Date: Mon, 27 Nov 95 15:45:33 EST From: "James D. Anderson" Subject: More Light Update, Jan. 1996, 126 K file MORE LIGHT UPDATE January 1996 Volume 16, Number 6 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: jda@mariner.rutgers.edu (or jda@scils.rutgers.edu) MORE LIGHT UPDATE is the Monthly Newsletter of Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns, an organization of Ministers, Elders, Deacons, and Members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Send materials marked "For publication" to the editor. PUBLICATION DEADLINES: 6 weeks prior to issue month. Most material appearing in MORE LIGHT UPDATE is placed in the public domain. With the exception of individual articles that carry their own copyright notice, articles may be freely copied or reprinted. We ask only that MORE LIGHT UPDATE be credited and its address be given for those who might wish to contact us. Suggested annual membership contribution to PLGC: $50.00. Annual subscription to MORE LIGHT UPDATE: $10.00. Note: * is used to indicate italicized or boldface text. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CONTENTS More Light Prayers 1996: A Devotional to Prepare Us, by Chris Glaser Announcements, etc. A Fast for Fullness, by The Rev. Howard Warren 12th Annual National More Light Conference National Lesbigay and Transgendered Seminarians Conference PAN Leadership Meets, by John Trompen, PLGC's liaison to PAN (and PAN's liaison to PLGC) PLGC on the Internet PLGC Officers and Contacts (at end of file) NOTE: More Light Churches Conference Registration Materials were included in the print version. You may contact PLGC for a copy - - email address, telephone numbers, postal address in masthead. Be sure to send your postal address! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * MORE LIGHT PRAYERS 1996 A Devotional to Prepare Us by Chris Glaser Copyright (c) 1996 by Chris R. Glaser. All rights reserved. Permission granted for non-profit duplication. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * About the Author Chris Glaser's first book is being republished this month! Westminster John Knox Press is reprinting *Uncommon Calling -- A Gay Christian's Struggle to Serve the Church* with a new preface, an additional chapter, and a new epilogue. This bestselling autobiographical book tells how Chris reconciled being gay and Christian, and how the Presbyterian Church has dealt with the issue of the ordination of gay and lesbian Christians. The new chapter focuses on the Lazarus Project, a ministry of reconciliation that Chris directed. Look for *Uncommon Calling* in bookstores by February or March. Chris is the author of three other books, two of which are available: *The Word Is Out -- The Bible Reclaimed for Lesbians and Gay Men, 365 Daily Meditations* (HarperSanFrancisco) and *Coming Out to God -- Prayers for Lesbians and Gay Men, Their Families and Friends* (Westminster/John Knox Press). Chris speaks, preaches, teaches, and leads workshops and retreats throughout North America. He received his M.Div. from Yale University Divinity School in 1977, but was denied ordination as an openly gay candidate in 1978. From 1976-78 he served on the Presbyterian Task Force to Study Homosexuality. He was founding director of the Lazarus Project from 1977-87, a Presbyterian-supported ministry of reconciliation between the church and the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community. He has served PLGC as national coordinator, treasurer, and More Light editor. He now makes his home in Atlanta with Mark King, an HIV\AIDS community educator. You may contact **Chris Glaser** at: **991 Berne Street SE, Atlanta, GA 30316-1859; phone/fax 404/622-4222**. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Introduction: Praying For The Gift of Ears Last summer, during a visit to Eugene, Oregon, the pastor of the local Metropolitan Community Church hosting my visit asked me if I'd like to hear a Hiroshima survivor speak in the Sunday morning service of a nearby church. I readily agreed. It was August 6, 1995 -- the 50th anniversary of the atom bomb being dropped on that city, a target that had more spiritual import than military significance for the Japanese. As we drove into Springfield where the church was located, my host explained that the town had fallen victim to a so-called "family values" group and passed an anti-gay resolution. Suddenly the place took on an unfriendly cast. Despite its inhospitable surroundings, we were warmly welcomed by members of the Church of the Brethren, a denomination that has historically been a peace church. I noticed that the meeting hall had not been designed as a sanctuary, causing me to wonder what it had been before. Across the room I saw a Presbyterian friend -- one who had courageously spoken up for us as a commissioner to the 1978 San Diego General Assembly. She explained she often attended this church and today would be serving as worship leader in the absence of the pastor. Then she queried, with the twinkle of a delicious secret in her eye, "Do you know about this church?" "No," I said, wondering what there was to know. She continued, "Years ago, their church burned down, and instead of rebuilding or buying another sanctuary, they bought this motel instead." I realized now the room in which we would worship was either the lobby, restaurant, or meeting room of the motel. I looked outside at a row of rooms as she added, "They give the rooms to homeless people." I was moved and awed -- tears and goosebumps at the same time! During the sermon, the Hiroshima survivor unwrapped the silk cloth that carried what he revered as sacred words -- his account of the atomic holocaust. As I listened to him, I considered how trapped he had been as a sixteen-year-old by the machinations of a militaristic society and my own country's devastating solution. I thought on the possible saving of my own father's life en route to Japan at the time of the bombing even as this survivor described the horrors of the bomb's aftermath. All of this reinforced my belief in discovering ways to make peace rather than war. Yet what truly startled my conscience that Sunday had been the revelation that this church had given up building a new sanctuary to provide shelter for the homeless. Of course, I've worked with the homeless in ministry and I support such ministry. But what bothered me was that I didn't think I would want *my* church to sacrifice its sanctuary, even though I knew that this church was doing what Jesus wanted. I shared my troubled feelings with the MCC pastor. He gave me a helpful response. "Maybe that's not your calling," he said, not trying to make me feel better but reminding me of the value of my own ministry. What occurred to me in that moment were the many congregations throughout the Presbyterian Church who object to More Light Churches that fulfill their calling to be inclusive of the spiritually homeless -- lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered Christians. Why can't they see that More Light congregations are doing exactly what Jesus would do, even though they may not believe themselves called to do the same? In the past I have paraphrased Jesus' saying "One who saves one's church will lose it" to point out that, just as Jesus risked the brokenness of the Body to do the right thing, so the Presbyterian Church should not be afraid of risking its own unity to act justly. But that requires our church knowing the right thing to do. Since it clearly is not of one mind on the issue of justice for us, maybe, in the interim, it should rescind its negative position on ordination and allow congregations and presbyteries their historic right to discern the Spirit in potential deacons, elders, and ministers. Then honest -- out-of-the-closet -- dialogue may continue and, as it does, we, the church, need to pray -- as one gay churchman has put it -- for the gift of ears rather than tongues. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Nature of This Prayerbook Prayer, for me, is more about listening than speaking. The quest of the spiritual life is attentiveness to the voices of the Creator, of cosmic, earthly, and bodily rhythms, of one another -- especially those in need as well as those in spiritual abundance, and of our very selves. Within those voices, I believe, one may discern the will of God. The Bible serves as paradigm for such attentiveness and discernment. This little devotional issue of our newsletter is intended to assist us as we listen to one another in our prayer life. It has the sub rosa goal of creating a safety net to **catch** the Icaruses among us whose expectations may fly too high for this coming General Assembly as well as **lift** those beneath the surface of hope whose expectations have submerged with every passing year. The General Assembly in Albuquerque this summer is the artificial, arbitrary end of the three-year dialogue of our church on homosexuality and sexuality initiated by the 1993 Orlando G.A. Please note the words "artificial" and "arbitrary" and don't be fooled by any action of this year's assembly. Of course, not being fooled doesn't mean we won't be hurt, no matter how calloused our hearts from the spiritual abuse we've endured. A broader perspective is called for. First, from my personal perspective: this will be my 20th G.A., having first attended in 1976 when the issue of ordination initially came up and the Task Force to Study Homosexuality on which I served was called into being by the former United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Twenty is only half of forty, and you'll remember the Israelites wandered for forty years in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. Second, from the collective perspective: these twenty years have provided an opportunity for those of us in PLGC and other supportive groups to grow in faith, in community, in Spirit. I once pointed out to a gay pastor who was very negative about the church that we would not know one another were it not for the Presbyterian Church. He replied, "Sure, we would. We'd have met through PLGC." "There'd be no PLGC were it not for the church!" I reminded him. We sometimes forget the opportunities afforded us even in the midst of an unsought struggle. This devotional book is an occasion to remember our opportunistic connections, *and* in a sense, to re-member the church, broken by homophobia and heterosexism. **To prepare for this issue, I interviewed PLGC leaders listed on the back of the More Light Update as well as others we recognize unofficially as leaders because of their commitment to sexual justice. Those interviewed represent the full spectrum of sexual orientation and church service. In regard to the dialogue of the church on homosexuality and the upcoming assembly, I asked of them their biggest fear and hope, then what their prayer for us or the church might be and what scripture came to mind in the struggle. Their responses are the fabric of this safety net, woven together as best I could, hopefully not too tautly and not too loosely, using some of my own strands of thought for continuity. Some of the words herein are verbatim, but they are presented without quotation marks for the sake of continuity and freedom from distraction. I thank all those who contributed to this devotional in this way, trusting me with adequately reflecting their insights and aspirations. If any offense is taken in reading these reflections, I assume responsibility as their interpreter. However these meditations are received, I urge the reader to use each one as an occasion to pray for all those who lead us in our movement of the Spirit that seeks the reformation of the church we love. I also suggest that each day you offer a prayer, you set aside $1 or more (or whatever you can afford) and, at the completion of the cycle, send your offering to PLGC for its presence at this year's General Assembly. And one reminder: PLGC, the More Light Churches Network (MLCN), Unity Through Diversity, and That All May Freely Serve have invited us to fast (as you are able) and pray on Wednesdays during this year for mutual support and for the Spirit's descent on the 208th General Assembly (G.A.) meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, June 29-July 6, 1996.** Unless otherwise noted, the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible has been used for quotations, with unmarked inclusive language changes. References to "definitive guidance" pertain to the advisory position opposing our ordination passed by the 1978 assembly of the former UPCUSA and the 1979 assembly of the former PCUS that was later interpreted as legally binding on presbyteries and congregations. References to the Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) allude to several negative judgments of our highest church court. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Dedication No words adequately capture the gratitude I have for the Reverend Peg Beissert. Her ministry reached out to me first from Pacific Presbytery's candidates committee, then from the presbytery's newsletter that she served as a forthrightly gay-positive editor, and eventually from the staff of the West Hollywood Presbyterian Church. After her "retirement" as a Presbyterian minister, Peg came to that staff at a most difficult time for our congregation. The Reverend Dick Hetz had been murdered, and this violence against a fatherly pastoral figure caused not only grief but anger. As an interim pastor, Peg brought the strength and concern and compassion of a motherly pastoral figure that was very much needed for healing and balance. Her passion for us and for our cause would not let that be the end of it. Peg continued to work with us, especially our Lazarus Board, and she was the clear choice as interim and finally Director of the Lazarus Project, our ministry of reconciliation between the church and the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community. She faced that challenge with grace and spirit. I am grateful that she kept Lazarus out of the tomb, and that now, more than ever, Martha and Mary are part of the picture at West Hollywood Presbyterian Church because of her presence and her outreach to women. Even Peg's personal life served as a model for us all. As she and her husband, Al, faced his death together with equanimity and integrity, she demonstrated to us all a faith in God that believes and relishes in life even in the face of death, a faith we so desperately need in the AIDS crisis. Peg Beissert was ordained in the days before "women pastors" were acceptable, giving us an example of the steadfastness we need to pursue our rights and privileges within the family of faith, the church. Peg was the right one for the task of leading the wide- ranging ministry of the Lazarus Project in its second decade. She retired -- again -- this past year, having faithfully served nine years as its director. I feel privileged to be in her company as the other "retired" Lazarus director. May those who follow in that position share her strength, passion, and chutzpah. **For all these reasons I dedicate *More Light Prayers 1996* to the glory and pleasure of God in thanksgiving for the life and ministry of the Reverend Marguerite (Peg) Beissert.** Accidentally -- but now I believe, providentially -- I overlooked her anecdote contributed to last summer's collection of stories of our movement in the church. It had been faxed and was on the back of another faxed anecdote -- thus the oversight. As you read it, you will recognize the gift of solidarity with which our nongay advocates bless us and understand why we have named Peg Beissert an "honorary lesbian." She wrote me: *After nine years as Director of the Lazarus Project, I am still heterosexual. I know you will not be surprised. George Lynch and I had just finished presenting what we thought of as a good, scholarly look at the Bible and the gay and lesbian issue to a sizable audience in another church. We announced we were open for questions. An older man suddenly declared he believed "in the peace and purity of the Presbyterian Church." We nodded in agreement. Then he leaned forward, arm outstretched and finger pointing at George: "You, sir, are an abomination." Then the arm and finger swung around, resting on me, "And you, lady, you are an abomination." Two immediate reactions came to me: As a feminist, I detested being called a "lady" by this patriarchal figure. And I thought, "My God, I'm an abomination and I'm not even a lesbian!"* Chris Glaser Atlanta, Georgia * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DAY 1 Remember that you were at that time...strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope... Eph 2:12 Co-Moderator Bob Patenaude hears this as a call to humility. We might remember how hopeless things seemed in the closet of the church. And the church might remember how hopeless things seemed in the closet of the Law and of works- righteousness. But "by grace you have been saved through faith...it is the gift of God" (2:8). When I spoke with him, Bob had just returned from a visit to England and Ireland, where he visited the Book of Kells whose beauty represented for him the carrying on of Christianity during difficult times in the dark ages. Maybe this devotional will accomplish something similar for PLGC. He fears that PLGC folk, old and new, might fall by the wayside no matter what happens at this summer's General Assembly in Albuquerque. He believes, however, that the tide is shifting in our favor, and hopes we will persevere. Things won't necessarily be resolved at this G.A., but PLGC can still celebrate, have fun, and continue to build up the Body of Christ. *Let us pray for the perseverance of the saints: Holy God, lead us, both individually and collectively, to live lives more full of grace, grace-filled and graceful. Keep us from losing our way, our spirit, and our ability to see God in others, especially our opposition. We pray that those who oppose us may drop their armor, their weapons, and join hands with us in praying for the best in our church.* In Christ the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Sovereign; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God. Eph 2:21-22 DAY 2 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." Jesus in Jn 15:12-13 Southwest coordinator Rosemarie Wallace believes these words of Jesus speak directly to the church in relation to us, and to us in relation to our opposition. In her view, our opposition's "hate the sin, love the sinner" doesn't cut it as real love. After all, sexual orientation of itself is not sinful, even according to the official position of the church. And frankly, our sexual orientation inspires not only our sexuality but our spirituality as well. We could as easily be called Lesbians and Gays for Presbyterian Concerns! (LGPC would further confuse people as to our initials!) Rosemarie fears that the right wing of the church will take advantage of the so-called dialogue to push for some explicit prohibition of us and our ordination in the *Book of Order*, especially if they campaign to elect commissioners to represent their point of view as they did for the 1978 G.A. that banned lesbian and gay ordination. Nonetheless she hopes that the dialogue will have had some positive effect and notes that there have been small steps -- such as a greater ratio voting in our favor at G.A.'s. The best of scenarios would be a G.A. vote to overturn the interpretation of the church constitution that presently prevents our ordination, though of this she is not optimistic. But she does believe we're edging toward equality. *Let us pray for the 208th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): Lover of our souls, we pray that, as a church, our understanding will increase, and that we will learn to love more and more -- in heart and in practice -- as we gather this year in Albuquerque. May we on both sides of this issue value your love above all else, and show it in both directions. In the name of one willing to lay down his life for us all, Jesus Christ, our Sovereign. Amen.* "You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that God will give you whatever you ask in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another." Jesus in Jn 15:16-17 DAY 3 "The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." Jesus in Jn 17:22-23 This prayer that Jesus prayed for his disciples is what Mid- Atlantic coordinator Georgeanne Wilcoxson thinks of us as we approach the coming General Assembly. She hopes that we will really listen to one another, and that, if we do so with respect, God will speak to all of us in a new way. Georgeanne grew up in the South, where the Presbyterian Church was a major force for social justice and an enlightened community of faith that gave her a way of understanding the Bible that made sense with her experience. She found that Presbyterian biblical interpretation affirmed her mind as well as her body and soul; whereas other forms of Protestantism did not. As a result, the Presbyterian Church had credibility in her view and gave her a basis for believing in God. Yet she fears our church will forget its unique ethos that transformed biblical teachings into action for social justice. She's afraid that our denomination will fail to deal with the root issues of which heterosexism is only one symptom. Let us pray for the Presbyterian Church's witness for justice: Slow us down, Sacred Spirit, that we may listen for your leading, especially in this dialogue. Forgive us for making of one another objects -- open our vision to the "thou's" before us, offering their insights to us. In every "thou" may we meet Thee, O God. Amen. "As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ... I made your name known to them...so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them ..." Jesus in Jn 17:18, 26 DAY 4 God has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Sovereign require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Mic 6:8 Lincoln Trails coordinator Mark Palermo knows that we seek justice within the church. But he fears that Presbyterians will not have loved kindness enough to have engaged in much dialogue during these three years. He is afraid that, instead of walking humbly with God, that our opposition will arrogantly push this coming G.A. into a re-affirmation of the 1978 rejection of lesbian and gay elders, deacons, and ministers. He hopes that people who *have* engaged in dialogue will join those who have long struggled against that "definitive guidance" to present overtures to presbyteries to reverse the present policy of the church. Let us pray for commissioners to the 208th General Assembly: Dear Jesus, touch the ears of those commissioned to listen for the Spirit that they may be emptied of the homophobic background noise of our society and opened to the prophetic voice of Micah to vote justly, kindly, and humbly. Amen. Hear what the Sovereign says...for God has a controversy with God's people, and God will contend with them. Mic 6:1-2 DAY 5 Lot...said, "I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Look, I have two daughters who have not known a man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof." Gen 19:8 Board member Lindsay Biddle urges Presbyterians not to sacrifice their own or their children's spiritual and sexual welfare to bargain with their fears and anxieties. Those fears and anxieties press hard against the door of our salvation, but we must stand fast against them, lest we allow the true Sodomites -- our fears that seek power over us -- to humiliate us and others with inhospitality. While she hopes that our church will welcome all persons into all offices of ministry regardless of sexual orientation, Lindsay fears that the church will continue to lose gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered members who will choose to serve elsewhere. Let us pray for those who seek More Light: God of the sun and the moon and the stars, bless those who seek illumination in matters of sexuality and inclusivity, that they may be "like trees planted by streams of water which yield their fruit in its season and their leaves do not wither" (Ps 1:3). May they prosper in all that they do. Amen. "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town." Jesus in Mt 10:14-15 DAY 6 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Sovereign. Rom 8:38-39 Board member and Presbynet contact Dorothy Fillmore is certain that she and God will never part ways. But she fears that she might feel forced to leave the church if there's a lack of progress or empathy or understanding. For her that would be a crushing experience beyond words. Dorothy hopes that the church will decide if it is in fact hospitable and welcoming of us, not only in relation to ordination, but more broadly in affirming our gifts to the church. Let us pray that we never lose heart: Bless our hearts, that we continue to love each other with them and preserve within them the hope to which you have called us: to enjoy you and glorify you forever, O God. Amen. What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who can stand against us? Rom 8:31 DAY 7 As [Jesus] came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!" Lk 19:41 West Hollywood Presbyterian Church pastor and former issues analyst for PLGC Dan Smith believes Jesus weeps regularly over the Presbyterian Church and our General Assembly, wishing we knew the things that make for peace and justice. Dan hopes that our denomination might really take the whole of the Gospel seriously for everyone, but he fears that the gay and lesbian community is going to expect more than is going to happen, and that people are going to be hurt, depressed, and angry. He doesn't believe the "dialogue" has been legitimate or taken seriously -- no funding was supplied, no coordination of efforts was established on the national level. He doesn't believe we're any further along than three years ago, when the Orlando G.A. initiated the dialogue. The ominous shadow of the 1982 Hartford assembly looms in Dan's memory, when the church permanently lost Bill Silver -- the candidate for ordination that prompted the original homosexuality study -- when it again voted "no" on ordination. Bill ripped off his visitor's badge, threw it down on the commissioners, and shouted his goodbye. Let us pray for justice at this General Assembly: God of the oppressed, the ignored, the rejected: Give us voice to tell Pharaoh to let our people stay, not in the slavery of the church's closet, but in the courts of your church that we've served so faithfully for generations. It's time for your church to take concrete action and make some movement on this issue, because it has hurt us too long. If it has no intention or desire or will for us to stay, then let us go to serve you outside the blasphemy of an idle faith which confuses oppression with peace and judiciousness with justice. Amen. Then [Jesus] entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers." Lk 19:45-46 DAY 8 I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. ... But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:21, 24 Board member Mike Smith hopes that some of the positive movement that he has seen during the past three years will carry over into what the G.A. does. He believes that many of the commissioners to the Albuquerque gathering will have participated in a study or a dialogue effort in their own congregations or presbyteries, since most who are elected tend to be more active in local governing bodies. Mike's fear is that some of us -- out of our own, not unrealistic fear -- will anticipate a negative result from G.A. That could serve as a damper for our enthusiasm working toward a positive outcome, as we will be enervated by our fear of devastation at not achieving all that we want. Mike believes we must leave room for the Spirit to move. Let us pray for the movement of the Spirit in our church: Dear God, they're afraid, we're afraid -- and in such a paralysis of fear we fail to move toward one another and open our arms for the embrace of inspiration your Spirit offers. May we hear your constant biblical reprise: Fear not! Touch hardened hearts with your Spirit that calls us from fear to faith, that moves us to justice through love. Amen. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:23-24 DAY 9 "Forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." Jesus in Lk 23:34 Lesbian evangelist Janie Spahr warns that what she learns in her travels of the spiritual abuse of countless lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people may make forgiveness of the church impossible for many of us, especially if the church does nothing to correct and counter it. There is anger out there that cannot be described, she says. Janie expresses great concern over the heart of our issue being sidestepped: inclusiveness and diversity. God's love is for all of us. The church must stop scapegoating us and women -- it must recognize our right to define our selves and reject the church's abuse. Her hope is that one day we will view one another as persons and not as issues, that sexuality gets demythologized, that we go beyond mere acceptance to honor diversity, justice, and liberation. She's particularly concerned about the abuse of power in the church to keep us all in line. Let us pray for Wisdom in the church: O Holy One, with Sophia -- Wisdom, your partner in the creation of the world -- teach us partnership rather than power-over relationships. May we listen to one another in our pain and our fear. May our hearts and minds be open to change so we may value one another and listen to everyone's life story. Deliver us from hurting each other -- in your name, we kill one another's soul by slapping everyone with our definitions, our "isms" that exclude rather than include, divide rather than unite, wound rather than heal. Forgive us, but teach us what we do so we may truly repent of the evil that continues to crucify you on crosses of misunderstanding, prejudice, and even "purity." Amen. ...and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Into your hands I commend my spirit." Lk 23:45-46 DAY 10 "For God so loved the world that God gave God's only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life." Jesus in Jn 3:16 Board member Jim Earhart believes this familiar verse is at the heart of our acceptance: God's acceptance should engender self-acceptance and the church's acceptance. There are no qualifying clauses other than the one regarding belief in Jesus. Though they try, our opponents cannot explain away this welcome of we who believe, a welcome found on the very lips of Jesus, the lips that never chose to condemn homosexuality. Though he fears the opposite may happen, Jim hopes that the PC(USA) will welcome believers into membership and leadership regardless of race, gender, and sexual orientation, while still remaining whole. Let us pray for the unity of the church: O Christ, there are members of your body who have tried to hurt and cut off other members because of their race or gender or sexual orientation. Heal your body. We believe in you, but help our unbelief, especially the unbelief of those who do not believe that you love all your members. Keep us open and understanding so that the will of God may once again be incarnated in your Body, the church. Amen. "Those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God." Jesus in Jn 3:21 DAY 11 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?" Jesus in Jn 14:1-2 Outgoing treasurer Richard Koteras fears that many of us have unrealistic expectations and that many will become discouraged by the lack of action at this coming G.A. He doesn't think much is going to be resolved in our favor and our enthusiasm will wane as a result. His hope is that our church will move forward just a little bit. Let us pray for an ongoing dialogue: Holy Word, may the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts continue to be exchanged along the whole spectrum of Presbyterians who love you and seek your will. We experience you and we speak of you differently. May we come to know that collectively we hold your revealed truth, and that individually we only know in part. May we stay together and discern your Word in this kairos moment of realizing that gays and lesbians and bisexuals and the transgendered are also in your lexicon of grace. Amen. "If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it." Jesus in Jn 14:14 DAY 12 And as [Peter] talked with [Cornelius], he went in and found that many had assembled; and he said to them, "You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean." Acts 10:27-28 When Hedy Lodwick served our church as a volunteer in Switzerland, she and a group of women who met for the reading of scripture and the saying of prayers worked together on the text of which this verse is part. She realized that Peter had to open himself to the Spirit's leading and admit he had been wrong. She believes that the church needs a vision like Peter's now. Hedy hopes that all of us in the church will be willing to let go of some "rusty" old ideas and begin to look at things with new eyes. She fears that Presbyterians will instead cling to what they've always thought. She doesn't know how long church members of minority sexual orientations can hang on with the church continuing to be condemning. She fears that gay young people will be prevented from understanding their sexuality as a sacred gift. Let us pray for gay youth in our church: Holy Father and Mother, teach us to be truly inclusive of all your children, especially those who are growing up in every congregation and becoming aware of their homosexual feelings. Save them from literal suicide, as well as suicide in its multiple guises: substance abuse, unsafe sex, denial and repression that often leads to depression or opposite-gender marriage. Give us a vision of the sacred nature of same- gender love and unions, so that our gay children will know the holiness of their feelings. Amen. Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every [condition] anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to God." Acts 10:34-35 DAY 13 Be gracious to me, O God, for I am languishing; O God, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror. My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O God -- how long? Ps 6:3 Presbyterian ACT-UP liaison Lisa Bove's passion is summed up by her choice of scripture. O God -- how long? O church -- how long? We languish and our souls are struck with terror while the church welcomes our opposition's hate while rejecting our love. Lisa fears that few Presbyterians will have engaged in dialogue, and that the church will not be moved. Nonetheless, she hopes that many Presbyterians have personally come to know lesbian and gay people, and that will help move the church into the twenty-first century. Let us pray for our own: "Turn, O God, save our lives; deliver us for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?" (Ps 6:4-5) We pray that no more gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered lives are lost on the Presbyterian Church's altar of hypocrisy! Deliver our spirits, free our souls, save our lives from a church willing to sacrifice its gay children on the altar of the false god of heterosexuality. Amen. God has heard my supplication; God accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame. Ps 6:9-10 DAY 14 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1 Mid-America coordinator Merrill Proudfoot fears that the G.A. will submit to a yoke of slavery known as red tape, technicalities, and false legalities as promulgated by the Advisory Committee on the Constitution. He's afraid that will lead G.A. to do something the commissioners may not want to do: to make "definitive guidance" against ordaining us legally binding. He has a foreboding that there could be an action taken to harden the guidance in the *Book of Order*. Yet the G.A. can't do that by itself: it would have to be ratified by presbyteries, and the fact that the ban on the participation of ministers in same-gender unions was not ratified may offer us hope even in that worst-case scenario. Merrill's hope lies with an overture his presbytery has approved that would rescind the authoritative interpretation of the *Book of Order* that led to the legally binding quality of the definitive guidance. Without that interpretation, first rendered in 1978, nothing in the *Book of Order* would inhibit the ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered Presbyterians. Let us pray for the commissioners to the 208th General Assembly and all those who advise them: Sacred Liberator: may the commissioners' mantra become "for freedom Christ has set us free." Keep them from the yoke of slavery of past assembly actions and permanent judicial commission rulings. Deliver them from legal counsel and parliamentary quagmire that seek to bind their freedom of conscience. Save them from the faithless fearmongers who claim a change will split the church. Rescue them from manipulative control freaks disguised as advisors. Inspire them with the freedom to enjoy your grace and prove gracious to us. Amen. You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ... For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love. Gal 5:4,6 DAY 15 With what shall I come before the Sovereign, and bow myself before God on high? ... Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Mic 6:6a,7b The Presbyterian Church is giving up its children because of its sin of homophobia -- a sickness of soul that befouls what many once regarded as a progressive, compassionate denomination. Kay Wroblewski, one of the coordinators of the Northeast, fears that our church is becoming stagnant as it balks on this issue. Reading the book *Called Out* makes her wonder if we're ever going to get anywhere in our quest for sexual justice in the PC(USA). Kay hopes that the church will come to its senses and will begin to see people as people, with gifts to be celebrated, with no one excluded. Her biggest hope, she says, is that when (if) we, the church, do come to our senses, those who have already left the church will come back. With a sigh, she adds that it may not happen in our lifetime. She believes our best prayer is the work of PLGC and the More Light Church Network. Let us pray for PLGC and the More Light Church Network: Eternal God, grant us patience and courage so that we don't lose heart if this coming assembly inadequately reflects your inbreaking commonwealth. May the church catch up to Christ, who's way out front, beckoning us from your future. May we witness unity in our diversity so that our church may also discover unity through diversity. Amen. "Shall I come before God with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?" ... God has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Sovereign require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. Mic 6:6b,8 DAY 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith... Rom 1:16 Rocky Mountains coordinator Dean Hay believes that those who are opposed to an inclusive church are ashamed of the gospel and have disrupted the mission of the church. Not only have lesbian and gay members been lost, but their wide circle of families, friends, and supporters have either left or lost enthusiasm for a church that rejects those they love. Churches do not die, Dean asserts, they are killed by self- destructive members who would rather see the church die than proclaim the gospel to the "wrong" people. Dean points out that a church that rejects us for being different will certainly be intolerant of other perceived infractions: so our opponents are setting a trap for themselves by setting criteria for membership other than faith in Jesus Christ. The extortionists who hold back church mission dollars are guilty of the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, who held back a portion of their gifts to the church, demonstrating a lack of trust, both in God and in the church. (See their fate in Acts 5:1-11.) Dean's hope is that we would return to the Gospel in its pristine sense: Love God will all our heart, mind, and soul, and our neighbors as ourselves. He adds that lots of people don't love themselves, hence their need to exclude or attack others. Let us pray for the mission of the church: Blessed Evangel, bringer of glad tidings, may your church catch Moderator Marj Carpenter's vision of mission: that all of us are needed, for the harvest is great and the harvesters are few. May Marj herself be converted by her own vision into someone who wants to include us, thus modeling for others the transformation possible when we join you in your dream of proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the earth. May those of us who proclaim the good news of your justice be understood not as "liberal," but as "biblical," carrying on the tradition of our spiritual ancestors in scripture. Heal the vindictiveness of our opponents, bring peace in our time. Amen. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to God's purpose. Rom 8:28 DAY 17 "For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can." Jesus in Mt 19:12 The concept that we need no longer be on the defensive when it comes to scripture has stuck with Northeast coordinator Sally Witherell since the More Light Churches Conference in Baltimore last April. MCC pastor Nancy Wilson, author of *Our Tribe*, served as keynote speaker and workshop leader. Her theme was that it is absolutely homophobic to believe that we -- homosexuals, bisexuals -- are not in the Bible. Her scholarship is about outing the potentially gay or lesbian biblical figures, and the eunuch, as a nonprocreationist outcast, may be such an archetype. Jesus clearly spoke up for them (us) and the early church welcomed them (us). (See the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:26-40.) Though Sally fears that there hasn't been enough honest dialogue in the church on our concerns, she hopes that the coming G.A. adopts a "live and let live" position that allows us to be in the congregations and presbyteries that welcome us. Let us pray that the church will follow the words of Jesus: Divine Friend, deliver us from the inhospitality of Sodom, the legalisms of Leviticus, the mistaken interpretation of Romans, and the mistranslation of 1 Corinthians so that we may claim the Bible as our spiritual birthright, created and blessed by you, liberated from oppression, wandering in the wilderness, guided to the promised land, delivered from works righteousness into your hands of grace, by which we are redeemed, and by which we claim our citizenship in your commonwealth. May the silence of Jesus on this subject and the words of Jesus on judging not and welcoming the outcast inspire, guide, and equip the church to recognize that we are also its heirs. Amen. "Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given." Jesus in Mt 19:11 DAY 18 Beloved, ...this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Phil 3:13 Chair of the Special Committee on Human Sexuality whose report was rejected by the 1991 G.A., John Carey suggests this scripture as the text for his prayer for us all as we seek sexual justice in the church. He reports he has not been invited to participate in the supposed "dialogue" on homosexuality, and fears that the PC(USA) and other mainline church bodies will retreat into a defensive posture and lose any incentive to be inclusive. He fears that the broad conservative mindset of the country will become dominant in the church and we won't even have the motivation to continue this dialogue. John hopes against hope that our denomination will become inclusive and affirming, endorsing a positive national policy that would extend to local governing bodies. Let us pray for those who lead us in the struggle: God of vision and hope, bless those who lead our church to a reformed self-understanding inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered Christians. Give them strength and grace to persevere in the hope to which you have called us all. Wrap them in your arms of Word and Sacrament, suckle them with your breasts of Compassion and Justice, hold them securely on your lap of Grace. Amen. For Christ's sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Christ, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. Phil 3:8b-9 DAY 19 Then God answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. Hab 2:2-3 Chair of the Task Force to Study Homosexuality whose recommendations were rejected in 1978, Virginia West Davidson counsels the expectant patience described in this passage from the prophet Habakkuk. She senses that the pace toward acceptance is picking up in more places in our church where dialogue is taking place. Yet she fears that we, as a community of advocates, may prematurely expect a favorable resolution. Ginny advises that we neither regard this G.A. as our last chance nor as a mere beginning, forgetting what has gone before. She hopes that we'll all leave the future open to the movement of the Spirit, listening for the Spirit in this coming assembly, but realizing the Spirit's work will not be completed there. Let us pray for the gift of discernment: Holy Spirit, may all of the church listen individually and corporately to the Wisdom coming from the depths of our bodies -- the Word of the Spirit, Sophia's Wisdom -- because we know that it is in those depths that God stirs us and unites us as one Body. Amen. Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faith. Hab 2:4 DAY 20 If it had not been God who was on our side, when our enemies attacked us, then they would have swallowed us up alive... Ps 124:2-3a Pacific coordinator Dick Hasbany's worst fear is that we will forget the Psalmist's reminder that God has been with us from the beginning, and that we will lose heart and believe there's no hope in the Presbyterian Church, feeling bitter and betrayed and angry, and leave the church if no progress is made. Dick hopes that a formulation might be found during the coming assembly that will protect everyone's belief as well as our right to serve. He hopes that Presbyterians -- including us -- will not be afraid to embrace a *via media*, a middle way. Let us pray for a spiritual centering: Sacred Center of Life, as we prepare for the 1996 General Assembly, lead us to discover our own place of peace, the sanctuary within our hearts in which we clearly understand your presence and your guidance. In this sacred place, may we clarify the purpose of our quest, thus finding passion and wisdom and courage for the struggle, and peace no matter what comes. Our help is in the name of God, who made heaven and earth. Ps 124:8 DAY 21 Those who wait for God shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Is 40:31 *Called Out* editor Katherine Poethig had just returned from the international women's gathering in Beijing when she offered her thoughts. She reported that Israeli and Palestinian women had had an opportunity for dialogue there based on a belief that might inform the dialogue between gay and straight in the Presbyterian Church: trust is not a precondition of negotiations, but a result. Katherine's hope for our dialogue within the church is that the words "gay," "lesbian," "bisexual," and "transgendered" will appear on the lips of those who have never said them before with some sense of understanding. Living in earthquake country -- northern California -- gives rise to the metaphor for her fear: that dormant rifts and fault lines in the church will open in the dialogue, and catastrophe will be the result. Just as one might lose one's home or even life's work in an earthquake, so some may lose their house of worship or their religious vocation in the shaking up of the church addressing this issue. Let us pray for the dialogue: Shepherd who prepares a table for enemies, we pray for those who refuse to listen and for those to whom we resist speaking, that together we may find a small space, a little circle, to hear and recognize one another as your people and begin to cultivate the trust that only your communion may bring. May we find hope in the most incremental beginnings, and may such conversations proliferate throughout the whole church. May we understand our own prophecy even if the church does not. Deliver us from compromising our vision to be included. May we dream dreams, run and not be weary, dance and not faint. Amen. God gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Is 40:29 DAY 22 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!" Jesus in Mt 23:37 "Presbyterians, Presbyterians, the church that resists your prophets and excludes those who are sent to you! How often have I desired to gather you together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!" PLGC's Presbynet coordinator Bill Capel hopes that the Presbyterian Church and his own constituency, PLGC, will survive the dialogue in one piece. He fears that one or the other side will win big at the coming G.A., and the "losers" will feel destroyed and choose to depart. He adds that the church uproar over our ordination has brought an unsought blessing to him (and probably to many of us) in that he's come to know a lot of people whom he highly regards and who have become friends. Let us pray for unity among all in the dialogue: Holy Trinity, as you find unity in dialogue, so may we be gathered together under your wings, huddled to find shared meaning and hope and vision. Help us all to hang in there and keep working the process, keep working the program by which we may discover our common language and discern our common mission, through Christ Jesus, our Sovereign. Amen. "You will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Sovereign.'" Jesus in Mt 23:39 DAY 23 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, [nor General Assembly commissioners,] nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:33-39 The Presbyterian Church's former representative to Europe, Bob Lodwick, is afraid that nobody has listened in the dialogue, that minds have already been made up, and that very few persons have been able to hear what others are saying. But he hopes he's wrong. He hopes that the presence of the gay and lesbian community and its allies in Albuquerque, along with the shower of stoles (see next entry) will have an impact on commissioners, and that our Presbyterian belief that conscience alone dictates how one votes will mean that commissioners might hear or see in that context the gifts that lesbians and gay men bring into the church, viewing this not merely as a question of inclusiveness, but as a question of justice. Let us pray for the free conscience of commissioners: Dear God, open the commissioners elected to the 208th General Assembly to the work of the Holy Spirit in their midst. We pray that the heat of controversy and the shadow of ignorance will give way to the light of illumination and the reformation of the church's response to those of us who bear witness to the Spirit in our lives and ministry. Amen. What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? Rom 8:31 DAY 24 What does God require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Mic 6:8 This is what Martha Juillerat wrote on her stole before she set aside her ordination as a minister in Heartland Presbytery September 16th. She says there has been sadness but also hope for her in this decision as she experiences a renewed sense of call by her action. She's invited others to send her their stoles to be displayed as a witness to our service at the 1996 General Assembly. (Send your stole to: Martha Juillerat & Tammy Lindahl, 6146 Locust St., Kansas City, MO 64110. Write or affix your name plus any message you wish to include.) Martha once feared a negative vote at this assembly, but now she has no fear of it because she's certain the vote *will* be negative. Now she's afraid for the energies and spirits of the people who have been involved all these years in our cause. She's concerned for the spiritual letdown in store for us, and knows it will require tremendous effort to recover spiritually from any negative pronouncement. She hopes that people will listen to our stories and take them seriously, and that we can take hold of whatever momentum is generated in this time. Martha hopes that people will be changed, and that we will stop being an issue. Let us pray for those of us who have been called to serve as ministers of Word and Sacrament: Sacred Voice of the wilderness, the closet, and the church, may we as a denomination hear your call to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered Christians. Deliver us from extremists who deny that call. Commit us to witness your grace in Jesus Christ. Help our church to value our gifts and put sexuality in a proper perspective, just as Christ's sexuality was of no concern to those who heard and proclaimed your gospel. Amen. The voice of the Sovereign cries to [Albuquerque]...: "Hear, O tribe and assembly of the city!" Mic 6:9 DAY 25 "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Jesus in Jn 8:7 Marvin Ellison, a principal architect of the rejected report on human sexuality, views the woman caught in adultery as a woman caught in patriarchy: to sin no more, as Jesus subsequently advises her, means for her not to accept any more patriarchal abuse and to claim her self-respect. On the flip side, it means that folks with power who sometimes misuse that power must drop their weapons of virtue and consider solidarity. Marvin sees a parallel between her experience and ours, between the self-righteous legalists of her day and of our own. He fears that Presbyterians will find no good reason to rethink their present exclusionary policy and will experience no remorse about the injustices done to gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. Instead they will, with easy conscience, keep the status quo. How ironic if they do so and sing "They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love"! But Marvin hopes that Presbyterians will retrieve the best of their tradition and understand that Christian faith always needs to be reformed and reforming and will take this opportunity to open itself to transformation by listening to marginalized people, including but not limited to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people of all colors. Let us pray for the ongoing reformation of the church: God, don't stop now! "Shape us, mold us, fill us, use us -- Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us."* You're not finished with us yet! If faith can move mountains, may it move us! Amen. "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? ... Neither do I condemn you." Jesus in Jn 8:10-11 *Adapted from the hymn, "Spirit of the Living God," text adapted by Daniel Iverson. DAY 26 You have heard what I said; consider it well, and admit the truth of it. From now on I show you new things, hidden things you did not know before. They were not created long ago, but in this very hour; before today you had never heard of them. You cannot claim 'I know them already.' Is 48:6-7 (REB) The principal writer of the rejected homosexuality report of 1978, Byron Shafer, fears that nothing much has happened over the past three years of supposed dialogue. He believes that we will arrive in Albuquerque with commissioners who have not been touched -- or touched in a significant way -- by dialogue. Nothing will change unless people are in a countercultural mood -- which is not likely for Presbyterians. They need to hear the new things Yahweh speaks that Isaiah prophesied. His only hope is that a few more people may have had a change of heart. And, he says, maybe all of us may find one another post-G.A. and cling to one another as a kind of apocalyptic community, a remnant of what the church was intended to be. Let us pray for the Spirit to teach us new things: "Holy Spirit, truth divine, dawn upon this soul of mine; word of God and inward light, wake my spirit, clear my sight."* Open Presbyterian hearts, O Spirit, open them to God's inclusive love. Help us to catch you, Spirit, blowing where you will lead us. Forgive us and deliver us from our own resistance. Birth us again. Amen. "In very truth I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again. ... The wind blows where it wills; you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born from the Spirit." Jesus in Jn 3:3, 8 (REB) *From the hymn "Holy Spirit, Truth Divine," text by Samuel Longfellow. DAY 27 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Lk 10:25 The simple answer Jesus confirmed about loving God and loving the neighbor still stumps the Presbyterian "lawyers" of our day, according to Jean Hansen, an active member of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (P-FLAG), the proud mother of a lesbian daughter and a proud spiritual mother for many of us in PLGC. Jean doesn't understand why our church is so unloving to its lesbian daughters and gay sons. Jean fears that Presbyterians will continue to be stiff- necked and hardhearted, though she believes that the Holy Spirit is speaking to the church and telling us to be an inclusive body. She wonders what happens when people don't listen to the Holy Spirit. She believes that the church must come of age: the time has come for it to value all of its members and their gifts, especially gays and lesbians. It's time for the church to be inclusive and to stop losing those who bring such a spirit of grace to the church family. Let us pray for forgiveness as the church: Forgive us for not accepting sooner the gracious gifts that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered family members offer us. Open us to do so now. Bless those who have felt excluded by our official position, heal their wounds, even as you heal the wound of your Body of Christ, broken by ignorance, homophobia, and heterosexism. Amen. The lawyer answered, "You shall love the Sovereign your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And Jesus said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live." Lk 10:27-28 DAY 28 "These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also ..." Acts 17:6 Religious leaders' complaint about the first Christians resembles Presbyterians' complaint about us, Presbyterian ACT-UP founder Howard Warren believes. He expects nothing good will come from this year's G.A., and he fears most that encouraging so many of us to come will only increase the intensity of our anger. How will we transform that rage into constructive responses? His hope parallels that of a recent letter he received from Lisa Larges in which she said that, regardless of what happens, we will be there to celebrate who we are and will continue to do so after the outcome. Howard will be on a doctor-guided fast during Lent, during which he intends to pray for every commissioner elected to the assembly. He has sent for the roster so he may pray for them individually by name. What follows is what he intends to pray. Let us pray for the commissioners to the Albuquerque General Assembly: Dear God, we pray that you, the wildly-inclusive, extravagant God will act on the hearts, minds, and souls of each delegate and that the Holy Spirit will replace the mean spirit that is in the Presbyterian Church today. Amen. "These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also.... They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the [G.A. and PJC], saying that there is another sovereign named Jesus." Acts 17:6b-7 DAY 29 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law." Gal 3:10 Board member Michael Purintun advises reading the whole of Galatians because in it Paul writes about the freedom from the law integral to Christian faith. This verse reveals the cursed estate of anyone who seeks justification by the law rather than by faith, as our opponents do. Michael hopes that our church will decide that there's enough disagreement on the issue of the ordination of lesbians and gays that the G.A. will allow presbyteries and congregations to follow their own conscience. His fear is that we'll *expect* that to happen at this assembly only to be disappointed. Let us pray for the church's deliverance from idolatry: Sacred Liberator: From belief that we can save ourselves by following the Law, deliver us. From belief that we can save others or our church by enforcing the Law, deliver us. From worshiping the false gods of peace, unity, and purity rather than attending to your Holy Spirit, deliver us. Amen. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. ... So you are no longer a slave but a child [of God], and if a child then also an heir, through God. Gal 3:28, 4:7 DAY 30 "Then [the Human One] will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Jesus in Mt 25:45-46 Covenant coordinator Jim Beates wonders how the Presbyterian Church will fare in this last judgment scenario described by Jesus. Jim nearly died of AIDS-related PCP shortly after being surveyed, coming within a 5% survival chance. So his returned health and, I might add, vibrancy, is the closest thing to resurrection most of us are likely to witness. But it's not death he fears. He fears that these three years of dialogue in our denomination will not have made a difference, because 90% of its governing bodies did not bother to engage in it. His hope -- and it must be a pretty big hope, in that Jim has scheduled his chemotherapy around the dates of General Assembly -- his hope is that the Spirit will surprise us, either with some form of acceptance or by the formation of the More Light Presbyterian Church, a new denomination born out of the ashes of the PC(USA)'s resistant ignorance and homophobia. Let us pray for the salvation of our church: Holy One, give us ears to hear, eyes to see, hearts to open, and feet to follow your Spirit boldly, whether we follow that Spirit within the Presbyterian Church (USA) or follow that Spirit out of our church into a new one that serves as your remnant of grace. Amen. Little children, let us love, not in word and speech, but in truth and action. ... Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from God whatever we ask... 1 Jn 3:18, 21-22a DAY 31 "The Spirit of God is upon me, because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the years of God's favor." Jesus in Lk 4:18-19, quoting Is 61:1-2a Sylvia Thorson Smith, who served General Assembly task forces on pornography and on human sexuality, has a two-fold fear: that the G.A. could deal a crushing blow to those of us in the movement who have already suffered spiritual abuse at the hands of the church, many of us leaving the church for our spiritual health, and that the G.A. could deal a crushing blow to God's Spirit in this church were it to lose the life of its lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered members. A change in policy, she says, could free the Spirit. Regardless, she believes our movement will live and go forward, keeping alive the Spirit our denomination lacks. Sylvia's hope for the church is that good-hearted, caring, loving, and progressive Presbyterians who care about justice in a host of other arenas will make the connection that this too is a justice issue and will act upon it favorably in Albuquerque. Studying is not enough; positive action is called for. She quotes Susan B. Anthony, who died before women's suffrage was passed: "Failure is impossible." She also relates a story that a local openly gay school board member tells about water bugs floating in the ocean, feeling the up and down undulation of the waves, unaware of the fact that the current is taking them to another continent. With all our ups and downs in this movement, the current (the Spirit) is nonetheless taking us toward the commonwealth of God. Let us pray for a passion for justice: Pour out your justice-loving Spirit upon the Presbyterian Church, O God, that we may proclaim release to the captives of closets and of ignorance and declare liberation to those oppressed by "definitive guidance." In so doing, may we regain our calling as a justice-loving denomination. Amen. The spirit of the Sovereign God is upon me, because God has anointed me...to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion -- to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. Is 61:1,2c-3b DAY 32 For Christ is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. Eph 2:14 Alaska-Northwest coordinator Richard Gibson fears that Presbyterians will not talk with us, that a dividing wall of hostility prevents them from hearing gay and lesbian Christians in our church. But he hopes that those who do dialogue will be transformed, viewing us in a new way, and growing in their appreciation for the awesome rainbow of diversity that blesses God's creation. Richard has been deeply involved in the church's dialogue on peacemaking, and he believes passages from Ephesians, especially the verse quoted above, speaks to the peacemaking needed in the church between gay and straight. Let us pray for peace: O Christ, you are our peace, for you have made us one in your Spirit and in your Body. Open all Presbyterians to become avowed, practicing Christians -- avowing your love, practicing your peace, enjoying the unity you bring disparate people. May we listen to one another as you speak through the dialogue. Amen. So Christ came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through Christ both of have access in one Spirit to God. Eph 2:17-18 DAY 33 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Ps 27:1 Board member Louise Thompson advises reading all of Psalm 27 for strength and courage. She fears we may lose sight of the history of our movement as we focus on Albuquerque: we've come a long way, and we have a long way to go. We so keenly want justice now, we may feel a letdown if we don't get it this time, forgetting our incremental achievements over the years in terms of enlightenment and understanding. Louise hopes that we'll hang in there for the long haul toward full recognition of our rights in the church. She hopes that the 1978 definitive guidance will be dumped, freeing congregations and presbyteries to make their own choices on ordination. Her prayer grows out of an experience at the last assembly, when she mistook a PLGCer for someone from the Presbyterian Lay Committee and harshly responded to something he said. She realized in that moment that loving our enemies is a necessary ingredient of living into the commonwealth of God. Let us pray for our opponents: O God that calls all of us into service in the Presbyterian Church (USA): we pray for those who trespass against us by denying our calls and even our membership in the church. Some of them suffer confusion regarding their own sexuality and the relationship of sexuality and spirituality. Others suffer fear of the stranger, even the stranger within their own friends in church leadership. Others mistakenly believe that we question the authority of the Bible, or contradict Reformed theology, or threaten the church as an institution. Some act from ignorance, calling for the freedom of Barabbas rather than the freedom of Christ. Forgive them, for they know not what they do. But also, teach them what they do, so that they have opportunities to turn from their ways and stop nailing the Body of Christ to the cross over and over with their religious zeal. Amen. One thing I ask of God, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of God, and to inquire in God's temple. Ps 27:4 DAY 34 "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Jesus in Mt 22:40 Jack Hartwein-Sanchez, one of the coordinators for the Northeast, believes this verse is particularly important because it reveals that Jesus believed loving God and loving the neighbor as yourself is the basis of all laws and all prophecy. Jack cites another sacred text that has served as an anchor for him in our movement within the church: the Reverend Troy Perry's autobiography, *We Are Not Afraid Anymore*. Jack's fear for the upcoming assembly grows out of what he witnessed at last year's assembly: commissioners on the committee to cope with the Presbyterian Lay Committee and its publication, *The Presbyterian Layman* [sic], did not really hear the pain of those who testified who had been misrepresented and vilified on its pages. They were fooled by the Lay Committee's wolf-in-sheep's-clothing presentation of its "hurt" that caused them to hurt others. One committee member claimed there had been hurt on both sides. What the committee failed to understand is that *The Layman* has considerably more power to inflict pain because of its wealth and widespread distribution. The conclusion that both sides have been hurt is like saying a rapist and a rape victim are equally to blame because the victim either wore provocative clothing or scratched the face of the perpetrator! Jack's most "fantastic" hope is that our ordination will be permitted. He has been asked to run for elder in his home congregation. His most sober hope is that at least more commissioners will "get it" because they're finally hearing our story. As long as we continue telling our stories, he feels there is hope. Let us pray for the recovery of love in our church: Divine Lover of our souls, we've forgotten the purpose of faith as a church, which is loving you and our neighbor: on this may we base all our polity and our proclamation. Help us as a church to shake the dust of unjust definitive guidance from our feet, so that we may go into our neighborhoods and the world proclaiming your love and justice. Amen. Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 1 Jn 4:7 DAY 35 Beloved, since God loves us so much, we also ought to love one another. 1 Jn 4:11 Peg Beissert, recently retired Director of the Lazarus Project, a ministry of reconciliation among sexual orientations in the church located at the West Hollywood Presbyterian Church, cites as her foundation scriptures that suggest the overpowering sense of inclusiveness that Jesus exemplified. We need to value one another, love one another. Peg points out that so many items have been referred to this coming assembly because of the dialogue, that she wonders how the commissioners are going to get it all in. She worries that we'll be ignored and pushed off -- again. Her hope is in the mediating direction of an overture she prepared for the First Presbyterian Church of Inglewood, California, requesting that the ordination decision be returned to local congregations and presbyteries. She believes the issue is too big and too divisive for the assembly to legislate for the entire country. Out of respect for our Reformed theology that affirms that God alone rules the conscience, we must refrain from insisting that all Presbyterians think alike on this matter. Let us pray for mutual respect among Presbyterians: Holy Word, you are the God of all of us, despite our differing biblical interpretations. May we turn to you as our source of unity rather than forcing conformity to be "united." May we recognize and uphold and allow for one another's faithfulness, even as we disagree. Return to presbyteries and congregations their rights within our polity, and continue to be the only ruler of our conscience in this matter. Amen. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and God's love is perfected in us. 1 Jn 4:12 DAY 36 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!" Jesus in Mt 23:37 Prison ministries liaison and Southern California & Hawaii coordinator Doug Elliott fears that our family of faith may break apart, not by our doing, but by our opposition, which has continually threatened the church's well-being if we find acceptance. As bad as division may be, in Doug's view, he says it may become a blessing if our opponents are going to insist on their own way (See 1 Cor 13:5). Doug hopes for more enlightenment, that people will get out of their boxes. He points out that fundamentalists in any religion tend to be inhibited by reality -- that, fundamentally, they are not free in faith, and specifically, those who are Christian are not free in Christ. Let us pray for the vision of the church: Sacred Creator: as you called forth our world from chaos, call forth our church from division and divisiveness. May we listen for, may we recognize, may we love the commonwealth we share in Christ through your Spirit. Open ears, open eyes, open hearts. To your glory, Amen. "See, your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Sovereign.'" Jesus in Mt 23:38- 39 DAY 37 For God so loved the world that God gave God's only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Jn 3:16 For Jim Ebbenga and Kurt Wieser, a couple that serves among the coordinators of Trinity, this is the gospel without qualification. This was the first verse Jim memorized as a child growing up in the church. It's the church that adds requirements other than faith in Jesus Christ. God is apparently less demanding than the church. But then, false gods are always more demanding. Their shared fear is that nothing will be resolved at this assembly, and that it will introduce yet another season of indecision and non-commitment in the Presbyterian Church. Both hope that something will happen, and their highest hope is that the church will become truly inclusive. Kurt wants ordination and full membership for us to be written into the bylaws of the church without our opponents proposing that churches leave the denomination. He hopes Presbyterians will understand that the Holy Spirit has spoken and that it's okay. Let us pray for favorable action from the 208th General Assembly: Divine Action in our personal and collective histories: may we act with grace as you have acted with grace, transforming us and all who believe into instruments of your acceptance and justice. Deliver us from acrimony and division. Most of all, deliver us from the inertia and inaction that prevents our doing a new thing in your name. Amen. "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." Jesus in Jn 3:17 DAY 38 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Ps 118:24 Char Sindt, mother of PLGC founder David Bailey Sindt, uses this verse constantly. She says it speaks of her faith that God manages to pull people out of trouble, and the verse encourages us to rejoice in who we are. She's afraid that Presbyterians will ignore the dialogue and the issue of homosexuality completely -- especially in local congregations like her own. Char nonetheless hopes that in whatever dialogue occurs within the church that God will speak to the hearts of a lot of Presbyterians and unearth and produce new folk with positive contributions to make toward our cause. Let us pray that the church accepts the gifts of those of us who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered: Thank you, God, for the gifts you have given us to offer the church. May those who have something against us be reconciled to us before approaching your altar. May they not block our way or impede our access by their failure to rejoice in the way you have made us, the talents we bring, and the devotion we offer. Keep us from failing to rejoice in the ways you have blessed us, this and every day. Amen. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is God's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. Ps 118:21-23 DAY 39 "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets." Jesus in Mt 7:12 Gus Sindt, the late David Sindt's father, believes Presbyterians should start practicing the golden rule when it comes to our cause. Our church contradicts the law and the prophets, as Jesus interpreted them, by rejecting our call to serve him in the church. The backlash to our movement in the church has Gus worried that extremist, negative groups will find more support and stir up division and dissension in the church, causing more discrimination against us. Of course, his hope is that someday we will all be accepted and treated equally, not only by the church officially, but by all Presbyterians individually. Let us pray that the day of acceptance will come soon: Dear God, teach Presbyterians to practice what we preach, to do what we would have others do for ourselves, as Jesus taught us. Only then will injustice and oppression end, and justice and liberation emerge as the law and the prophets intended. In Christ we pray, amen. "Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you." Jesus in Mt. 7:7 DAY 40 Now to God who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Eph 3:20-21 Co-Moderator Laurene Lafontaine was just home from a *Donahue* taping when she offered her reflections on the dialogue. The television show focused on Halloween "Hell Houses" that fundamentalist Christians have promoted to frighten young people into faith. These are spook houses where a wrathful God is chief spook. Laurene chose the verse from Ephesians because she believes that God can accomplish more through us than we may think, especially if more people will come out and "person" the issue. She hopes that God may accomplish a change in the church through our efforts, making it more inclusive of us. She fears that Presbyterians will think that the dialogue ends in June, when the assembly begins. Let us pray for the church's perseverance in the dialogue: Creative Conversationalist, you speak to us through scripture, even today; you cry to us through the oppressed, even today; you rejoice with us through the uplifted, even today; you pray with us through the church, even today. Remind us through your incessant chattering that we do not need to stop talking among ourselves, no matter what conclusions we seem to arrive at. Keep us talking. Keep us listening. Speak to us and through us: cry, rejoice, and pray with us, even now. In Christ. In Spirit. Amen. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph 3:18-19 DAY 41 People were bringing little children to [Jesus] in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs." Mk 10:13-14 Lakes and Prairies coordinator Cleve Evans believes this passage is apropos for the dialogue because so many act immaturely in discussing homosexuality! He says that adults can't seem to think rationally on the subject, acting as they suppose children behave. The truth is, of course, that many of our children are far better able to accept gays and lesbians than their parents. And what of our children who are growing into an awareness that they are lesbian and gay? Will the church let them come to Jesus? Cleve fears that the church may deny that possibility, and that many of us may abandon the church that rebukes us as we approach Jesus. On the other hand, maybe the church will finally get it right, and allow Jesus to touch us with ordination through willing congregations and presbyteries. Let us pray for the church's children coming into an awareness of their sexuality: Holy God -- Father, Mother, Child: we pray for children and youth, that our church's sexual immaturity does not taint their appreciation of your sacred gift of sexuality, nor associate for them sexual differences with hatred and prejudice, bashing and name-calling, suicide and suicidal behavior. Bless their sexuality, that it may bring them fulfilling relationships, faithful love, and spiritual and sensual pleasures. Amen. "Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." And [Jesus] took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. Mk 10:15-16 DAY 42 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. Rom 8:35,37 This describes Mid-Atlantic coordinator Liz Hill's faith despite her fear that we could be pushed further outside the church if the present ambiguity of our status were cleared up in a negative way by the upcoming assembly. Not even the 208th G.A. can separate us from the love of Christ! She hopes that definitive guidance will be abolished forever and that the doors will be opened at all levels of the church for lesbians and gay men. She feels the church needs to lose this focus on sexuality in talking about people; we need a new language that doesn't categorize people sexually. Let us pray for Presbyterians: Blessed Creator, open every heart and mind within our church to your truth and your love and acceptance and blessing found in every human being created in your image. Teach us to dance and sing and play and offer thanksgivings in celebration of the glorious diversity that we are! Amen. Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Rom 8:33-34a DAY 43 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 1 Jn 4:11 Another Mid-Atlantic coordinator, Brent Bissette, chose this scripture because it reflects his biggest hope for our church: that we'll learn to love each other as God loves us. His worst fear is that we'll quit talking to each other. In his AIDS work, Brent observes that the church is often able to celebrate our lives when we're dying. But he wonders when the church will be able to celebrate our lives as we're living and as we're loving. Let us pray for the church's blessing on our love: God of Love, why is our love damned by the church? What obscures the church's vision of the beauty that we see? What in our love repulses our church? Is it the sexual thought? Why doesn't heterosexuality repulse them, then? Or maybe it does. Love embodied is messy. You know, God -- you experienced this when you made your Word of love flesh in Jesus. His birth in a stable, his touch of leprous wounds, the woman's tears on his feet, his body and blood spilled. Embodied love is too messy for our church, perhaps? Yet that's the Gospel. And we love because you first loved us. May the church recognize that and bless our love. Amen. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 Jn 4:8 DAY 44 The vessel [that the potter] was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Jer 18:4-6a South Atlantic coordinator Laurie Kraus finds in this passage the revelation that the church, like the potter's vessel, must be willing to fall apart so that a new thing may be created by God. Like the people of faith of Jeremiah's time, the church has been unwilling to change. Yet the collapse that God creates is not so much a judgment as a divinely gracious act of faith in our ability to be reformed. When she chaired the church's commission to oversee the Presbyterian response to Hurricane Andrew in Florida, where she lives, she witnessed firsthand that when we give ourselves up to chaos, God can create a new thing. Last year Corona Presbyterian Church raised a specter that had never occurred to Laurie before when it overtured Denver Presbytery encouraging the departure of unwanted More Light churches from the denomination. She had never thought that our opposition might try to force us out. Despite that fearful possibility, Laurie hopes that the church will do what it did with the issue of slavery and of women's ordination: set up a mechanism by which transformation can occur and the Holy Spirit can work, not coercively, but persuasively. Let us pray for the church's willingness to change: Sacred Potter: the church's walls seem unyielding and the church's laws seem written on stones rather than hearts! May we trust ourselves in your hands. Melt our hardened hearts with the refining fire of your gracious judgment. Shape the formlessness and chaos of our dialogue into sanctuaries for all along the spectrums of sexuality, gender, color, and ability. Amen. Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of [faith]. Jer 18:6 DAY 45 Then Peter said, "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" Acts 10:46c-47 Board member and issues analyst Scott Anderson believes that the church's conversion experience in relation to us will parallel that of Peter, who recognized that "God shows no partiality" (Act 10:34). The seed of the Gospel grew in Peter to the point where he could baptize Gentiles without requiring that they become Jews, just as that seed will grow in the church and will blossom in the baptism of lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals without insisting on heterosexual conformity. Until that seed blossoms, Scott fears the disillusionment of many of us who will give up the struggle. His big hope is that the church will take a step forward -- in whatever way possible. Let us pray for the handling of conflict in the church: Passionate God, passion in the church results in conflict in the church, and conflict in the church frightens us as a squall in what once seemed a safe harbor. Theology matters. The Bible matters. The church matters. Yet the people you created, redeemed, and now sustain mattered most to you -- that's why you entered the fray, lived and died and lived again for the love of us. You are with us, the church, in conflict and in passion, wrestling us to a new name and new vision of ourselves. We will not let go until you bless us. Amen. [Peter finished,] "If then God gave them the same gift that was given us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?" When they heard this, [those of the Jerusalem assembly] were silenced. And they praised God, saying, "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life." Acts 11:17-18 DAY 46 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. In return -- I speak as to children -- open wide your hearts also. 2 Cor 6:11-12 Board member and Witness for Reconciliation founder Lisa Larges says that this is her prayer for those in the church: that they open wide their hearts as we have done in affirming our love -- for our God, for our church, for our gender. Paul writes these verses in the context of presenting his credentials to the church of Corinth, responding to its apparent lack of confidence in him. Paul wants the opportunity to define himself and his ministry apart from what others say of him. Lisa's fear parallels Paul's in relation to the church at Corinth: she fears that we will let the church define us, and, in so doing, take away our power. She makes a connection with the mutual naming between Mary Magdalene and the risen Christ outside his tomb. Mary recognizes Jesus when he calls her by name; in turn, she is able to name her experience of him: "Rabbouni!" (Teacher). So, too, we have recognized God as God calls us by name -- a name that the church does not yet know because it does not know us. In turn, we name our experience of God, an experience not yet incorporated into the church's understanding. The church wants to call us by some other name ("avowed, practicing, sinful") and falsely names our experience of God ("heretical, nonbiblical, unreformed"). Lisa's hope is that all of us -- lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or those who have children who are -- will be able to enjoy more freedom to share who we are within our local congregations. And she hopes that, at this upcoming assembly, we will be able to celebrate who we are regardless of how the church attempts to define, categorize, limit, or exclude us. Let us pray for the enlarging of hearts: Sacred Heart, your experience on earth and our experience has widened our hearts to include more than we ever thought possible: strangers who are different, neighbors in need, even enemies who need forgiveness. Save the church from restricting its affections -- open wide the hearts of every one of your followers. May all congregations become sanctuaries for your love and our love. Amen. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see -- we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. 2 Cor 6:10 DAY 47 "Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get." Jesus in Mt 7:1-2 Trinity coordinator Rob Cummings takes this very seriously as he listens to others, even those who oppose us in the church. Dialogue is a two-way street. Rob tries to understand our opponents' viewpoints -- what concerns, values, beliefs, fears, prejudices, and ignorance may shape them. He tries to reserve judgment of another as he presents his own point of view. He knows such dialogue will mean a long and difficult struggle. He hears in our movement "We win or we walk!" and this troubles him, for he fears many of us will be disappointed and leave the church. Rob points out that not even the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community is of one mind, and he hopes that the church will continue listening to the spectrum of opinions within our movement. Let us pray for true dialogue: Holy Word, help us discover common ground and meaning and purpose through our exchange of thoughtful and caring words. May we carefully consider with our minds and our hearts what others say to us; may they treat our words with the same kind consideration. May all sides think not only how an opinion affects them, but how it affects everybody. And, in this process, may we always listen for your Word to us. May we learn from this dialogue how to talk about other controversial subjects. Amen. "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you..." Jesus in Mt 7:12 DAY 48 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. 2 Tim 1:6-7 Deana Reed is coordinator of Unity Through Diversity, a joint program of PLGC and the MLCN (More Light Churches Network) to promote dialogue. She believes that this verse speaks to both sides of the dialogue: we must assert our rightful power, they must accept our just love, and fear must not keep us from that assertion nor keep them from that acceptance. She hopes that our ability to communicate with our brothers and sisters within the church will continue to increase. Communication improves as we embody "the issue." To the broader church, she offers Jesus as a role model: he spoke with those he wasn't supposed to talk with. Pointing out that many presbyteries haven't had any sort of dialogue until this year, Deana voices concern that the dialogue not cease with this coming assembly. Deana fears that people will not allow God's Spirit to intervene and open us to the continuing re-creation that God works in our midst, reforming us through education, dialogue, and love. She fears that many still equate the hatred of fundamentalist groups with God's wrath, when Jesus repeatedly visited his fury on such self-righteous, condemning people. Let us pray for shalom in our dialogue: God of Peace, may we as a church come to understand and to experience the prayer of "shalom." May well-being and prosperity be our wish for each other in the dialogue. As the Body of Christ, may we understand: As another's well-being is threatened, our well-being is threatened. As another prospers, we prosper. May the shalom of the Body of Christ neglect no one, being with us all. Amen. Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to God's own purpose and grace. 2 Tim 1:8-9 DAY 49 So if I have love, my words speak of faith; and if I have love, carry messages of hope; and if I have love, I know God. Because I have love, I know God. Adapted from 1 Cor 13:13 by Rodger Wilson Rodger Wilson represented PLGC at general assemblies long before most PLGCers were on the mailing list! This adapted verse from 1 Corinthians sums up his faith, his hope, his love -- and his theology. Having attended so many assemblies, Rodger fears that, as has happened before, votes are going to be taken with little or no dialogue. Probably more dialogue will be devoted to procedural matters than to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and the transgendered. His biggest hope is that previous G.A. and PJC (Permanent Judicial Commission) rulings will be overturned. Let us pray for the Albuquerque Assembly: O God, we pray that this assembly will take a prophetic stand by removing "definitive guidance" and judicial interpretations of that guidance, allowing congregations and presbyteries to discern the Spirit in those called to serve without regard to sexual orientation. We pray that freeing governing bodies will unify rather than divide your church, and make peace rather than extending the hostility. Amen. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. 1 Cor 13:13 DAY 50 All of [the apostles] were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Acts 2:4-6 Jeanne Marshall, who -- as then chair of the Advisory Council on Church and Society -- helped appoint the former United Presbyterian Church's Task Force to Study Homosexuality in 1976, refers to this Pentecost story as she wishes that Presbyterians would become better able to understand one another, learning to understand and speak one another's language. She fears that the coming assembly will become stagnant with politics as usual, failing to discuss fully the issue of homosexuality and resisting any forward movement. Jeanne hopes for a change of heart in the Presbyterian Church on the subject and that it will better understand its calling as an inclusive church. Let us pray for deliverance for our church: Loving Liberator, deliver Presbyterians from narrow, self- absorbed perspectives of what you have called the church to be and to become. May the Spirit descend on the 208th General Assembly in Albuquerque, giving commissioners the ability not only to proclaim the gospel in the languages of strangers, but also the ability to understand the gospel in the languages of "strangers" who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered. Come, Holy Spirit! Amen. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Sovereign; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 1 Cor 12:4-7 DAY 51 And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Sovereign as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Sovereign, the Spirit. 2 Cor 3:18 That All May Freely Serve participant Chuck Collins believes this verse captures the experience of the glory we share telling our stories -- we are transforming one another and the church by removing the veil that hides our glory, the glow from God's appearance to us. Though afraid that the denomination might say no to us and become more deeply entrenched, claiming to be finished with this issue, Chuck also hopes for an outpouring of the Spirit that reveals how truly gifted we are so we may be recognized as full partners in ministry. Let us pray for revelations from the Spirit: Holy Spirit, come to the Albuquerque General Assembly. May we serve as conduits of your presence. May the glory of your presence be unveiled in our faces and our stories, shining on commissioners. Keep the commissioners from veiling their transformed faces when they vote and when they return to their congregations and presbyteries. May the glory by which you've blessed us transform our church from glory to glory. Amen. Now the Sovereign is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Sovereign is, there is freedom. 2 Cor 3:17 DAY 52 "For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." Jesus in Mt 7:8 Though Pacific coordinator Richard Sprott fears the church might slam the door shut on us, making it seem hopeless, he hopes that we will finally have peace in the church on this subject and the doors will be opened to more critical issues of the church's mission and ministry that we may address together. Our internal squabbling over homosexuality has inhibited our outreach, he feels. Let us pray for partnership in ministry: God who calls us to ministry, open our lives to the grace you have offered us so we might prove gracious to others, listening to and living with each other, supporting one another even in disagreement. May the experience of your grace heal us as your Body, creating true relationship and mutual partnership in responding to your call to proclaim your gospel of love and of justice. Amen. "Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you." Jesus in Mt 7:7 DAY 53 The voice said to [Peter] again, a second time, "What God has made clean, you must not call profane." Acts 10:15 Charlie Mitchell, a coordinator for the Northeast, believes this is the vision God is offering our church: God has made homosexuality clean, or sacred, and our love must not be called profane. Charlie fears that the G.A. might amend the *Book of Order* to resist this vision, but he hopes instead that the commissioners will cancel definitive guidance. Let us pray for a miracle: God of History, we need your intervention now. Bless commissioners to this coming assembly with visions of the sacred nature of our love. May they experience our baptism of the Spirit and not withhold from us either the waters of baptism nor the laying on of hands in ordination. Keep them from condemning as profane what you have called clean. Amen. "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God." An angel of God to the Gentile Cornelius in Acts 10:4 DAY 54 Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24 Church historian Martin Marty has observed that American denominations have been moving slowly to the right because, when liberals come to power, they keep conservatives and their agendas in place; but when conservatives come to power, they ax liberals and liberal programs. The paralysis of fear gripping our national headquarters in Louisville is a result of this ugly truth. The church moving toward the right is what Board member Tammy Lindahl most fears: that the conservative tenor of the church will decrease its tolerance for diversity, even for conversation. As we saw in the absurd overreaction to the Re- Imagining Conference, attending a conference in which a variety of views are represented has become a risky thing to do. Tammy hopes that instead, God's stream of justice and righteousness will straighten (so to speak) our course as the church moves toward a broader acceptance and appreciation of the diversity already represented in 2.6 million members. Sometimes maintaining peace and unity in the church has dammed up God's river of justice. Let us pray for God's justice and righteousness: Holy God, you hate, you despise our worship, and take no delight in our solemn assemblies; you refuse our holocaust of outcasts -- because we play church and we play God rather than "let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." Break down our dam before we are damned. Amen. I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Amos 5:21 DAY 55 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep shadows -- on them light has shined. Is 9:2 Jack Huizenga, PLGC's presence in Europe, reports that the United Reformed Church (a merger of the Presbyterian Church in England and the Congregational Church of England and Wales) is witnessing a carbon copy of our dialogue, theirs to end two years from now. A recent survey of clergy in Britain reveal that there is far greater support of gays and lesbians among them than in the church at large. In our own church, Jack fears that Presbyterians will find a way to "fudge" -- obscure the picture to avoid action. His real hope is not with General Assembly but with local congregations choosing to become More Light Churches. That's what really matters to him, for, if progress is to be made, it must happen locally for it to have any helpful effect. He believes that many times the sixty or more churches with a More Light policy will evolve in coming years, as there is a great untapped reservoir of support for us in local churches. When he came out in his home church in Annapolis, many members were pleased that now they had someone to talk to about the issue. He brought it home to them. A prayer that we might become fishers of supporters: Jesus, show us where to cast the nets so we may strain our nets with advocates. Lead us to the fields where the harvest is plentiful and the harvesters are few. Teach us how to feed the multitudes who hunger for our perspectives. Give us the power to heal the crowds with our touch. In your name. Amen. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest... Is 9:3 DAY 56 Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Sovereign. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Sovereign is near. Jas 5:7-8 Presbyterian AIDS Network liaison John Trompen selects two verses regarding patience -- ours and God's -- to remind us of a necessary characteristic of waiting for God and God's commonwealth. As Mahalia Jackson used to sing, "God may not be there when you want him, but he's right on time!" John fears that our church will continue to lose good people to other denominations as it fails to act and refuses to act positively. He hopes that we will overcome and that the church will see more light. Let us pray for patience in the struggle: Eternal God, it's taken us two thousand years to get this far in the church. From your perspective, only minutes ago did we oppose slavery; only seconds ago did we approve of women as pastors. Give us the peaceful knowledge of your truth willing out that is the basis of patience. But let not our patience be mistaken for acquiescence to the evils of homophobia and heterosexism that we deplore. Amen. But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Sovereign one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Sovereign is not slow about the promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 2 Pet 3:8-9 DAY 57 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth... Rev 21:1 Board member and Judicial Issues coordinator Tony De La Rosa reminds us of the vision of the world redeemed in Revelation. The dialogue will not end when the G.A. leaves Albuquerque in July. God's final word will not be spoken there, as Tony fears many will think. Rather, for Tony, the dialogue has served as a process of enlightenment that has created an environment in which Christians are able to contemplate the possibility that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Christians may hold ordained office in our church. Tony envisions the re-emergence of local determination regarding our ordination, regardless of this assembly's action. Let us pray for a renewed vision: God of Revelation, reveal to your church yet more light to illuminate the glory and the mystery of the sexuality and the sensuality with which you have blessed us to better love one another and to better love our earth. May our sexuality and our spirituality teach each other, touch each other, love each other as soul -- the very life that is the starstuff of your cosmic image revealed in us as we follow your Light that has entered this world. Amen. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. ... God will dwell with them as theirs; they will be God's peoples, and God will be with them; God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Rev 21:3-5a * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A Fast for Fullness by The Rev. Howard Warren On Ash Wednesday (Feb. 21) I will begin a 40 day Lenten Fast which will end on Palm Sunday (March 31). Each morning I will pray this prayer for EACH delegate to the 1996 General Assembly: May The Spirit of The Wildly Inclusive, Extravagant God Fall upon the heart, mind and soul of ____________ so that the Holy Spirit will replace the mean spirit in the PC(USA) in relation to a full place for all of God's Creation. In the Name of the Creator, Christ and Spirit. Alleluia, Amen. A list of delegates can be ordered from Docie Powell, Administrative Assistant, Assembly Services, Room 4623A, PC(USA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY, 40202 for a fee of $10.00 The list might not be available until early March, so please send to me the names of your Presbytery delegates so I can begin daily prayers for as many folks as possible: 2807 Somerset Bay, Indianapolis, IN 46240, 317/632-0123 (Damien Center), 317/253- 2377 (home). For those of you who worry about my HIV body, know that my T cells have doubled in the last year. I have worked with my physician in relation to daily liquid supplements which should maintain my health at a reasonable level. My concern is the heart and soul of the PC(USA) which in the past gave so many of us of all sexual orientations the gift of the Wildly Inclusive, Extravagant Trinity. Some folks have been surprised that I would do something so "spiritual." The Holy Spirit has been central to all I do. As I hold those signs at General Assembly my mind and heart is continuously saying, God Bless You to anyone who comes into the range of my vision. Please adapt the fast/prayer to your style and FAST FOR A FULL CHURCH. Howard Warren * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * THIS NOTE WAS CONDENSED IN THE PRINT VERSION 12th Annual National More Light Conference Information and registration forms for the 1996 More Light Conference, Rochester, NY, May 3-5, are in the special insert to this *More Light Update.* Those of you reading the electronic version can get a copy from Carolyn Klinge, 96 Burlington Ave., Rochester, NY 14619, 716-436-1078, or from PLGC. The conference features two keynote speakers, The Rev. Irene Monroe and The Rev. Daniel Smith. Irene Monroe, an ordained Presbyterian minister, is currently a doctoral candidate at Harvard Divinity School. Her work is in the area of religion, gender, and culture. She is a Fund for Theological Education Fellow. The Rev. Monroe is a graduate of Wellesley and Union Theological Seminary in New York. At Union she was a Benjamin Mays Fellow and her thesis was "We Got the Whole World Shakin': A Womanist Social Analysis of African- American Women's Relationship to the Black Church and to Black Theology." She has served as pastor at Old Cambridge Baptist Church (Massachusetts) and Bethany Presbyterian Church (New Jersey). Before pursuing a seminary education, the Rev. Monroe worked as an assistant principal and taught math and African American history. Dan Smith, an ordained Presbyterian minister, has served as pastor of West Hollywood Presbyterian Church (WHPC) in Los Angeles since 1984. WHPC has an historic commitment to social justice and human liberation. The Rev. Smith also served as pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Geneva, New York. He is a graduate of State University of New York in Fredonia and Princeton Theological Seminary, is a former co-moderator of Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns, and served the PC(USA) as a member of its Task Force to Study Human Sexuality. His written and media contributions include the video "A Time for Caring -- A Pastoral Approach to Persons with AIDS," produced by the Lazarus Project, and "Understanding Gay and Lesbian Christian Experience," published by *Church and Society* magazine. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * National Lesbigay and Transgendered Seminarians Conference The 6th annual National Lesbigay and Transgendered Seminarians Conference will convene February 2-4,1996, hosted by The Pacific School of Religion at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA. The theme is: "Thy Queerdom Come: Theology and Our Prophetic Voices." Dr. Carter Heyward will be the keynote speaker. For more information, contact The Conference Committee, PSR Box 380, 1798 Scenic Ave., Berkeley, CA 94709, 510-848-1370, kegale@aol.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * THIS NOTE WAS OMITTED FROM THE PRINT VERSION PAN Leadership Meets John Trompen, PLGC's liaison to PAN (and PAN's liaison to PLGC) sends us this report on the recent PAN Leadership Team Event: The PAN (Presbyterian AIDS Network) Leadership Team met on the last weekend of October in Louisville, KY. A very productive series of meetings was held evaluating previous goals, setting new goals for the coming year, and working out a budget. The most exciting project in progress is the making of a video, funded by a grant from the National Council of Religious AIDS Networks (NCRAN), in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The topic is on the prevention of AIDS, with focus toward our African-American sisters and brothers. PAN is also working with local Presbyterians in Albuquerque and Santa Fe to coordinate a special presentation at the 208th General Assembly. The Leadership Team accepted with great sadness and deepest regrets the resignation of long-time Team member the Rev. Gwen Beighle of Seattle, WA, due to health reasons. Gwen has been an inspiration to the entire Network and to all of PHEWA (Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association) for many years Her talents will be greatly missed by all. Prayers continue for her strength. In a move of reciprocity and cooperation, the PAN Leadership Team has appointed member John M. Trompen to be its liaison to PLGC. (A personal note of thanks from John to the PLGC Board and to PAN for the honor of being selected by both groups!) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PLGC on the Internet Thanks to Donna M. Riley of PLGC/Pittsburgh, PLGC now has a discussion group on the internet. To join the group, send a message to: plgc-list@andrew.cmu.edu * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PLGC OFFICERS AND CONTACTS CO-MODERATORS: Laurene Lafontaine, 1260 York St. #106, Denver, CO 80206, 303/388-0628; Robert Patenaude, 3346 Hollydale Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90039, 213/660-6795. COMMUNICATIONS SECRETARY: James D. Anderson, P.O. Box 38, New Brunswick, NJ 08903-0038, 908/249-1016, 908/932-7501 (Rutgers Univ.), FAX 908/932-6916 (Rutgers Univ.), email: jda@scils.rutgers.edu. RECORDING SECRETARY: Jim Earhart, P.O. Box 8362, Atlanta, GA 31106, 404/373-5830 TREASURER: Richard Koteras, P.O. Box 961, Cedar Crest, NM 87008, 505/281-1631, 505/844-8624 (work). PLGC Coordinators & Laisons ISSUES: Scott Anderson -- see Exec. Board. UNITY THROUGH DIVERSITY: Rev. Deana Reed, 1816 Kilbourne Pl. NW, Washington, DC 20010, 202-462-2184, fax 202-667-1734. JUDICIAL ISSUES: Tony De La Rosa, 5850 Benner St., #302, Los Angeles, 90042, 213-266-2690 wk, -2695 fax, 213-256-2787 hm; Peter Oddleifson, Harris Beach and Wilcox, 130 E. Main St., Rochester, NY 14604, 716/232-4440 wk, -1573 fax. PRESBYNET: Dorothy Fillmore (see exec. board); Bill Capel, 123-R W. Church St., Champaign, IL 61820-3510, 217/355-9825, P-Net: BILL CAPEL, internet: bill_capel.parti @ecunet.org NOMINATING COMMITTEE: Doug Calderwood, Chair, P.O. Box 57, Cedar Crest, NM 87008, 505-281-0073. PRISON MINISTRIES: Doug Elliott -- see Southern California. PLGC POSTINGS -- Positions Referral Service: Michael Purintun, 522 Belgravia Ct. Apt. 2, Louisville, KY 40208, 502/637-4734. LIAISON TO PRESBYTERIAN AIDS NETWORK (PAN): John M. Trompen, 48 Lakeview Dr., Morris Plains, NJ 07950-1950 LIAISONS TO PRESBYTERIAN ACT-UP: Louise Thompson (see exec. board); Lisa Bove, 7350 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90046, 213/874-6646; Howard Warren, Jr., 2807 Somerset Bay, Indianapolis, IN 46240, 317/632-0123 (Damien Center), 317/253- 2377 (home). LIAISON TO MORE LIGHT CHURCHES NETWORK: Tammy Lindahl (see exec. board). EUROPE: Jack Huizenga,Voice of America, 74 Shoe Lane, London 4C4A 3JB, United Kingdom, (171) 410-0960, preceded by 011-44 if calling from the U.S. ALASKA-NORTHWEST (AK, WA, No. ID): Richard Gibson, 4700 228th St., SW, Mount Lake Terrace, WA 98043, 206/778-7227. COVENANT (MI, OH): Rev. James J. Beates, 18120 Lahser Rd. #1, Detroit, MI 48219, 313-255-7059. LAKES AND PRAIRIES (IA, MN, ND, NE, SD, WI): Cleve Evans, 3810 S. 13th St., #22, Omaha, NE 68107-2260, 402/733-1360. LINCOLN TRAILS (IL, IN): Mark Palermo, 6171 North Sheridan Road, Apt. 2701, Chicago IL 60660-2858, 312/338-0452. LIVING WATERS (KY, TN, MS, AL): Jimmy Smith, email jimmy722@aol. com; Michael Purintun -- see PLGC Postings. MID-AMERICA (MO, KS): Merrill Proudfoot, 3315 Gillham Road, #2N,Kansas City, MO 64109, 816/531-2136. MID-ATLANTIC (DE, DC, MD, NC, VA): Elizabeth Hill, 8605 Warrenton Dr., Richmond, VA 23229, 804/741-2982, PresbyNet LISA FURR; Georgeann Wilcoxson, 819 Delaware Ave. S.W., Washington, DC 20024-4207, 202/863-2239, P-Net GEORGEANN WILCOXSON; Brent Bissette, 223 Riverwalk Cir., Cary, NC 27511, 919-467-5747. NORTHEAST (NJ, NY, New England): Sally Witherell, 28 9th St., #403, Medford, MA 02155-5140, 617-625-4823 (Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church); Gary Ireland, 10 Winter St., Montpelier, VT 05602, 802/229-5438; John Hartwein-Sanchez, 23 Sherman St., #2, New London, CT 06320, 203/442-5138; Charlie Mitchell, 56 Perry St., Apt. 3-R, New York, NY 10014, 212/691-7118; Amy Jo Remmerle, P.O. Box 34, Amherst, NY 14226, 716/626-0734; Kay Wroblewski, 74 Freemont Rd., Rochester, NY 14612, 716/663-9130. PACIFIC (No. CA, OR, NV, So. ID): Richard A. Sprott, 3900 Harrison #301, Oakland, CA 94611, 510/653-2134, email: sprott @cogsci .berkeley.edu; Dick Hasbany, 4025 Dillard Rd., Eugene, OR 97405, 503/345-4720. ROCKY MOUNTAINS (CO, MT, NE Panhandle, UT, WY): Dean Hay, 412 E. 3400 S. #1, Salt Lake City, UT 84115, 801/485-4615; Laurene Lafontaine -- see Executive Board. SOUTH ATLANTIC (FL, GA, SC): Jim Earhart -- see Recording Secy; Laurie Kraus, 5275 Sunset Dr., Miami, FL 33143, 305/666-8586. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND HAWAII: Doug Elliott, 1232 Dell Drive, Monterey Park, CA 91754, 213/262-8019. SOUTHWEST (AZ, NM): Richard Koteras -- see Treasurer; Rosemarie Wallace, 710 W. Los Lagos Vista Ave., Mesa, AZ 85210, 602/892- 5255. SUN (AR, LA, OK, TX): Jay Kleine, 8818 Wightman Dr., Austin, TX 78754, 512/928-4063, 331-7088 work. TRINITY (PA, WV): Rob Cummings, PO Box 394, Jackson Center, PA 16133-0394, 412-475-3285; Eleanor Green, P.O. Box 6296, Lancaster, PA 17603, 717/397-9068; Jim Ebbenga & Kurt Wieser, P.O. Box 1207, Landsdale, PA 19446, 215/699-4750. PLGC Executive Board Scott D. Anderson (1997), 5805 20th Ave., Sacramento, CA 95820- 3107, 916/456-7225, 442-5447 (work) Lindsay Biddle (1997), 3538 - 22nd Ave. So., Minneapolis, MN 55407, 612/724-5429, email: lindsay@geom.umn.edu Lisa Larges (1997), 426 Fair Oaks, San Francisco, CA 94110, 415/648-0547 Tammy Lindahl (1997) 6146 Locust St., Kansas City, MO 64110, 816/822-8577 Tony De La Rosa (1997), 5850 Benner St. #302, Los Angeles, CA 90042, 213-256-2787;Jim Earhart (1996) -- see Recording Secretary Dorothy Fillmore (1996), 7113 Dexter Rd., Richmond, VA 23226- 3729, 804/285-9040 hm, 804/828-2333 wk, PNet: DFILLMORE, internet: dfillmore.parti@ecunet.org (or) dfillmor@cabell. vcu.edu (NO TeU on dfillmor!) Michael Purintun (1996) -- see PLGC Postings Mike Smith (1996), 1211 West St., Grinnell, IA 50112, 515-236- 7955 Louise I. Thompson (1996), 12705 SE River Rd. Apt. 109-S, Portland, OR 97222, 503/652-6508. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *