Date: Mon, 5 Feb 96 14:57:41 EST From: "James D. Anderson" Subject: More Light Udpate March 1996 (82 k) MORE LIGHT UPDATE March 1996 Volume 16, Number 8 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 Changes Events More Light Churches Conference Update Travelers on the Road: PLGCers and Friends Convene with Janie Spahr in North Carolina, March 30-31. 25th Annual Workshop on Sexuality. Gay, Lesbian, and Christian: Our Treasure. Kirkridge, Bangor, PA, June 6-9, 1996 Gay Male Rights of Passage: Moving Beyond Coming Out to Being Out. Kirkridge, Bangor, PA, August 16-18, 1996 Feature Articles Why Do We Have to Keep Talking About These Things: Conversation Among Presbyterians in Response to the Recommendation of the 1993 General Assembly for Dialogue. Presentations by Sylvia Thorson-Smith and Marvin M. Ellison A Liberating Overture from San Francisco Pioneering Call Recommendation Rejected: Chicago Church Says No to Openly Gay Candidate, by Lawrence A. Reh A Banner Of Hope, by Dave Tornblom Why I Am A Presbyterian, by Chris Glaser PLGC Officers and Contacts (at end of file) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CHANGES The email address for Cleve Evens, PLGC coordinator for the Synod of Lakes and Prairiers, is: cevans@scholars.bellevue.edu * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * EVENTS More Light Churches Conference Update Checks! All checks for conference registration should be made payable to: Third Presbyterian Church. (This detail was omitted from the registration form in the January *Update*!) Send your checks, with your registration to: Carolyn Klinge, 96 Burlington Ave., Rochester, NY 14619 (716-436-1078). Congregational Development and Community Ministry Expert on congregational development and community ministry, Carl Dudley, will lead a workshop at the More Light Churches Conference in Rochester, NY, May 3-5, 1996. How congregations work, especially smaller congregations, and how they can be engaged in ministries of social justice have been the concerns of Dr. Carl Dudley throughout his career. Dr. Dudley will bring these years of study to bear on Presbyterian congregations grappling with lesbian/gay/bisexual issues as he leads the opening session of the Inquiring Church Workshop at the More Light Conference in Rochester, New York in May. Dudley is nationally known for his work in mobilizing local churches for community ministries, and has a long history of working in the peace movement and for the civil rights of the incarcerated. He has actively supported legislation on issues such as food stamps, welfare, abortion, and the rights of homosexuals. Even a partial Dudley bibliography suggests the kinds of insights and direction he will bring to the workshop in May. His books include "Energizing the Congregation: Images that Shape Your Church's Ministry," 1993 (with Sally A. Johnson); "Basic Steps Toward Community Ministry," 1991; and "Making the Small Church Effective," 1978. Dudley has served as pastor in Presbyterian congregations in Buffalo and St. Louis, and has directed the Center for Church and Community Ministries at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. He is currently Professor of Church and Community and Co-director of the Seminary's Center for Social and Religious Research at Hartford Seminary. The Inquiring/Supportive Church Workshop is scheduled for Friday afternoon, May 3. The workshop's focus is on how congregations approach and successfully engage in discussion of difficult and divisive issues, specifically gay men and lesbians' just inclusion in congregational and denominational life and ministry. After the plenary session with Dr. Dudley, smaller groups will meet to work together on specific issues that confront churches already engaged in the dialogue process, but everyone, including those in churches who have lost some of their energy around this issue, is welcome. For more information about the workshop and conference, please call Dick Hasbany at 541-345-4720. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Travelers on the Road PLGCers and Friends Convene with Janie Spahr in North Carolina, March 30-31. PLGCers in North Carolina are planning a gathering with Janie Spahr on Saturday and Sunday, March 30-31, at the Church of Reconciliation (North Carolina's More Light Church), 110 N. Elliott Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514. The theme will be "Travelers on the Road." The weekend will begin on Saturday, March 30, with 9:30 a.m. registration, and will continue through 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 31 following worship. The cost will be $30, including two meals and a desert. There will be workshops on everything from Biblical issues and General Assembly prospects to heterosexism & homophobia, body theology, and affirmative pastoral care for lesbian, gay and bisexual persons. Some local housing will be available. For more information, contact PLGC's coordinator in North Carolina, Brent Bissette, 223 Riverwalk Cir., Cary, NC 27511, 919-467-5747. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 25th Annual Workshop on Sexuality. The 25th Annual Thornfield Workshop on Sexuality will be held at the Thornfield Conference Center, Cazanovia, NY, July 8-14, 1996. The theme is "Gender, Orientation & Lifestyles." This is an intensive 6-day credit-bearing workshop, including Sexual Attitude Reassessment (SAR) experience, designed for professionals and graduate students in the helping professions and for every person who wishes to become more knowledgeable and comfortable with sexuality. Cost ranges from $685 (with commuters board) to $885 (with room and board). For information contact Carol Dopp, Coordinator, 3600 Hill St., Fairfax, VA 22030-3004, 703-591-7120. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Gay, Lesbian, and Christian: Our Treasure. Kirkridge, Bangor, PA, June 6-9, 1996, 6:45 p.m. Thursday dinner through Sunday lunch. $295 ($150 registration deposit). We've found a treasure, not made of gold, but of our very souls; living life as faith-filled lesbians and gay men, persons whom God created. The political arena and the governing powers of many churches contend that we have no treasure or that we should bury it. Rejoice -- this weekend is an opportunity to honor the treasure, to accept our faith as a pearl of great price, to rededicate ourselves to doing right in a world with many injustices, to love goodness in all creation, and to walk humbly with our God. This 20th annual event for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals of all colors, their families and friends, will continue to explore issues of sexuality in the context of Christian faith and practice. The process includes daily worship, small group sharing, workshops, play, and celebration. We combine support for our personal journeys with encouragement from the scriptural, theological, ethical, and political work of our presenters. Each year we build a les/bi/gay church on the mountain. It is a community of tears and laughter, healing and empowerment, love and joy, a community empowered to choose life. It is led by: John McNeill, Catholic priest, psychotherapist, co-founder of Dignity, and author of several books, including *Freedom, Glorious Freedom*; Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, feminist theologian, board member of the Center for Sexuality and Religion, and author of *Sensuous Spirituality*; Rev. LaPaula Turner, African American pastor in the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, Program chair of Christian Lesbians Out Together (CLOUT); Scott Anderson, former Presbyterian pastor, now staff with the California Council of Churches and serving on the national board of Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns. Robert Raines, former Kirkridge Director, will join the 20th anniversary celebration of gay and lesbian programming at Kirkridge during the weekend. Contact Kirkridge, 2495 Fox Gap Rd., Bangor, PA 18013, 610-588- 1793. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [This event didn't make it into the print version!] Gay Male Rights of Passage: Moving Beyond Coming Out to Being Out. Kirkridge, Bangor, PA, August 16-18, 1996, 7 p.m. Friday dinner through Sunday lunch, $225 ($100 registration deposit). Gay men face unique identity-development tasks and accompanying spiritual challenges. This workshop will focus on creating and using rituals to aid us in successfully negotiating our life stages. Such rituals will honor our encounters with the spirit in nature and through our own and each other's bodies. They will move us beyond individual survival strategies that merely react to oppression toward collectively affirmed life patterns that nurture and grow gay identities. In presentations and small and large-group sharing, we will explore a model of gay identity development. Through gay archetypes, music, storytelling, and wisdom sharing, workshop participants will call forth and ritualize what is unique and generative in gay men's lives. The weekend will provide an opportunity to awaken and channel the joys, rages, griefs, and powers of gay male experience, giving us spiritual tools to guild happy, open, and successful lives. Led by: Ken White and John Linscheid, who share a passion for gay spiritual growth. Ken is Director of Continuing Social Work Education at Temple University and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Psycho- Educational Process. John, a contributing editor to *The Other Side* magazine, is a writer, speaker, and teacher of Bible and gay interpretation. Together, John and Ken are studying gay male identity development and have advanced the use of ritual to observe key life passages within their own gay communities. Contact Kirkridge, 2495 Fox Gap Rd., Bangor, PA 18013, 610-588- 1793. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * FEATURE ARTICLES Why Do We Have to Keep Talking About These Things Conversation Among Presbyterians in Response to the Recommendation of the 1993 General Assembly for Dialogue Downtown United Presbyterian Church Rochester, New York October 1, 1995 Sylvia Thorson-Smith Lecturer, Religious Studies and Sociology Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA Marvin M. Ellison Bass Professor of Christian Ethics Bangor Theological Seminary Sylvia Thorson-Smith: The title that the planning team has given to our conversation today is, **"Why Do We Have to Keep Talking About These Things?"** By "these things," we all know that means "sex." A cartoon I saw recently showed two parents asking "What's on NBC, CBS, and ABC this year?" and their child responding "S-E-X." So today, as with most days of our lives, we're going to talk about S-E-X. And as I say to my students on the first day of class in my human sexuality course, "I invite you to an experience of oral sex -- we're going to talk about it" [1]. I think there's an implication in the question for the day which suggests that, in the best of all possible worlds, we wouldn't have to be talking about "these things" -- we wouldn't have to keep talking about sex. But I think we need to make clear which aspects of sexuality we would like to stop talking about and which aspects we can expect to keep talking about, indeed we MUST keep talking about. You have organized this afternoon conversation because the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is in the midst of a three-year dialogue -- recommended by the General Assembly -- not to discuss human sexuality but to discuss homosexuality. Right away, I believe this is a fundamental problem in how we talk about these things. The sexuality report of 1991 includes the story of our committee's experience of visiting adult education classes in churches where we were meeting. It tells about one church where people were virtually silent when asked about sexual issues touching their lives, except for a few abstract comments about homosexuality as sin. After class, one woman told us that the class was full of stories of people struggling with issues of sexuality in their families. But the only issue they could, and would, identify was "the problem of homosexuality" [2]. More than anything else, I want to stop talking about homosexuality in the context of exclusion, separation, and different standards of sin and morality. When we ask **"Why do we have to keep talking about these things?,"** this is the aspect of sexuality that I would most like to terminate. Tomorrow evening I'll be in Williston, North Dakota to speak to the Presbytery of the Northern Plains for 30 minutes in favor of the ordination of gay men and lesbians. A professor of religion from a Presbyterian college will speak for 30 minutes opposing the full and equal status of gays and lesbians in this church, and then the presbytery will dialogue for an hour with each other about this issue. For three years I have traveled around the country speaking in a variety of forums on the issue of homosexuality. Janie Spahr and others of you criss-cross the country putting a human face on topics of sexuality that are so little known and understood. We are all so tired of it -- and we are all angered by the need to do it. Last week, Martha Juillerat, a Presbyterian minister who is a lesbian, set aside her ordination, in part because of the weariness and abuse she experienced from participating in church dialogues, which are actually debates over the status and human dignity of one group of Presbyterian members. [See Martha's speech to her presbytery in the February 1996 *More Light Update*!] "Sophia, God of Wisdom, how long?," we ask. Is there -- will there ever be -- justice in this church for our gay and lesbian and bisexual and transgendered members? My answer to this question is linked to my answer to our question for the day -- there WILL be justice in this church and justice in this society for people of all sexual orientations and we will keep talking about it until there is. That means, I would like to say as a heterosexual, until heterosexuals "get it." How do they need to "get it?" We'll keep talking about this until heterosexuals understand that this is about us, not them. This is about the power that heterosexuals derive from their sexual orientation. This is about the projection of a majority's discomfort with sexuality onto a minority who are identified only in sexual terms. And as Christians, this is about the maintenance of sexual boundaries by people who are supposed to be witnesses to the radically boundary-shattering Jesus movement. I would also like to say that this is about good liberal people who don't always make the connections between issues of sexuality and the entire fabric of injustice. Last month in Des Moines, Iowa, Jonathan Wilson, a fine lawyer, a Presbyterian, and a 12- year member of the school board was defeated for re-election after publicly announcing that he's gay -- last January in the midst of a city-wide furor over homosexuality and the schools. While most commentators attributed his defeat to a well-organized anti-gay Christian coalition, one journalist laid the blame at the feet of the liberal Des Moines establishment who "took a walk" and left Jonathan without vigorous support [3]. Making the connections means seeing sexual justice as an essential piece of the entire fabric of social justice. I had my disagreements with Betty Friedan when I was working on the pornography report for the Presbyterian Church in 1987, so I was not surprised to read in her report on the Beijing women's conference that she thinks sexual politics have become a diversionary trend in the women's movement that "threatens women's economic and political empowerment" [4]. Friedan is perpetuating what I believe is a false dichotomy. There is no economic justice without sexual justice -- just ask gay men and lesbians who are afraid of losing their jobs, and there is no political power without the power and freedom to love. As Native-American Jo Whitehorse Cochran says, "If you are a lesbian or a gay man of color, struggling to survive the tides of racism," injustice may mean "exile from our cultures and communities in order to survive." So to avoid ridicule or beatings or hate, by the dominant culture as well as minority cultures, gays and lesbians of all races and ethnicities take on heterosexuality because it is a violently-imposed norm [5]. Unlike Betty Friedan, I believe we also have to keep talking about these things precisely because of oppressive heterosexual gender norms. Episcopal bishop Walter Righter, facing a heresy trial because he ordained a non-celibate gay man, recently said: "The rage directed at me stems from homophobia accompanied by misogyny," and he noted that the same forces that fought the decision to ordain women are now fighting the ordination of gays and lesbians [6]. We need to keep talking about sexuality until people of all orientations understand that the repression of same-sex relationships is fundamentally used to maintain patriarchal power arrangements and to control the sexual-social roles of women and men. Last year I heard New Testament scholar Bernadette Brooten give a talk entitled, "Behaving Like Men: Clement of Alexandria on Female Homoeroticism" [7]. It was about the reasons for this early church father's disapproval of what appear to have been second-century marriages between women. Describing the Roman world at the time of Clement, Brooten made clear that Christianity from its earliest beginnings understood sexuality in terms of strict definitions of active male, passive female. Clement and Christian theologians even now define same-sex relationships as unnatural based on their understanding of what is nature -- and what is natural is only that males exert power over women in sexuality and all matters of social relationship. Clement believed that when woman was created from Adam's rib, all softness was taken out of man and sexual relationships required gender separation and exaggerated emphasis on difference. Clement thought that women are required to be receptors of the male seed; therefore, women who love and even marry other women were seen as engaging in behavior that went against created nature. To have sex for any reason other than for procreation, or to have sex in any manner other than penile-vaginal intercourse, has been regarded by Christians for millennia as a violation of the only proper ordering of sexuality. The Reformers took a corrective turn in affirming sexual relations for the purpose of intimacy alone, but the "natural" manner for expressing intimacy is still regarded as heterosexual practice only -- one that still accords males disproportionate power and mandates subordinate, reproductive roles for women. In a recent newspaper editorial by columnist Deb Price, we have a glimpse of a modern-day Clement in the words of televangelist Pat Robertson, who is quoted as saying: *"The most feminine thing a woman can do is to be a mother. I mean that is the fulfillment of the biological reason that woman is on Earth. And if the lesbians, who don't have babies, if they can get their sisters to be less than the fulfilled women they could be ... then of course they've brought them down to their level .... There's such an incredible militancy on the part of lesbian women to get heterosexual women to abort their babies"* [8]. These heterosexist pressures continue to affect persons of all sexual orientations who dare to transgress from the conformist demands of patriarchal norms. We hear a lot about homosexual practice; I think we need to spend more time examining our cultural and theological assumptions about heterosexual practice. Gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered persons challenge the foundation of patriarchal sexual norms -- and we will be talking about this, I think, for a long, long time. I'd like to conclude by saying that we'll NEED to keep talking about sexuality until our society, including our religious institutions, normalize sexual relationships according to justice-loving principles. But we will WANT to keep talking about sexuality even beyond that. Because, as Elizabeth Moltmann-Wendel entitles her new book, I AM MY BODY. Yes, we are our bodies. Telling the story of Jesus and the woman with the flow of blood, Moltmann-Wendel asserts that "liberation takes place in the body." For the woman in the gospel story and for the power in her relationship with Jesus, salvation was located solely in her body, in her bodily well-being [9]. And so it is with us. The erotic is our passion for justice, our passion for truth-telling, our passion for relationship. So we will ALWAYS want to speak about Carter Heyward's language for touching our strength: *"The erotic is our desire to taste and smell and see and hear and touch one another. It's our yearning to be involved -- all "rolled up" -- in each other's sounds and glances and bodies and feelings. The erotic is the flow of our senses, the movement of our sensuality, in which we experience our bodies' power and desire to connect with others. The erotic moves transpersonally among us and also draws us more fully into ourselves .... In learning to fear the erotic, we resist relating intimately with one another. In addition, we are cut off from knowing and loving ourselves very well, because self-knowledge and self-love, very much like the knowledge and love of God, is available only in right, mutual relation with others"* [10]. Passion and justice -- we WANT to and we HAVE to keep talking about them. But the need to keep talking about sexuality is also connected to the joy of talking about sexuality -- about our way of being in the world in the fullest, most holistic sense. So I close with my favorite quotation which keeps me energized for talking about sexuality and sexual justice -- Kate Millett said, "The work of enlarging human freedom is such nice work, we're lucky to get it" [11]. Today I would rephrase it -- "The work of talking about erotic power and sexual justice is such nice work, we're lucky to get it." NOTES 1. I first heard this play on words as the introduction to a workshop on sexuality that was led by James B. Nelson. 2. *Presbyterians and Human Sexuality 1991* (Louisville: Office of the General Assembly, 1991), 1-2. 3. James Flansberg, "Why Wilson Got Beat," *Des Moines Register*, September 21, 1995, 13A. 4. Betty Friedan, *Newsweek*, September 4, 1995, 30. 5. Jo Whitehorse Cochran, "The Trouble with Normal is it Always Gets Worse: An Essay on Lesbianism." in Jo Whitehorse Cochran, Donna Langston, Carolyn Woodward, *Changing Our Power* (Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1988), 113. 6. Walter Righter, "Episcopal Bishop in Struggle to Save His Reputation," *Des Moines Register*, August 28, 1995, 3M. 7. Bernadette Brooten, "Behaving Like Men: Clement of Alexandria on Female Homoeroticism," American Academy of Religion, Chicago, Illinois, November 20, 1994. 8. Deb Price, "Robertson Resides in a Small World," *Des Moines Register*, September 30, 1995, 9A. 9. Elizabeth Moltmann-Wendel, *I Am My Body* (New York: Continuum, 1995), viii-xi. 10. Carter Heyward, *Touching Our Strength: The Erotic as Power and the Love of God* (San Francisco: Harper, 1989), 187. 11. Kate Millett, *Sexual Politics* (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1969), xii. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Marvin Ellison: **Why do we have to keep talking about these things?** As a gay man and Presbyterian theologian, my short answer is: we must keep talking because harm is being done, and this harm must be stopped. The harm is caused by injustice, and as Walter Brueggemann writes, "In biblical faith the doing of justice is the primary expectation of God" [1]. Justice, of course, is multidimensional. One of the most neglected, feared, and trivialized dimensions of justice is sexual justice [2] or what I prefer to call erotic justice [3]. But a passion for erotic justice doesn't sound very Presbyterian, does it? And that's the crux of the problem. It is an understatement to say that our church has difficulties dealing with sex. Not just with homosexuality, but with sex, period. Declining denominational influence and internal conflict have not eased matters. Our gaining fresh moral insight about these matters depends on our doing at least two things: first, we must refuse to evade moral conflict, but rather face conflict and work through it directly and gracefully; and second, we must be willing to listen to and learn from people who have been hurt, silenced, or rendered invisible by church teaching and practice. Survivors of sexual and domestic violence, gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered people, sexually active divorced and single people, the differently abled, older as well as younger people, people living with AIDS, and so many others have stories of faith and struggle which can correct and revitalize the church's inherited wisdom about sexuality. However, we will not move forward on these matters until our congregations and presbyteries become demilitarized or "free zones" where all people can be guaranteed safety and respect and where they can experience genuine hospitality. Novelist May Sarton in her book *At Seventy* wrote, "This is the best time of my life. I love being old." If I may paraphrase her, I would say to you, "This is the best time of my life. I love being a gay man." Someone asked Sarton, "Why is it good being old?" She replied, "Because I am more myself than I have ever been. There is less conflict. I am happier, more balanced, and . . . *more powerful*. I felt it was rather an odd word, 'powerful,'" Sarton said, "but I think it's true. I am surer of what my life is all about, have less self-doubt to conquer" [4]. I agree with Sarton. Claiming my self-respect as a gay man, I am happier, more balanced, and yes, more powerful. Whenever people honor the goodness of their sexualities, whenever they touch that place within them where their passion and their spiritual hunger meet, they often discover new sources of personal integrity and power. They find courage to say "no" to apathy, abuse, and injustice and strength to say an equally resounding "yes" to joy, creativity, and compassion. That's the good news. The bad news is that so few religious people live comfortably with their bodies or at ease with sexual difference. Fear of sexuality and deep suspicion of the erotic are pervasive in the church. No wonder we are lifeless and devoid of passion! When people are repressive about sexuality, when they fear sensuous touch, they become controlling, rigid, and unfeeling. They easily lose touch, quite literally, with what brings joy and sorrow to themselves or others. A fearful people will also likely project their fear onto others. In our time, gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered people have become the cultural repositories -- the moral dumping ground -- for other people's dis-ease about sex and the body. Unless and until people get more honest and take responsibility for *their own* confusions and struggles, sexual minorities will continue to be targeted as scapegoats and disenfranchised as "inferior outsiders" [5]. This is a moral scandal of the highest order. To correct this injustice, a first step is to stop the trashing of gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered people. As Virginia Mollenkott reminds us, biblical faith enjoins us not to bear false witness, so we must end the stereotypes, character assassination, and falsehoods against gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered people whether those falsehoods take the form of pity or ridicule. A second, related step is to stop asking the wrong questions. The moral problem has never been homosexuality, same- sex love, or sexual difference. The moral problem is sexual injustice and the eroticizing of power inequalities. Many, many people only "turn on" to having power over a partner they can possess and control or to being placed under another's control and direction. The sexualized oppression of women and the oppression of gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered people go together. Heterosexism, the institutionalizing of anti-gay oppression, claims that heterosexuality alone is good. Further, "real" men must dominate and *take pleasure in* dominating women, and "normal" women should be sexually submissive and socially compliant. Anyone visibly deviating from sexism risks being labeled "queer" and punished for their non-conformity to patriarchal norms. **Why must we speak about these matters?** In order to redress a great wrong, the devaluing of women and of gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered people of all colors. As followers of Christ, we face a turning point -- a *kairos* time. God's Spirit is moving in the midst of the Presbyterian Church, calling for repentance and for the renewal of our corporate vision and mission. Yes, there is a crisis of sexuality, but the crisis of sexuality is *not* brought about by a few visible gay and lesbian people. We may spook some people, but we're simply not that powerful! Rather, the crisis of sexuality is fundamentally a crisis *within heterosexuality*. At long last, the patriarchal ordering of gender relations requiring male dominance and female submission is being challenged across this globe, from Beijing to Louisville, Kentucky. But as long as the crisis of sexuality is misnamed the "problem" of homosexuality, people will stay captive to patriarchal norms and values. They will fail to see the bigger picture and not make connections between their life- struggles for personal well-being and the movements to end racial, class, gender, and sexual injustices. In their pain and confusion, they will continue to castigate gay men and lesbians because, after all, aren't we the ones who most visibly appear "out of control" because we don't fit with patriarchal expectations? **Why must we talk about these matters?** When someone is hurting, and when they tell us that we are complicit in their suffering, then as people of faith, we must stop what we are doing, make amends, and adopt a new course. About these matters, our integrity depends on reordering our lives toward justice. Seeking justice means seeking genuine respect and mutuality between men and women, men and men, women and women of all colors and classes. Seeking justice means mounting resistance to sexual and all other forms of oppression. In mounting resistance, what do we discover? To our great surprise and delight, we find that our lives are gifted -- graced -- with renewed energy, insight, and purpose. In the face of injustice, Alice Walker writes, mounting resistance is the "secret of joy" [6]. Speaking about sexual injustice also has theological urgency because self-appointed keepers of the Reformed tradition are waffling about what "reformed and reforming" means if and when reforming requires taking seriously the witness of unimportant, marginalized people, including feminists and gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered people of all colors. Here you may detect some frustration and rather deep disappointment on my part that so many progressive Christians, whom we would ordinarily expect to be our allies, simply don't make the connection between sexuality *and* justice. The Reformed tradition taught me that justice-making is central to the life of faith. Being faithful means searching ceaselessly for more secure institutional forms of love and justice. Because this liberal Reformed tradition is currently under attack by the Radical Right, I share my own criticisms here with some reluctance because I have no desire to give comfort to forces of reactionary politics or theology. However, the Reformed tradition has real limits which must be faced and corrected, especially when it comes to self-respecting women and gay/lesbian people. Without these corrections, this tradition will become even more easily seduced and manipulated by the Radical Right. The primary problem is that the Reformed theological tradition has split off the personal and relational aspects of life from the social and structural, or split the personal from the political. Justice is narrowly reserved for public matters relating to political and economic power. Love is reserved for "private" concerns among intimates. This split renders sexuality, reproduction, the care of children, and women's lives less important than the supposedly "really" serious issues of politics and empire building among powerful men. Liberalism fails to recognize family and sexuality as matters of love and justice. It has left unquestioned the power hierarchies of husbands over wives and parents over children. It has not adequately addressed the abuse of power among intimates. Theological liberalism minimizes or simply ignores oppression in the so-called private sphere. It doesn't "get it" that power, conflict, and injustice exist in the bedroom. The Reformed tradition must be re-envisioned so that justice is seen to begin at home and then extend to all our social relations, near and far. The Reformed tradition is being challenged to enlarge its theological vision and move matters of justice -- for women, for people of color, and for gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered people -- from the margin to the center. This re-centering, as far as I can tell, will not come about quickly or without great price. In the meantime, gay/lesbian people struggle as "strangers in a strange church" with few resources. We have few resources to protect our reputations. We have few resources for defending our ministries against defamation. We have few resources to ward off mean-spirited hate campaigns. But by the grace of God, we have been blessed by a tender, life-saving power -- our passion for love and justice. This passion sustains our spirits. Loving, gentle, sensuous touch convinces us, in spite of present ills and an uncertain future, that life is good. In our sacred sensuality, we find moral strength to resist injustice and hold onto our self-respect. Our critics may be right about us, however, at least in one regard. For us, sexuality and spirituality are so intertwined that one cannot be cut off from the other without rendering both lifeless [7]. The reason we are feared is *not* because our sexuality is "deviant," but rather because of our deviant spirituality. We no longer grant moral authority either to patriarchal sexuality or to patriarchal spirituality. That makes us dangerous. Frankly, our agenda is subversive: we are utterly serious, though not humorless, about toppling the patriarchal family, the patriarchal church, the patriarchal school, and the patriarchal workplace. Our desire for justice runs deep, and it is neither polite nor modest. Rather it is outrageous, outspoken, and up close and personal -- much like the prophets and the Jesus movement. We refuse to settle for anything less than full respect and full mutuality, in our bedrooms and throughout our institutions, including the church. Our passion for justice has sparked among us a renewed and unsettling spiritual vitality. Body-to-body loving, when grounded in mutual respect, releases moral energy to resist evil and sustain hope for a new heaven and a new earth. But because gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered people have, like others, also internalized the anti-sex, anti-body messages of a patriarchal culture, we, too, must live by making a faith wager: that spiritual renewal begins with embracing the body, all bodies, as sacred space. **Why must we keep talking about these things?** In order to keep faith and to tell the old, old story of grace and salvation. God's passion for justice takes on flesh in our lives as passion *in and through our bodies*. This we believe (God help our unbelief): whatever we are blessed to know about love, we will come to know only by doing justice together -- passionately -- in the large and small places of our lives. Notes 1. Walter Brueggemann, "Voices of the Night -- Against Justice," in Walter Brueggemann, Sharon Parks, and Thomas H. Groome, *To Act Justly, Love Tenderly, Walk Humbly: An Agenda for Ministers* (New York: Paulist Press, 1986), 5. 2. Carter Heyward, *Touching Our Strength: The Erotic as Power and the Love of God* (San Francisco: Harper, 1989). 3. Marvin M. Ellison, *Erotic Justice: A Liberating Social Ethic of Sexuality* (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, forthcoming). 4. May Sarton, *At Seventy* (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1984), 10. 5. John Boswell, "Homosexuality and Religious Life: A Historical Approach," in *Sexuality and the Sacred: Sources for Theological Reflection*, ed. James B. Nelson and Sandra P. Longfellow (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1994), esp. 361-362. 6. Alice Walker, *Possessing the Secret of Joy* (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1992). 7. Marvin M. Ellison, "Sexuality and Spirituality: An Intimate - - and Intimidating -- Connection," in *Church and Society* 80:2 (November-December 1989), 26-34. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A Liberating Overture from San Francisco The Presbytery of San Francisco adopted the following overture at its meeting of January 9, 1996 by a vote of 142 to 115: Whereas standards for ordained officers are set forth in the *Book of Order* (G-6.0106, "Gifts and Requirements"); and Whereas the responsibility for applying these standards when examining, ordaining and installing officers rests with sessions and presbyteries (G-10.0102-l and G-11.0103-n); and Whereas the responsibility for applying these standards with regard to discipline in the Church, including censure and removal from office, rests with sessions and permanent judicial commissions (G-11.0103-n and D-1.0400); and Whereas the General Assembly has the responsibility and power to warn and advise the church and to provide authoritative interpretation of the *Book of Order* (G-13.0103-p,q,r); and Whereas the 1978 and 1979 General Assembly statements on the ordination of self-affirming, practicing homosexual persons and subsequent reaffirmations ("the Policy Statements"), insofar as they are "authoritative interpretation" (G-13.0103-r), unduly constrain sessions and presbyteries from carrying out their constitutional responsibilities to examine, ordain, and install officers by preventing them from exercising "freedom of conscience with respect to the interpretation of Scripture" (G- 6.0108-a) in applying the standards referenced above; and Whereas the policy on ordination of self-affirming, practicing homosexual persons is not among "the essentials of the Reformed faith and polity" (G-6.0108-a), but is among the "truths and forms with respect to which men of good characters and principles may differ" and on which it is "the duty both of private Christians and societies to exercise mutual forbearance toward each other" (G-1.0305). Therefore be it resolved at the 579th meeting of the Presbytery of San Francisco on January 9, 1996 we do respectfully overture the 208th General Assembly in Albuquerque, New Mexico: 1. to affirm that the Policy Statements are policies of the General Assembly which advise the Church, and 2. to withdraw the Policy Statements as "definitive guidance" and "authoritative interpretation" of G-6.0106 (formerly 37.03) of the *Book of Order*, and 3. to issue an authoritative interpretation that presbyteries and sessions have the responsibility to apply constitutional standards for ordination, found in G-6.0106, "Gifts and Requirements," to all candidates for office. *A second overture, entitled "Proposed overture to Clarify Procedures for Interpreting and Amending the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)," was also adopted. It is designed to "affirm procedures for authoritative interpretation of existing provisions of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and to distinguish and affirm procedures for amending the constitutional documents of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)." It is meant to prevent the use of authoritative interpretations to introduce new requirements into the constitution or to change the meaning of current provisions, when such changes should go through the established procedure for amending the constitution, which includes a vote by all presbyteries. A third overture that would have amended the constitution to forbid the ordination of lesbian and gay Presbyterians was defeated by a vote of 144 to 114. The amendment would have required "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman ..., or celibacy" for ordination.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Pioneering Call Recommendation Rejected Chicago Church Says No to Openly Gay Candidate by Lawrence A. Reh On Sunday, September 17, following a candidating sermon in the morning worship at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Chicago, the eligible members of that congregation voted against extending a call to me to be their pastor. It was a close vote, but not as close a decision. The initial balloting was one vote to the positive side, and the subsequent ballots taken on the questions mandated by the *Book of Order* in cases where significant minority opposition is indicated (first providing an opportunity for minority voters to join the majority, then an opportunity for majority voters to switch to the minority) ended in a one-vote swing, to give the opposition a clear-cut decision. I had received word in mid-August from Donna Erickson, Chairperson of the congregation's Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC), that the nine members of the committee had voted to nominate me to the congregation as their final choice to conclude a 20-month search process begun in January 1994. This invitation to final candidacy came after I had been to Chicago to preach for the St. Andrew PNC in a neutral pulpit (Irvingwood-Acacia Presbyterian Church) on the last Sunday in July, and after the PNC had also brought in several other candidates for final interviews and evaluations. The candidating weekend began early on the morning of Friday, September 15, when Donna greeted me at O'Hare Airport with news that, in the six weeks since my prior visit to St. Andrew, several members had apparently awakened to the growing, real possibility that a call might be extended to an open, self- affirming gay man. The PNC had reported to me in July that it conducted an informal canvass of St. Andrew's members prior to my preaching and interview visit, and that poll drew only two hard opposition responses along with some other points of concern being raised. It apparently was not until the PNC actually voted to nominate me, and that decision was disseminated throughout the membership, that the possibility of the congregation being led by a "homosexual" was seen as a genuine threat. At that point, I learned, members who were deeply opposed to such an eventuality began a systematic campaign to put together sufficient opposition to block a call to me. I think that genuine fear, lack of understanding and a temporary blindness to the role of the Spirit in leading their PNC to a choice all played a part in the subsequent ideological struggle. From what I learned on the scene in September, spiritual issues had only minor influence on the outcome. One example reported back to the PNC of the fears raised by opponents to my candidacy was that if I were to be called, the congregation could expect to see men in dresses collecting the offering in Sunday worship. Nevertheless, the PNC and I proceeded on the faith that a positive outcome was very much a possibility. On Friday I met with members of Chicago Presbytery's Committee on Ministry (COM) to be examined and evaluated on both my suitability and capability to serve cooperatively with other members of presbytery in the Chicago metro area. Though I had received several assurances in earlier telephone conversations and correspondence that presbytery staff, presbytery membership and the COM in particular were receptive, even supportive of my candidacy, I was nonetheless truly astonished at the high level of enthusiasm, encouragement and positive assistance that came out of Friday's meeting. Executive Presbyter Paul Rutgers, Personnel Associate Janet Wilson and COM members Rev. Jeff O'Neill (the pastor at Northminster/Evanston and committee chairperson), Rev. David Jones (First Church/Des Plaines) and Elder Sue Cossey (Vice President, Administration and Finance at the Catholic Theological Union) seemed to me deeply and equally committed to both the justice of this forward step and its correctness within existing denominational polity. My sermon in Sunday's worship grew out of the lectionary texts appointed for that day, particularly Luke's account of the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin (15:1-10), and the declaration of Paul in 1 Timothy 1:12-17 that it is solely by God's acceptance, unconditional love and unlimited grace that he, though self-proclaimed as "chief of sinners," knows himself both saved and called to God's service as an example. My theme from the parables was that the core of the stories is not the search or the searchers, but the lost -- the exiled, alienated, excluded and endangered -- upon whom God places such high value as to justify, even require the enormous effort and great risk involved in momentarily setting aside those already in safety in order to reclaim those who are lost. Each of us, I noted, has at some time been lost, shut out, denied. And each of us is "found" -- saved and called to God's service -- only by the operation of God's unconditional love and unlimited grace. In a variation on custom, the subsequent congregational meeting was convened (after 45 minutes of coffee and socializing opportunities) with myself present. After opening with prayer and a description by interim pastor Don Chatfield of how the business would proceed, I was asked to make a brief statement on behalf of my candidacy, and to respond to any questions which members might wish to ask. (As in my appearances before Redwoods Presbytery and its Committee on Preparation for Ministry in the past, I emphasized my fundamental position that no one should cast a vote, or be asked to cast a vote, without the opportunity to have all of their concerns fully addressed.) All questions seemed to me sincere and genuinely related to a desire for fuller knowledge, greater assurance, renewed affirmation of convictions -- even questions which saddened me, such as, "If you are called, would you try to make St. Andrew a haven for others like you?" "I would expect and encourage and assist St. Andrew," I said in reply, "to live the responsibility that every one of God's congregations is called to, to be a haven and a sanctuary for every person who seeks God's love and grace, no matter what their human condition." Before I was excused from the meeting room, Executive Presbyter Paul Rutgers made a statement to the assembly (again an unusual, if not unprecedented occurrence). He assured those who were preparing to vote on my nomination by the PNC that the presbytery had made an exhaustive investigation of my personal character, my moral and ethical background, and my professional qualifications, and that both staff and the Committee on Ministry were satisfied that (1) I met all denominational qualifications to be called and ordained; (2) I had no problems in my background (I was thinking, "skeletons in my closet") that would raise any questions about my ethical or moral integrity; and (3) I appeared to have all the requisite education, experience, skills and references to fill the stated requirements for the vacant position. In preliminary head-counting the evening before, it had seemed likely to me and to members of the PNC that out of 72 persons on the eligible voting rolls, probably no more than 45 would attend the meeting because of vacations, disability, illnesses or other circumstances. Of those the PNC estimated that there would be a minimum of 13 certain "no" votes, more than 25 percent. In fact there were 44 present and registered, of whom three abstained throughout the process -- they did not say why. Each ballot produced a 21-20 tally, with a single changed vote ultimately swinging the result from yes to no as the process went forward. Such a division, even if the vote had remained positive, would rarely if ever be endorsed by a presbytery's COM and recommended to the presbytery membership for ratification, and so defeat for the call was probably assured from the first ballot. It was reported back to me that much passion and eloquence was expended on my behalf, and on behalf of the justice of the issue generally, with some of it coming from unexpected quarters. It was apparent also that the outcome was heartbreaking for many, and especially for the members of the Pastor Nominating Committee. It is my intention to continue my search for that call which is God's will for me, in pulpit or process, in parish service or specialized ministry. I consider myself blessed by the prayers and encouragement of "so great a cloud of witnesses," and I thank everyone for their ongoing support. Thanksgiving, encouragement and affirmation for their efforts and courage might be expressed to members of the St. Andrew's PNC in care of Donna Erickson, 1424 Forest Street, Des Plaines, IL 60018, and to presbytery staff and the Committee on Ministry in care of Janet L. Wilson, Executive Assistant for Personnel, Presbytery of Chicago, 100 South Morgan Street, Chicago, IL 60607-2619. To a great extent, I think that support was founded on my long-standing (20-plus years) self-imposed lifestyle of celibacy and on my self-declared intention to be obedient to denominational policy as it currently stands regarding ordination of "self-avowed, practicing, unrepentant" lesbian and gay persons, even while forcefully disagreeing with it and expressing in all candor my intention to work within constitutional polity for its complete overhaul. (My celibacy, it should be apparent, is not in response to the church's requirement; rather, it arises out of my personal faith conviction that my sexuality is best expressed within a long-term committed relationship, which has not been a factor in my life for some time.) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A Banner Of Hope by Dave Tornblom [photo of Dave Tornblom and his banner at General Assembly 1995] Several years ago, on a bright winter day, I began a journey to Washington D.C. to attend my first PLGC Workshop at Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church. While registering in the basement of that church, I soon discovered that I was not alone in my relationship to my church. Little did I know that the journey was to be one of faith and the cause was not just mine, but belonged to many who wanted to open the door of the church for all to enter. Each workshop was an inspiration and the discussions of the participants brought new life to my feelings about God's love for his children. One of the workshops was held by the Rev. Lindsay Biddle whom I had never met before. The meeting was held in the church's sanctuary and on the pulpit she had hung an altar cloth with the rainbow colors in the background of the Presbyterian Church's symbol. It held my attention during the whole workshop and when it was over, I spoke to her about the beauty of the drape and what it symbolized. She was very gracious and offered to mail me the pattern since she had designed it herself. Soon after the workshop, the mail delivered a friendly note with the pattern enclosed. For some reason, I put this letter in my brief case and carried it around for a couple of years and periodically, while cleaning out my case, I would come across the letter and reaffirm my intentions to do something about it. Since I didn't cross stitch I would have to find someone to do it for me. I knew that would not be easy and then I was not sure what I would do with it when I did get it completed. During the Baltimore General Assembly, a reception was held after Sunday Morning worship at the First and Franklin Street Presbyterian Church, a More Light Church, where I was made to feel very welcomed to express my feelings about my spirituality and my sexuality. During a group conversation, I was asked if I had met the couple from New Mexico, which was soon to be my new home. That meeting began a friendship that exists to this day. This friendship also helped me get to know the small group of PLGCers in New Mexico and because I did not have a friendly church there that I could attend, they became my religious home. I did not live near most of the PLGC members, so it usually took a long drive and most of the day to attend a meeting. It was during one of those meetings that I noticed that we had no religious symbols as part of our worship service. Remembering that letter in my brief case, I made an effort to locate a store that sold the material and could refer me to someone that could do cross stitch. Once this was accomplished, the banner was used as a beautiful altar cloth at our meetings. This is when I started to attend general assemblies on a regular basis and took the banner with me to use in whatever purpose it could serve. It wasn't until General Assembly was held in Orlando that I decided to mount the banner on a piece of wood that I saved from a presidential political sign. In the morning I would stand outside the entrance to the convention center with the banner held high for all who wanted to see. I only acknowledged those who indicated some recognition. The recognition was usually positive although there were the "religious wrong" demonstrators who sent individuals up to me to challenge me with their version of scripture. I admit that I was not the most comfortable individual doing this but at the time I felt that it was right and I still do. During the Wichita assembly, it was not easy to find a good location because there were two entrances for the commissioners and the response was limited based on the crowd flow. However, during the Cincinnati GA, everything was different. The convention hall had a central entry and I was permitted to stand in the center doorway with my banner. The recognition and response this year was similar but different in many ways. There was the usual stares and puzzling looks but there were many more bright eyes, nods, smiles, winks, thumbs up and verbal recognitions than ever before. As in previous meetings, I did not speak except to say good morning or good afternoon unless people addressed me. My reasoning was that if the people did not know what the banner represented and they became curious enough, then they would approach me to ask for clarification. That was the opportunity for me to talk about inclusiveness in the church, not just for gay and lesbian people but for all who have been made to feel unwelcomed. Two women that I recognized from the hearings on the Lay Committee approached me at different times. One told me that she thought the banner was very beautiful but did not approve of my theology. My reply was that my theology was the same as hers only more inclusive. The other woman accused me of being dishonest when I did not include everyone that she would leave outside the church. The leader of the Presbyterians For Renewal approached me to question the banner's significance and volunteered that he approved of inclusiveness for his daughter who was handicapped and mentally retarded but stopped short of inclusiveness for others. As I stood there with the banner, dressed in various multicolored outfits, many in the crowd began to look for me because I was there in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening when they were meeting. Soon people were greeting me as I greeted them. "Are you still here?", "Don't your arms get tired?","Did you do the cross stitching?", "Would you like something to drink?", "Are you allowed to change hands?","I think it great what you are doing", "Keep up the good work", and "Are you going to be at the next GA?" were some of the comments. Several people questioned me about what I thought about while standing there. That started me thinking about it because boredom was suggested but it wasn't boring. I would hum hymns to myself and one time I caught myself humming the Mormon hymn "All Is Well." Other times I was observing the crowd as a people watcher and thinking of a sermon to address my reactions. It gave me time to reflect and to pray. My mind was working all the time about memories and positive things that have been God-given and blessings that were unrecognized up until that time. One blessing was the minister from the Midwest that came to me and asked for fifteen minutes of my time. He stated that he was going to be a commissioner in Albuquerque and he did not want to vote on the issue of sexuality without taking to a gay or lesbian. Another PLGCer just happened to be there and volunteered to hold my banner while we sat and talked for over forty-five minutes about resource material and biblical scripture as well as the lifestyle of gays and lesbians who are also Christians. He had paper and pencil and was writing down all the things that he could do to be better informed about this matter before next year. After that meeting, he always spoke to me at the door as he was about to enter the hall. A gentleman reading the paper at the table where we were sitting overheard the discussion and came up to me to say that he had enjoyed the dialogue and wished us well in our battle with the church. Many more told me that they approve of inclusiveness in the church and want us to continue bringing our gifts to the whole church. Some wanted to take my picture to show their church groups for discussion of this issue as approved again by the GA in Cincinnati. The youth advisory delegates (YADS) showed they had more knowledge about the whole matter than some of the adult commissioners. What were some of the other blessings that where showered upon me during my watch? There was the woman commissioner that put her hand on my arm and with tears in her eyes thanked me for being there because her lesbian daughter was not welcomed in our church; the Hispanic delegate that stopped because he saw my Casa Por Christo shirt and got interested and supportive of our cause; the black ministerial student who was aware of PLGC but was not aware of the extent of the More Light Churches and the group of supporters in the seminaries around the country; the representative of the Church of Christ from Australia who shared the information that many Australian Presbyterian's had left the church to join the Church of Christ because of the fundamentalists who drove them away; the woman who said that she had only seen one other banner like the one I had and that was in the state where I had my banner made (Could she have been the one who cross stitched mine?); the people who looked to me as an information source for important issues on the floor of the GA and what had they missed during their absence; the PLGC members who gave me constant support and encouragement and yes, the little boy who stood by his grandmother during our whole discussion and then asked me if I knew how to make a cat in the cradle with string. He patiently showed me, questioned me as to whether I needed more instruction on the matter and then offered to hold my banner while I tried his string to see if I had learned the task. There were just so many blessings that I am sure that I have forgotten some of them but I do know that I was blessed and had a faith journey that I will never forget. In the meantime, the banner serves again as an altar cloth for a bible study group that meets on Thursday evening. The group consists of gays, lesbians, and straights who have been unwillingly disenfranchised from their church. We named the group "Koinonia" because it represents the church to the Methodists, Lutherans, Catholics, Mormons, Quakers and Presbyterians who attend. And yes, God willing, the banner will be in Albuquerque next year. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Why I Am A Presbyterian by Chris Glaser [NOTE: For those on America Online, Chris will be a guest in a chat lounge in AOL's new area called Roadside USA, from 9-11 p.m. EST, March 8, responding to questions. Come chat! Check out Chris's guest column, "The Word Is Out," the previous week in Roadside.] Copyright (c) 1996 by Chris R. Glaser. All rights reserved. Permission granted for non-profit duplication and use. In my travels last year, I ran into a gay friend who had been an active member of a More Light congregation. He surprised me by saying he had since joined a church of another denomination. He contrasted the two experiences: now, every Sunday, he was hearing about what was good about his new denomination. He realized how tired he'd become of hearing what was bad about the Presbyterian Church. He had come to the opinion, then why bother with it? This is the liability of any justice-seeking congregation within a church tradition or denomination. Indeed, it's the liability of *any* congregation, however it defines its primary asset (whether "Bible-based," "evangelical," "traditional," "creative," etc.). A "holier- than-thou" attitude may develop that sets that congregation apart from a denomination that is perceived as either erring or simply lacking. Faced with any opposition from outside, a paranoia may set in that creates a fortress-mentality approach to the broader church -- though I must quickly add that I also agree with lesbian comedian Robin Tyler's assessment, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you." But a self-righteous, fortress mentality interferes with honest communication and true communion. It also blocks a congregation's spiritual humility. The late Rev. Ross Greek, known for innovative and prophetic ministry at the West Hollywood Presbyterian Church, would, during a sermon, sometimes launch into a diatribe about how bad other churches were compared to us. I cringed, because, like him, I had served in other churches, but my experience told me that their members sought God's will for their lives as sincerely as we did. In truth, our badmouthing of other congregations makes it easier to overlook our own desires to be control queens. Nonetheless, there are congregations I intuitively distrust. I believe that their criteria for success is of human origin rather than divine inspiration, pleasing human beings more than God. Congregations that lay down the law rather than uplifting God's grace, that avoid seeking justice in their communities, that suffer an "edifice complex" and "empire building," that are caught up in petty squabbles over internal matters -- these are corporately my "usual suspects." This does not mean that these churches are not made up of true Christians individually struggling to faithfully live out their Christian faith. It just means that their corporate expression misses the mark of what God intends. But I digress -- which is easy to do when considering the beam or splinter in another's eye rather than considering what interrupts our own vision. I don't even want to dwell on what interrupts our own vision, but rather, talk about the vision itself. Part of that vision must be to recognize that other Presbyterians are fellow faithful strugglers. Rev. Mel White (author of *Stranger At the Gate*), who once worked in the camp of the religious right before coming out openly as a gay Christian, has recently begun promoting a Gandhian way of approaching our opposition which I wholeheartedly endorse. In opposing our dehumanization as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people, we must not dehumanize (or said more strongly, demonize) our opponents. It is true that many of our opponents are working out of pure self-interest, but then, so are many within our own movement. It is true that the bulk of our opposition suffer one or all of these maladies: apathy, inertia, or xenophobia, but we can also see these spiritual weaknesses within our own gay community. As difficult as it is for us to believe, our principal opposition in the Presbyterian Church consists of Christians like us with whom we share spiritual weaknesses and strengths. Having said that, those "Christians like us" may be manipulated by those who *do* have malicious intent, not simply to kick us out of the church but to keep the church in a chaos beneficial to their own ascendancy and agenda. This tiny minority taints the corporate expression of Presbyterian Christianity. But they too are not beyond God's redemptive grace, and therefore cannot be refused human respect. Hate the sin, not the sinner. I became a Presbyterian in college to escape the self- righteous certitude of fundamentalist Christianity that I witnessed in the denomination and Christian school in which I was reared. I had spent two years visiting churches of a wide variety of denominations and traditions to find what I considered a spiritual home. I already had heard a call to the professional ministry, and I wanted to find a church in which I could fulfill that call. I had not yet accepted my sexuality, but the Presbyterian church which I joined indirectly helped me do so by witnessing that sexuality was God's gift and that diversity was welcome -- all this long before there was a PLGC, Task Force to Study Homosexuality, definitive guidance, and More Light churches. I believed then and I believe now that Presbyterians regard the Bible with greater respect and revere its authority precisely because we do not take it literally as I once did as a biblical literalist. We value its mythological, classical import in daily life. Whether a story is historically factual or not is irrelevant to what God may be saying to us through it. We use scripture to interpret scripture because all scripture was not created equal -- some has greater bearing on discerning God's will for our lives. The Spirit guides us along Christ's way. The confessional nature of our church confirms this need to seek the Spirit's guidance as we interpret God's Word to us, which is not the Bible as I had once assumed, but Jesus Christ. For me, *The Confession of 1967* served as a refreshing and challenging re-interpretation of our faith when I became a Presbyterian in 1970. *A Brief Statement of Faith* does something similar for us today. The connectional nature of our church reflects the unity that is intended for the Body of Christ, the church. Checks and balances in our system, our representative form of government, and the egalitarian relationship between clergy and lay people were attributes I cherished. This is even more true for me today as I consider the congregation to which I belong not simply my neighborhood church, but a whole international network of Presbyterian friends whose lives and ministry have touched mine. Despite my occasional repetition of the quip about Presbyterians that "many are cold, but a few are frozen," I relish the simple dignity of our worship. We take it seriously, but not too seriously. We don't feel compelled toward conformity, but it's comfortable to know that when I enter a Presbyterian Church for worship, I can usually count on certain elements as part of the liturgy. I love our emphasis on scripture and on sermons. I once thought I'd like to die listening to a really good sermon! Though I would enjoy Holy Communion each Sunday (our tradition allows for that), I appreciate its specialness when it is observed. I value the education and training expected of clergy, Christian educators, and ministers of music, and that continuing education is built into a call with provision for study leave. I like knowing that a Presbyterian sermon is likely to be based in scripture and carefully thought out, prepared, and delivered. I love that "theology matters," that is, a consistently worked out cosmology that undergirds the faith of the heart. I am grateful that we, even in our desire for the peace, unity, and purity of the church, believe that "God alone is Lord of the conscience." This permits a diversity of viewpoints in nonessentials, and even diversity of viewpoints in what *is* essential. This tenet has allowed us, moreover commanded us, to struggle faithfully together over the subject of homosexuality and the issues it represents. What disturbs me most in that struggle is that those who oppose us dare question our Christian citizenship and our Presbyterian membership. I also must admit to reservations as to whether some of our opposition really belong in the Presbyterian fold, though I do not doubt their Christian faith. Many among our opposition do not seem to understand or appreciate the Presbyterian ethos that I've just described. Many prefer biblical literalism, resist connectionalism, doubt the worth of confessional statements, distrust scholarship, and dislike diversity. Some actually dislike us as well. Though the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is flawed, as any human institution would be, I still believe it's worth our "bother." Because as "the Reformed church always reforming" we are called -- the entire church -- to be reformers. That is the essence of our particular tradition. It is this larger picture of what we struggle for that we must remember. "Where there is no vision, the people perish," reads the King James Version of Proverbs 29:18. "Where there is no prophecy, the people cast off restraint," reads the New Revised Standard Version of the same verse. Our vision will sustain our prophetic movement that contributes toward our own and our church's spiritual vitality. Our prophetic movement will restrain the church's heterosexist tendencies and call it to responsible stewardship of our baptism and ordination. The civil rights movement kept its "eyes on the prize." So must we. We must not settle for any consolation prizes, though we must patiently await the day when people will be amazed the church took so long to recognize our spiritual value. Permit me to issue you a challenge: Find out who your presbytery's commissioners to this year's General Assembly are. One by one, take them (yes, *you* pay) to lunch. If they resist, write to them and follow up with one phone conversation. Tell your story -- gently. It may be your experience as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or as friend, parent, sibling, child, pastor, or parishioner of someone who is (remembering to protect confidentiality). If you are closeted, ask the person to keep what you say in confidence. Hold anger and arrogance in check. Don't assume where they're coming from. Be clear that you are interested in dialogue; finding common ground, rather than necessarily converting them to your point of view. Don't present yourself as victim, but rather, as someone who has survived homophobia in yourself and in the church. Tell them your vision for the church. Tell them about your spiritual life and your family life. Try to find points of commonality with their spiritual life and their family life. If everyone who reads this follows this request, it will have an impact that will go far beyond the Albuquerque assembly. Tell them why you are a Presbyterian. And don't forget your reasons, no matter what happens this summer. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PLGC OFFICERS AND CONTACTS CO-MODERATORS: Laurene Lafontaine, 1260 York St. #106, Denver, CO 80206, 303/388-0628, PNet: Laurene Lafontaine; internet: EClaurene@aol.com; 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: Lew Myrick, 1225 Southview Rd., Baltimore, MD 21218- 1454, 410-467-1191, 410-516-8100 work, FAX 410-516-4484 work, email: myrick@jhuadig.admin.jhu.edu 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, PNet: 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, email: cevans@scholars.bellevue.edu. 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): Linda Manwarren, 7720 Browning Dr. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109-5303, 505-294-8655; 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, PNet: Lindsay Biddle, internet: lindsay_biddle.parti@ecunet.org 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. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *