Date: Fri, 20 Dec 96 6:35:13 EST From: James Anderson Subject: More Light Update Jan-Feb 1997 (138 K) MORE LIGHT UPDATE For all ministers, elders, deacons, members and friends of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) January-February 1997 Volume 17, Number 3 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) PLGC-List: plgc-list@andrew.cmu.edu PLGC home page: http://www.epp.cmu.edu/~riley/PLGC.html Masthead, with Publication Information at end of file. Note: * is used to indicate italicized or boldface text. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CONTENTS PHOTOS EVENTS 13th Annual More Light Conference: Never Turning Back REQUESTS Emerging Social Witness Issues PEOPLE Coordinator for Bisexual Concerns Coordinator Contact Changes Howard Warren to Honorably Retire Erin Swenson, Transgender Minister RESOURCES All God's Children, Review by by Gip Plaster Erotic Justice: A Liberating Ethic of Sexuality, by Marvin Ellison Agony in the Garden, by the Rev. Howard Hannon QUOTE UNQUOTE FEATURE ARTICLES CONTINUING THE DIALOGUE What Kind of a Church Do We Want to Be? Letter to the Presbyterian Church, from former moderators of the General Assembly and other leaders of the church A Few Words, Addressed to Elders and Ministers of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Who Will Be Voting on the Proposed Constitutional Amendment Establishing Certain New Restrictions on Ordination, From the Undersigned Retired Synod and Presbytery Executives of the PCUSA The Heidelberg Catechism and Homosexuality, By Christopher Elwood & Johanna W.H. van Wijk-Bos God's Word Is Our Guide and Teacher, A Presentation to the Standing Committee on Ordination and Human Sexuality, 208 General Assembly (1996), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), July 1, 1996, Albuquerque, New Mexico, By W. Eugene March NOT IN PRINTED VERSION 14 Reasons Why Amendment B Should Not Be Affirmed, by Robert Lehman NOT IN PRINTED VERSION And What About the "Sin" of Worldly Political Ways? SPECIAL SECTION Markings of Light: Writings of Our Movement in the Presbyterian Church. Part One -- The Early Years, 1974- 1978, Introduced and Collected by Chris Glaser PLGC Officers and Contacts (at end of file) More Light Churches Network MLCN Steering Committee Masthead (publication information) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * OUR COVER Our cover (in the printed version) features the wonderful South African hymn "We Are Marching in the Light of God," which was our theme song during our historic witness for a truly welcoming and inclusive church at the 1996 General Assembly in Albuquerque. It is repeated in larger size on page XXXXX. We reprint it from *The New Century Hymnal* (United Church of Christ, The Pilgrim Press, c1995), with the permission of the copyright holder, Walton Music Corp., 170 N.E. 33rd St., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334, 954-563-1844, 954-563-9006 fax. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PHOTOS Hey folks, if you like the photos we've been putting in the new Update, then we need your photos! Please send us all your PLGC- related pictures. We can use colored pictures just fine. Don't be bashful -- send them in! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * EVENTS 13th Annual More Light Conference: Never Turning Back The registration material for the More Light Churches Conference in Portland, Oregon, May 23-25, 1997 is in the print version of this *Update*. If you need a copy, please contact Dick Hasbany, 541-345-4720. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * REQUESTS Emerging Social Witness Issues Peter Sulyok writes: The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is in the process of setting priorities and planning its work. You can help us! Please list in order of importance, five new or urgent social witness policy issues that you believe the ACSWP should research and develop as social witness recommendations. Think about issues that will be important over the next 5-10 years. To help you develop this list, consider the following questions: * What are the new and emerging issues your congregation or your presbytery are facing? * Where is the church's current policy outdated and in need of new reflection and direction? * What are the issues you believe a General Assembly study, policy statement or resolution might assist you in your social justice ministry? We want to hear from you! You may email your response to: emerging.social.witness.issues@ecunet.org, or send via snail mail (postal service) to: Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 100 Witherspoon St., Louisville, KY 40202-1396. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PEOPLE Coordinator for Bisexual Concerns Please welcome the Rev. Kathleen Buckley as PLGC's new coordinator for bisexual concerns. She may be reached at: 2532 Rosendale Rd., Schenectady, NY 12309-1312; Skidmore College chaplain 518-584-5000 ext 2272, email kbuckley@skidmore.edu; Union College protestant chaplain, 518- 388-6618, buckleyk@gar.union.edu * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Coordinator Contact Changes Address correction for Dean Hay, our coordinator in Southern California. Please change his address to: 2851 S. La Cadena Dr., #71, Colton, CA 92324 New area code for Dick Hasbany, our coordinator in Oregon: change 503 to 541: 541-345-4720. Board member Bill Moss's email address is: WHMoss@aol.com. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Howard Warren to Honorably Retire The Rev. Howard Warren, God's Glorious Gadfly and leader of Presbyterian Act-Up, Presbyterian AIDS Network, and PLGC, has announced his "honorable retirement," to be celebrated on June 7, 1997 by the Presbytery of Whitewater Valley. Here is the brief bio that will be handed out at that meeting: Reverend Howard B. Warren, Jr. 2807 Somerset Bay Indianapolis, IN 46240-3482 - I was born on September 7, 1934 in St. Louis, MO. - It was in Paseo Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, MO that I felt the extravagant inclusive love of God through the love of Dr. Henry Barnett and Dottie Carroll and the wonderful youth programs of that church and Presbytery. - In 1952, God called me to the ministry and also sent people to help me name and understand my sexual orientation. I was open about God's call, but remained in the closet much too long about my sexual orientation. - I attended Missouri Valley College, McCormick Theological Seminary, Union Theological Seminary (New York City) and Hunter College School of Social Work. - I was ordained by the Presbytery of Kansas City at Paseo Presbyterian Church on February 15, 1965. - For twenty-five years 1 served as minister or associate minister in 6 wonderful churches: Milford, PA; Mt. Vernon, NY; Fayetteville, NY; Huntington, NY; Pontiac, MI; and lndianapolis, IN. These were wonderful years of giving and receiving God's love. - Discovering I was HIV-positive in 1987 and coming to terms with lifelong feelings of guilt and shame, l was healed by the discovery that God does not "do" disease but offers healing and hope. - The Presbytery of Whitewater Valley lovingly responded by creating a Validated Ministry, The Director of Pastoral Care at The Damien Center, thanks to the financial generosity of Orchard Park Presbyterian Church, the Presbytery of Whitewater Valley, The Synod of Lincoln Trails and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. - I discovered an entire world of ministry outside of the local congregation: being there with people and families who felt the church had left them out years ago. So many memories of how the wildly extravagant, inclusive Love of God was, is there with them. - In the late 1980s, I began Presbyterian Act-up on a General Assembly level. I came out as an openly gay ordained Presbyterian minister in a series of prophetic acts and took the name of "God's Glorious Gadfly." This coming out was as profound as God's call to me in 1952 to become a minister. - I became a part of the leadership team of the Presbyterian AIDS Network, helping to develop resources for national and local churches to overcome the stigma of AIDS and become welcoming places. - The Presbytery formed the HIV/AIDS Taskforce, with the great leadership and staff support of Dr. Ed Towne and Rev. Ray Marquette. The taskforce has developed educational resources and presentations for local congregations as well as working with The Damien Center in the annual Color of Light Retreat at Camp Pyoca. - So much intimate time has been spent with HIV/AIDS people, their families, friends and mates in Baptism, Marriage, Holy Union, prayer conversations, and Celebration of Life services along with education on all levels, in all places (local, state and national). In all of this, the journey is from "How did I get AIDS" to "What will I do with it?" - I have felt first hand the hatred and power of the religious right toward non-heterosexuals and the church's misunderstanding of who we really are, and the ability of both to use AIDS and homosexuality as weapons of fear to raise money for their "agenda," which culminated in the Chastity-Fidelity Overture, which seeks to replace Grace with a very restricted version of Biblical understanding of Law. - Coming through the anger and hurt I felt as I saw my church family, my real family, time after time making my people second class citizens, sitting in the back of the bus with no frequent flyer mileage to upgrade them to first class (ordination). The development of strong friendships with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered people and inclusive heterosexuals which allow some of the anger to be replaced by love and proclaiming the P.L.G.C. and More Light as the true Presbyterian Church. - The many local, state and national honors including: The Justice Human Dignity Award; The P.L.G.C. Inclusive Church Award; Indiana Cares' Super Star Award; The AIDS National Interfaith Ministry Award. - Being trusted as a Christian stranger by many of the 800 HIV/AIDS people who have made the transition from this life to God's forever life: an eternal home for all. - As an ordained Presbyterian minister who is openly gay and pays no attention to those 6-7 isolated verses, many from the wasteland of disregarded scripture; instead I focus on the Shema, the 23rd Psalm, the Great Commandments of Jesus, John 3:16 and 1st Corinthians 13, which have no silent asterisk that says, "for heterosexuals only." - My early retirement involves a distancing of myself from PCUSA, yet remaining a part of it. This grows out of my overwhelming sense of being gay in a decade in which we are speaking out, building coalitions, working for our basic rights, replacing shame and guilt with love and acceptance. I have learned that the Grace of God comes through the church, in spite of the church, or a combination of the two. We sense the pride God felt when God created us. I have come out and so much of this time has been spent reacting to a vocabulary that confines us to sex-machines, responding to those 6-7 verses. Now it is time to come in and do what many Christian Lavender people are doing: The exploration of the Lesbian/Gay Soul. We are different, so our soul has unique qualities just as the heterosexual soul does. When the PCUSA accepts us fully as people of God, we can then share with you the soul of a church that represents God's Presbyterian people of all genders, races, orientations and ethnic backgrounds -- the true *all.* - Thanks to your creating the position of Director of Pastoral Care at The Damien Center, I feel "touched by angels" as I share and receive the wildly inclusive, extravagant love of God. Let God's love be with all of us. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Erin Swenson, Transgender Minister Good news from Atlanta. The Presbytery of Greater Atlanta has reaffirmed the ordination and ministry of Erin Swenson. You may recall her article (with Carla Pridgen) on "Church and Transgender" in the Nov.-Dec. 1996 *Update*. Her story was featured in the Nov. 4, 1996 *Newsweek.* Here's the story from the Presbyterian News Service, 29 November 1996: Greater Atlanta Presbytery Retains Member after Sex Change by Tracy Early, Ecumenical News International ATLANTA -- Greater Atlanta Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has voted that a minister ordained as a man can retain ordination after a sex-change operation. It is believed to be the world's first case of a mainstream church body giving such official recognition to a transsexual. The matter became an issue for the church when Eric Swenson, a 49-year-old father of two adult daughters, asked for a change of name -- to Erin -- in church records. Swenson had undergone a sex change. After considering the situation for a year and debating it at a meeting on October 22, the presbytery voted 186 to 161 that Swenson could retain her ordination. The case received national publicity through an article in the November 4 issue of *Newsweek* magazine. Contacted by ENI, Swenson confirmed the accuracy of the *Newsweek* account, but declined to comment further. *Newsweek* quoted Swenson as saying: "I'm no she-male or drag queen, and I don't want to fight society. But I have as much right as anyone to practice my livelihood." Anne Sayre, the presbytery's associate for justice and women, told ENI that the presbytery had a "very hard struggle," but decided it had "no grounds either theologically or morally" for revoking the ordination. She said another Georgia presbytery, Cherokee, had been confronted with a similar situation. Swenson does not serve a congregation, but for the past 12 years has conducted a private marriage-counseling service. Previous jobs held by Swenson include a position as instructor at the Candler School of Theology, a United Methodist seminary at Emory University in Atlanta. Sayre said no one in the debate over Swenson quoted anything from church standards to prevent a minister from continuing in ordained work after a sex-change operation. But one opponent said it violated the general requirement of maintaining "the peace and unity of the church." Swenson's former wife and the wife's father, O. H. Lyon, himself a minister, supported the request for continued ordination status. "A wounded healer can be the best kind of minister," Lyon told the presbytery. The Rev. Don Wade, pastor of Rehoboth Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, who voted against Swenson's request, told ENI that he would probably ask for reconsideration of the decision. "A lot of people in our presbytery are pretty upset," he said. "It was a very close vote, and there was no serious discussion of the theological issues." He acknowledged that the denomination's *Book of Order* contained nothing on the subject. But insisting that "this individual is a male," Wade said that "gender identity confusion" could be "healed by the power of the Spirit of God." A minister, especially one who has been a husband and father, should not try to resolve such struggles through a sex-change operation, Wade said. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * RESOURCES All God's Children Review by by Gip Plaster Dr. Dee Mosbacher thinks African-American churches should know the truth about gay and lesbian people, and she is providing it in a new documentary called "All God's Children." The film was created to counteract the effects of a video called "Gay Rights, Special Rights" produced by Lou Sheldon, the leader of the Traditional Values Coalition in Anaheim, California. Sheldon's video has been widely distributed to African-American churches, but it portrays a distorted image of gay and lesbian people. Mosbacher's nearly 30-minute response features a mostly black, mostly gay and lesbian choir singing gospel music and contains interviews with African-American leaders who support gay and lesbian rights. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Senator Carol Moseley- Braun and Congresswoman Maxine Waters are among the black pastors and leaders who are interviewed. Comments from composer and producer Quincy Jones are included, and Harvard professor Cornell West is also interviewed. "If I have one word for fellow Christians, I would ask them to keep their eyes on the love of Jesus and to not confuse the blood at Calvary with the Kool-Aid of homophobia in America," West said in the video. "By being open enough to everybody, it means that we have to call into question our own particular prejudices that we inherit [but] that have nothing to do with the loving gospel of Jesus." The images in Mosbacher's film challenge the opinions in Sheldon's production. Sheldon, who is featured in his production, also includes interviews with former U. S. Attorney General Edwin Meese and Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed. The video defines what it calls "four myths" that gays and lesbians promote, including the "myth" that homosexuals are a minority and the "myth" that homosexuals are ten percent or more of the population. "Gay Rights/Special Rights" also uses an interview with a registered nurse who said homosexuals "lick one another's rectums" and "urinate on each other." "The gay agenda is to have sex in any way you please," the female nurse said. "We are on the very verge of our civilization and our culture being totally overhauled by the homosexual community," Sheldon said. Mosbacher said it is particularly important to counter this production aimed at the African-American community to keep the religious right from dividing two minority groups who share common interests. She hopes to find individuals and groups who will "adopt-a-church" by showing the video to a congregation and presenting educational materials. She said this kind of grassroots approach to churches can be effective. The offensive must be led "not with secular tools but with spiritual tools," she said. "One of my hopes for the film ... is to try to build some bridges and coalitions between our communities," Mosbacher said. This is not the first venture of Woman Vision, her production company. It produced "Straight from the Heart," a 24-minute Academy Award nominated short documentary about parents who had difficulty accepting their gay and lesbian children. It tells the story of several families, including a police chief who is proud of his lesbian daughter, a Mormon family whose son is believed the first in Idaho to die of AIDS and a black woman with two lesbian daughters. Mosbacher, a mental health physician who left practice to devote her time to film-making, is also the daughter of Robert Mosbacher, the Secretary of Commerce during the Bush administration. She is a long-time activist in the San Francisco area. She produced the film with Dr. Frances Reid, who also co-produced "Straight from the Heart," and Dr. Sylvia Rhue, a co-founder of the National Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum. "Words and images are powerful," Rhue said at the Dallas premiere. "They do affect our lives." Mosbacher agreed. She said that is why she is doing something about Sheldon's videotaped attack against the gay and lesbian community. "We can't just sit still and take whatever the religious right is dishing out," Mosbacher said. "All God's Children" can be ordered from Transit Media Film Library by calling 800-343-5540. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Erotic Justice: A Liberating Ethic of Sexuality "Ethicist Marvin Ellison argues compellingly that current crises in family, personal life, and sexuality are related to our culture's prevailing attitudes about human sexuality. According to Ellison, the culturally sanctioned power dynamics involved in sexuality are a form of social oppression and share common ground with racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, and cultural elitism. This book is for all concerned about justice issues -- in interpersonal relationships, in the cultural landscape at large, and in the church." -- Westminster/John Knox Press "At last! -- a book that gives us sexual ethics properly placed in a framework of social justice! ... Particularly to be admired here is Ellison's courage in owning up to the politics of disability and of racism as cultural frames within which the justice of sexuality must be placed. His nuanced discussion of men's power and its relation to sexual violence sets a standard for ethical analysis." -- Karen Lebacqz, Professor of Christian Ethics, Pacific School of Religion "Seldom if ever have the personal and the political in sexual theology been so compellingly joined as they are in *Erotic Justice* ... Marvin Ellison knows the depth of sexuality both as a liberating human good and as a fundamental issue of power. His voice needs urgently to be heard" -- James B. Nelson, Professor Emeritus of Christian Ethics, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities Marvin M. Ellison is Professor of Christian Ethics at Bangor Theological Seminary (and a long-time PLGCer!) Paper, $17.00, 160 pp ISBN 0-664-25646-5. Order from your local bookstore or call 1-800-227-2872, Westminster John Knox Press. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Agony in the Garden by the Rev. Howard Hannon "This is the story of a gay Presbyterian minister coming to terms with his homosexuality in a church that condemns him as both sinful and unnatural." -- The Publisher. "Heartbreak, spiritual tenacity and faith transformation earmark this unusual blend of memoir, confession and scriptural exegesis by a Presbyterian clergyman who realized he was gay after ordination and marriage. ... Hannon's candid self-revelations, however, are made more moving by being enveloped within a larger story of a congregation's remarkable turnaround, ... under his guidance" -- *Publisher's Weekly*, August 12, 1996. "Agony in the Garden is not only a powerful story, ... it is a journey, poetic and heartfelt, of the spiritual and sexual awakenings of a minister, a husband, a father and a gay man. It will help heal the wounds of every gay person rejected by their church ... and open the hearts and minds of people who call themselves Christians" -- John I. Rusniak, San Francisco. "A must read for those who resist the idea that sexuality and spirituality have any connection with each other. This book chronicles an unprecedented journey of faith in the wilderness of the church's oppressive and exclusive theology to new understandings of God, Jesus, Crucifixion, and Redemption" -- Joan Wolfarth, Stated Clerk, Genesee Valley Presbytery, Rochester, NY. Forward by Herman Waetjen, Professor of New Testament, San Francisco Theological Seminary. Published by OutWrite Publishing, P.O. Box 11973, Portland, OR 97211, $12.95, ISBN 1- 887092-01-3. Call 1-800-870-0790 (access code 12). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * QUOTE UNQUOTE "Why do / should I stay in the PCUSA? My answer, which I must prod myself to remember occasionally, goes like this: *I* don't *need* this church. This church needs *me!* After General Assembly this year, I concluded that I am *not* in the *wrong church.* I am in a church that is *in the wrong.* I think we must stick it out and change that, though I honor everyone's right to leave for more pleasant ground." -- Dave Hooker, Chicago * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * FEATURE ARTICLES Our highlight for this issue is "Markings of Light," a special insert featuring "Writings of Our Movement in the Presbyterian Church: Part One -- The Early Years, 1974-1978," Introduced and Collected by Chris Glaser. But first we share some more materials related to the church-wide discussion of the "Chastity" Amendment. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CONTINUING THE DIALOGUE What Kind of a Church Do We Want to Be? We continue the discussion, begun in our Sept.-Oct. and Nov.-Dec. 1996 issues, on the proposal to amend the constitution of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. by demanding "chastity and fidelity," but only in a heterosexist context, denying God's gift of sexuality and intimate loving relationships to gay and lesbian people in the church. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Letter to the Presbyterian Church We write this letter out of deep love for our church and our commitment to Jesus Christ. This year, Presbyterians will be asked to consider a significant amendment to the *Book of Order*, one which we think will have an extremely negative impact on the life of congregations and presbyteries. It would amend G-6.0106 by adding this paragraph: "Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life of obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage of a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament." This overture is an attempt to resolve the on-going debate concerning the ordination of practicing homosexual persons. But the proposed amendment goes far beyond that issue and will confront congregational nominating committees, committees on ministry and preparation for ministry, pastor nominating committees and individuals with extremely complex theological and pastoral problems. The last sentence, including the words "any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin," will prove nearly impossible to interpret and, thus, impossible to enforce. Whereas some confessions speak of sinful behavior in general categories (e.g. "we violate the image of God in others and ourselves" -- Brief Statement of Faith), others are quite specific. The Heidelberg and Larger and Shorter Catechisms all list various behaviors held to be violations of each of the Ten Commandments. In the Larger Catechism, sinful behavior includes "undue delay of marriage" and "usury" (charging interest on a loan). It also condemns work and causing others to work on the Sabbath as well as "needless ... thoughts about our worldly employments ...." (C- 7.229). Obvious and difficult questions arise immediately. In the modern world, where so much economic activity is dependent upon interest rates, what constitutes "usury," and who decides? What if someone's job requires work on Sunday and that person in fact does not "repent" of having that job? It would seem that prospective elders, deacons and ministers need to repent of all sins specified by the various catechisms and confessions. What if sessions and presbyteries do not agree about what constitutes sinful behavior? What about behavior which we might now consider sinful but are not mentioned in any confessional standard? And who decides what is full and appropriate repentance? At the core of this proposed amendment is the affirmation of the values of chastity and fidelity. The importance of these values in the biblical tradition and Christian faith is unquestioned. But what does it mean to turn these values into criteria for ordination and/or installation to office? When an ideal is reduced to a legal requirement, the spirit of Law has become narrow legalism. The problem is not simply interpreting a text: it is pastoral. Most pastors know that many couples who present themselves for premarital counseling have been sexually active with each other at least once during their courtship. There is a variety of ways to address this issue in the context of Christian marriage counseling. But does such activity *automatically prevent* a man or woman with such a background from ordination and/or installation to office? These are only some of the questions that will have to be asked and answered whenever *any* church member is under consideration for *any* office in the church. What this language implies is not simply the affirmation of a "higher standard of behavior" for church officers. It requires the examination of behavior potentially bordering on inquisition, if it is to be taken seriously at all. A goal of those who presented this amendment to the General Assembly was to call church members and officers to a renewed commitment to life and ministry grounded in scripture and the theological tradition of the church. We believe an amendment such as this does precisely the opposite. It transforms the confessions from great teaching documents which provide *guidance* (G-14.0207c) into standards which require *compliance*. The strength of a confessional tradition is the attempt to interpret scripture and its requirements for Christian living for the needs of a *particular* day and time. To treat the teaching of various catechisms as unchanging accounts of specific behavior that is either required or prohibited will not deepen our appreciation of our tradition. It will only make it less useful and more remote. Those who have undertaken to write and sign this letter are not of one mind about the central issue which has given rise to the amendment before the church. As regards the specific matter of the ordination of active gay or lesbian persons to office in the church, some are opposed, some are in favor, some see this as a matter properly determined by sessions and presbyteries, and some feel that there is more to be discerned and that any constitutional amendment is premature. We are united, however, in our conviction that this is the wrong solution to that matter because it gives rise to more problems than it will solve. This is a case where no action is better than the wrong action. We urge your presbytery either to vote to take no action or to vote against this amendment. We also urge more patience with one another as we all seek to be faithful to our Lord in the one Body of Christ. Joanna Adams, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, GA; Wallace M. Alston, Center for Theological Inquiry, Princeton, NJ; Herbert B. Anderson, The Brick Presbyterian Church, New York, NY; Eugene Bay, Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, Bryn Mawr, PA; Dorothy Bernard, Former G.A. Moderator, St. Louis, MO; Robert Bohl, Former G.A. Moderator, Village Presbyterian Church, Prairie Village, KS; Wayne Boulton, Presbyterian School of Christian Education, Richmond, VA; Cynthia M. Campbell, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL; Calvin Chinn, Chinatown Presbyterian Church, San Francisco, CA; James Costen, Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, GA; Robert Dunham, University Presbyterian Church, Chapel Hill, NC; John Fife, Former G.A. Moderator, Southside Presbyterian Church, Tucson, AZ; William J. Fogleman, Denton, TX; Freda A. Gardner, Princeton Seminary, Professor Emerita; Bryant George, New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Washington DC; Sheila Gustafson, First Presbyterian Church, Santa Fe, NM; Shirley Guthrie, Columbia Seminary, Decatur, GA; Joseph S. Harvard III, First Presbyterian Church, Durham, NC; Hugh Halverstadt, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL; Cynthia A Jarvis, Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA; Deane A. Kemper, Lakeside Presbyterian Church, San Francisco, CA; Robert Lamar, Former G.A. Moderator, Newtonville, NY; Michael Lindvall, First Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor, Ml; G. Daniel Little, Ithaca, NY; Linda C. Loving, First Presbyterian Church, Oakland, CA; James Lowry, Idlewild Presbyterian Church, Memphis, TN; William P. Lytle, Former G.A. Moderator, San Antonio, TX; Clinton Marsh, Former G.A. Moderator, Atlanta, GA; Denton McLellan, Germantown Presbyterian Church, Memphis, TN; John D. McLeod, Western North Carolina Presbytery; Blair Monie, Preston Hollow Presb. Church, Dallas, TX; Irvin S. Moxley, Fairmount Presb. Church, Cleveland Hts., OH; Harriet Nelson, Former G.A. Moderator, Napa, CA; Douglas W. Oldenburg, Columbia Seminary, Decatur, GA; Kent M. Organ, Fairmount Presb. Church, Cleveland Hts., OH; K. C. Ptomey, Westminster Presb. Church, Nashville, TN; Roger Quillin, Northridge Presbyterian Church, Dallas, TX; Howard Rice, San Francisco Theological Seminary; Bruce Rigdon, Memorial Presb. Church, Grosse Pointe, MI; Isabel Rogers, Former G.A. Moderator, Presb. School of Christian Educ., Richmond, VA; Jack Rogers, San Francisco Theological Seminary; J. Barrie Shepherd, First Presbyterian Church, New York, NY; Harry E. Smith, Pres. Emeritus, Austin College, Sherman,TX; Benjamin O. Sparks, Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA; Gordon C. Stewart, Westminster Presb. Church, Minneapolis, MN; Jack Stotts, Austin, TX; George Stroup, Columbia Seminary, Decatur, GA; Laird J. Stuart, Calvary Presb. Church, San Francisco, CA; Terry Swicegood, Myers Park Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, NC; J. Randolph Taylor, Former G.A. Moderator, Asheville, NC; William P. Thompson, Former G.A. Stated Clerk, La Grange, IL; Herbert Valentine, Former G.A. Moderator, Baltimore Presbytery; Jon Walton, Westminster Presb. Church, Wilmington, DE; Theodore J. Wardlaw, Central Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, GA; Benjamin Weir, Former G.A. Moderator, Oakland, CA; Barbara G. Wheeler, Auburn Theological Seminary, New York, NY; Albert C. Winn, Former G.A. Moderator, Decatur, GA. *Institutional Identification is for Information Only.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A Few Words Addressed to Elders and Ministers of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Who Will Be Voting on the Proposed Constitutional Amendment Establishing Certain New Restrictions on Ordination From the Undersigned Retired Synod and Presbytery Executives of the PCUSA One of the valuable aspects of our church's polity is that the provisions of the constitution can be changed as the Spirit moves and the church decides through the years. During our service to the church as synod and presbytery executives we have witnessed the passage of many amendments which have strengthened our ways of being a church community. It is our firm belief however that the proposed amendment currently before the presbyteries which sets forth certain new restrictions on the qualifications for ordination is both troublesome and unnecessary. Supporters of the amendment appear to hope that its passage might end the debate over ordination requirements in the church. That does not seem likely given the closeness of the General Assembly vote sending it to the presbyteries, (313-236). We are troubled by the seriously flawed language of the proposal. It lacks essential clarity. Its concluding sentence attempts to raise up a catalog of sins the consideration of which would involve our governing bodies in seemingly endless and wasteful administrative and judicial processes. It also attempts to move the Confessions into an entirely new authoritative role in the church rather than their serving as guidance for church officers as the ordination vows provide. This amendment is quite unnecessary. The *Book of Order* already adequately states the qualifications for ordination and whose responsibility it is to make ordination decisions. We encourage you to cast your vote for either a "No" or "No Action" response to the proposed amendment. William M. Aber, Frederick J. Beebe, Margrethe B. J. Brown, Donald R. Caughey, James H. Chestnutt, George H. De Hority, Jr., Herbert C. Eggleston, John N. Fox, William J. Fogelman, Evlyn W. Fulton, Richard K. Giffen, Robert J. Gillespie, Casper I. Glenn, Ray Heer, E. Eugene Huff, William R. King, Robert L. Lehman, Kenneth R. Locke, David B. Lowry, Robert E. Lucas, John C. Matthew, Judy McKay, David C. Meekhof, George P. Morgan, James W. Muir, James A. Payne, H. Richard Siciliano. Carl R. Simon, Robert E. Seel, Carl R. Smith, Arthur M. Stevenson and Edward W. White. October 1996. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Heidelberg Catechism and Homosexuality By Christopher Elwood, Assistant Professor of Historical Theology, & Johanna W.H. van Wijk-Bos, Professor of Old testament, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary Much of the debate in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) concerning homosexuality and ordination has focused on the interpretation of certain scriptural passages. Lately, elements in our confessional heritage have also been brought into the conversation. A correspondent in *Monday Morning* of April 22, 1996, for example, argued that the Presbyterian church should cling more closely to the confessions in barring homosexual persons from ordination (p. 13-14). Most recently, the 208th General Assembly has drawn attention to the confessions in a proposed amendment to the *Book of Order* by calling for repentance of practices "which the confessions call sin." Do the confessions speak unequivocally about homosexuality? A quick check of the index of *The Book of Confessions* turns up the following entry: "Homosexual perversion, and salvation, 4.087." The reference is to question 87 of the Heidelberg Catechism, which in the 1994 edition of *The Book of Confessions* reads as follows: *Question: Can those who do not turn to God from their ungrateful, impenitent life be saved? Answer: Certainly not! Scripture says, "Surely you know that the unjust will never come into possession of the kingdom of God. Make no mistake: no fornicator, or idolater, none who are guilty either of adultery or of *homosexual perversion*, no thieves or grabbers or drunkards or slanderers or swindlers, will possess the kingdom of God"* -- C-4.087, emphasis added. Although there is no other place in the confessions one might point to for such an explicit treatment of the subject of homosexuality, this passage speaks plainly enough. Yet, a discerning reader may ask: Does the Heidelberg Catechism, a document composed and first published in 1563, *really* say that? The very mention of "homosexual perversion" raises a red flag. "Homosexual" is a term that originated late in the nineteenth century and did not come into widespread use in European languages until the twentieth century. It sounds out of place in a sixteenth-century text. But then, perhaps the Catechism uses other terms for the same category of behavior? In fact, the original editions of the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563 make no mention of *homosexual perversion* or of same-sex relations *in any terms* [1]. Neither do any subsequent German editions, including the critical edition edited by Wilhelm Niesel in 1938 [2]. The Latin edition of 1563 is similarly silent on the question of homosexuality. If one examines the many English translations of the Heidelberg Catechism made since the sixteenth century, all but one omit any reference to homosexuality. That single translation was prepared in 1962 as a 400th anniversary edition by Allen O. Miller and M. Eugene Osterhaven [3]. It is the latter edition that the Presbyterian churches adopted and incorporated into the *Book of Confessions*. How does the Heidelberg Catechism version of question and answer 87 read? A common English translation of the original German is as follows: *Can those who do not turn to God from their ungrateful, impenitent life be saved? By no means; for, as the Scripture says, no unchaste person, idolater, adulterer, thief, covetous man, drunkard, slanderer, robber, or any such like, shall inherit the kingdom of God* [4]. The list of sinners as presented in the Heidelberg lacks quotations marks and is considerably shorter than the one found in the *Book of Confessions*. It omits any version of what Miller and Osterhaven render as "Surely you know that the unjust will never come into possession of the kingdom of God," as well as the phrase, "Make no mistake," which introduces the list of those excluded from God's kingdom. Finally, there is no mention of those "who are guilty of homosexual perversion." There is no counterpart for any of these readings in the original text. Whence did the differences arise? Though the words "Surely you know that the unjust," etc., do not appear in the Heidelberg Catechism, they do appear in *The New English Bible* translation of 1 Cor. 6:9-10. In fact, this translation, first published in 1961, just when Miller and Osterhaven were working on their version of the Heidelberg, conforms *exactly* to what they supplied within the quotation marks. The list of sinners given in their translation is not taken from the original text of the Heidelberg or any subsequent edition of the Heidelberg Catechism. The rest of the answer is supplied not by the Heidelberg but by *The New English Bible* of 1961. While this translation refers to "homosexual perversion" in 1 Cor. 6:10, the Heidelberg Catechism refers nowhere to anything of the kind. Because of this substitution, readers of the *Book of Confessions* might be forgiven for assuming that the Reformed confessions speak definitively on the question of same-sex relations, equating "homosexual practice" with sin. To the extent that interpretations of homosexuality and the life of the church are informed by a misreading of the confessions, they can certainly be corrected. For this reason, as the presbyteries take up the issue of sexuality and ordination and seek to be guided in their deliberations by Scripture and the confessions, it seems to us to be critically important that we are clear on what the confessions do and do not say about homosexuality and sin. References 1. See *Catechismus oder Christliche Underricht, wie der Kirchen und Schulen der Churfurstlichen Pfaltz getrieben wirdt* (Heidelberg: Johannes Mayer, 1563), p. 60. 2. Wilhelm Niesel, ed., *Bekenntnisschriften und Kirchenordnungern der nach Gottes Wort reformierten Kirche* (Zurich, 1938). This text served as the basis for the translation included in *The Book of Confessions*. 3. *The Heidelberg Catechism, 1563-1963. 400th Anniversary Edition* (Philadelphia/Boston: United Church Press, 1962). 4. See, for example: *The Heidelberg Catechism in German, Latin and English, with an Historical Introduction* (New York: Scribner, 1863) p. 228f.; *Reformed Standards of Unity*, ed. Leroy Nixon (Grand Rapids, MI: Society for Reformed Publications, 1957), p. 44f.; Thomas F. Torrance, *The School of Faith* (London: James Clark, 1959), p. 86f; *Ecumenical Creeds and Reformed Confessions* (Grand Rapids, MI, 1988), p. 53. ================================================================= A note from the authors: Dear Friend -- I am sending you a piece that my colleague Chris Elwood and I wrote on the matter of the Heidelberg Catechism and homosexuality. We have tried to present the facts clearly with only the essential references. We have, in addition, a good deal of material with exact quotations, from the German, Latin, Dutch and English versions. If you would like to see any of this material, please request it from one of us. You are free to circulate this letter to as wide a network as you would like. A copy of the letter has gone to the office of the Stated Clerk of the denomination, and we have requested publication in *Monday Morning*. At the moment we are contacting folk in different presbyteries across the country, including Stated Clerks and Exec. Presbyters. We would love to hear from you, of course. So, send us your reactions and comments. -- Best wishes, Johanna W.H.v.W. Bos (Chris Elwood's email: Christopher_Elwood.parti@ecunet.org; fax 502-895-1096; Joanna W.H.v.W. Bos' fax: 502-894-2286. ================================================================= * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * God's Word Is Our Guide and Teacher A Presentation to the Standing Committee on Ordination and Human Sexuality, 208 General Assembly (1996), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), July 1, 1996, Albuquerque, New Mexico By W. Eugene March Madam Moderator and Committee Members, my name is Eugene March. I am a member of the Presbytery of Western Kentucky. For thirty-two years I have been teaching Bible, mostly Old Testament, but some New Testament as well, in two of our Presbyterian seminaries and across the church. I, with twenty-nine other professors of the Bible in our seminaries, signed and distributed to you a letter and statement entitled "The Whole Bible For the Whole Human Family" [see the Oct.-Nov. '96 *Update*, p. 9-10]. I hope you will study that document carefully, if you have not already done so, and reflect upon its message. Bottom line? In light of serious and sincere differences of interpretation concerning a number of biblical passages dealing with sexuality, especially homosexuality, we need to study our position in light of the whole biblical word, the whole message of the Bible. Thus, I come to you as "an expert" representing to some degree my twenty-nine colleagues and cosigners of the document just mentioned. But, I also, and probably, personally, more importantly, come to you as one who has studied and taught the Bible my whole adult life. I love the Bible. I love to study the Bible. I like to get into the text and work with it. So I come to you out of that love. God's Spirit speaks to me, to us, through the Bible. God's Word is our guide and teacher. If the July 8 edition of the *Presbyterian Outlook* is accurate, the position that I and the other twenty-nine professors of the Bible have taken has been characterized by another colleague as "We love the Bible, but in fact the Bible really doesn't matter." That's not true for me! Further, he is quoted as being in total agreement with words of another who has called our position a "compendium of the gobbledygook that people who hold that position try to use." So I am also here to share some "gobbledygook." For me, as I study the Bible, I frankly do not see where it labels all homosexuality as sin, nor do I hear it speaking about the need to deny homosexuals ordination. I do hear in the biblical word a call for all of us to join in Jesus' ministry of love and reconciliation. There are only six verses -- only six in the whole Bible -- that are regularly brought forward to demonstrate that homosexuality is a sin and to justify the denial of ordination to homosexuals. How should we deal with these texts? The passages in I Corinthians (6:9), and I Timothy (1:10), deal with something other than what we today call homosexuality. They deal with the exploitation of younger men, or boys, by older heterosexual males for their sexual gratification. Some people call that pederasty. Others are not sure if that is exactly what we have here. But the point of the text is that it is wrong, it is sin, to use another for one's own sexual gratification, and it is wrong to submit oneself willingly to such a relationship of prostitution. But it also seems clear that this behavior is not typical of the sexual intimacy normally experienced by those whom we understand now as homosexual according to current medical and psychological standards. We are comparing apples with oranges. It won't work. In Paul's letter to the Romans, which is probably the key passage, I suggest to you that you need to read the whole passage. You've got to read Romans 1:18-2:11, and not just 1:26-27. Paul does decry some same-gender sexual behavior, but his audience was heterosexual. If this is not the case, this whole argument collapses. Paul's point is that since idolatry runs rampant, God has given humankind over to judgment, and as punishment, God has given humankind the right to pursue its own lustful, exploitative, self-centered, self-destroying, sexual obsession. Paul was not addressing a sub-set of humanity, the homosexuals. He was addressing the majority, people we would describe as heterosexual. Exploitative, self-gratifying, abusive, obsessive sex is wrong, for all of us! But this text does not presume to speak primarily, if at all, to the sexual intimacy of homosexuals and certainly not that which is marked by loving commitment, respect, and mutual support, a manner of life that is commendable and enjoined by Scripture. If this is gobbledygook, so be it! The two other texts, Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, deal with the prohibition of same-sex acts between men. The issue seems to be the matter of whether or not persons will be ritually holy, clean. Probably the point of these texts is to prohibit participation with or as male cultic prostitutes, but frankly, it is not clear. What is clear about these two verses is that when Jesus turned to that same section of the Bible, as far as the tradition remembered, he did not go to these verses. He went to the chapter between and used part of a verse in chapter 19 (verse 18) as part of that two-fold admonition -- if you like, our authoritative interpretation of how we are to hear the whole Law and the Prophets -- love the Lord with all of your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. If, then, it is true that the Old and New Testaments do not deal explicitly, if at all, with what we today understand as homosexuality, where do we turn? To the broader message of the Bible, to the examples of justice and love, to the Ten Commandments, to the Beatitudes, to the life and teaching of our Savior Jesus Christ. And until we have clarity, we exercise restraint in what we say the Bible says or does not say. During the last century, the Presbyterian Church took a very important step. It disavowed slavery. Though there were clear and numerous passages in the Bible by which slavery could be and was defended, nonetheless, the Presbyterian Church said "No" to slavery because of the life and message of Jesus Christ. More recently, the Church has done the same thing in respect to the ordination of women. There are clear texts that suggest we should not ordain women, but the church said at the leading of God's Spirit that a new day had come, a new time, and new practice were in order. I think the Spirit is moving again. I don't find anything in Scripture that labels all homosexuality as sin or anything that prohibits the ordination of gays and lesbians. I believe that God expects all of us, heterosexual and homosexual, to exercise our God-given sexuality in a responsible, loving manner. And I do hear an urgent call to mission and ministry in a world and church that is as diverse as all of us here by divine intention. One last comment. In 1979 I was serving on the Council on Theology and Culture of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. We passed to the General Assembly for its consideration a statement on homosexuality essentially the same as that adopted by the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America the year before. There was only one negative vote, but it was not mine. If we were to vote today, however, there would be at least two negative votes. Why? Because I've changed my mind. During the intervening seventeen years since 1979, I have looked at these texts frequently. I have studied them carefully. I have discussed them, debated them, taught them, and prayed about them, and I have changed my mind about their meaning. In 1979 I was not aware of knowing a single gay or lesbian person first hand, directly. That is no longer the case. In 1979 I was ignorant of the many talented homosexuals doing ministry in the church of Jesus Christ. That, I am thankful to say, is no longer the case. I have seen God's Spirit work changes I did not think possible: in me, in others, in the church. Thus, I have changed my mind. I pray that God's Spirit will be with you and with this Assembly, and I long for that time when all of us, homosexual and heterosexual, can sing with equal enthusiasm, conviction, and expectation, those hymns we sang in our opening service of worship: O Jesus I Have Promised; Take My Life; Amazing Grace, How Sweet The Sound; Here I am, Lord. And, yes, of course, Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Thank you for your attention. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NOT IN PRINTED VERSION 14 Reasons Why Amendment B Should Not Be Affirmed by Robert Lehman ["Amendment B" is the official designation for the "chastity" amendment. -- JDA] 1. The proposed amendment would deprive congregations and presbyteries from electing certain members whom they discern to have received from God the necessary gifts to serve as officers in the church. Within the limits specified in the *Book of Order*, it is the inalienable right and responsibility of congregations to elect elders and deacons, and of presbyteries to elect ministers of the Word and Sacrament. If God has given an individual the necessary gifts, the electing body should be free to recognize this reality and to act accordingly. 2. The *Book of Order* assigns to the appropriate governing body (the session for elders and deacons; the presbytery for ministers of the Word and Sacrament) [Book of Order, chp 6] the responsibility of determining whether or not a particular member has the necessary gifts to serve effectively in a particular office of the church. It is our firm conviction that God's Spirit grants these gifts to certain individuals, and it is the responsibility of sessions and presbyteries to discern them. The proposed amendment, if adopted, would prevent these governing bodies, in certain instances, from moving to ordination and installation, even when the member quite obviously has been blessed by God with the necessary gifts. 3. It is our conviction that, while human error is always possible, the Spirit of God actively guides sessions and presbyteries as they seek to discern the Spirit-given gifts in candidates for ordination. And it must be remembered that it is the local governing body that knows each candidate and that can best discern the necessary gifts. 4. Certain fundamentals of faith and commitment are required of all candidates for ordination and installation. These are enumerated in the ordination questions to which each candidate must respond in the affirmative [See Form of Government, G- 14.0207]. When a candidate responds affirmatively to each of these questions, the church may anticipate in faith that this candidate is prepared to serve effectively. 5. The overture in question, for the first time ever, proposes to establish parts of the *Book of Confessions* as absolute standards by which individuals would be accepted or rejected for ordination and installation. Until now, one has affirmed "that the essential tenets of the Reformed faith" are expressed in the confessions of our church [*The Book of Confessions*] and one has promised to be "instructed and led by those confessions as [one] leads the people of God." 6. The proposed overture would specify that "any ... practice which the confessions call sin" would exclude an individual from ordination and/or installation. As many as 250 practices are identified as "sin" in the *Book of Confessions*. A few examples are as follows: BOC 7.227 Westminster Larger Catechism -- Question and answer #117 on keeping the Sabbath. This could prohibit installing a deacon or elder who engaged in any kind of labor or played tennis or golf or went fishing on Sunday. BOC 7.228 Westminster Larger Catechism -- Question and answer #118 condemns all who employ others to work on Sundays. BOC 4.110 The Heidelberg Catechism -- Question and answer #110 forbid deceptive advertising and merchandising, exorbitant interest, all greed and the misuse and waste of God's gifts. BOC 7.249 The Westminster Larger Catechism -- Question and answer #139. Among the "sins" that would require confession are all unclean imaginations, thoughts, purposes, and affections, immodest apparel, undue delay of marriage, idleness, gluttony and drunkenness. BOC 5.191 The Second Helvetic Confession. It is forbidden that women should perform baptisms or other ecclesiastical functions. 7. There were 236 commissioners at the 208th General Assembly who voted that this was a bad overture and that it should be defeated. While 313 commissioners voted for the overture, there was by no means a consensus (57% to 43%) that it should be affirmed. 8. If this overture were approved, it would be incumbent upon every session and every presbytery to examine each candidate for ordination and/or installation as to whether he/she had ever committed any of the "sins" identified in the *Book of Confessions* and if so, whether or not he/she had confessed these "sins." If this careful examination of each candidate were not done, the governing body would be guilty of selectively deciding to apply this proposed rule to certain individuals only. 9. This proposed amendment would open the church to the possibility of self-righteous hypocrisy, as those "without sin" would sit in judgment upon those who confess that they have "sinned." 10. This proposed amendment would establish a two-tiered morality in our church. One could become a member in good standing without acknowledging and confessing these "sins," but officers would be required to measure up to this different standard. 11. While Jesus referred to certain behavior as contrary to God's purposes (e.g. divorce), he never identified homosexual relationships as wrong. His emphasis was always upon receiving the good news of the gospel and upon responding in faithfulness and love to the Reign of God. 12. Our ultimate obedience must always be to our risen Lord Jesus Christ, as his Spirit enables us to discern his will in the light of the Scriptures. 13. The Bible, properly understood in its historical context, cannot be used to argue that long-term, committed relationships between people of the same sex are contrary to God's will. Thirty professors of Bible in Presbyterian seminaries have signed a letter which states: "It is the gospel of Jesus that invites gay and lesbian brothers and sister to full communion in the church; and it is the justice of Jesus that calls and equips Christians for ministry; and it is the justice of Jesus that calls us to insure that those who are invited, called and equipped are free to fulfill their ministries among us with the full recognition and support of the church." 14. The passage of this overture would bring much confusion and pain into the life of our churches and presbyteries. It will be far better to defeat the overture, and leave the decision, in each case, to the session or presbytery who knows the candidate and who will prayerfully seek the leading of God's Spirit. NOTE: There has been no attempt to prioritize these reasons. Some are, without doubt, more essential than others. But each stands in its own right. I am not particularly interested in trying to defend them, but I would be willing to respond if a someone has difficulty in understanding what I have tried to state very briefly. I would be interested to learn if someone believes I have failed to mention an important reason for defeating the proposed overture. -- Robert Lehman, Marcellus, NY, October 1996; PresbyNet: ROBERT LEHMAN; internet: robert_lehman.parti@ecunet.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NOT IN PRINTED VERSION And What About the "Sin" of Worldly Political Ways? [What follows is a quotation of material handed out by "the Presbyterian Coalition" recently, on how to strategize affirmation of the Chastity Amendment. Capitalized words are in the original. We took this, with thanks from the *Semper Reformanda (Always Being Reformed) Newsletter, Autumn 1996, p. 6- 7. -- JDA] The "Too-Close-to-Call Presbytery" The dynamics which tend to defeat the biblical / evangelical / moderate / traditional position 1. Confusion and complexity. 2. Lengthy discussion / study focused on psychology / sociology / culture / personal experience. 3. Private opinion / stories of human pain and suffering and pastoral needs. 4. Controlled environment for amendment consideration, such as discussion one day and vote on another. 5. Experts and outsiders. 6. Unclear timing for final casting of the ballot / undue delays beyond reason (as our people must often get back to work or drive the longer distances). 7. Pressure tactics from power persons (executives / moderators / professors / counselors / eloquent speakers). 8. Multiple parliamentary procedures. 9. Rulings that the body votes on committee recommendations instead of GA proposal. 10. Heavy attendance by specialized clergy. The dynamics which tend to sustain a biblical / evangelical / moderate / traditional position 1. Long lead time, fully understood and publicized to all, about date / place / time of vote, an "order of the day" at the optimum time for your presbytery. 2. Heavy attendance by lay elders from all the churches, especially the very large, the racial-ethnic, and the very small. 3. Heavy attendance by retired ministers. 4. Leadership well planned by a presbytery team committed to presenting the best case in a compassionate and moderate tone with GENTLE LANGUAGE. 5. Biblical exposition that is faithful, gentle, humble, and seeks obedience that begins with the speaker, not using scripture as a rod to punish opponents. 6. Debate that is evenly divided between proponents and opponents and which allows such to form teams for their best debate. (Note: Two-minute speeches probably are the worst form of debate and seldom allow a governing body to make its best decisions.) 7. We do best when we speak as pastors and with our hearts as well as with our heads. We must watch our language and reject any legalisms and judgmentalism from ourselves. 8. We must speak so that laity can best understand and see our care for all God's people. 9. WRITTEN BALLOTS always help provide a more honest reading of the true heart of a governing body. (Note: this should be negotiated ahead of time and not prove to be a point of bickering on the day of decision. 10. We should seek to insist that all speakers be members of presbytery, that there be a careful accounting of those who can vote, so that only authorized commissioners may vote. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * SPECIAL SECTION Markings of Light Writings of Our Movement in the Presbyterian Church Part One -- The Early Years, 1974-1978 Introduced and Collected by Chris Glaser ================================================================= Chris Glaser, M.Div., is the author of four books: *Uncommon Calling*, *Come Home!* (to be reprinted by Chi Rho Press), *Coming Out to God*, and *The Word Is Out*. He is available as a speaker, preacher, and workshop and retreat leader. You may contact him at: 991 Berne Street SE, Atlanta, GA 30316-1859; Phone / FAX 404/622-4222. ================================================================= We are at a point in our history when one goal we've worked for can be withheld by the vote of one general assembly plus half the presbyteries. The constitutional amendment narrowly approved by the Albuquerque assembly limiting ordination to those who "live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman or chastity in singleness" would effectively prohibit our ordination as deacons, elders, and ministers. "How do you stay in the church?" I've addressed that question in several ways privately and publicly, in speech and in writing. This special section of the *More Light Update* is yet another response. In it are the words of the "clouds of witnesses" that have gone before us, those whose foreordained place in our history stay us, center us, root us in a church that flails at us but fails to topple us. For we are growing in the light of God! What follows are short, thoughtful excerpts from the early newsletters distributed to the network now known as Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns. I have included excerpts that are historical only as needed to set the context for the insights presented. Many of these excerpts were reprinted from other publications, which are properly credited. For the most part, I have presented the quotations based on the chronology of the newsletters, though they may be dated earlier. The early newsletters were edited by David Sindt, then by an anonymous editor. I served as editor of *More Light*, which began with Newsletter 23 (Oct. 1, 1977). I call this small volume *Markings of Light* because, before I accepted my sexuality and before I knew of *his* homosexuality, I felt a profound spiritual connection with the writings of Dag Hammarskjold, published posthumously under the title *Markings*. This world citizen, servant, and martyr gave the world one more gift: his diary "concerning my negotiations with myself -- and with God." *Markings of Light* is our own diary concerning our negotiations with ourselves, with God, and with the church. As such, it may offer inspiration to us in the difficult challenges of this year and courage to those who follow in this and other movements of the Spirit. Early on, I realized that my original intention to present "markings" from all of our past twenty-three years of newsletters was unrealistic. There is room here only for the first several years. Subsequent volumes will take up where this one leaves off. So stay tuned. * * * *"Thine ..." A sacrifice -- and a liberation -- to obey a will for which "I" is in no respect a goal! "Destined ..." A reward -- or a price -- to be committed to a task in comparison with which nothing I could seek for myself is of any value.* -- Dag Hammarskjold, 1955 Dedication San Gabriel Presbytery gave us the infamous Overture 96- 13 that, modified by the 208th General Assembly, became the proposed amendment to the *Book of Order* that must be defeated this year by a majority of the presbyteries. Out of that same presbytery comes Katie Morrison. Katie, whose personal story may be found on the pages of *Called Out*, had been selected to serve as a TSAD (theological school advisory delegate) to this assembly by her classmates at San Francisco Theological Seminary. But San Gabriel Presbytery refused to confirm her after our opposition there libeled her and our supporters failed to speak up for her -- except for Katie's own mother. I've witnessed Katie in several circumstances and always admired her faith, her tenacity, her courage, her humor, and her effervescent optimism. At this assembly, though, it was clear that San Gabriel's shameful abuse had knocked the wind out of her sails. She nonetheless made outstanding contributions to our presence in Albuquerque, from addressing YAD's (youth advisory delegates) to offering her reflections on hope in PLGC's service of lamentation after the assembly's action. Our movement like most is carried and led by future generations, young leaders like Katie. That's why I dedicate *Markings of Light* to the glory of God in thanksgiving for Kathleen (Katie) Morrison. May this serve to encourage her -- maybe to stay within the Presbyterian Church, maybe to follow the Spirit's lead out of our denomination -- but to continue in her faith that good will triumph and to fulfill her calling to make it so. Thanks, Katie, for giving me the same encouragement. -- *Chris Glaser, Atlanta, Georgia* Winter of 1974 -- Newsletter #1 Dear Sisters and Brothers, I am inviting you to participate in a caucus within the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. designed to raise the consciousness of our denomination on issues related to Gay people (homosexuals). Our denomination's only relevant utterance, that received by the 182nd General Assembly (1970), declares contradictorily that Gay people are both sinful and sick because of our homosexuality. ... I suggest that we focus our initial efforts nationally on a "ministry of presence" at the 186th General Assembly in Louisville, Kentucky, June 17 to 26, 1974. ... Our goal is to work for change **within** the denomination, not to attack it, from either within or without. ... -- *In peace and love, The Rev. David Bailey Sindt* June 7, 1974 -- Newsletter #2 ... We are changing our name from Gay United Presbyterians to Presbyterian Gay Caucus. It was suggested, and I agree, that the latter has a more political ring to it and tends to label participants somewhat less then the former. Also, the term "United Presbyterian" isn't accurate -- we have members in both UPCUSA and PCUS -- and it is doubtful that the word "United" will be in the name of the proposed merger denomination. -- *David Sindt* July 18, 1974 -- Newsletter #3 PGC had three meetings during the Louisville General Assemblies [UPCUSA and PCUS]. ... A considerable amount of discussion went into the formulation of a statement of purpose. ... I was able to ask a question at [a "Meet the Candidates" for Moderator] meeting. "Would you vote to approve the ordination of an otherwise well-qualified candidate for the ministry who affirms that she or he is Gay?" Three candidates answered yes; the other four gave either equivocal or negative answers. [Among] those who said "yes" [was] Bob Lamar of Albany, N.Y., who was later elected Moderator on the second ballot .... -- *David Sindt* November 10, 1974 -- Newsletter #4 From "Statement of Purpose": The Presbyterian Gay Caucus models its ministry after the example of Christ, "to proclaim release to the captives, to set at liberty those who are oppressed." ... The Presbyterian Gay Caucus declares that the church has failed "to lead men and women into the full meaning of life together" in its failure to recognize the appropriateness of this meaning for women and men in both homosexual and heterosexual relationships. We declare that the church has "withheld the compassion of Christ from those caught in the moral confusion of our time" in its practice of ignoring, excluding, patronizing, and otherwise oppressing gay women and men. The church even leads the forces of society which teach gay women and men to hate themselves, which teach all persons to fear and deny that in them which is homosexual. We point out that the Confession of 1967 declares that when the church so behaves it "comes under the judgment of God and invites rejection by man." [All quotes from the Confession of 1967.] July 7, 1975 -- Newsletter #7 Quotes from *General Assembly Daily News* article by John M. Mulder: United Presbyterians Saturday voted not to recognize the Presbyterian Gay Caucus as an unofficial organization of Presbyterians related to the church through Chapter 28 of the church's constitution. The action came after two hours of intense, spirited debate at the 187th General Assembly (1975) of the United Presbyterian Church [in Cincinnati]. ... Another commissioner, who did not identify himself, said that if the General Assembly approved recognition of the Presbyterian Gay Caucus, Cincinnati, which is know as the Queen City, "will be known as a real city of queens!" One commissioner immediately responded, "I really object to that kind of language in the General Assembly," and the Assembly applauded vigorously. September 15, 1975 -- Newsletter #8 [Speaking of gay caucuses in many denominations:] Most important of all, however, is the strength and support we have all found in communicating with our sisters and brothers across the country, in knowing we are not alone, that we are a part of the family of Christ. We recognize that we don't have to ask for acceptance -- we already have that from Christ -- our task is to open the church to our contributions, to teach the church what it means to affirm its traditions of love, openness, and liberation rather than those of exclusiveness, bigotry, and oppression. -- *David Sindt* December 20, 1975 -- Newsletter #9 From an article in the December 15, 1975 issue of *Monday Morning*: "Definitive guidance" on whether an avowed homosexual should be ordained to the Gospel ministry will be sought from the General Assembly. An overture asking for guidance has been approved by New York City Presbytery. It requests the 188th General Assembly (1976) to appoint a special committee to study the issue and report its findings to the 189th General Assembly in 1977. January 17, 1976 -- Newsletter #10 From "A Pseudonym is Necessary": Listening to the 187th General Assembly (1975) debate the recognition of the Gay Caucus as a Chapter 28 organization ... [on] May 17, 1975, was a painful day for me and many others who sat in the convention center at Cincinnati, for our church had chosen to say that somehow we were less acceptable than others who call themselves Christians. There is no way for me to relate to you how devastating it is to have the very church which taught and challenged me to see my ministry as loving, reconciling, and liberating *all* persons by its actions deny to me and to at least 10 percent of our church membership the reality of that love, reconciliation, and liberation. As I reflect on the support, care, and concern which I experience from my gay brothers and sisters in the UPCUSA and in the society as a whole, I truly believe that the UPCUSA might look to the gay community as a real model of the message of love which it, the church, has attempted to express. I heard words like "evil," "sinful," "handicapped," "unacceptable," and "unfulfilled" used to describe us (gay persons), but I wonder whether those words don't better describe those who uttered them. -- *Jane Lake, a pseudonym for a closeted lesbian pastor, published in the August, 1975 issue of **Monday Morning** From "The Point Is ...": My sympathies, theologically, lie with Jane Lake and those who feel that the writers of biblical times are not to be taken as authorities in regard to such matters as homosexuality any more than we taken them as experts on astronomy or demonology. ... Would we also agree with [the apostle Paul] that demons cause most illnesses and that women ought not to instruct men in church or wear short hair since their genetic forerunner, Eve, was first deceived? -- *Rev. Kenneth E. Grant, published in the Nov. 3, 1975, issue of **Monday Morning** From "A Note on Romans 1:18-32": Something's missing. Kenneth Grant approached it when he said that previous responses "failed to come to grips with the problems which Jane Lake poses for the church." More accurately, though, isn't it true that each response has failed to face up to a problem the First Century Church poses for the Twentieth Century Church? ... Paul's focus, here and in the other citations, is upon the idolatries of the First Century sexual cults; idolatries characterized by *pleonexia kakia*, with its ruthless, aggressive, self-assertive mind-set and life-style. This is why (in 2:1) he is able to condemn ruthless, aggressive, self-assertive judgmentalism as equivalent to idolatry and idolatrous behavior. To be harshly judgmental is equivalent behavior to ritual fornication, in that it twists life around into the nonchristian behavior forms that Paul has already listed (29b-31). Seen in this light, Paul's teaching is very much "at home" with the words of Jesus recorded in Mt. 5:27- 28 and 7:1-5. ... ... Any behavior (sexual or otherwise) which is ruthless, aggressive and self-assertive (in response to a freely-chosen cultic belief) qualifies as idolatry. Yet are these the attitudes, is this the mindset revealed in the temperate words, in the appeal for Christian love, written by "Jane Lake"? The answers seem self-evident: of course not. It is useful, therefore, to consider two truths. Judgmentalism, no matter how well-intentioned and sincere, runs the eternal risk of being equivalent to idolatry itself. And, Paul's words to his First Century fellow Christians just won't translate into the kind of Twentieth Century application we have conventionally, uncritically, adopted. -- *Rev. Kenneth W. Hamstra, Chaplain, U.S. Air Force, published in the Jan. 12, 1976 issue of **Monday Morning** February 21, 1976 -- Newsletter #11 From "Nobody's Listening": So that's the first thing I want to plead for: that we speak to each other, and not to "issues" or "questions," and that we deal with human beings and not with "problems." The only question or problem I'm willing to admit really exists is this one: How -- not whether -- but how Presbyterian Christians and gay Christians are going to work out a common and joyous obedience to one gospel in the communion of the saints. If we do anything else or anything less, I'm convinced the God of us all will be provoked to deal with his/her squabbling children as directly and painfully as any earthly parent would. -- *Rev. Gilbert H. Lincoln, published in the Feb. 9, 1976 issue of **Monday Morning** April 15, 1976 -- Newsletter #12 From "Two Ways of Reading Scripture on Homosexuality": ... Let us call the position of [our opposition] the *argument from strict condemnation*. The argument is a single premise: "If the condemnations of scripture are clear," then the single conclusion follows: "The guidance of scripture is sufficient." Is this false? There are two ways of showing that this proposition is false, and that the argument from strict condemnation fails. The first way is to show that the premise is false (for, from a false premise, a true conclusion cannot follow) by demonstrating that the condemnations of scripture are *not* clear. The second way is to show that the *logic* of the argument is invalid, and that, even if the condemnations of scripture *are* clear, it still does not follow that the guidance of scripture is sufficient. The first way of dealing with scripture is the most common. My own position is that the first way will ultimately not hold the line of defense against a thorough-going homophobia, and that only the second will work, both as an argument and as an expression of Christian faith. ... The logic of the second way, then, goes like this: "Yes, scripture is clear in its condemnations. But, so what? It does not follow that the guidance of scripture is sufficient. For this would be the case if and only if the guidance of scripture consisted solely in its condemnations. ... This argument, then, insists on a broad grasp of the Christian faith, and drives us to inquire about the conditions under which scripture *does* give sufficient guidance on matters of faith and practice. We find in scripture sufficient guidance in matters of faith and practice only when we consider matters of faith and practice *in light of the full witness of scripture*. ... It witnesses not just to the one theme of sin, but also to the themes of grace, salvation, repentance, love, forgiveness, faith, hope, and community, to name a few. ... It is here that the argument from strict condemnation fails. For while it is true that condemnations are clear, clarity here tells us nothing about the way homosexuals, once condemned, also experience grace, salvation, repentance, love, forgiveness, faith, hope, and community. ... [Our opposition has] proposed that homosexuals could repent and enter the kingdom if they stopped being homosexual, and became heterosexuals. But that could scarcely be called anything but wishful thinking .... Our proper allegiance here is not to isolated passages of scripture, but to its major themes, because our fundamental allegiance is to Jesus the Christ. The final move in the argument, of course, is to say that homosexuality is not a sin, which is a distortion of creation, but a structure of creation, which sin can distort. Then the homosexual can be a sinner in precisely the same way that heterosexuals are sinners, and the biblical view of sin can be retained. For as long as homosexuality is a sin, then it is, conveniently enough, one sin which heterosexuals are constitutionally incapable of committing. ... -- *David Hare (a pseudonym)* May 1, 1976 -- Newsletter #13 Excerpts from "Religious Strategies" in the newsletter of the National Gay Task Force: ... Following the black civil rights movement which received significant support from religious groups, gays presented themselves and said, "We are human, too, and we demand our rights as citizens." Church boards and bodies pass such statements but without a great deal of enthusiasm. Somehow the issue remains peripheral. Gays are perceived as just one more group banging on the door demanding attention and upsetting things. Another tactic to be used puts gays in a different perspective. It is not just homosexuality but sexuality that is anathema in churches. It is only recently that storks went out of fashion, and sex education in the public schools is still considered to be daring. ... Abortion and birth control aren't issues; they're symptoms of sexual avoidance. One of the reasons people seem to be disenchanted with religion is in its apparent separation from central life issues of which sexuality is certainly one. Church leaders do recognize this and see the sexual revolution not as a sign of the end but as an opportunity for renewal. In this context gays are not badgering outsiders but are instead implementors of change and renewal from within. Gays not only benefit from ending sex-role stereotyping and sexism, but are, as well, natural allies of feminists and others seeking the same ends. -- *Robert Herrick* October 22, 1976 -- Newsletter #16 [Presented out of sequence here because of its relevance to the Assembly statement that follows.] "Letter of Testimony to 188th General Assembly": ... Why should we not be able to deal with this issue with the same forthrightness we often use with other issues? I have begun to wonder how many of us have a precarious sexual identity and how many others have a precarious family situation. This may well play an enormous if unacknowledged part in our deliberations. If many of us are working with some unsettling personal problems, the thought that some people live fruitful and fulfilling lives on a very different basis (at least in the area of sexuality) than we may be taken as an attack on what we have struggled so hard to achieve. ... The Bible stands as a question to all our answers as well as an answer to our most profound questions. Our puritan forebears thought that God "hath more light yet to break out of His Holy Word." -- *Thomas D. Parker, Ph.D., professor of theology at McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago* June 15, 1976 -- Newsletter #14 Because God continues to reveal more of himself and his will in each succeeding age, we do not believe that a position taken in any one period sets forth the final understanding of his Word to the Church. We know that there is always more light to break forth from the Bible through the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, "I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth" (John 16:12-13). -- *188th General Assembly of the UPCUSA (1976) in setting up a task force to study homosexuality* September 15, 1976 -- Newsletter #15 For years I had identified with those persons and groups generally labeled as "different" and so treated as pariahs/foreigners/outsiders. And I also considered them "different" from me, but always felt a kinship, could empathize with, and resonate to their experiences, and often served as their advocate. Yes, I kept in touch with "me" by keeping in touch with "them," and was mightily outraged by those of the larger society who denigrated my "different" brothers and sisters. Little did I suspect, other than in an abstract way, that "they" and "I" were so bound together, and that to deny them meant to deny myself. Whenever the "I" of egoism triumphed over the "I and they of 'we,'" I found it became very easy to buy into the system which thrives on stereotyping and myths which lock out ... those identified by the general population as "outsiders." ... I too can be treated, or ignored in the same way. -- *Joan Schneider Abrams* October 22, 1976 -- Newsletter #16 As we know, the 188th General Assembly (1976) called for the study of homosexuality. Dr. Thelma C.D. Adair, Moderator of the 188th General Assembly (1976) and Ms. Jeanne C. Marshall, Chairperson of the Advisory Council of Church and Society, announced the 19 members of the "task force on A Study of Homosexuality." The Chairperson was selected as Ms. Virginia Davidson, to whom most of us need no introduction and can be remembered for being vice moderator of the 186th General Assembly (1974). Representing the PGC is Chris Glaser of New Haven, Connecticut. [This was corrected in the following newsletter, since PGC was not officially represented on the task force.] Excerpt in our newsletter from *Frying Pan*, a satirical periodical distributed at the assembly and edited by Rev. John Fry: The biggest issue facing the assembly is how to live on the per diem. Everybody readily acknowledges that. The next to biggest issue is the Holy Bible, masquerading this year as the homosexuality issue. Homosexuality itself is not an issue. United Presbyterians haven't tried it, or if they have, prefer something else or prefer not to mention it. What homosexuality is, whether or not it is any good, has not been discussed, or hardly at all. Here is what has been discussed: how not to discuss it. -- *John Fry* January 22, 1977 -- Newsletter #18 Excerpts from "To the Pulpit or the Pillory?": The rest of us -- be we divorced persons, adulterers, plain sexual abstainers, those incapable of sexual intimacy, or stumblers and bumblers in the business of monogamous heterosexuality -- all have been spared the agony of having our personal life styles brought under ecclesiastical scrutiny in terms of how our practice affects our qualifications for ordination. Not so the homosexuals. A church adroit at avoiding sexual self-understanding, one which has practiced well-advised decorousness regarding life style questions in relation to ordination in the past, now girds its loins to pass judgment on homosexuals as a class. On those who have dared honesty in acknowledging the life style most threatening in this patriarchal and homophobic culture -- on those trusting souls, numerous in society but isolated in the church -- on them, all the unspeakable fear and confusion of a Christian community inexperienced in and unknowledgable about issues of human sexuality bodes fair to fall. Those who risk such honesty contend they do it for the good of the church -- for its liberation. Pray God they know how long that liberation may take. ... The bibliolatrists among us understand better than do Christian liberals and radicals what is at stake in this discussion. A last chance effort to drive the United Presbyterian Church back into a posture of precritical biblicist reactionism is being waged. They know that fearful people who would not admit to willingness to silence women in the church or to reinstate slavery (St. Paul notwithstanding) will perpetuate condemnation of homosexuality on the grounds that scripture requires it. The gleaming eyes and sweaty brows of the opponents of ordination for homosexuals bespeak not only their anxiety in discussing sex publicly, but also their eager sensing of the fears that seize all of us when the issue of homosexuality comes up. No better occasion for beating back the forces of liberation has appeared in a very long time. In San Francisco Presbytery we heard a self-defined "Conservative" say it loud and clear: "Support the ordination of homosexuals and your pews will be empty!" So much for fidelity to scripture. It is surprising that crassest arguments of the consumer society -- Christianity as a saleable commodity -- were invoked. The conditions for stampeding the church through manipulative psychological blackmail come to full fruition on this matter -- and such blackmail is being used in the debate. ... -- *Beverly Wildung Harrison and James Harrison, reprinted from *Network News* of the Witherspoon Society* June 15, 1977 -- Newsletter #20 Excerpt from "The Church and Homosexuality: A Preliminary Study" distributed for discussion at the Nashville G.A. (1977) of the PCUS: ... Since homosexuality itself is such a complex phenomenon and since every homosexual person is a unique human being, it may be that no one theoretical position could be formulated which would be adequate to deal with every form of homosexuality and every homosexual person. All serious Christians will be compelled to reject one or another of these positions. But in view of the complexity of the issue, the disagreement among Christians and the variety in the character and experience of homosexual persons themselves, it seems unwise at this time to propose any one position as *the* position of our church. [These previously described positions] do not solve the problem but they should help individual Christians, church sessions and presbyteries make their decisions with more understanding, compassion and responsibility as the they deal with particular homosexual persons in concrete situations. -- *Council on Theology and Culture, PCUS* September 1, 1977 -- Newsletter #22 Slowly, very slowly, I came to a realization -- and it was a simple enough one -- that God loves me. God loves me! Me! And if God loves me, I think he has to love me completely, as I am. Now from my earliest and most primary experiences, I knew that there were homosexual feelings. I was trying to get rid of them, I was trying not to feel them, but all of my trying seemed to have nothing to do with it. They were there, apart from my trying, apart from my thinking, apart certainly from any expression, because they had no expression. But God loves me. And if God loves me he must love me with those homosexual feelings, because they were there -- they were there from the beginning. If God loves me, than I can love me. And I do love me. And I slowly began to realize what that meant in my life. I was reborn. I was totally transformed. ... Now I must ask at this point what is this question of repentance about? I repented once of my self-hatred and of dishonest relationships and of frustrating relationships. Yet now I hear people say to me, "Repent again." Are they seriously asking me to repent of a love relationship? What would they have me do: go home from this conference and tell my lover that our relationship is over ...? ... I can't help but think that this question of repentance really ought to be phrased another way ...: "Why don't you want to change? Why don't you want to change and become like me? Why don't you want to change and become heterosexual the way I'm heterosexual? Why don't you want to hold up this heterosexual standard the way I hold it up?" What you are holding up, your heterosexuality, is a part of yourself. But if you hold it up as a standard for everyone, if you hold it up as a perfect, ideal standard, even for yourself, I believe it becomes idolatry. And I believe that those who say that heterosexuality is the only way to live have ceased to worship a God who gave them heterosexuality and are worshiping the gift of heterosexuality itself. And are worshiping the nuclear family which seems to flow out of that heterosexuality. And I believe that that is a sin. -- *Bill Silver, testifying to the Task Force to Study Homosexuality, Philadelphia, July 24, 1977* October 1, 1977 -- More Light #23 No matter how many people come out, no matter how many presbyteries and congregations study, our church may not be ready this May to approve ordaining gay people. It may never be ready to do so. But God does not promise us the Kingdom will ever be here in final form, only that it is *coming*. The Kingdom of God does indeed come into the life of every homosexual person who accepts their sexuality as a gift from God and begins to express it in love. It comes into the life of every parent of a gay person when they realize their daughter or son is also a "normal" part of creation. It comes into the life of every congregation when they realize the gay members in their midst also belong to the Body of Christ, and have great talents and abilities to share. The Kingdom of God will come to the whole church when we realize that, though we are very different, we are one in Christ, and receive equally God's love and grace. "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest" (Mt. 9:37-38). -- *Bill Silver* From "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Presbyterians -- but were afraid to ask": Q: Can you always tell a Presbyterian by his white belt, white shoes, and doubleknit casual suit? A: Like any stereotype, there is some truth in this description of certain male Presbyterians (and we must remember Presbyterianism is both a male and a female phenomenon). ... Yet we cannot assume everyone so dressed is in fact Presbyterian or has Presbyterian tendencies. ... Q: Is it true Presbyterians become that way because of bad experiences with other denominations? A: That is true for many, but others grow up quite "naturally" Presbyterian. Q: Will Presbyterian parents so influence their children that they, too, turn out Presbyterian? What about Presbyterian teachers? A: Parents have a greater influence than teachers in role- modeling and particularly in this area since teachers generally do not teach religious preference in their classrooms. Presbyterian parents, however, have been known to raise quite normal Methodists, Roman Catholics, and atheists, to name a few alternatives. Q: What is "predestination" in the Presbyterian Church? A: Some Presbyterians are predestined to be judicious, proper, and heterosexual; the rest are damned. Q: What is "double predestination"? A: Being damned if you do and damned if you don't. Closeted gays are damned for living lives of deception; open gays are damned for their "avowal." The gay community is damned for not being Christian; gay Christians are damned for wanting to remain or become Presbyterians. -- *Chris Glaser* Let me begin with a story about a politician during the Landon-Roosevelt campaign who took a cab from a railroad station. When they stopped for a red light the driver turned and said, "My grandfather and my father are straight-line Republicans." "Good," replied the politician, "I suppose you will vote for Landon." "No," came the reply, "There comes a time when one must push aside his principles and do the right thing." In a real sense, some three and a half years ago, I pushed aside the principle of keeping silent, of pretending to be heterosexual, of living a lie, and I began to do the right thing. I was gay. I had finally come to terms with that, and I would live my life as the gay person I was. ... ... Some ten years ago I began a theological journey. I took much of what the so-called "no-God theologians" were saying seriously, simply because the traditional God of Calvin and Augustine was not the God one meets in the Bible or in one's experience. This also took me into some new ideas and thoughts about Jesus, and from these adventures came some answers to my situation. One of the answers was that whatever the writers of the New Testament were saying about Jesus, they were talking about the Christian's life. ... One of the most important models is Gethsemane, Good Friday, and Easter. In the garden Jesus pleads with Yahweh to let the cup pass. After all, he had done everything Yahweh requested, and death was not a proper reward. To his pleadings there was no answer. Even on the cross there is only silence, only "Into thy hands I commend my spirit." Jesus never knew anything about Easter. His death was the end. So with myself. Not until I had died to the idea that I was heterosexual, or bisexual, and accepted my homosexuality, did I begin to come alive in a whole new sense. But only as I began to share this with the members of the congregation [that I served as pastor] did this new kind of life come forth. Finally, some peace within -- with myself, with God, with others -- began to take place and I was freed in a way I had not known before. -- *Howard Hannon, testifying to the Task Force to Study Homosexuality, San Francisco, May, 1977* November 1, 1977 -- More Light #24 Sometimes I think that our worst opponents are just people guilt-ridden about sex (hetero) and shedding their self-hate in a transfer process against us. In a past generation, "gay" was a funny term that really reflected the superficial shell on a hurt soul that had a sort of hedonistic abandon after losing contact with family, friends, or a former society because of his/her sexual orientation. Now I know some new definitions, for a gay Christian is probably so happy to have a completely honest relationship with Christ that he/she is gay, happy, carefree, or guilt- free, all rolled up in one. Maybe the straight person could learn something from that experience. -- *Name Withheld* From "All the Way Out": I am a homosexual. It took me 32 years to write that sentence. Until the gay rights referendum in Dade County, Florida, I had been content to remain comfortably closeted. By living in Manhattan, working in the theater, and choosing friends for whom my sexuality is not an issue, I thought I had insulated myself from the cutting edge of my particular vulnerability. Anita Bryant shook me out of my cozy West Side cocoon. ... We gays have an untested political weapon: ourselves. Emptying millions of closets is what the gay movement should be about. Our rights will not become a reality until the heterosexual majority supports them. Most heterosexuals now oppose such laws only because of cultural conditioning and the absence of any positive contact with acknowledged homosexuals. The simplest way to provide these liberating contacts and change majority opinion is for gay people to share their lives with those who care the most about them. It takes little effort for "straights" to put down "queers," but how will they feel about the hidden "normals" they already know and respect? ... Remember, no one can do this work for us. Celebrities can't make your parents re-think their opinions. A gay football star is not as important to my aunts and uncles as I am. What might be the results of such nationwide truth- telling? I believe the family and friends of acknowledged gays would be far less likely to vote with Anita and the Genesis-thumpers. ... Even more dramatic might be the effect on the lives of gay people themselves. ... Real communication could begin between those too long separated by barriers of fear. I can affirm these things because within the past months I have practiced what I am now preaching. I told my parents I am gay. I testified before the Task Force on Homosexuality of the United Presbyterian Church and had the text of my statement inserted in the newsletter of my local congregation. And I wrote this article. Each experience terrified me. Each has strengthened me. I've never felt better about being who I am. -- *Jim Comer* February 1, 1978 -- More Light #27 Today, seeing the testimony of the Spirit in the lives of many self-affirming, practicing homosexual persons, we are led to believe that God has cleansed and proclaimed clean their devoted hearts and has granted to them within their homosexual condition both repentance unto life and the resources to develop a lifestyle of self-giving love. In the face of such testimony, we, like Peter long ago in a different context, can no longer stand firm in self-satisfied judgment of such homosexual lives but can only say, "Who are we that we can withstand God?" ... May a session admit a self-affirming, practicing homosexual person to church membership? We believe so, if the person is able to give honest affirmation to the vows required for membership in the church. ... Just as God may choose to empower a person with the Spirit within the framework of a socially determined "Gentile condition," so God may choose to empower a person with the Spirit within the framework of a socially determined homosexual condition. Churches must remain open to this possibility. ... May a self-affirming, practicing homosexual Christian be ordained? We believe so, if the person manifests such gifts as are required for ordination. For some homosexual Christians growth toward mature Christian living may imply accepting celibacy; for some it may imply accomplishing reorientation to heterosexuality; however, for others it may imply remaining open to or attaining full companionship and partnership with a person of the same sex. ... Spiritual maturity or the absence thereof is an attribute pertaining not to any *class* of people but only to *individual* persons. Thus, it must be distinctively identified and separately evaluated in each individual candidate for ordination as the church, led by the Spirit and guided by God's Word, seeks to discern and verify that particular candidate's gifts for ministry. -- *The Majority Report of the United Presbyterian Task Force to Study Homosexuality* March, 1978 -- More Light #28 The battle that looms before the church has become much larger than the original question of ordaining three or four homosexual candidates. We are really back to the hermeneutical question of 1928, better known as "the Machen controversy." That issue, which many of us thought we had put to rest with the Confession of 1967, has to do with the interpretation of scripture. There are still many within the United Presbyterian Church who argue for a more literal interpretation of the Bible. ... The problem with that hermeneutic, of course, is that it is always selective. I know of no United Presbyterian congregation, no matter how literally it purports to interpret the Bible, that denies women the right to speak in church, as St. Paul suggests. But those who are very conservative in their hermeneutic have found much more support in the church than they ordinarily would ... because the issue this time is the emotion-ladened one of homosexuality. ... Many who argue that homosexuals are sinners fail to realize that all of us are sinners. ... Those who say "let the homosexual repent first and then he can be a Christian" display a theology that is foreign to our Reformed tradition. ... In Reformed theology we affirm the doctrine of prevenient grace. What that means is that our very repentance is made possible by the grace of God. There is no room whatever for a *quid pro quo* ... for anyone to say, "I repented, so God must now grant me eternal life." ... Repentance itself is God's gift. So, too, is faith. "It is not the result of your own efforts," Paul says, "but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it." No one has to do anything but profess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord in order to be a part of the church. ... The blatant works-righteousness that underlies many of the arguments being heard these days is a serious threat to Christian faith. For it is often a subtle mask for a self- righteousness that believes that I am somehow less of a sinner than you. ... Jesus said, "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners" ... "outcasts" in the Good News translation. If there is anything that threatens the future of the church it is the loss of an adequate theology of grace. For unless you and I feel totally dependent upon God for whatever faith, whatever measure of righteousness we might possess, and unless we are sincerely contrite about our own continuing ways of offending God, then there is little to sustain our worship and adoration. -- *Rev. Bob Rigstad, from a sermon delivered March 5, 1978, to First Presbyterian Church of Van Nuys, California* After the Advisory Council on Church and Society voted 12 to 3 to approve the Policy Statement of the majority of the Task Force to Study Homosexuality [at Krisheim, near] Philadelphia this past January, Matthew Welde, a leader of Presbyterians United for Biblical Concerns, came up to me and said, "Chris, though my group is going to launch a tremendous drive against this thing in the next few months, I don't want you to take it personally." I responded, "*Matthew*, of *course* I'm going to take it personally. Any drive to keep me out of the church affects me personally." "Ah, c'mon," Welde implored, "I hoped we'd be able to elevate this thing to a higher plane." Astounded, I replied, "The personal dimension *is* the higher plane! Jesus dealt with people *personally*, not in abstract principles or in convenient categories." Only later did I remember the only people Jesus repeatedly criticized as a category were the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against others; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in," Jesus said in Mt 23:13-14. -- *Chris Glaser* May-June, 1978 -- More Light #30 God of Grace, ... May we see the vision of the Kingdom -- the vision which led Jesus to look beyond the religious councils of his day. May the Spirit enable us to look beyond this General Assembly, humbly remembering no General Assembly speaks fully of your truth or your future .... Amen. -- *Spoken in prayer by Chris Glaser at the 190th General Assembly after the floor debate and vote on the ordination of gay Christians* Just before the closing prayers, Margaret Stoltman asked the Assembly to permit the Rev. Dr. Paul Wright, moderator of the 1955 G.A., to speak. The Assembly did not want his wisdom and voted no, but the current moderator [William P. Lytle] tried to soften this rejection by inviting Wright to speak the following day. His message was filled with regret and hope, emphasizing the grace and love of God and the fallibility of humankind. He questioned the wisdom of shutting doors to keep out annoying drafts of uncertainty, when the winds of the spirit may have new things for us. The Assembly listened quietly, but quickly some members voiced their displeasure. David Dilworth moved a rebuttal to God's grace from the Rev. Louis Evans of Washington, D.C. After various motions and points of order, the Assembly got back to business, with only a point of personal privilege from Evans. -- *James D. Anderson* From "Beyond Morality to Grace": *Remarks by Rev. Dr. Paul S. Wright delivered to the floor of the San Diego General Assembly. First presented at the first annual Presbyterians for Gay Concerns G.A. Breakfast. [Not published in its entirety until Mar-Apr, 1979, More Light #35; presented out of sequence here.]* What I have learned through the course of my ministry is that when God leads us in liberty out of the land of bondage into a land of promise it is always by the way of a wilderness. And in this wilderness, unfortunately, or according to God's design, we have no cloud by day to guide us or pillar of fire by night to lead, but must blunder and feel our way along with no ultimate authority or word of clear command for us to obey; only to discern through travail of soul what the will of God is. If we learn anything from our discussions it is not that we always make a right decision or that we invariably do what God intends shall be done, but that we are given a chance to use the liberty He has made us to enjoy to grow into moral insight and strength by the right use of that liberty in love. ... ... I came to know [God] through all of these God- inspired living persons [in the Bible] and, as a living person, I communed with them to learn God's ways with me as He had communed with them. Is it presumption that at certain points I wanted to sift out God's Word from their particular points of view and ways of working in the historical situation in which they spoke? I came to feel that the Bible is not a book that gives us explicit directions in such clear and authoritative doctrines as that we may settle for that as being our guide and solution in every specific matter. ... ... In the Bible's history it is all of grace, and the final judgment is not that we are bad: The final judgment is that we refuse grace by being ungracious. God wills that in all our dealings with one another we manifest that which we have received from Him -- His very mind -- His very Spirit -- Himself. ... Honestly, if we are in grace we are nothing except for God. If we are in grace we have no righteousness of our own from which to do our judging. We leave that judgment with God who searches the heart. It is for Him to say whom He has called and whom He has not. What is left for us to do? What is left for us to do is keep the way open to the leading of God's Spirit. ... When there are those among us who declare that they have experienced this new birth in Christ and that for them old things have passed away and all things have become new, who are we to question the validity of their faith? Can we not trust God to lead them, rather than by some sort of pressure or legislation prod them into conformity with our convictions? My friends, if we draft rules heavy with finalities we shall freeze the will of God as interpreted by us here and for all of us everywhere, which of course we have not done. But if we think that's what we have done, we have slammed the door shut on the winds of the Spirit. It isn't comfortable to live in a draft, and it is much more cozy to shut the door with firm and clear mandates established than to shiver in the gusts and winds of the Spirit that blow where He wills. We want comfort and peace in certainties. He wants us to wrestle and think and suffer and through it all to mature in grace. We all hope that the resolutions at which we have arrived are such as to leave open the door to that future. We have gone a long, long way. We have said together that homosexuals may be born into the body of Christ through faith. We have said that we have seen in them the graces of the Spirit and such an honest confession of the same that we can receive them into our community of faith with trust and love. That is a long way that we have come. We are not closing the door to the future. If some of them have been ordained in the past and served God and brought us through their labors in Christ to grace, then we acknowledged that God has been there in the past, or otherwise we insult the Holy Spirit who has brought about that work. But if we close the door to the future are we not for conveniences of our own or comforts of our own opposing the movings of the Spirit to where God might lead us? -- *Rev. Dr. Paul S. Wright* From "Lord of the Dance," a sermon delivered to the West Hollywood Presbyterian Church, May 28, 1978: Several months ago at the ballet, I admired the skill of the dancers. I wished I could dance as well. It occurred to me that those ballet dancers dance *for* us -- for those of us who are not able, perhaps not allowed to dance. They dance well or they dance poorly. The audience and the reviewers will make judgments about how well they dance. But one poorly danced performance will not ruin the ballet itself. And one poor performance will not destroy our belief in dance. I began to think of General Assembly as a kind of ballet. I began to think of the commissioners to General Assembly as dancers who dance *for* us -- for those of us who are not able, perhaps not allowed to dance. They too dance well or they dance poorly. We, the audience, and church historians will make judgments about how well they danced at this General Assembly. But we must remember too that one poorly danced performance will not ruin the ballet itself. And one poor performance will not destroy our belief in the dance. However poorly the commissioners may have danced at this General Assembly, the dance goes on, the Church goes on, and God is still Lord of the Dance, as God is still Lord of the Church. Let us pray we might all become more inspired dancers. -- *Chris Glaser* July-August, 1978 -- More Light #31 From "Two Kinds of Righteousness," a sermon delivered in the year 1519: Consider the story in Luke 7 (verses 36-50), where Simon the leper, pretending to be in the form of God and perching on his own righteousness, was arrogantly judging and despising Mary Magdalene, seeing in her the form of a servant. But see how Christ immediately stripped him of that form of righteousness and then clothed him with the form of sin by saying: "You gave me no kiss .... You did not anoint my head." How great were the sins that Simon did not see! Nor did he think himself disfigured by such a loathsome form as he had. His good works are not at all remembered. Christ ignores the form of God in which Simon was superciliously pleasing himself; he does not recount that he was invited, dined, and honored by him. Simon the leper is now nothing but a sinner. He who seemed to himself so righteous sits divested of the glory of the form of God, humiliated in the form of a servant, willy-nilly. On the other hand, Christ honors Mary with the form of God and elevates her above Simon, saying: "She has anointed my feet and kissed them. She has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair." How great were the merits which neither she nor Simon saw. Her faults are remembered no more. Christ ignored the form of servitude in her whom he has exalted with the form of sovereignty. Mary is nothing but righteous, elevated into the glory of the form of God. -- *Martin Luther* From an Editorial in the July 24, 1978 *Presbyterian Outlook*: The San Diego resolution of the homosexuality issue was adequately and skillfully handled, but it is far from settled and remains to perplex and concern the church for a long time to come. Now we have an interpretation by the UPC stated clerk which declares that presbyteries are bound by the G.A.'s action. We have indicated clearly in previous columns that we agree with the conclusions of the Assembly. We do not agree with an interpretation which gives an Assembly a right to amend the constitution in such a way as to tell presbyteries what they must do in receiving and ordaining ministers. Think, for example, what the situation would be if the opposite action had been taken and the Assembly had declare that avowed, practicing homosexuals must be ordained. If it can do one it can do the other. It has been traditional policy and practice to leave the presbyteries free, with all the danger this might involve, though declarations might be made and counsel might be offered. Does no one remember what the Auburn Affirmation was all about? -- *Presbyterian Outlook* From "An Affirmation of Conscience" introduced on the floor of the 1978 General Assembly by Laura Jervis, minister commissioner: ... The statement adopted imposes a specific theological and scriptural interpretation upon our church. It declares that homosexual persons stand in a special situation of alienation from the grace of God by virtue of their sexual orientation and practice. A remnant of commissioners, and many of us assembled who are members of the church, must dissent. The principle of scriptural interpretation adopted in the statement on homosexuality violates our conscience. We view it to be a perversion of the gospel of Grace and a repudiation of our Reformed theological tradition. Our understanding of scripture leads us to deny that homosexual orientation and the responsible, loving expression thereof is sinful *per se*. The saving and healing Word, to which scripture testifies, has been sacrificed on the altar of legalism, divorced from Grace. ... As Jesus was made scapegoat, rejected because he threatened the power of the old order and those who sought justification under the law, so homosexual persons in our church are being asked to bear the burden of sin for our unrighteousness. The preoccupation with homosexual relationships in our church reflects our unwillingness to examine the confusions and distortions in all human relationships and sexuality -- exploitation, violence, domination, commercialization .... ... This Assembly has used gentle tones to condemn, and has invoked the rhetoric of love to exclude homosexual persons from institutional participation in a ministry already theirs. To those who have sought bread, we have offered a stone, nurturing dishonesty instead of truthfulness in the church. We have spoken no word of hope. We have asked, absurdly, the culture to be more gracious and free than we are willing to be ourselves. To speak this way compounds our church's complicity in oppression. ... -- *Commissioner Signatories: Rodney Martin, Eugene Callender, Laura Jervis, Samuel Appel, Ida Goodrich, and others who later signed. Statement prepared by: James Harrison, Beverly Harrison, Jude Michaels, Robert Davidson, Evelyn Davidson, Thomas Philipp, William Gibson, David Sindt, James Hughes, Sandy Brawders, Donald Caughey, Bobbi White.* From the rejected 1978 Annual Report of Presbyterians for Gay Concerns: We limit not the truth of God To our poor reach of mind, By notions of our day and sect, Crude, partial, and confined. No, let a new and better hope Within our hearts be stirred: The Lord hath yet more light and truth To break forth from his Word. -- *George Rawson, 1807-1889, based on the parting words of Pastor John Robinson to the Pilgrims, 1620* September-October, 1978 -- More Light #32 From "A Voice Crying in the Wilderness," an interview with Dr. Phyllis Hart [then] of Fuller Theological Seminary, interviewed by Chris Glaser: More Light: When you went to the Task Force to Study Homosexuality's San Francisco regional hearing, had you intended to testify as positively as you did? Phyllis: I had thought I would probably testify. I thought I would, as a psychologist and a Christian, present the unanswered questions that had occurred to me. But I think the tone of my presentation somewhat changed by the large number of Christian people who came there with their Bible in their hand who testified against ordination. Many of them to me were so unChristian in their view of what the Bible said. Even the careful, usually neutral, questions from the Task Force members could make no dent in some of these people. They were so sure that what they believed and felt was God's eternal law! The way they were going to express this to homosexual Christians I'm afraid angered me, alienated me somewhat. I did feel myself moving from a neutral, middle position, to a more positive one about membership in a church and ordination for gay persons. I still find that happening .... I find that, unfortunately, the so-called homophobia of people in my presence can make me more radical. More Light: One woman in my presbytery said to me, "Nothing makes me feel more self-righteous than the self-righteousness of those who condemn homosexuals." Phyllis: I have discovered that the one thing I am intolerant of in this life is intolerant people. Excerpt from "What Kind of Fool Am I?": But even though insights were generally ignored or overlooked as most people preferred to talk without listening, the one thing which could not be dismissed or defeated was the loving and lovely presence of the very young people whose mission and ministry were being denied. Where they were willing to be fools for Christ too many others were content with merely being fools or acting foolishly. -- *San Diego, May, 1978, Robert E. Simpson (The Rev. Bob Simpson [then] from St. Louis served on the Task Force to Study Homosexuality.)* Epilogue As I was typing the final entries in this collection, I received word from a mutual friend that Henri Nouwen had died in Holland while visiting his family. Henri was my spiritual mentor, a former professor at Yale Divinity School who had become a beloved friend. He had made a special trip to visit Mark and me here in Atlanta last May during his sabbatical from Daybreak, the L'Arche community in Toronto. Only last week he had sent his most recent book, *Can You Drink This Cup?* On the phone with my friend telling me the sad news, my shock at Henri's unexpected death echoed in an earth-shaking clap of thunder outside, the first indication of a storm that, within minutes, became a downpour. It reflected my feelings of grief as I sobbed tears of a loss beyond words. Years ago, when I visited Henri in Toronto, we had discussed celibacy. He believed in it as a gift, one that he had been given and one that he practiced faithfully. Yet, at the same time, he expressed regret for the loss of intimacy with one other person entailed by that choice. He described the funeral of an uncle who had died after a life as a Catholic priest. "Nobody mourned him as if their very lives depended on it," he said, "Nobody's life was radically altered by his death." He said he would miss that in his own death. He said he wanted some one person to cry passionately over his grave. I told him that thousands of us touched by his writings would do so, but this, I knew, was not the comfort he sought. His writings are full of a hunger for intimacy that would go unrealized because of the demands of his spiritual vocation. As I remember this, my grief turns to anger at a church that would deny anyone an intimate companion to fulfill a call to ministry. I easily translate it into our own denomination's demand of gays and lesbians to be celibate. Henri was a spiritual anchor for me. I am profoundly grateful for his own "markings" -- his writings -- concerning his negotiations with himself and with God. In writing as well as directly, he reminded me to focus on Jesus as the source of my faith rather than the church. Yet now I feel cast adrift, cheated of Henri's ongoing spiritual friendship and guidance, fearful of the storms of doubt that threaten my faith. In the context of feeling cast adrift in storms of doubt, the term "markings" takes on another meaning for me. I think of the practice of Mississippi riverboat crews marking the river's varying depths to guide them into deeper and safer waters. *These* markings, these writings from PLGC's history, may guide us to the deeper and safer waters of God's free-flowing love, away from the hidden dangers and snags lurking in that love's shallow expressions found in a church and government that attempt to prohibit our sacred callings and our sacred covenants. -- *Chris Glaser* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PLGC OFFICERS AND CONTACTS CO-MODERATORS: Scott D. Anderson (1998), 5805 20th Ave., Sacramento, CA 95820-3107, 916-456-7225, 442-5447 (work), email: hn0029@handsnet.org; Laurene Lafontaine (1997), 1260 York St. #106, Denver, CO 80206, 303-388-0628, PNet: Laurene Lafontaine; internet: EClaurene@aol.com; 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: Rob Cummings, PO Box 394, Jackson Center, PA 16133-0394, 412-475-3285 TREASURER: Lew Myrick, 1225 Southview Rd., Baltimore, MD 21218- 1454, 410-467-1191, 410-516-8100 work, FAX 410-516-4484 work, email: myrick@jhu.edu PLGC Coordinators & Laisons ISSUES: Mike Smith -- see Exec. board. JUDICIAL ISSUES: Tony De La Rosa -- see Exec. board; Peter Oddleifson, Harris Beach and Wilcox, 130 E. Main St., Rochester, NY 14604, 716-232-4440 wk, -1573 fax. BISEXUAL CONCERNS: Kathleen Buckley, 2532 Rosendale Rd., Schenectady, NY 12309-1312; Skidmore College chaplain 518-584-5000 ext 2272, email kbuckley@skidmore.edu; Union College protestant chaplain, 518- 388-6618, buckleyk@gar.union.edu TRANSGENDER CONCERNS: The Rev. Carla T. Pridgen, 740 Sidney Marcus Blvd., #5106, Atlanta, GA 30324, 404-262-0566. PRESBYNET: Dorothy Fillmore, 7113 Dexter Rd., Richmond, VA 23226- 3729, 804-285-9040 hm, 804-828-1831, fax 804-828-8172 wk, PNet: DFillmore; email: dfillmore.parti@ecunet.org (or) dfillmor@cabell. vcu.edu (NO 'e' on dfillmor!). PLGC'S WEB PAGE: Donna Michelle Riley, Box 323, 4902 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3799, 412-422-1822, 412-268-5550 wk, email: riley+@andrew.cmu.edu NOMINATING COMMITTEE: Dorothy Fillmore -- see PresbyNet. coordinator. PRISON MINISTRIES: Jim Anderson -- see Communications Secretary. LIAISON TO PRESBYTERIAN AIDS NETWORK (PAN): John M. Trompen, 48 Lakeview Dr., Morris Plains, NJ 07950-1950 LIAISONS TO PRESBYTERIAN ACT-UP: Susan Leo -- see Exec. Board; Lisa Bove, 1707 Micheltorena St. #214, Los Angeles, CA 90026, 213-664-8654; Howard Warren, Jr., 2807 Somerset Bay, Indianapolis, IN 46240, 317-632-0123 (Damien Center), 317-253- 2377 (home). EUROPE: Jack Huizenga, Voice of America, Voice of America, 76 Shoe Lane, London EC4A 3JB, U.K., email: jwhuizen@dircon.co.uk, tel: (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; Michael Tsai, 1622 W. James Pl. #2F2, Kent, WA 98032, 206-859-5686. COVENANT (MI, OH): Rev. James J. Beates, 18120 Lahser Rd. #1, Detroit, MI 48219, 313-255-7059; Mary Rose, 861 W. Bluff St., Marquette, MI 49855-4121, 906-226-7163, marose@nmu.edu LAKES AND PRAIRIES (IA, MN, ND, NE, SD, WI): Cleve Evans, 3810 S. 13th St., #22, Omaha, NE 68107-2260, 402-733-1360; Richard Winslow, 111 E. Water St., #100, Appleton, WI 54911-5791, 414- 731-0892. 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): 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): William H. Moss (Bill), see Exec. Board; Elizabeth Hill, PO Box 336, Grimstead, VA 23064- 0336, 804-741-2982; Brent Bissette, 223 Riverwalk Cir., Cary, NC 27511, 919-467-5747. NORTHEAST (NJ, NY, New England): 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, 1159 Maple Rd., Williamsville, NY 14221, 716-626-5976; Kay Wroblewski, 74 Freemont Rd., Rochester, NY 14612, 716-663-9130. PACIFIC (No. CA, OR, NV, So. ID): Richard A. Sprott, 531 Valle Vista Ave., Oakland, CA 94610-1908, 510-268-8603, fax, 510-271- 0127.email: sprott @cogsci .berkeley.edu; Dick Hasbany, 4025 Dillard Rd., Eugene, OR 97405, 541-345-4720. ROCKY MOUNTAINS (CO, MT, NE Panhandle, UT, WY): Laurene Lafontaine -- see Officers. SOUTH ATLANTIC (FL, GA, SC): Jim Earhart, P.O. Box 8362, Atlanta, GA 31106, 404-373-5830; Laurie Kraus, 5275 Sunset Dr., Miami, FL 33143, 305-666-8586. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND HAWAII: Rev. L. Dean Hay, 2851 S. La Cadena Dr, #71, Colton, CA 92324, 909-370-4591. SOUTHWEST (AZ, NM): Linda Manwarren, 7720 Browning Dr. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109-5303, 505-858-0249; Rosemarie Wallace, 710 W. Los Lagos Vista Ave., Mesa, AZ 85210, 602-892-5255. SUN (AR, LA, OK, TX): Greg Adams, 314 Steven Dr., Little Rock, AR 72205, 501-224-4724; Jay Kleine, 8818 Wightman Dr., Austin, TX 78754, 512-928-4063, 331-7088 work; John P. McNeese, P.O. Box 54606, Oklahoma City, 73120-1404, 405-848-2819; Rickey, 13114 Holston Hills, Houston, TX 77069, 713-440-0353, 713-440-1902 fax, email patrickey@aol.com 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, 203 E. Prospect Ave., North Wales, PA 19454-3208, 215-699-4750. PLGC Executive Board 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, PNet: Tony De La Rosa; email: tony_de_la_rosa.parti@ecunet.org or tonydlr@ix.netcom.com Woody Smallwood (1997), 1225 Southview Rd., Baltimore, MD 21218- 1454, 410-467-1191, woodybalt@aol.com Lisa Furr (1998), 7113 Dexter Rd. Richmond, VA 23226-3729, 804- 285-9040, PNet: Lisa Furr; email: lisa_furr.parti@ecunet.org Gene Huff (1998), 658 25th Ave., San Francisco CA 94121, 415- 668-1145. Susan Leo (1998), 412 NE Hazelfern Pl., Portland, OR 97232-3328, 503-232-4030, sleoclu@aol.com William H. Moss (Bill, 1998), 1327 Emerald St. NE, Washington, DC 20002-5431, 202-397-5585 Mike Smith (1998), 1211 West St., Grinnell, IA 50112, 515-236- 7955, PNet: Michael D Smith; email: Michael_D_Smith.parti@ecunet.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * More Light Churches Network Folks interested in PLGC are also often interested in our sibling organization, the More Light Churches Network. More Light Churches are Presbyterian congregations that welcome "all people into the church as full participating members, entitled to all 'the rights and privileges of the church' including ordination should they be elected to leadership positions, regardless of sexual orientation." Congregations and individuals that are working toward such inclusiveness are also part of the Network. Here is the MLCN Steering Committee: Virginia Davison, co moderator for advocacy, 173 Gibbs St., Rochester, NY 14605, 716-546-6661, virginia_davison.parti@ecunet.org Dick Lundy, co-moderator for administration, 5525 Timber Ln., Excelsior, MN 55331, 612-470-0093, dick_lundy.parti@ecunet.org Christine Gorman, newsletter, 360 W. 55th St., #6-L, New York, NY 10019, 212-765-1797, cgorman@time.timeinc.com Robert Hettrick, secretary-treasurer, 3375 Descanso Dr., #1, Los Angeles, CA 90026. Chuck McLain, resources & outreach, 932 E. 28th St., Oakland, CA 94610, 510-261-4696. Jane Miller, 700 Ridgewood Rd., Bel Air, MD 21014, 410-838-7892. Harold G. Porter, development, Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church, 103 Wm. H. Taft Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45219, 513-281-5945. Joanne Sizoo, special projects, 5901 Cleves Warsaw Pkwy., Cincinnati, OH 45233, 513-922-8764, joanne_sizoo.parti@ecunet.org Richard Sprott, conferences, 531 Valle Vista Ave., Oakland, CA 94610, 510-268-8603, sprott@cogsci.berkeley.edu * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * MASTHEAD (Publication Information) MORE LIGHT UPDATE, Volume 17, Number 3, January-February 1997. ISSN 0889-3985. Published bi-monthly by Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns, an organization of Ministers, Elders, Deacons, and Members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Elder James D. Anderson, Editor, P.O. Box 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), 4 Huntington St., Room 316, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1071. Electronic version available via email. PLGC-List: plgc-list@andrew.cmu.edu PLGC home page: http://www.epp.cmu.edu/~riley/PLGC.html Send materials marked "For publication" to the editor. PUBLICATION DEADLINES: 6 weeks prior to issue months. 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 (included in membership) to MORE LIGHT UPDATE: $12.00. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *