to love everyone just as God loves us. We are to love the sinner, but hate the sin. Well, it's time we said in a loud and clear voice, and without reservation, that HOMOSEXUALITY IS NOT A SIN! On the contrary, sexuality, of whatever kind, is a beautiful gift from God and it should be celebrated. What is a sin is the oppression of people based on their sexuality. The sin of heterosexism is alive and well in America. That is what the religious community and our society as a whole need to repent of. The sin of heterosexism causes a great deal of injury, pain, and heartache for gay men and lesbians: the tremendous anxiety over whether they will be accepted and loved if they decide to come out to parents and other family members; the terrible feelings of loss after coming out to a parent or family member and not being accepted; having to choose between those you love during the holidays, whether to spend them with your partner or with your family on your own; not being able to express affection for a loved one in public, without risking verbal harassment or even physical attack; having to weigh the risk of coming out to colleagues at work, and the possible consequences that might entail; always being careful not to inadvertently out your friends; constantly having to put up with or fight against society's assumption that you are heterosexual, and that if you are in a relationship, your partner is of the opposite sex. It's a tough world out there. That is why the commitment of Covenant to welcome all people is so important. There are too few places where we can find a community of love and support, a source of healing and strength, and a place where we can be inspired and challenged to work for God's justice and peace in the world. It should be said that Church of the Covenant, and the "Welcoming Church Movement" as a whole, is not seeking to create a gay church. Indeed, one of the extraordinary and wonderful things about Covenant is our ability to attract and integrate both straight and gay members and friends. We strive to be an inclusive church. We believe there is strength in diversity. One of the goals we set for ourselves as a congregation last year was "To realize and project to the world a Christian community that is truly inclusive (i.e., that celebrates diversity in race, sex, age, physical condition, sexual orientation, theological perspective, income level, and cultural heritage), affirming of all people of God and particularly committed to those traditionally excluded." Ours is a prophetic witness. Like Jeremiah, we are called by God "to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant." We are called "to break down" the walls of homophobia in our hearts and in those of our neighbors, "to destroy and to overthrow" the oppressive attitudes and structures of heterosexism in the church and in society, "to build and to plant" the seeds of a new society in which all people are treated with justice and love regardless of sexual orientation. Heterosexual Christians have a special role to play as allies in this struggle, particularly within denominations that deny gay and lesbian members ordination to leadership positions in the church. The result is that in many church meetings, gay and lesbian voices are excluded. Either gay and lesbian Christians are present but forced to be closeted or they are not present because they have not been ordained to leadership positions in the church. Therefore, I believe, heterosexual allies have a responsibility to speak out against homophobia and heterosexism in the church and in society, especially in those forums where gay and lesbian voices have been excluded or silenced. Like the abolitionists of the nineteenth century who fought against slavery, like the suffragists who fought for the rights of women, and like the African-American churches that fought for civil rights, we are fighting today for gay rights, and with God's help we, too, shall overcome. Ours is also a pastoral calling, for the Christian community is deeply divided over this issue. On the one hand, the church has been the source of tremendous pain and sadness for gay, lesbian, and bisexual Christians and their allies. We have a special responsibility to care for the wounded who come through Covenant's doors seeking healing, comfort, love, and acceptance. On the other hand, the Christian community is also full of people whose homophobia has hardened their hearts. We have a responsibility to speak the truth to them, but to do so with love and compassion in ways that they can hear us and not simply reject us out of hand. For ministry to be whole, I am convinced, these two components, the prophetic and the pastoral, though sometimes in tension, must be held in balance. And it is the love of God operating in the human heart that is at the root of both of them. It is our love for all people that leads us to our prophetic witness as a More Light/Open and Affirming church. And it is love that motivates our pastoral concern for people on both sides of a divided church community. A love that is patient and kind. A love that is not jealous or boastful, arrogant or rude. A love that does not insist on its own way, and is not irritable or resentful. A love that does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. A love that fears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. As we continue our witness as part of the Welcoming Churches Movement, seeking a balance between the pastoral and the prophetic, I would like you to consider the words of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr: "Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope . . . "Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. "Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love. "No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint; therefore we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Thank God for Westminster! An Open Letter to the Bills and Overtures Committee National Capital Presbytery by Hank Carde, Commander, US Navy (ret.) Dear Friend in Christ: Our Bills and Overtures Committee meeting will be my last with you. After four and a half years of fighting full-blown AIDS, I must husband what strength remains in my last months. Two overtures before us have profound meaning for me. I mean, of course, the prohibition on holy unions for gay and lesbian couples and the prohibition on practicing gays and lesbians holding church office. I am a fifth generation Presbyterian. I am an elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church, a "More Light" church in the inner city [Washington, D.C.]. I am also a retired Navy commander with twenty years of service, six rows of medals, including two Bronze Stars from combat duty in Vietnam, and a care-giver for friends dying of AIDS, a number now over 100. I am also gay. As you begin to weigh the overtures before you, I want to share with you what my faith journey as a gay Presbyterian has been. Until puberty, my life was unexceptional in a warm, loving Navy family. At the age of 11, however, it became clear that I was "different" from the other guys, who were experiencing sexual and affectional feelings towards girls our age. I did not have those feelings, at least toward girls. I had crushes on several guys but was terrified of showing or expressing these feelings in any way. These were not feelings that I chose -- they were, and are, an integral part of who I am, just as my eye or skin color. Adolescence is a confusing time for any youngster but for me it was terrifying. I consciously put a cement shell around my feelings, going woodenly through the rituals of high school by copying the responses of others for feelings I did not share. Inside that cement shell, however, was nothing but dust. I had no emotional growth in high school or college. I came to bitterly hate who I was and the contortions I felt I had to perform to keep from being discovered -- and disowned by family, friends, and church. When a federal study several years ago found that 30% of teenagers attempting suicide were gay, I was hardly surprised. After graduating from Yale, still a virgin, I entered the Navy. I loved the Navy and was a darned good Naval officer. I ran spy nets behind enemy lines in Vietnam, operated with special forces as an intelligence officer, served on almost everything from tiny minesweepers to giant aircraft carriers. I was selected for the Army War College, command of a destroyer, and for service as a strategic planner with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was clear from the beginning, however, that the cost of a Navy career was to continue living as a shell person, with no personal life. It was a numbing loneliness that carried over from childhood into adulthood. Although I tried to minimize my sexual activity because of the risk of disclosure, I was not totally abstinent over those 20 years. When I felt I needed release, I would go to a gay bar to pick up a one-night stand. This was anonymous sex because of the risk of discovery. Had I maintained a steady relationship, it would have become obvious and my military career would have been destroyed. However, had I been able to have a monogamous relationship, I would probably not now be dying of AIDS. I find it tragically ironic that the Religious Right condemns the so- called promiscuity of gays while at the same time creating the blanket of social oppression that makes stable relationships very difficult to risk. When I arrived in Washington, D.C., for my last duty station, I was entering middle-age a bitter, lonely man. As, I believe, God willed it, the nearest Presbyterian church was Westminster. I became a member and discovered, for the first time in my life, a church family that openly cherished me for who I am. I don't think I can adequately describe the warmth and joy that being a part of this congregation has given me. Westminster helped me gradually to put aside the hard shell around my feelings and to deal with myself as a person. About a year later, I met Ben, an incredibly funny, sensitive, creative guy with whom I fell in love at first sight. It was like in the *Wizard of Oz* when they got to the Yellow Brick Road and the movie went from black and white to color. That was how Ben transformed my life. The petty details of life -- shopping, vacationing, having dinner parties -- suddenly became fun when there was someone with whom to share them. I was incredibly happy for three years sharing life fully with Ben. Ben was also a very courageous man. Infected with HIV long before I met him, he braved a very painful last year of his life, meeting afflictions with dignity and wit. Every day of that year my heart broke into a thousand pieces. In October 1988, Ben went into the hospital for the last time. HIV penetrated his brain and caused dementia. Over the last seven weeks, I watched the guy I loved lose the ability to talk, then deteriorate into a confused child who had to be spoon-fed, and finally a frightened animal, lashed to the bed and in constant pain. I gave up a six- figure civilian job to take care of him. Only when I was present would the nurses allow the restraints removed. Try to imagine your spouse tied to a bed, unable to scratch or move around, and you will understand why I had a cot moved into Ben's room so that I could be there around-the-clock. If you have ever had a loved one in a coma, you will understand what I shall tell you next. Holding the hand of someone you love is incredible communication. When I took Ben's hand, I could sense the agitation and pain as he clutched me. Then he seemed to realize that it was me and his hand relaxed. We communicated for hours without a word being spoken. By the time Ben died just before Christmas, this Naval officer, who had never flinched when friends were blown apart in combat, was emotionally destroyed. My friends at Westminster rallied around me, bringing me up from despair and a strong suicidal ideation. Had I had to be "in the closet" as a gay man at my church, there would have been none of this support. Thank God for Westminster! I cannot help but wonder how different my life would have been had all our churches been as life-affirming as Westminster has been. Had churches led the way to changing society's bigotry, had Ben and I been able to lead a committed relationship with society's and the church's blessing from early adulthood, he might still be alive and I would probably not be dying myself. A while back in the *Washington Post* were two articles. One reported that the Maryland legislature had defeated a hate-crimes law by one vote because many delegates didn't see a need to "make a special case for homosexuals." A few pages away was a story about a red-neck who had gotten AIDS because he bashed his bloodied fist into "more faggots than I can remember." I see the painful consequences of anti-gay bigotry daily at Whitman-Walker Clinic, the largest AIDS services provider in the area, where I spent several years helping the AIDS home care program. I see women and children infected with HIV because their gay or bisexual husbands/fathers were "forced" into marriages by pressures from society or their church. Why does society believe that gay men are more capable of shifting their basic sexual identities any more than heterosexual men would, had they lived in a predominately homosexual society? It is particularly distressing that Latina women have a life expectancy after diagnosis of less than 30 days because the Catholic Church lays down such a severe blanket of silence over sexuality that communication even between a husband and wife isn't possible. I remember leaving the death bed of a young AIDS patient and finding his mother weeping in the next room. As I tried to comfort her, I found that her husband refused to discuss their gay son or his illness. She couldn't go to her pastor in Arkansas because he was a gossip who would spread the word, causing her to lose all her friends. We had to find her a support group in Texas for her to find emotional comfort. As our Committee weighs the overtures that would put a blanket over the lives of its gay brothers and sisters, I ask you to remember that conservatives in our denomination had no problem in using biblical texts to justify delaying the integrattion of our churches for almost a hundred years after legal emancipation, that it took almost 60 years after women got the vote in this country before our church allowed them to become ministers of the Word. Christ taught us that love and charity were the bedrock values of Christianity. Much of the tribal mayhem that we read about in the Old Testament is eschewed by Jesus. Many of the taboos of desert tribes were based on society at that time: not eating pork, raising as many sons as possible so that your tribe could attack and enslave its neighbors, and so forth. We see many of these carried over into Jewish society at the time of Christ and still followed by his disciples. But Jesus himself never condemned gays and lesbians. He told us to love everyone unconditionally. Love only comes from God. The love that Ben and I had for each other was the greatest gift God ever gave me. Not 15 minutes has gone by since his death that I haven't thought of him. I still wake with tears on my pillow. Can't our beloved Presbyterian Church accept my humanity, and that of my gentle gay brothers and sisters? -- *Sincerely, Hank Carde, Commander, US Navy (ret.)* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Our Sisters and Brothers in Australia Lesbians and Gay Men in the United Church in Australia A Brief Status Report, by Warren R. Talbot, January 1995 [Warren Talbot is an openly gay man, an elder with the Uniting Church Parish of Canberra City, member of the national Assembly Task Group on Sexuality, and president of the AIDS Council of ACT -- the Australian Capital Territory. Professionally, he works as a public servant in the Federal Department of Human Services and Health.] The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was born in 1977 as a result of a merger of the Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian churches. About one third of the Presbyterian churches voted against union and now form the (continuing) Presbyterian Church of Australia. The one-third of Presbyterians who declined to join the Uniting Church were generally more conservative than those who supported union. This has affected both churches. The continuing Presbyterian Church has become more conservative: for example, in 1992, their national assembly reversed its former policy that permitted the ordination of women. On the other hand, the Uniting Church has been freed from some conservative-fundamentalist input and has generally pursued a liberal-pluralist approach to issues of faith and society. The structure of the Uniting Church gives a strong emphasis to the congregation, described in the Basis of Union as the "embodiment in one place of the holy catholic church". Elders are elected, for a five year term, by the congregation. Decisions about candidature and ordination rest the with the Presbytery (a regional body of approximately 20 Parishes), with ministerial training taking place at a Synod (State/Territory) level. The national Assembly determines matters of doctrine and discipline. Each of the three uniting churches had considered and supported homosexual law reform prior to Union. But none had officially considered the issue of ordaining an openly lesbian or gay person. This changed when, in 1982, an openly lesbian candidate applied for ordination in the Presbytery of Yarra Valley in the Synod of Victoria. The candidate came to an awareness of her lesbianism after originally being accepted as a candidate in the Presbyterian Church prior to Union. She was widely respected for her academic, pastoral and leadership abilities. The Presbytery sought guidance from the Assembly, and a national committee was established in 1983, reporting in 1985 and again in 1987. (With these delays, the woman resigned and pursued a career in counseling.) The Committee Report was a fairly cautious, non-committal discussion of different approaches, which stepped back from making any recommendations to the church. It reflected most elements of modern approaches to homosexuality and recognized the "equal faith and integrity" of homosexual Christians. The Committee argued that existing procedures were sufficient to ensure that unsuitable persons were not ordained, and that particular restrictions on categories of persons were not necessary. This view has prevailed to date. In addition, the Assembly has resolved several times that sexual orientation, *per se*, is not an impediment to ordination. Conservatives in the UCA have been unhappy with this state of affairs. At each national Assembly (held once every three years) for the past decade, there has been a motion to endorse the slogan "celibacy in singleness and fidelity in marriage" as a standard for members and ministers. In 1985 the item was placed low on the agenda and not dealt with. At the 1988 Assembly the motion was debated, but the "previous question" was moved and carried, so no action was taken. In 1991, Assembly members voted to reject adopting the slogan as a standard for the UCA. My interpretation is that although clearly unable to endorse such a simplistic statement as church policy, Assembly members are not yet ready to endorse a different approach to sexuality. Also at the 1991 Assembly, a Task Group on Sexuality was established, to report to the 1997 Assembly. The Task Group's mandate is to enable the church to consider issues of human sexuality and to promote healing and reconciliation. It has not been asked to present recommendations for national policy, though the pressure for this to happen is mounting in some quarters. Compared to the PC(USA), this absence of policy (definitive or otherwise) seems to be a good thing. Uniting Church councils and members are being encouraged to consider and live with the issues, before any binding pronouncements are made. At the same time, it must be stressed that the Uniting Church has yet to ordain an openly lesbian or gay person. In 1984, the author was supported by his Parish (Fitzroy) in an application to become a candidate for ministry. The Presbytery (Yarra Valley) deferred the matter, recording no formal decision. In 1992, Simon Moglia applied to become a candidate through a Presbytery in the Synod of South Australia. That Presbytery also deferred the matter, stating that to proceed was not in the interests of Simon or the church. In 1994, two applicants for the Ministry of the Word were rejected by the Synod of Victoria, though a lesbian applicant for the specified ministry of youthworker was accepted by the same Synod. In South Australia Simon Moglia received strong support in the Synod, and played a key role in organizing the first national gathering for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, family and friends in the Uniting Church (in June 1994). This gathering (under the theme "Daring to Speak . . . Daring to Listen") attracted wide attention, and agreed to establish a National Network for Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay People, Friends and Family in the Uniting Church. There are support and education groups for lesbians and gay men in most States, sometimes under the official auspices of the Synod social justice body. In addition, there are a number of Parishes, such as Pitt St. in Sydney, Fitzroy in Melbourne and Pilgrim in Adelaide, which have become well known for welcoming lesbians and gay men. There is currently no formal organization of inclusive congregations, though this is being planned for 1995. Lesbians and gay men in the Uniting Church are yet to see our church officially affirm who we are and support our full participation at all levels in its life. But there are good reasons to be encouraged by the absence of a national policy and the increasing visibility of lesbians and gay men at all levels of the UCA. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The 'Ex-Gay' Ministries and 'Curing' Homosexuality Analysis by Keith Clark [Copyright by Clark, all rights reserved, 1994. First published in *OutNow!*, San Jose, CA. Reprinted with permission.] [Note -- four boxes with supplementary text are scattered among the main article!] [Box 1: Don't Try to Change Gays, AMA Advises. The American Medical Association, reversing a 13-year-old policy, has stopped recommending efforts to turn unhappy gay men and lesbians into heterosexuals. . . . The association [now] calls for "nonjudgmental recognition of sexual orientation by physicians." . . . The policy paper urges doctors to consider "the special needs of gay men and lesbians who have significant partner relationships." -- excerpted from *Tulsa World*, via an internet story by Kelly Kirby, council moderator, Gay, Lesbian and Affirming Disciples (GLAD) Alliance.] [Box 2: Deathblow for the so-called "ex-gay" ministries? The American Medical Association's policy change made in December regarding sexual orientation should be the deathblow for the so- called "ex-gay" ministries. . . . Until December the AMA officially supported the position that one's sexual orientation could be changed. The AMA did away with that policy last month when the organization adopted a report calling for "nonjudgmental recognition of sexual orientation." This report officially reduces the counseling services of ex-gay ministries to what they have really amounted to all along -- quackery -- and it greatly increases the liability counselors face from what may be the results of the misguided services they provide. One "change minister" from Glendale, Calif., has already been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the case of a man who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after receiving counseling to change his sexual orientation. The more truthful ex-gay counselors have been known to tell their clients in private what they will not acknowledge in public: that they indeed cannot change a gay or lesbian persons' attraction to a same-gender partner. In the wake of the AMA report, perhaps it is time for them to publicly admit the only thing they really can do, which is to teach a gay man or lesbian how to fake a heterosexual lifestyle. But that won't happen. And the AMA change in policy regarding reparative therapy might not be the deathblow for ex-gay services after all. Look for an amazing amount of support for ex-gay ministries in the months to come from large, well-funded religious right organizations. The concept of the "chosen lifestyle" is a necessary and vital element of the religious right's strategy in attacking the gay and lesbian community. If unable to continue to promote the idea that heterosexuals evolve into their sexuality but that homosexuals "choose" theirs, the religious right will loose the cornerstone of its anti-gay political agenda. (Gays and Lesbians might even start looking like a bona fide minority, deserving of equal rights protections.) After the "choice" theory is scientifically debunked beyond question, and most believe it soon will be, the religious right will be confronted with the uncomfortable reality that God made gay and lesbian people to be who they are. Then the "choice" will be theirs. As Christians, they can welcome their gay brothers and lesbian sisters to sit in their pews, to stand behind their pulpits and to stand hand-in-hand in front of their altars -- or, as hypocrites, they can continue to reject gay and lesbian people for the same reason they've had all along, which is hatred. Bob Davies, the executive director of Exodus International, a network of ex-gay ministries, was quoted this week as saying the change in the AMA policy was a "giant step backward into ignorance." That will be loudly echoed during the next months by leaders of the religious right. They can't afford for one of their mainstay programs to slip into quackery. -- Jim Bailey, Editor, *The Second Stone*, reprinted with permission from the January/February 1995 issue. Subscribe to *Second Stone: The National Gay and Lesbian Christian Newsjournal* -- "And you'll never be without a friend for your journey." 1 year, 6 issues, $17.00; 2 years, $28.00; 3 years, $39.00. Available in a plain envelope for $2 extra per year. International subscribers, add $10 per year, U.S. funds. Send check to *Second Stone*, Box 8340, New Orleans, LA 70182.] [Box 3: "Healing for the homosexual explored at Rochester conference" -- headline in *The Presbyterian Layman*, January-February 1995, p. 9. We quote some excepts from the *Layman's* glowing report on this conference, held at Brighton Presbyterian Church in Rochester: "For the past six years the host church has ministered to people seeking freedom from homosexuality, and to their families, through its Malachi Ministry." "Rev. Carter Blaisdell [associate director, Presbyterian & Reformed Renewal Ministries International] gave the opening address on Scripture's and the Presbyterian Church's understanding of homosexuality: It is outside of God's intention for humanity, is a learned behavior, and is redeemable through repentance and a supportive Christian community."] [Box 4: Definitive Guidance "Therefore, it appears that what is really important is not what homosexuality is but what we believe about it. . . . "We conclude that homosexuality is not God's wish for humanity. . . . "The repentant homosexual person who finds the power of Christ redirecting his or her sexual desires toward a married heterosexual commitment, or finds God's power to control his or her desires and to adopt a celibate lifestyle, can certainly be ordained, all other qualifications being met." -- so-called "definitive guidance" adopted by the 190th General Assembly (1978), and enshrined as an "authoritative interpretation" by the 205th General Assembly (1993).] THE MAIN ARTICLE BEGINS HERE! Their claims of a "cure" for homosexuality raise hackles among civil rights activists and mental health professionals alike, but the once-quiescent "ex-gay" ministries say they're on a roll and growing at churches around the country as the national battle over lesbian and gay rights spreads throughout the country and grows more intense. Just over two decades old, the loose network of ex-gay ministries that's united under the nonprofit Exodus International claimed to have 62 affiliates in 1990. Today, evangelicals claim there are "hundreds" of ex-gay groups in the U.S., many of them unconnected with Exodus or any other groups, dragging lesbians and gays from their "disordered life-style" into the pure light of heterosexual living by the tens of thousands. The problem, most activists and social scientists agree, is that groups like Exodus and the other "ex-gay" ministries offer little to back up any of their assertions of such large numbers or evidence of therapeutic successes. In fact, the American Psychological Association, in a survey of the "reparative therapies" touted by the ex-gay ministries, concludes: "No scientific evidence exists to support the effectiveness of any of the conversion therapies that try to change sexual orientation." Underscoring the APA's scientific evaluation are high-profile cases of individuals who have been involved in the ex-gay movement -- including the gay men who started Exodus, Gary Busse and Michael Cooper -- and proved to be stunning failures at being "cured." After promulgating Exodus' dubious gospel for a few years, spread in pamphlets with titles like "Unhappy and gay? Join the Exodus," Busse and Cooper finally admitted to each other and to themselves that they had fallen in love, quit the movement and started preaching tolerance and self-acceptance instead. Busse and Cooper, whose story served as the core of the 1993 film *One Nation Under God* about various attempts by the religious right and the heterosexual medical establishment to "cure" homosexuality, became in fact the best-known "former ex-gays," and a major embarrassment of the movement spearheaded by Exodus. In talking about Exodus, Busse and Cooper say such "ex-gay" organizations have done little except appropriate the psycho- babble terminology of other fashionable therapies -- calling themselves a "recovery movement," for example -- while actually doing little more than peddling Victorian values and the most restrictive and authoritarian kinds of gender stereotyping. At their most absurd, the two men say, these groups suggest that what gay men really ought to do is play football and that a good manicure and some makeup will set lesbians "straight." It would, Busse, Cooper and others agree, all be hysterically funny if it weren't so destructive. "These groups prey on people who are unhappy," Cooper says. "What they can't see or won't admit is that the groups are themselves the source of this very unhappiness they claim to be treating." They're not alone in this assessment. Bryant Welch, director for professional practice at the American Psychological Association, says of the "ex-gay" ministries, "Efforts to 'repair' homosexuals are nothing more than social prejudice garbed in psychological accouterments. [It] can do more damage to a person's psyche than good. They do a lot of confrontational shouting, saying the person will go to hell. It can cause future need for psychiatric help." It is, activists and mental health professionals warn, this kind of guilt-based approach that caused Jack McIntyre, who had enrolled in Love in Action, an Exodus program in Northern California, to commit suicide. "No matter how much I prayed and tried to avoid the temptation, I continually failed," McIntyre wrote only days before he took his own life. "It is this constant failure that has made me make the decision to terminate my life." But John Evans, one of the founders of Love in Action who now repudiates the organization, says it wasn't McIntyre's failure that was the problem but the ministry itself. "He [McIntyre] wanted desperately to reconcile his spiritual side with his sexual side," Evans says. "I spent the last day of his life with him. He said he tried but he couldn't. He would be alive today if he realized that God loved him as he was. All I've seen of ex-gay ministries is disappointment, suicide, tragedy. I know of no one who has been changed. No one is ever cured." Officials with Exodus ministries flatly reject any responsibility in such cases. Bob Davies, executive director of Exodus, said, "He [McIntyre] had left the ministry and went back into the lifestyle, so is that our fault? People come to us of their own free will." Davies, in fact, claims Exodus is a tremendous success -- sort of -- although the organization refuses to allow any independent confirmation of its data and even though some of the group's claims don't seem to add up. According to Davies, Exodus in 1990 had counseled more than 100,000 people nationally, for example. With 62 ministries then in the U.S. for the past 20 years, that means each ex-gay ministry would have had to counsel an average of at least 80 people a year. Yet Davies also says that just 41 people completed the ex-gay program during the five-year period from 1982 to 1987 at the organization's Northern California ministry -- one of its largest -- where he's based. Equally problematic is any attempt to evaluate the success of ex- gay ministries since "success" is variously defined as changing homosexuals into heterosexuals or as simply eliminating any sexual behavior at all. Exodus claims (but again refuses to allow any peer review of its records) that 70 percent of the lesbians and gay men who complete its year-long program are either celibate or living as heterosexuals. Its only long-term figures, however, are less impressive and indicate that less than 30 percent have stopped all homosexual behavior five years after completing the program. Seven years after entering the program, Exodus' figures indicate that just 3 percent are "successful heterosexuals" -- an unimpressive result by any therapeutic standard. For those who have to help the 70 percent to 97 percent who fail to achieve the "American heterosexual dream," the ex-gay ministries that are hell-bent on changing homosexuals are more like a nightmare. The Rev. John Barbone, of the Metropolitan Community Church in Kansas City, says the people he's counseled after going through an ex-gay ministry are worse from the program rather than better, including individuals who have been contemplating suicide "The [ex-gays] that I've worked with are dealing with tremendous guilt," Barbone said. "They're left with this residue of self- hatred that is just tremendously confusing to them." Jack Pantaleo, a leader of Evangelicals Concerned, shares that assessment of the ex-gay programs. "What Exodus does is offer false hope that you can change," he says. "It's a very cruel, very vicious experience. Most of the people in these ex-gay groups are holding on with white knuckles, trying not to be tempted. It's all about trying to be something that they're not. Many try too hard to change. And when they don't make it, the ministry condemns them." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This Strange and Mysterious Time Commentary by the Rev. Howard Warren This "strange and mysterious time" -- these words used by planners of the 1995 PLGC Midwestern Regional winter conference are so appropriate for this last half of the 3-year dialogue on "us" and ordination. Many of us are experiencing some fine dialogue and do sense some marvelous, mysterious signs of bridge building; yet, we know that the warming/opening of some hearts will not be powerful enough to crush the mean spirited strategy of the Christian Right, the Southern Baptists and their ilk who will take over the PC(USA) in '95 or '96, using us and ordination as their road to full power. Many of us are talking in whispers of staying or leaving. I'm concerned as one who will leave, that this is not really accurate or descriptive terminology, because it seems to load guilt on those of us who will leave. Its focus is misplaced on what we will do rather than what the church has done. A better way to look at post General Assembly 95/96 is *what do we do after the church has left us*. We are the non-heterosexual children, youth and adults who have been baptized, confirmed, ordained in this Pale Presence of God called PC(USA), which will abandon us. Yes, this is a strange and mysterious time, with signs of hope -- yet the vote will be against us. We will be welcomed as members, but no ordination. Even though Jesus offers a first class flight/journey for all -- we will forever be coach class, second class and even the hard work of frequent flyer miles won't upgrade us in this mean-spirited Body of Christ. The mean spirit of intolerance and prejudice is moving to replace the Holy Spirit. It is not we who leave or stay. It is the church that leaves us. This darkness will be shared by many inclusive heterosexual friends, and in this process: Some will remain in the PC(USA); Some will seek other denominations; Some will go as a friend of the Wildly Inclusive God to stand with the strangers outside the gate. This time has been good and will be used by The Wildly Inclusive God to build another time, another Clarion Call that establishes the fact that there is just no exclusion in John 3:16, nor in "The Great Commandment" that says, "for heterosexuals only." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Dr. Mel White Fasts in Prison to Protest Pat Robertson's "Anti- Gay Rhetoric" FEBRUARY 21, 1995 Virginia Beach, VA, February 21, 1995 -- The Rev. Mel White, a former ghostwriter for Pat Robertson, is today in his eighth day of an ongoing fast following his arrest February 15 at Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) headquarters. Rev. White, who is openly gay, has been attempting to meet with his former boss Robertson for more than 20 months to discuss Robertson's extensive use of anti-gay rhetoric on the 700 Club and in Christian Coalition policy statements and fundraising appeals. Rev. White is currently with the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, which minister predominately to gay, lesbian and bisexual people. During this, his third attempt to meet with Robertson, White was joined by a coalition of a dozen clergy. White seeks a meeting to make two requests of Robertson: 1) acknowledge the growing number of hate crimes against gay and lesbian people and 2) condemn those hate crimes and the people who incite or commit them. White and his delegation first went to the CBN campus on Valentine's Day, but were turned away. On February 15, White and his delegation returned and were met by CBN security forces. His delegation left the campus, while White remained and was arrested. He is currently in the Virginia Beach jail under $2500 bond, which he has refused. He has vowed to fast until Robertson agrees to meet with him. Bearing Witness, a coalition of religious leaders and community groups, has delivered a daily bouquet of flowers from Rev. White to Pat Robertson at CBN since White's incarceration. White's supporters have lined the street outside CBN, urging Robertson to meet with White. Yesterday, a group of anti-gay protesters also appeared, organized by local Radical Right spokesman Donald Spitzer, who has publicly supported murder and violence against doctors who perform abortions. One protester held a sign that read, "Pat, Just Say No to the Homo." "Rev. White's arrest and imprisonment reveals that Pat Robertson is threatened by the truth, the truth about gay and lesbian people, the truth as told to him by fellow people of faith," said NGLTF's Robert Bray. "When faced with a true coalition of Christians who support tolerance and justice for all, Robertson cowers behind a wall of security to protect his fortress of bigotry." -- Penned by Ann Carlson for the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force's *Flash Points: A Tip Sheet for Reporters Covering Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Issues*. Contact: Robin Kane, NGLTF Public Information Director, 202-332-6483, ext. 3311; 800-757-7736 pager; rakngltf@aol.com or Robert Bray, NGLTF field organizer, at (415)552-6448; rfbngltf@aol.com. Let Pat Robertson, CBN founder, know what you think about his bashing of lesbian and gay Christians: (804) 523-7000; (804) 579- 7012. Fast & Imprisonment Continues into Third Week As this issue of the *Update* went to press, March 3, 1995, Mel White's fast and imprisonment has entered its third week, still with no response from Pat Robertson. John Boswell's Brother Arrests Mel White Now for the part you won't believe! Mel got arrested by John Boswell's brother!!! Wray Boswell is a lieutenant in the 4th precinct of Virginia Beach, so "just happened" to be the one put in charge of the squad sent to Regent University. We talked with him the previous night, so that everyone would know what was to happen and how to behave. He's been just wonderful! He gave us all a very moving speech about his brother and about the outpouring of love for John since his death, and how much that has meant to him. We think God has a marvelous sense of humor and timing! -- *Ann Carlson.* Local PLGC Chapter Supports Mel White's Witness This statement was released by the Eastern Virginia Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns, February 17, 1995: This is the third day in which we have fasted and prayed with the Rev. Dr. Mel White, and walked with him onto the campus of Regent University to request an opportunity to speak with Pat Robertson. The reason we request this face to face discussion is to address the mounting evidence that virulent anti-homosexual rhetoric coming forth from such powerful religious leaders as Mr. Robertson is spawning hatred and violence. We come as Christian sisters and brothers to exhort Mr. Robertson to cease the use of inaccurate and pejorative anti-gay rhetoric in advertising, fund raising and evangelical materials. Our Brother Pat has stated that he does not wish to debate whether homosexuality is sinful. Neither do we. We simply wish to urge him to take a lead in bringing reason and compassion into the dialogue that is raging in the religious community and ravaging families whose members are of diverse sexual and spiritual orientation. Our members, who have stood and prayed with Mel and others over the past six days, include gay and lesbian persons and their heterosexual friends and family. We continue to struggle within our own faith communities for improved understanding of the nature of sexual minority persons and their validation within the realm of God's good creation. We join in solidarity with Mel and our spiritual family in the Hampton Roads area, agreeing that now is the time and this is the place to end the misunderstandings that generate meanness and rage. It is our hope that the Holy Spirit will soon bring Pat Robertson the same concern and that he will meet with Mel and the church leaders who stand at his door. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *