Date: Fri, 28 Feb 97 8:49:57 EST From: James Anderson MORE LIGHT UPDATE For all ministers, elders, deacons, members and friends of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) March-April 1997 Volume 17, Number 4 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 OUR COVER PHOTOS EVENTS 13th Annual More Light Conference: Never Turning Back PLGC's Celebration of Reconciliation at General Assembly Passages: A Conference for Gay and Lesbian Young People. Grace and Law: Implications of the Epistle of Romans for Lesbians Gay Men, Bisexuals, the Transgendered, and our Families and Friends. Making the Wounded Whole: A workshop for family members, partners, and friends who have lost significant loved ones to the AIDS virus. Finding Our way in the Wilderness: A retreat for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, the transgendered -- as well as their friends, families, and advocates. Gay, Lesbian and Christian: Giving Praise. Water of Life: Rites of the Gay-Male Spirit. The 26th Annual Workshop on Sexuality at Thornfield REQUESTS Nominations for National Committees PEOPLE Coordinators & Liaisons. Board members. Howard Warren Receives Lazarus Award RESOURCES Homosexuality and the Bible Your Mom's a Lesbian: Here's Your Lunch; Have a Good Day at School Facing Our Differences: The Churches and Their Gay and Lesbian Members, by Alan A. Brash, in "Risk Books Series," published by the World Council of Churches, Geneva. OUR ALLIES More Light Churches Network MLCN Set For Growth Welcome the Newest More Light Church Presbyterian Parents of Gays and Lesbians, Inc. We Are Family ISMIR: International Sexual Minorities Information Resource QUOTE UNQUOTE FEATURE ARTICLES Getting Married Two Cowboys Get Hitched, by Tom Coward Equal Civil Marriage Rights in Hawaii Full Civil Rights, But Don't Use THE WORD! -- A Survey of Presbyterian Policy Claim the God in You, by Chris Glaser Mark Poems, by Sue Nichols Spencer On the Front Lines: News from our Chapters Simple Gifts: What Presbyterians Who Are Lesbian & Gay Can Teach The Church About Mission Houston PLGC, Texas Books to Watch Out For Congregations In Conflict: The Battle Over Homosexuality, by Keith Hartman Sleeping with the Enemy: a Political Necessity for All of us? by Tom Hanks -- A review of *Love Between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoerotism*, by Bernadette J. Brooten Caught in the Crossfire: Helping Christians Debate Homosexuality. The Erotic Contemplative, by Michael Bernard Kelly Our Tribe: Queer Folks, God, Jesus & the Bible*, by Nancy Wilson PLGC Officers and Contacts (at end of file) Masthead (publication information) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * OUR COVER The logo, symbol, and seal of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) looms over the 1996 General Assembly hall in Albuquerque. In the shadows toil outgoing moderator Marj Carpenter and outgoing stated clerk Jim Andrews. Photo by Andy Achsen. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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! The photos in this issue were taken by Andy Achsen, Mark King's father, Herbert Snedeker, Lainey Rathgeber, Jack Hartwein-Sanchez, and an unnamed wedding photographer In line with our issue theme of marriage and commitment, many of our photos celebrate PLGC couples reflecting God's marvelous rainbow of genders and orientations. For a great picture of life partners Lisa Furr and Dorothy Fillmore, see the Nov.-Dec. 1996 *Update*, page. 13. On the next page of that issue is a photo of Rodger Wilson and his life partner James Nicholson. We regret that these wonderful pictures are NOT in the electronic version! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * EVENTS 13th Annual More Light Conference: Never Turning Back Don't forget to send in your registration! The registration material for the More Light Churches Conference in Portland, Oregon, May 23-25, 1997 was in the Jan.-Feb. 1997 *Update*. If you need a copy, please contact Dick Hasbany, 541-345-4720. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PLGC's Celebration of Reconciliation at General Assembly We plan to have all the details about PLGC's participation in the 1997 General Assembly in Syracuse, New York, June 13-21, 1997, in the May-June *Update*. But you should start planning your participation now! We expect to have our pre-assembly gathering on Friday, June 13. Called Out With Our annual General Assembly Celebration of Reconciliation will be held Saturday evening, June 14, following the election of the new moderator (around 9 p.m.) in the Amber and Brass Courts of Hotel Syracuse, 500 S. Warren Street. Tickets ($10.00) will be available from the Office of the General Assembly and also from PLGC (P.O. Box 38, New Brunswick, NJ 08903-0038). PLGC will also have low-price tickets for low/no-income persons, ranging from $0-$9, whatever one chooses to pay. Our speakers will be Johanna W.H. van Wijk-Bos, Norm Pott, William P. Thompson, Sylvia Thorson-Smith (editors) and other contributors to a new book, *Called Out With*. *Called Out* (1995) recorded "the voices and gifts of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered Presbyterians." *Called Out With* (1997) tells heterosexual stories of solidarity. Come celebrate the inclusive church! *Called Out: The Voices and Gifts of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Presbyterians* was published by Chi Rho Press in 1995 ($15.95 plus postage, P.O. Box 7864, Gaithersburg, MD 20898, 301-670-1859). *Called Out With* will be published in 1997 by Westminster/John Knox Press. This new book records the personal stories of 25 heterosexual allies who have chosen to stand in solidarity for an inclusive church. *Called Out With*, with a foreword by Jane Adams Spahr and an introduction by Robert McAfee Brown, will be available at General Assembly in Syracuse. Proceeds from the book will be donated to Presbyterian groups working for justice for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Stony Point Center *where the world becomes an open house* 17 Crickettown Road, Stony Point, NY 10980-3299 914-786-5674, fax 914-786-5919 Stony Point is a center of ministry of the Presbytery Church (U.S.A.), witnessing to the Bread of Life, calling people and churches everywhere to break out of stagnant places, to walk in the world as Christ's servant people, letting the food of Chirst's table satisfy, eating freely, redeeming a hungry world! Passages: A Conference for Gay and Lesbian Young People. August 15-17, 1997. Rather than a source of strength and comfort, issues of faith and spirituality are often a source of pain and anger for gay and lesbian people. This retreat will provide a safe space for gay, lesbian, bisexual and questioning youth to explore the passages of our own lives and the passages of scripture which move from bondage to freedom, shame to pride, judgment to acceptance. Through music, discussion, recreation and community, we will seek to deepen understanding of God, ourselves, faith, sexuality, and justice. 6 p.m. Fri. dinner through Sun. lunch. Cost: $75.00. For information on scholarship assistance for this program, phone Stony Point Center. Grace and Law: Implications of the Epistle of Romans for Lesbians Gay Men, Bisexuals, the Transgendered, and our Families and Friends. September 19-21, 1997. Led by Bernadette Brooten, Chris Glaser, and Janie Spahr. "Join us for a weekend exploration of Romans from both scholarly and pastoral perspectives, featuring thoughtful presentations, stimulating discussion, intimate small groups, and celebrative worship. What does the apostle Paul have to say to modern day legalists? How do we live responsibly within a context of grace? Why are we sometimes afraid of enjoying God's unearned love? What are the real 'sins of the flesh'?" [See also Tom Hanks' review of Bernadette Brooten's new book, *Love Between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoerotism*, later in this *Update*]. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ghost Ranch Conference Center *An open space for spirit, body and mind* HC 77 Box 11, Abiquiu, NM 8751-9601 505-685-4333, 505-685-4519 Ghost Ranch Conference Center is an education and mission center of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) -- a community of rest, re-creation, and renewal serving God and people of questing faith, keeper and mender of creation and communities, seeker and servant of peace and justice. Ghost Ranch offers the following seminars that may be of interest to the PLGC community: Making the Wounded Whole July 14-21, 1997. A workshop for family members, partners, and friends who have lost significant loved ones to the AIDS virus. The Reverend Rosetta E. Dubois-Gadson (Executive Director of the Balm in Gilead, New York, NY, and board member of the AIDS National Interfaith Network), who herself has lost a son from the AIDS virus, will direct this seminar. She has said, "The fear of HIV/AIDS must be eradicated so that we can continue to live as Jesus would have us live, caring for and loving one another as Jesus cares for and loves all of us." Registration: $125. Begins Monday with dinner and ends the following Monday after breakfast. Finding Our way in the Wilderness October 26-November 1, 1997. A retreat for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, the transgendered -- as well as their friends, families, and advocates. William (Bill) Countryman -- gay man, priest in the Episcopal Church, professor of New Testament at The Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Berkeley, CA, and author of *Dirt, Sex, and Greed* -- will lead reflection on the spiritual experience of these people in relation to the Christian spiritual tradition. Some particular themes to be explored: vocation, coming out, integrity vs. hypocrisy, grieving for what is lost, forgiveness, and how we serve as priests to one another. We will also reflect on both the dangers and opportunities for these people in the church. Registration: $125; Room and Board: $l35. Begins Thursday with dinner and ends Sunday after breakfast. See also the box next to Chris Glaser's column for an additional Ghost Ranch gathering. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center 2495 Fox Gap Rd., Bangor, PA 18013-9359, 610-588-1793 Welcoming pilgrims seeking solitude and community, rest and discernment, toward personal and social transformation, since 1942. The Rev. Cynthia Crowner (Presbyterian Church U.S.A.), Director. Gay, Lesbian and Christian: Giving Praise. June 5-8, 1997. Each year we build a les/bi/gay faith community on the mountain. It is a community of tears and laughter, healing and empowerment, love and joy -- a community empowered to choose life. The 21st annual event invites us to value all the ways -- contradictory though they be -- in which we meet and worship God. Praising God: from our joy even amid pain; in song and dance and in the silence of our hearts; with sisters and brothers dreaming like dreams; with brothers and sisters working for justice; while suffering from society's denial of a just position to rainbow people. This event is for lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals of all colors, their families and friends. It continues to explore issues of sexuality in the context of Christian faith and practice and includes daily worship, presentations, small group sharing, workshops, play and celebration. Led by John McNeil, Catholic priest, psychotherapist, co-founder of Dignity and author of *Freedom, Glorious Freedom*; Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, feminist theologian, author of *Sensuous Spirituality* and board member of the Center for Sexuality and Religion; Mary Hunt, feminist theological, co-founder and co-director of the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER), and author of *Fierce Tenderness: A Feminist Theology of Friendship*; Rev. Rainey Cheeks, an openly gay, African-American pastor of The Inner Light Unity Fellowship Church and co-founder of an HIV/AIDS education and service group in DC. 6:30 p.m. Thursday dinner through Sunday lunch. $300 ($150 registration deposit). Water of Life: Rites of the Gay-Male Spirit. August 1-3, 1997. As gay men we thirst for spiritual experiences rooted in our personhood and sacredness and that speak to our individual and collective experience. As a community, we are still very much in the process of leaning about the power of ritual (shared symbolic actions) to touch the deepest places in our spirits and experiences. Gay weddings, candle-light marches, making quilt squares, calling on our Cloud of Witnesses, and gay pride festivals all exemplify ritual's ability to build community, to sustain and celebrate our love of gay men on both sides of the grave, and to refresh and renew our lives. This weekend we will use the multifaceted symbol of water to reveal, nurture, celebrate, and incarnate the energy of our identities and sexualities. Together we will meditate, fashion rites, and play, using water to heighten our spirit/body responsibility to ourselves, to each other, and to the divine. Take the plunge; come prepared to get wet and to immerse yourself in rites of the gay-male spirit. Led by Ken White and John Linscheid, who share a passion to explore the use of ritual to foster gay spiritual growth. Ken is Director of Continuing Social Work Education at Temple University and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Psycho-Educational Process. John, a contributing editor to *The Other Side* magazine, has written extensively on interpreting the Bible from a gay perspective. For over a decade, they have been helping gay friends create rituals to mark significant passages in their lives and loves. 7 p.m., Friday dinner through Sunday lunch. $225 ($110 registration deposit). See also the box next to Chris Glaser's column for an additional Kirkridge gathering. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The 26th Annual Workshop on Sexuality at Thornfield July 7-14, 1997. On Lake Cazanovia in upstate New York, participants examine from a personal and professional perspective the key issues surrounding human sexuality. We will be exploring the direct link between social concepts of maleness and femaleness and our feelings about sexuality. Thus we focus particular attention on gender, orientation, and lifestyle and their relationship to sexism, heterosexism, and homophobia. Such an exploration enables us to understand both personally and professionally the roadblocks we face pursuing, and enabling others to pursue, the self-esteem, moral decision making, family life, loving, caring, sharing and relationships we identify as essential ingredients of sexuality. The leadership staff includes Brian McNaught, author of *On Being Gay*, *Gay Issues in the Workplace*, and his latest book, *Now That I'm Out, What Do I Do?*; Pamela Wilson, sexuality educational consultant and trainer and author of *When Sex Is the Subject: Attitudes and Answers for Young Children*; and the Rev. William Stayton, author teacher, theologian, sex therapist, and current president of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT). The workshop is designed for every person who wants to become more knowledgeable and comfortable with sexuality. A Sexual Attitude Reassessment (SAR) will be a part of the week's process. 44 Continuing Education Units are available for participants from AASECT. Three graduate credits are also an option from Elmira College. The cost of the workshop including room and board is $895. For further information, write or call Carol Dopp at 3600 Hill Street, Fairfax, VA 22030-3004, 703-591- 7120. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * REQUESTS Nominations for National Committees Louisville, KY. -- The General Assembly Nominating Committee (GANC) is seeking candidates to fill 35 at-large vacancies on General Assembly-level boards and agencies. The committee will propose a slate of nominees to the 209th General Assembly next June in Syracuse, NY, for election. Fifty- two people currently serving on national committees are eligible for renomination to an additional term. Nominations and endorsement forms are available from Diane Dulaney in the GANC office in Louisville or from any member of the GANC. Each synod is represented on the committee by one member. Nomination forms are kept on file for three years by the committee. [Call the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) information line to find out how to contact the GANC: 1-800-Up2-Date.] The committees with vacancies are the Advisory Committee on the Constitution (3); the Board of Pensions (2); the Presbyterian Historical Society (2); the Committee on Representation (5, one each from the synods of Lincoln Trails, Mid-America, Northeast, Pacific, and Rocky Mountains); the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (3); the Permanent Judicial Commission (4, one each from the synods of Alaska-Northwest, Lakes and Prairies, Lincoln Trails, and the Northeast); the National Committee on the Self-Development of People (2); the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation (8); the Presbyteries' Cooperative Committee on the Examination of Candidates (2); the Committee on Theological Education (1); the Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel (3). -- Jerry L. Van Marter, Presbyterian News Service, Dec. 27, 1996. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PEOPLE Coordinators & Liaisons. John Trompen's telephone number is: 201-538-1655. John is the PLGC Liaison to the Presbyterian AIDS Network. Kathleen Buckley's home phone is: 518-382-5342; her extension at Skidmore College is 2271, NOT 2272! Kathleen is PLGC's Coordinator for Bisexual Concerns. John McNeese, our coordinator in Oklahoma, writes: "Finally broke down and bought a modem and an internet service. So please include my email address (mcneese@theshop.net) with my address info in More Light Update." John adds: "Looking forward to the Portland More Light conference. Left my work in the arts at the first of the year. Received one of the 1996 Governor's Arts Awards. Had the ceremony in the rotunda of the state capitol. It was very nice and I take back everything I said about those awards in the past. Not sure where I go from here and am in no hurry." Hey, Congratulations, John! Board members. Change Susan Leo's address and phone to: 4508 SE Lincoln, Portland, OR 97215, 503-235-6986. Gene Huff's email addresses are: huffrevs@hooked.net, or Eugene_Huff.parti@ecunet.org, or on PNet: Eugene Huff Lisa Furr and Woody Smallwood have resigned from our board. We thank them for their many contributions and hold them both in our thoughts and prayers. Rob Cummings, our recording secretary, is now "on line." His email address is robcum@pgh.net Howard Warren Receives Lazarus Award Congratulations to Howard Warren, the 1997 recipient of the Lazarus Award, from the Lazarus Project of West Hollywood Presbyterian Church. Howard was recently "honorably retired" by Whitewater Presbytery, at the very meeting where that presbytery defeated the Chastity Amendment by one single vote. Howard, that was YOUR vote! Good for you!! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * RESOURCES Homosexuality and the Bible "Sexual issues are tearing our churches apart today as never before. The issue of homosexuality threatens to fracture whole denominations, as the issue of slavery did one hundred and fifty years ago. We naturally turn to the Bible for guidance, and find ourselves mired in interpretive quicksand. Is the Bible able to speak to our confusion on this issue? "The debate over homosexuality is a remarkable opportunity, because it raises in an especially acute way how we interpret the Bible, not in this case only, but in numerous others as well. The real issue here, then, is not simply homosexuality, but how Scripture informs our lives today." These are the first two paragraphs in this helpful little pamphlet (16 pages) by Walter Wink, a United Minister minister and professor of Biblical interpretation at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City. Wink wrote an important article on homosexuality and Biblical interpretation back in 1979, when this debate was just heating up. It was published in the *Christian Century.* This is a revised version of that article, published as a pamphlet in 1996. Order from Fellowship Bookstore, Box 271, Nyack, NY 10960, 914- 358-4601. $1.50 for single copies; $1 each for 5-49 copies; $.50 each for 50-99 copies; $.40 for 100-499 copies; $.32 each for 500+ copies; $.30 each for 1000+ copies. Permission to copy granted. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Your Mom's a Lesbian: Here's Your Lunch; Have a Good Day at School Virginia Davidson writes: I've just had the opportunity to preview a new film/video produced by John Ankele and Anne Macksoud of Leonardo's Children, Inc., the same outfit that produced "Maybe We're Talking About a Different God" and "Eve's Daughters." The film tells the story of Jane Spahr and her family. Here is a brief description of a *great* 30-minute video: "YOUR MOM'S A LESBIAN. Here's Your Lunch; Have a Good Day at School" is a half-hour documentary that looks at family values from the inside out. In 1976, the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, wife and mother of two small boys, separated from her husband because she was a lesbian. These are some of the questions that are explored: How did this affect her children? Was it a damaging experience for them? How have they turned out? How did it affect her relationship with her husband? What did her parents think? And her twin sister? What about the Presbyterian Church of which she is an ordained minister? How did they react? And how has that decision of twenty years ago affected Jane, herself? Two other great videos from the same folks: EVE'S DAUGHTER (26 minutes) has great clips of Lisa Larges, Catherine Poethig, Connie Staff, Janie Spahr and others sharing their journeys to liberation as lesbians from heterosexism and as women from subjugation by our society. They embody the incredible joy and "aliveness" and gifts to the church and community when all of us experience this liberation. MAYBE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A DIFFERENT GOD is the awful (full of awe, as in awe-inspiring!) story of Janie Spahr's call to the Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, NY, to serve as co-pastor, and the rejection of that call by the high court of the Presbyterian Church. VHS copies cost $32.35 each, including shipping and handling. SPECIAL OFFER: 3 videos: $75.00; 2 videos: $50.00; 1 video: $32.35. Please make checks payable to: Leonardo's Children, Inc., 26 Newport Bridge Rd., Warwick, NY 10990, 914-986-6888. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Facing Our Differences *Facing Our Differences: The Churches and Their Gay and Lesbian Members*, by Alan A. Brash, in "Risk Books Series," published by the World Council of Churches, Geneva. ISBN: 2-8254-1165-5 Publisher's announcement: A SHORT book, written by a hetero for heteros, stating honestly the issues of the lesbigay community of believers. A FAIR outlook of the debates in the churches, outlining the shadow of the history and the recent winds of change. A MODERN and honest reading of the Scripture which raises relevant questions such as "How is it possible to determine that some verses are to be taken as having divine authority while rejecting so many others alongside it as not applicable for us today?" MUST BE READ BY EACH LESBIGAY CHRISTIAN! SHOULD BE DISCUSSED IN EACH LOCAL CHURCH! A unique tool to advance the integration of lesbians and gays in the Church. From the back cover: "Few issues in recent years have caused as much controversy in so many churches as homosexuality. Because of the pain created by these debates within the churches, the ecumenical movement has been reluctant to take the issue onto its agenda, even though one of its essential roles is precisely to enable the churches to encounter one another in dialogue at points where they tend to be separated from one another in sharply contradictory convictions. "In this book, Alan A. Brash seeks to encourage just such a dialogue on homosexuality. What he has to say reflects his experiences in a local congregation in Aotearoa New Zealand, as well as a familiarity with churches around the world that comes from many years of international ecumenical service. He points the way towards a respectful understanding of divergent interpretations of the Bible, theology and ethics in order to help Christians to reflect on their own convictions and to face together a sensitive topic which has profound consequences for the lives of many people and for the unity of the church of Jesus Christ. "Alan A. Brash, a Presbyterian minister from Aotearoa New Zealand, was deputy general secretary of the World Council of Churches from 1974 to 1978. The book grows out of an effort of the staff of the World Council of Churches to come to a better understanding of the issues at sake in the debate of homosexuality." Order from: World Council of Churches Distribution Center, P.O. Box 348, Route 222 and Sharadin Road, Kutztown, PA 19530-0348, tel. 1-800-523-8211, fax 610-683-5616. $7.95 plus 20% for postage. Please enclose your payment with your order. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * OUR ALLIES Please extend your support to our partners in the struggle for equity and fairness in church and society. -- JDA More Light Churches Network We are now listing the officers of the MLCN, with addresses, phone numbers and email addresses, at the end of the *Update*, right after the PLGC Executive Board. MLCN Set For Growth At its regularly scheduled fall meeting, the steering committee of the More Light Churches Network adopted the goal of doubling the number of churches affiliated with the More Light movement from 73 to 150 in the year 1997. Is that target feasible? You bet, thanks to the unprecedented momentum coming out of the 208th General Assembly. At least 90 churches have told us that they're considering making a More Light declaration. We need your help to seek out the others, to find out how we may be of help, and to encourage them to make their inclusivity official. To offer your help and any leads you might have, contact Chuck McLain at 932 East 28th Street, Oakland, CA 94610; 510-261-4696. -- Christine Gorman, Editor, the MLCN Newsletter. Welcome the Newest More Light Church On Sept. 11, the Session of the Northminster Church of El Cerrito, CA adopted the following More Light statement: Northminster affirms that it welcomes to its community and worship all persons who are interested in sharing its religious life. Northminster considers the requirements for worship and leadership roles and offices within the church solely on matters of faith and spirituality; any human condition, including race, gender and sexual orientation, is not considered relevant to ordination. Northminster's fellowship consists of about 140 people, with a thriving Sunday School and youth program. Among other things, the church has been active this year in the "No on 209" campaign to defeat a referendum that would roll back affirmative action and education programs in California, and they help run a homeless shelter. [Unfortunately, California voters passed the referendum. It's now up to the courts to decide the proposal's fate.] Northminster had four observers at GA. "They came back obviously disappointed in the amendment but very strongly supportive of the Presbyterian church," the Rev. Carol Wickersham recalls. "One woman told me that she clearly saw that God was changing things in the PCUSA." "The process [of becoming More Light] has been very intense for about a year although we've been working on it for the past three years," Wickersham says. They held a retreat for elders and deacons and found they had a lot of questions about the meaning of ordination itself. They looked at Bible passages and shared their stories. There were newsletter articles and community forums for the whole congregation. "There were a lot of questions about 'What will they do to us?'" Wickersham says. "But we realized that we couldn't base our decision on fear. We had to base it on faith." Eventually, after all the study and dialogue, she notes, "The church felt that there's no sense in putting your light under a bushel." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Presbyterian Parents of Gays and Lesbians, Inc. P.O. Box 781591, Dallas, TX 75378, 214-902-0987, fax 214-904-9695 Jane C. Loflin, Director Dallas, TX. -- A support group for parents of gay and lesbian children is now forming in Plano, TX. Welcoming parents of all faiths and denominations, Presbyterian Parents of Gays and Lesbians, Inc. (PPGL) offers pastoral care to mothers and fathers who want to learn more about homosexuality in dialogue with each other. Support group meetings are conducted in an atmosphere of confidentiality and privacy. As a parent-to-parent ministry, PPGL seeks to help those who are struggling to understand and affirm their homosexual child. Identities of parent participants are closely guarded and meeting locations are not publicized. Interested parents may call PPGL's support line, 214-902-0987 for more information. With the guidance and support of several prominent Presbyterian pastors, elders, and church leaders, PPGL was founded three years ago by Jane C. Loflin, the mother of a gay son. Loflin began formulating a plan for this organization before retiring as administrator of Grace Presbytery in the Dallas, TX, area. Her plan, a pastoral care ministry with mothers and fathers of homosexual children, includes support groups conducted within an atmosphere of spiritual nurture where parents can come together to share their feelings of pain and isolation. Foremost in her concept was that meetings should offer parents confidentiality and privacy. The first PPGL support group met in Dallas in May 1994. Additional groups are now established in Fort Worth, Waco, and San Antonio. Plans are under way to extend the organization's network of support groups nationwide. The non-profit ministry welcomes, and now includes, parents of all faiths, beliefs, and backgrounds. There are no dues or membership fees. PPGL is not involved in political or social activism; professional guidance, counseling, or therapy services; HIV/AIDS care-giving ministries; or efforts or ministries to elicit changes in sexual orientation. [INSERT SMALL DISPLAY AD!] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * We Are Family From Tom Myers, director of the We Are Family Foundation: I am writing to introduce you to We Are Family. The name is a play on the misguided claim by the Religious Right of commitment to "the family." One of the several flaws in that "claim" is that family members who do not meet a narrow definition of acceptability are excluded. Somewhere along the way, the ideal of unconditional love has been lost. The group that suffers most is gay, lesbian and questioning adolescents. Many have nowhere to turn, and too often, they lose themselves to suicide or other forms of self-destructive behavior. A school guidance counselor recently said: "Children will persevere against all odds if they know that someone values them." We aim to encourage more people to step up to the challenge of valuing these children. WAF is a young non-profit organization that is committed to take a non-threatening, non-confrontational message of understanding and acceptance of lesbians and gays into the straight community by means of direct mail. Our particular focus is the groups which include individuals most likely to deal with young people - - teachers, guidance counselors, ministers, school librarians, psychologists -- and our immediate geographical focus is the Southeast. What we are doing can easily be extended to other areas. We have published a pamphlet that I will send if you will forward a surface address. We are trying to build a network of people across the country who are supportive of what we are doing. -- Tom Myers, We Are Family Foundation, PO Box 30734, Charleston SC 29417, 803-856-0577. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ISMIR: International Sexual Minorities Information Resource "ISMIR seeks to increase the collection, preservation and exchange of all information that empowers us to overcome oppression from ignorance, isolation, fear and hatred, and to promote advancement through knowledge, unity, understanding, and love." "ISMIR does this by compiling and publishing information about events of interest to the LGBT communities world wide on a monthly basis, *[including PLGC events!]*. Over 500 events currently listed." Call or write for for a free sample issue: ISMIR Events Calendar, PO Box 81869, Pittsburgh, PA 15217-0869, 412-422-3060, fax 412-359-4459, email ISMIR@aol.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * QUOTE UNQUOTE "The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and three hundred sixty-two admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn't mean God doesn't love heterosexuals. It's just that they need more supervision." -- Lynne Lavner, a lesbian comedienne and singer, via Dee Michel, and also the Interfaith Coalition for Free State Justice, Fall 1996 newsletter, Adelphi, MD. "A cartoon from the *Denver Post* that came in today's mail from a friend: The scene is heaven -- at the pearly gates with whatever saint or apostle sitting at the desk with the big book of life checking through the entries. A guy holding up a big bible addresses the gatekeeper: 'You'll be pleased to know all my life I preached against same-sex marriage, never performed a same-sex marriage, always preached queers were less than human -- wouldn't even let 'em in my church, by God!' The guy at the gate, looking down from the book says: 'Well, aren't YOU just a big silly.'" "Britain's Heath Ministry says gays who were treated with 'aversion therapy' to make them straight deserve compensation from the doctors who abused them. Such therapy -- no longer available in Britain -- usually involved showing homosexuals gay pornography while administering strong electric shocks, or drugs that cause vomiting. The ministry's statement came in response to a demand for comment issued by Peter Tatchell of the activist group OutRage, which itself was responding to new interviews with aversion therapy victims by the BBC and the gay publications *Thud* and *Gay Times*. -- International News #120, August 14, 1996, Rex Wockner, rwockner@netcom.com. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * FEATURE ARTICLES Getting Married Two Cowboys Get Hitched by Tom Coward [Great picture of Tom and Dave about to cut their Holy Union Cake!] Back in September of 1994 I wrote an article for the *More Light Update* about two wanna-be cowboys who met and fell in love. I said we were hoping to commit that love to God in a ceremony, and a year later, on September 23, 1995, Linda Regan, pastor of Clayton Valley Presbyterian Church, conducted a Holy Union Service for Tom Coward and Dave Vanderhoof at Montclair Presbyterian Church in Oakland. It was especially meaningful because we attended a meeting there with Lisa Larges and Janie Spahr in November, two years earlier. We had then confirmed our relationship in front of other Presbyterians who that day became the cast of Witness For Reconciliation (WFR), the "Dialogue Crew" in the Bay Area. It was fitting that our ceremony occurred on the very spot in the sanctuary of Montclair where we had twice given the play and expressed our love for each other in front of even more Presbyterians. The Holy Union Ceremony was just wonderful. About 100 guests attended, including folks from our own small church, WFR cast members, many friends from both our work places, other friends, and immediate families. My Mom and Dave's parents, my two children (19 and 22 years old), my brother and his partner(!), two of Dave's three brothers, sister, and sister-in-law, were right there on the front rows of the church. Our church organist and a flutist from the WFR cast played some great introductory music, and Dave and I entered during the singing of "We Gather Together," the words of which were meaningful in so many ways that day. The hymn talks about asking the Lord's blessing, ordaining and maintaining His Kingdom, and ends with, "Oh, Lord make us free." Howard Warren would have been proud! Linda Regan made it a wonderful and spiritual experience. It was her first same-sex ceremony to conduct, and she never hesitated as we planned it, but she said a little caution crept in that afternoon as she drove to the church. But as she walked up to the doors of the church, she knew this ceremony was part of her intended ministry. Here is her Blessing for us, and you can see why we were Truly Blessed: "Eternal God, without your grace, no human promise or commitment is sure. And yet we depend on your divine promises, on your covenant with your people, which frees us to live together in the security of your powerful love. "We ask today that you bless Tom and Dave, as together they start on a new phase of life. We pray that your Holy Spirit will dwell with them, surrounding them with care, giving support, leading them to your wisdom for their life decisions. "Let their lives be a blessing, a sign of Christ's love in this broken world, so that unity may overcome estrangement, forgiveness heal guilt, and joy conquer despair. May their love strengthen them, so that they are enabled to reach out in concern to others. "Let Tom and Dave be to each other strength in times of need, counsel in times of confusion, comfort in times of pain, and companion in times of joy. "And grant, O Lord, that the bonds by which all your children are united to one another may be so transformed by your Spirit that your peace and justice may fill the earth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." Many of our friends didn't know what to expect that day, but after the service and that Blessing, they went away with a new appreciation of us and what we stand for. They were already accepting of us as a couple, but this ceremony was a new part of the process of getting to know us. I think they were surprised that it was so conventional. Dave and I looked great in our pearl gray tuxes with raspberry ties and cummerbunds. Wildly understated! The ceremony went smoothly, and the congregation really sounded enthusiastic in parts where they participated. The program included a song entitled "The Servant's Song," which we all sang. The first words are, "Brother let me be your servant. Let me be as Christ to you." It was truly a commitment song for us and a recommitment opportunity for our friends in love, whomever they love. Dave and I said our vows toward the end and then exchanged rings. We had agreed to say something private to each other as we slipped the rings on, but I forgot and said my piece out loud. He got even when he whispered in my ear, "I love you, and my shorts are riding up!" What a guy. But when Linda pronounced the Blessing, I felt my whole life start over with a tremendous feeling of joy, acceptance and anticipation. The reception and dinner were also joyous events. The caterer's cook got lost, so the meal was an hour late, but we just poured more wine, and got to visit longer. We had a live Dixieland jazz band, and Dave and I danced the first dance, which, for most of the audience was a first to see. But they got through it, and the rest of the evening was really energetic. I think a few fence-sitters changed their minds that night. To see two people in love, unashamed and joyful, offset any reservations in a lot of minds. A note about the ceremony was included in our church's monthly newsletter. Many folks congratulated us, and no one admitted displeasure. A couple of weeks ago at Presbytery, I rose to speak in favor of a proposed overture that would allow local churches and Presbyteries to ordain homosexuals. During those two allotted minutes I came out to over 250 delegates and guests and told them I was in a life-long committed relationship with my partner Dave and that I loved him very much. At that moment I felt a joy similar to what I felt at the Holy Union Ceremony. It's OK to be a Presbyterian gay man, and it's a tremendous feeling to tell people about it, especially if you're sharing your life and your faith with a very special person. Regardless of how the church and society vote, we know our love is Blessed by God and our families and friends, and that we will love each other forever. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Equal Civil Marriage Rights in Hawaii Nothing has done more to bring the issue of lesbian and gay marriage into the headlines and into the councils of our churches than the suit for equal civil marriage rights in Hawaii. Here is some information about the Hawaii case, including the great need for financial support! First, some background from *The Lambda Update*, the newsletter of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, 13(3), Fall 1996, p. 14: Baehr v. Miike (formerly Baehr v. Lewin) TRIAL COMPLETED. This historic case represents the most likely legal path toward winning the freedom to marry for lesbian and gay people. It involves two lesbian couples and one gay male couple denied marriage licenses by the State of Hawaii. In May 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples is sex discrimination in violation of the state constitutional guarantee of equal protection. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the trial court to give the state an opportunity either to prove a "compelling" interest to justify the discriminatory policy, subject to "strict scrutiny," the highest standard of judicial review, or cease discriminating. On September 10, 1996, trial began in Honolulu before Judge Kevin Chang. The state deputy attorney general argued that denying marriage to same-sex couples was necessary to "promote the optimal development of children." However, the evidence, both from the state's own witnesses and our plaintiffs' national and local experts, during two weeks of testimony powerfully demonstrated that: lesbians and gay men make wonderful parents; our children are growing up well; withholding civil marriage does nothing to help children of non-gay parents, and indeed harms children actually being raised by same-sex couples; and, of course, people marry for reasons other than having children, and lesbians and gay men stand to benefit from what the freedom to marry signifies and brings. Our witnesses were Dr. Pepper Schwartz (a renowned expert on family and marriage), Dr. Charlotte Patterson (the pre-eminent national authority on lesbian and gay parenting), Dr. David Brodzinsky (a leading expert on adoption and non-biological parenting), and Dr. Robert Bidwell (a Honolulu pediatrician and director of the largest pediatric center in the Pacific). Next, a note from the Hawaii Equal Rights Marriage Project (H.E.R.M.P., or h.e.r.m.p.): Victory Is Sweet December 3, 1996. Today Judge Kevin Chang ordered the State of Hawaii to issue marriage licenses to same-gender couples. The state is technically in default on the order already, because the Department of Health turned away two couples today. Deputy Attorney General Eichor is scrambling to get a stay of the order pending an appeal of Judge Chang's ruling to Hawaii's Supreme Court. Judge Chang's ruling is thorough, and found with the three plaintiff couples on every point. The decision runs to 50 pages of close attention paid to the evidence at the trial. This decision deserves high praise for its careful review. Judge Chang also awarded the three plaintiff couples court costs (the costs of expert witnesses, depositions, photocopying, etc. but NOT Dan Foley's fees nor Evan Wolfson's salary at LLDEF). Since Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund bore the great brunt of the court costs, most of the reimbursement will go to LLDEF. Victory is sweet!!!!! Best Regards, Tom Ramsey Fighting for justice in the courts is not cheap or free: What a Tragedy It Would Be to Fail Our Friends in Hawaii Just as They Are About to Win This Great Victory for Us All! Yesterday, I received an urgent, personal request from H.E.R.M.P., the Hawaii Equal Right Marriage Project. Thanks to the courageous and committed H.E.R.M.P. team, headed by activist-lawyer, Dan Foley, lesbian and gay couples like ourselves are about to win the 175-250 rights and protections that go with marriage (at least in Hawaii.) What I didn't know is this. Foley and the others on his H.E.R.M.P. team have conducted this entire, history-making endeavor with almost no financial support from the mainland. Our national organizations and millions of individual lesbians and gays have been quick to celebrate this great victory in Hawaii, but none of us yet has offered any significant financial support to the very people who are making the victory possible. The one great exception is LLDEF (Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund) who, through the services of Evan Wolfson, has provided expert co-counsel and a powerful national campaign to support same-gender marriage, but no significant funding to assist H.E.R.M.P. When I asked Evan if we should help H.E.R.M.P. pay this debt, he answered in one word: "YES!!!" Now, H.E.R.M.P. is facing a "severe financial crisis." They are $60,000 in debt and the battle is not yet won. This exhausted group of hard-working and multi-talented volunteers has won us this incredible victory with no staff, no office, no paid media help, and limited support from the small and barely organized lesbian gay bisexual transgender (LGBT) community in Hawaii. For all these years of legal struggle, H.E.R.M.P.'s chief legal counsel, Dan Foley, has donated 20-40 hours weekly to this cause. Dan is a heterosexual with a passion for gay rights. He only bills for a token of the time he spends on our behalf (yet, he has two children, a mortgage, an office and an office staff to support.) If this $60,000 debt makes H.E.R.M.P. unable to pay him anything, Mr. Foley may have to devote his time to other clients and cut back severely on the time he spends making our case with the local and national media and with a whole host of political forces who will eventually determine whether we win or lose our much-needed rights. We cannot fail this man who has never once failed us. It is a disgrace that H.E.R.M.P. is fighting this battle alone when all of us will share in the rights and protections they are about to win for us. After appealing to the major activist groups on the mainland and receiving almost no financial support, they shared their heart-breaking dilemma with me. Our friends at H.E.R.M.P. feel frustrated, cut off, and pretty much abandoned by the mainland LGBT community. Will you join me in helping them raise the $60,000 that threatens the victory that is so close at hand? Today, Gary and I are sending a check for $500.00 to H.E.R.M.P. from our own limited funds to help show Dan Foley and the people of H.E.R.M.P. that we are grateful for the sacrifices they have made for us all and that we, in turn, are willing to sacrifice a little of ourselves. Please, send a check today. Be generous. It's tax deductible but even more, your gift will be an incredible spirit boost to our friends in Hawaii. Happy New Year and sincere thanks, Mel White and Gary Nixon Send your check and your cards and letters of support or inquiry to: H.E.R.M.P. (Hawaii Equal Rights Marriage Project), P.O. Box 11690, Honolulu, HI 96828. Hawaii Equal Rights Marriage Project (h.e.r.m.p) Here are some of the players and organizations in Hawaii whose primary focus is on same gender marriage and which work closely with h.e.r.m.p. -- Tom Ramsey, Co-coordinator, h.e.r.m.p h.e.r.m.p: the ONLY organization paying the legal fees of Dan Foley, the attorney who is in charge of the same-gender marriage case in Hawaii, with Evan Wolfson and Kirk Cashmere as co- counsels. h.e.r.m.p was created when the three plaintiff couples came to the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in 1993 for help in raising funds to pay the legal expenses. Donations to h.e.r.m.p are fully tax-deductible and can be made to GLCC-HERMP, 1521 Alexander St., #503, Honolulu, HI 96822, or to H.E.R.M.P., PO BOX 11690, Honolulu, HI 96828. h.e.r.m.p currently owes our legal team about $60,000, which we pay off at about $5,000 per month, depending on the generosity of contributors. Friends of h.e.r.m.p: an organization parallel to h.e.r.m.p to handle the NON-tax-deductible public education and media work. The address is PO BOX 11690, Honolulu, HI 96828. They have recently launched a 900-number, for donations of between $5 and $25: 1-900-97-MARRY. Dan Foley on H.E.R.M.P. and Friends of H.E.R.M.P Dan Foley would like everyone to see the following direct quotation from him: "There are only two organizations in Hawaii, h.e.r.m.p and Friends of h.e.r.m.p, that work with me and pay any part of my legal fees and costs. I work closely with both h.e.r.m.p and Friends of h.e.r.m.p, and I urge all correspondents to make donations directly to them at PO Box 11690, Honolulu, HI 96828. h.e.r.m.p donations are fully tax deductible, and Friends of h.e.r.m.p donations are not because the latter are dedicated to political activity." For Up to the Date Information on the Hawaii Case: Check the H.E.R.M.P. web site: http://www.xq.com/hermp/ h.e.r.m.p CHANGES ITS NAME TO Marriage Project-Hawaii February 3, 1997. Effective today, h.e.r.m.p has changed its name to Marriage Project-Hawaii. It is still a project of the GLCC (Gay and Lesbian Community Center), and fully tax-deductible with the same tax ID and team as before . The name change is fully endorsed by Dan Foley, the Hawaii attorney for the marriage case. Marriage Project-Hawaii remains the only organization that pays Dan Foley's fees. Dan Foley asks that all tax-deductible contributions be sent to: Marriage Project-Hawaii PO Box 11690 Honolulu, HI 96828. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Full Civil Rights, But Don't Use THE WORD! A Survey of Presbyterian Policy The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been dealing with "same-sex unions" or "same-gender marriage" since 1991. We remind our readers of current policies and attempts to change them since then, using stories from previous *Updates.* Holy Unions Approved *More Light Update*, August 1991, p. 10-12. With a minimum of discussion, the General Assembly approved "same sex unions" performed by Presbyterian ministers in Presbyterian churches as long as the ceremony is not determined to be "the same as a marriage ceremony." We're not sure most commissioners actually knew what was going on; certainly, the press seemed to have missed it entirely. Here's what happened: There has been some controversy in National Capital Presbytery over whether Presbyterian ministers may perform lesbian and gay holy unions in Presbyterian Churches. So the Presbytery requested an "interpretation regarding use of church facilities, and whether a minister is in violation of *Book of Order* with regard to same sex unions." The Advisory Committee on the Constitution rendered the decision requested, in rather lawyerlike language, quoting the *Book of Order* to say that a "Christian marriage" is a "covenant through which a man and a woman are called to live out together before God their lives of discipleship." Adding special emphasis to "a man and a woman," they proceeded to say that if the "same sex ceremony were considered to be the equivalent of a marriage ceremony between two persons of the same sex, it would not be sanctioned under the *Book of Order*." Therefore, if the ceremony is not the same as a "Christian marriage," it may be performed at the discretion of minister and session. Even if one considers a marriage between a man and an woman and a holy union between two men or two women to be spiritually equivalent, there are some obvious differences. To name only two, a so-called Christian marriage is always, at least in the United States and in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), sanctioned by the state; holy unions so far do not have such sanction in most cases. Second, there is the obvious difference in the gender of the primary participants. Whether the holy union between two men or two women will ever be or ought to be "the equivalent of a marriage ceremony" remains to be explored. While PLGC would of course prefer a positive affirmation of lesbian and gay relationships, it is pleased that the General Assembly has handed the responsibility for exploring such affirmation to local congregations and ministers. For interested legalists, here is the actual text of the decision, as offered by the Advisory Committee on the Constitution and approved by the General Assembly: There is no mention in the *Book of Order* of same sex unions (ceremonies). If a same sex ceremony were considered to be the equivalent of a marriage ceremony between two persons of the same sex, it would not be sanctioned under the *Book of Order*. In section W-4.9001, Christian marriage is specifically defined as: [A] covenant through which *a man and a woman* are called to live out together before God their lives of discipleship. In a service of Christian marriage[,] a lifelong commitment is made by *a woman and a man* to each other, publicly witnessed and acknowledged by the community of faith. (emphasis added [by the committee!]) Inasmuch as the session is responsible and accountable for determination of the appropriate use of the church buildings and facilities (G-10.0102n), it should not allow the use of the church facilities for a same sex union ceremony that the session determines to be the same as a marriage ceremony. Likewise, since a Christian marriage performed in accordance with the Directory for Worship can only involve a covenant between a woman and a man, it would not be proper for a minister of the Word and Sacrament to perform a same sex union ceremony that the minister determines to be the same as a marriage ceremony. Holy Unions Still OK *More Light Update*, September 1993, p. 5-6. Two overtures, held over from the 1992 Assembly, asked that the constitution be amended to "Prohibit Ministers of the Word and Sacrament from Participating in Same-Sex Union Ceremonies" -- From the Presbytery of Shenango [the wording of the similar overture from the Presbytery of Northumberland was slightly different]. By a yes vote of 84.1%, the Assembly accepted the recommendation of the Committee on Worship and Sacraments (and of the Advisory Committee on the Constitution) "That the overture not be adopted, with comment" [which follows]: The Advisory Committee on the Constitution has previously spoken on this. We refer to the action of the 203rd General Assembly (1991) regarding the *Book of Order* and same sex unions: ... [which was quoted just above!] -- Minutes, (1991), Part I, p. 395. Same-Sex Union Blessing Amendment Failing *More Light Update*, May 1995, p. 12-13. That's the headline for a story in *News Briefs Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)*, March 17, 1995. Here's the story by Jerry L. Van Marter. I'm hoping and praying it's not premature! -- Jim Anderson. [Note inserted into electronic version of this *Update*: As of 4-21-95, the "Same-Sex Union Amendment Is Defeated" -- *News Briefs Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)*, April 21, 1995. -- Hallelujah, Praise the Lord! -- JDA] Louisville, KY. -- With just over half the Presbyterian Church's 171 presbyteries reporting, the proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit the blessing of same-sex unions by Presbyterian ministers is headed toward defeat. As of March 6, the official tally (kept by the Office of the General Assembly) is 40 presbyteries in favor of the amendment, 38 opposed, and 11 "no action." In order to pass, the amendment must receive an affirmative vote by 86 presbyteries. "If this pattern of voting continues, the amendment will fail because it has received a plurality but not a majority of affirmative votes," said the Rev. Fred Jenkins, director of constitutional services in the stated clerk's office. The proposed amendment was initiated by the Presbytery of Southern New England. It would have added a sentence to the Directory for Worship provision on marriage (W-4.9001): "Therefore, it is inappropriate for ministers to participate in the blessing of any same-sex union." When the proposal reached the floor of last year's General Assembly, an amendment to it was approved changing the wording to "it is not permitted for ministers to participate in the blessing of any same-sex union." [See the August 1994 *Update* for the full story! -- JDA] The Advisory Committee on the Constitution advised the Assembly not to approve the amendment on the grounds that "it adds nothing that is not already in the *Book of Order*." Currently denomination policy, adopted by the 1991 General Assembly, states that sessions should not allow the use of their churches for same-sex union ceremonies if the session determines the ceremony to be the same as a marriage ceremony. Likewise, the policy states that "it would not be proper for a minister to perform a same-sex ceremony that the minister determines to be the same as a marriage ceremony." Same-Gender Marriage *More Light Update*, September-October 1996, p. 5-6. While the assembly voted to continue to deny full-membership to open lesbian and gay Presbyterians unless they repent and divorce themselves from loving, committed relationships, the assembly turned around 180 degrees and urged civil governing bodies to provide full civil rights to lesbian and gay couples. This follows a long, if dishonorable, tradition of telling society to welcome and affirm lesbians and gays as full, participating members of society, while demanding continued apartheid discrimination in the church. The same-gender marriage issue came to the 208th General Assembly by way of a commissioners' resolution (numbered 95-10) "on equal access to the civil status of marriage," which had been submitted to the 207th General Assembly in Cincinnati by the Revs. Monica Styron (Northern New England) and Larry Grimm (Denver). The original resolution had been drafted by PLGC's communications secretary, Jim Anderson. The text of the original resolution was printed in the March 1996 *More Light Update*. This resolution went to the Assembly Committee on National and Urban Issues. It was accompanied by an "Advice & Counsel Memorandum" from the standing "Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP)," which advocated adoption. The ACSWP said: "Without equal access to the civil status of marriage, gay and lesbian persons in committed relationships cannot file joint tax returns, cannot inherit each other's estates, cannot share joint insurance policies, cannot share benefits from annuities, pension plans, and Social Security. They cannot partake in health benefits unless specifically written into a labor contract, or under their terms of employment. They cannot jointly adopt children, take family leave for bereavement or illness, or make decisions for burial on the death of a partner. These are benefits that married couples take for granted in society, and are the basis for patterns of family life as we know them. **"Two generations ago interfaith civil marriages were banned and one generation ago, interracial civil marriages were forbidden. The same arguments to prevent such civil unions are given today against same sex couples.** (Emphasis added by JDA!) "... [citing James B. Nelson in his book, *Embodiment* (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1978)] we believe that Jesus embodied the righteousness of God that desires only just and loving relationships between people, not relationships that give rights to some and not to others. ... As Christians, we believe that we who affirm our faith in Jesus Christ are also called to embody God's love and justice in all of our relationships -- within Christ's family, the church, and with the whole world. "Jesus demonstrated throughout his ministry that righteousness consisted of showing justice and mercy to those who experience it the least. He reached out to those who were marginal, rejected, oppressed, stigmatized, powerless, and suffering. He told us that when we do justice and love to the least one among us, we are doing love and justice to him. "We recommend approval of Commissioners' Resolution 95-10. It affirms the past policies of General Assemblies in regard to the granting of civil rights to homosexuals. When two men or two women seek civil recognition of their commitment and union, their behavior demonstrates love, and a profound desire for a monogamous covenantal relationship in which to express it. "In 1991, the *Minority Report on Human Sexuality* said, 'One thing that seems clear to us is that there is something in the human spirit that seems to work best in monogamous covenantal relationships. Many people whose sexual orientation is toward those of the same gender are not promiscuous and are living together faithfully -- and at least as permanently -- as many people who are living in a heterosexual marriage ...' (PC(USA), p. 128)." The final resolution adopted by the committee, and by the full assembly, was a compromise. It was approved by the committee by a 24-14 vote, and by the full assembly by 53% to 46%. It reads: "Affirming the Presbyterian church's historic definition of marriage as a civil contract between a man and a woman, yet recognizing that committed same-sex partners seek equal civil liberties in a contractual relationship with all the civil rights of married couples, we urge the Office of the Stated Clerk to explore the feasibility of entering friend- of-the-court briefs and supporting legislation in favor of giving civil rights to same-sex partners. -- So the PC(USA) policy is: Full civil rights -- just don't use THE WORD! -- JDA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Claim the God in You by Chris Glaser Copyright (c) 1997 by Chris R. Glaser. All rights reserved. "When you let your wounded self express itself in the form of apologies, arguments, or complaints -- through which it cannot be truly heard -- you will only grow frustrated and increasingly feel rejected. Claim the God in you, and let God speak words of forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation, words calling to obedience, radical commitment, and service. "People will constantly try to hook your wounded self. They will point out your needs, your character defects, your limitations and sins. That is how they attempt to dismiss what God, through you, is saying to them."* Henri Nouwen wrote these words to himself eight years ago in a personal journal, while struggling with an unrequited love. The journal, *The Inner Voice of Love*, was published last year, released on the very day that his heart gave out this past September. Yet, as usual, Henri speaks to more than himself in his words. Henri speaks to you and to me in our own endeavor to claim the God in us and proclaim God's gospel as we struggle with the unrequited love of the church. They know not what they do, they know not the message they miss. Our sister and brother Christians find things wrong with us and our community so they do not have to listen to their own inner voice of love, the one that hungers for intimate, affectionate, and yes, even grasping touch. We have touched too much, they say, been too intimate with too many people or are too open about our intimacy. Thus they hook us in our vulnerability. Yet our vulnerability is our strength, for therein lies the message of both creation and Creator. Touch is required to create, to redeem, to heal, and to inspire. From the shaping of human flesh to the laying on of hands, God's word does not return empty, but returns with the lover embraced. We apologize. We argue. We lament. They cannot hear us. They shut down. They don't listen. They run away. I invited a friendly member of our opposition to engage in a written dialogue in book form, but he refused, explaining, *gentlemanly*, that it would give credibility to our side. Did he not understand the mutual risk of offering credibility to one another? I believe it's time to stop apologizing, stop arguing, stop lamenting. It's time to stop speaking out of our wounded selves. It's time to speak from our center where God has set up house, offers us communion, and gives us a message to deliver to the church. The message is far more revolutionary and radical (yes, *both*) than mere acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered persons, even more so than celebrating our ministries and marriages. The message is that God loves all of us more deeply than we have imagined, allowed, or celebrated. God loves us deep in our genitals, in our nipples, in all our pleasure sites. God loves us in all places, times, circumstances, and conditions. God loves us without condition or even expectation, except we know the inevitable transformation that occurs in us when we are the beloved. Let church folk quibble over rituals and laws and theology and the Bible. We know that all ritual, all love, all theology, and all of the Bible has been created for us, not us for them -- just as the sabbath. Let us proclaim "words of forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation, words calling to obedience, radical commitment, and service." Then, more clearly than ever, it will be God's word the church resists. *Henri J. M. Nouwen, *The Inner Voice of Love -- A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom* (New York: Doubleday, 1996), p. 99. [BOX] Chris Glaser will be leading two seminars this year on the life, ministry, and spirituality of Henri Nouwen. One will be held at Ghost Ranch Conference Center, New Mexico, October 12-18 (Sun.-Sun.) (for more information, call 505-685-4333). The other, to be held at Kirkridge Retreat Center in Pennsylvania on October 6-8 (Mon.-Wed.), will be co-led with Sue Mosteller, CSJ, who pastored alongside Henri the last ten years of his life (for more information, call 610-588-1793). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Mark Poems by Sue Nichols Spencer ================================================================= Sue Nichols Spencer, author of *Renewing the Vision: Daily Readings for Peacemakers* and *Words on Target: For Better Christian Communication*, is an officer-at-large of the Presbyterian Writers Guild. She founded **Toys for Peace**, a nonprofit organization that encourages the creation and marketing of toys with a "peace angle." She is also a member of PLGC! ================================================================= The Representative (Upon reading Mark 5:21-42) She was just twelve, a nothing age; Not child nor yet a teen. Perhaps she represents for us All those who are between. She was not either this nor that; Her feelings in a mix. In any pigeon-holing try She always fell betwixt. She's like a lot of others who Perhaps because of race Or color or desiring odd Seem always out of place. Some find their bodies do not match The gender that they feel, And some the gender that they love Is what they must conceal. They look for approbation from Some group who'll understand. They seek a gentle Someone who Will take them by the hand And bid them rise accepted by Divine Authority. And welcome them with open arms Whate'er their "twelve-ness" be. What About Outsiders? (Upon reading Mark 9:38-40) We like to keep our circles small And looking just like we, And following our pattern just As close as close can be. So, when we saw a man outside Our own exclusive band Performing works unauthorized We made this sharp demand: We ordered him to stop at once, For how could we be sure That what he did in Jesus' name Was orthodox and pure? Had anyone approved his acts? Ordained him to his role? Had anyone examined him, Or certified his soul? But Jesus told us we were wrong For, if the deeds were true, We should not judge or censure them, Or make a big ado. Don't hinder saints in actions fair, Whose ways are kind and meek. He never let us draw hard lines; His heart, so anti-clique. We saw success in diff'rent terms And found it hard to meet. He wanted love to cascade out, We wanted it elite! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * On the Front Lines News from our Chapters Oklahoma PLGC has a GREAT newsletter, called *More Light Oklahoma*, edited by the Rev. Charles Booker-Hirsch, John McNeese, and Julie Summers. Here's the editorial by Chuck Booker-Hirsch from their Fall, 1996 issue. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Simple Gifts: What Presbyterians Who Are Lesbian & Gay Can Teach The Church About Mission *"Thank you for letting me stress mission, mission, mission to take our mind off sex, sex, sex."* -- Moderator Marj Carpenter, in her farewell address during the Opening Session of the 208th General Assembly This line, one of Marj's patented laugh-getters, is theologically right on target. But probably not in the way that she or those who laughed intended. By "sex, sex, sex," Marj of course was referring to our Church's focus on whether or not to allow ordination of out-of-the-closet homosexual persons. Indeed, our Church's focus on "the issue" *has* been on sex, and not on mission. Namely -- and this is the key -- the mission of what lesbian and gay persons have to teach us, the Church, about the *sexual expression of our spirituality as opposed to our religious obsession with sex.* There is an enormous theological difference between "sexuality" and "sex" that unfortunately got lost somewhere in the great three-year debate over "the issue." "Sexuality" can be defined, simply, as *intimacy of relationship.* It involves much more than genital activity. "Sexuality ... expresses God's intention that we find our authentic humanness in relationship ... [and] is intrinsic to our relationship with God" (James B. Nelson, *Embodiment: An Approach to Sexuality and Christian Theology*, Augsburg, 1978, p. 18). It's an arena fraught with profound spiritual implications. "Sex," however, describes for most people but one expression of sexuality. It is, of course, related to genital activity. It's an arena, although intended to be sacred, that is fraught with much confusion and media (e.g., Hollywood, TV) distortion. The sexual expression of spirituality was evident in force at the daily PLGC worship services at the General Assembly. Whereas the daily morning G.A. worship services -- impressive though they were -- featured gifted musicians and preachers galore, their good intentions were submerged in a conspicuous undertow of performatory liturgics. These services were profoundly human- centered. The evening PLGC services, on the other hand, floated on wave after wave of honesty and surprise and deliverance. They were profoundly God- *and* human-centered. Heartfelt gratitude and grace, touch and embrace, acceptance of space, respect for brokenness and vulnerability and downright suffering ... these highly sexual-spiritual qualities were almost always apparent. In short: intimacy was established ... i.e., sexuality reinforced spirituality. The deepest places of the soul were touched. **Sound familiar?** It should. For it's the history of the Church -- the Body of Christ -- at its faithful finest. It's the first century Church ... persevering in the face of persecution by organized religion -- sharing "teaching and fellowship ... the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts 2: 42). It's Martin Luther and John Calvin ... putting their theological reputations -- and their very bodies -- on the line in the face of a removed, dispiriting Church. It's a century of women's movements ... sharing fresh, relational perspectives on a Gospel grown sterile and aloof in the hands and words of male domination. It's sexual minorities today ... who continue this lofty tradition of providing a sexually expressive mission to our Church ... if we but listen, and learn and love. A mission of relational intimacy made wholly known to us in the incarnation: Jesus of Nazareth -- our Christ, our brother, and our friend. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Houston PLGC, Texas Greetings! This is Gail Rickey in Houston, at long last reporting on the formation of a chapter here. Our initial meeting was October 28, 1996. Since then we've had four meetings, a speakers bureau committee meeting, and a party, with another party scheduled soon. Approximately 40 different people have come to one or more meetings or the party, representing twelve different churches. We have a mailing list of about 120. Our meetings are now at the Presbytery Office, which was an interesting -- and very healthy / productive process in itself. Getting approval for our meetings there brought us out into the open and gave us more visibility that we could have hoped for -- very very positive. Our group came bursting forth -- as if to say, "Finally, we are gathering together and supporting each other." I was overwhelmed with the energy and commitment that had lain dormant in this arena. Surprisingly, very few are gay / lesbian, and of the few who are, only a very few can be open at this point. One of our goals is to have an openly gay person at each of five "Regional Meetings" in our Presbytery, designed to have discussion of three of the amendments to be voted on Feb. 15. That is proving to be tough to do -- I think we'll make it, but it's not easy. We elected officers in December. I'm the "chair," Rev. Lynn Johnson is "co-chair" (essentially vice president), Sara Jean Jackson is secretary, and Denay Hudson (a lesbian mom with a precious newborn, who is the star of our meetings) is treasurer. [Personal aside: Our daughter, Patricia, is expecting a baby in July. She and her partner Gwen, who live in Durango, are glowing. So are the expectant grandparents in Houston!] One of our goals is education. At the last meeting I brought in a PFLAG friend who is an "ex-ex-gay." In fact, he has set up a web site to act as a gathering point for others who have survived an "ex-gay" group. Our group was fascinated with his story; I think it must be so confusing for a fair-minded person who hears the stories we (gays / lesbians / their parents and friends) tell, and then hear the "cured homosexuals" talk. How do they know whom to believe? I think it's very important for us to help them out all we can. On Feb. 2, we're having a workshop, "What Does the Bible Really Say About Homosexuality," and we are encouraging our members to bring friends. Again, more education / strengthening of our group. There's so much to do, of course, but at least we've started. I'd welcome any suggestions. Is there any method at the moment for PLGC chapters to communicate with each other? What about an email address for representatives from as many chapters as possible, so that we could "talk" to each other? I'd really welcome a chance to brainstorm / ask for input / hear what has worked and what hasn't. Another question: Are you aware of the movement within the Methodist church of encouraging individual memberships in their Reconciling Churches? Instead of waiting for a church to study / vote to become "Reconciling," the Reconciling folks, headed by Mark Bowman, decided in late 1995 to open up membership to individuals. They now have 10,000 individual members. What a magnificent testimony to the grassroots speaking out!! I would love to see our church do something similar. What do you think? -- With love, Gail Rickey * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Books to Watch Out For Congregations In Conflict Congregations In Conflict: The Battle Over Homosexuality, by Keith Hartman. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1996. xii+195 pp. $24.95, ISBN 0-8135-2229-3. Also available in paperback, $15.95, ISBN 0-8135-2424-5. 1-800-446-9323. Reviewed by Jud van Gorder. Rather than proposing what the Church ought to believe and do about gay and lesbian persons, this book considers how some churches have actually disposed of particular cases. The author, a gay journalist and free-lance writer, tells the stories of eight congregations and a seminary in the "research triangle" of North Carolina (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) from the 1970s to the 1990s. "(There) the Bible Belt seems to intersect the Northeast and the West Coast" (p. xi). Mr. Hartman thinks homosexuality is the most divisive element facing the Church today, akin to slavery in the last century, and that "the religious backlash against homosexuals has come about precisely because of the vast sea change that is taking place within American society" (p.170). Churches involved in the study are United Methodist, Southern Baptist, Episcopal, Metropolitan Community, Quaker, and Roman Catholic. His work is very readable, authentic, and well-researched, though he furthers the annoying misuse of 'reverend' as a title. [Van Gorder explains that "the reverend" is like "the honorable," so one should not say "reverend Smith" any more than one would say "honorable Clinton"! -- JDA] The flashpoint issues dealt with include licensure / ordination, marriage, outreach ministry, and meeting space. In some cases the outcome is drearily predictable, as when an Episcopal priest backs out of performing a lesbian wedding under threat of disciplinary charges from his bishop; in others, a surprise: a Baptist church votes to license one of its gay members to preach, in the face of furious opposition. But not everybody lives happily ever after yet -- the priest is fired from his staff position by the next bishop; the licentiate is never ordained, and his congregation is expelled from the Southern Baptist Convention. Based on his findings, the author makes some observations and gives some recommendations to churches conflicted over these issues: 1) Older and younger members will tend to divide into sides; 2) The longer the pastor has served there, the better he or she will survive; 3) The minister should ask the congregation's advice regardless of official polity; 4) It helps if all parties agree in advance on details of the decision-making process; 5) Forums should focus on seeking truth or God's will rather than being 'win-lose' debates; 6) Remind each other always of what binds you together as a community of faith (pp.171-74). Another recommendation implicit is to be prepared for dealing with inevitable exposure by the media. Dirty linen will be washed in public. My 'left coast' prejudice made me initially skeptical of the author's target area being a valid microcosm. But the accounts are so vibrant and true-to-life, I can believe them taking place almost anywhere. And the inter-relationship among individuals and churches is intriguing. Forgive the comparison, but it's as if certain characters moved in and out of the plots of different soap operas. The ordeal of one of Mr. Hartman's friends at Duke University led to this book, and a learning experience for the author as well. He found it strange that no one in an older men's Bible class actually talked to the pastor about unrest brewing there, over the pastor's forthcoming participation in a Pride parade. Later, a lawyer and lay leader in that same congregation comes to realize "that sometimes it doesn't do any good to talk" (p.17). In this case, 80 members signed a petition to have the pastor removed, yet not one would speak to a reporter about his or her feelings. Most experienced churchpersons wouldn't be surprised at these discoveries. No Presbyterian churches were among the studies. "I did locate (an) interesting struggle at ... a Presbyterian church, [which did not] turn out to be suitable for publication" (pp. xi-xii). X-Rated?! Some persons began their faith journeys as Presbyterians; there is brief reference to someone I had known in a study group 35 years ago and a half-continent away. And one Session surfaces, refusing use of its building to an MCC group. The useful "Denominational Overview" appendix of policies includes an accurate description of the official Presbyterian position (it should be accurate -- it's credited to the magazine you're reading!). However, Mr. Hartman mistakenly predicts the same-sex-union ban will go into effect. [Although adopted by the 1994 General Assembly, it was rejected by vote of the presbyteries! -- JDA] Our being omitted shouldn't remove our interest in the book. Just as these incidents could occur in any area, they could occur among Presbyterians, given the due adjustment for procedural differences. Besides the human drama, I found the book most interesting in revealing that the type of polity used ultimately didn't matter. (Okay, as an 'experienced churchperson' I shouldn't have been surprised.) But "how a denomination handles its internal disputes says a great deal about the true nature of its faith" (p. xii). Whether Bishop, Pastor-Parish Relations Committee, congregational autonomy, or the Quaker process of 'clearness,' any style of governance and decision-making will work if the people concerned want it to. Conversely, any method can be sabotaged effectively. We have ample Presbyterian examples of faith and principle being sacrificed, rules being rigged, to try and silence persons or make homosexuality go away. "Never trust the theology of a liberal, or the ethics of a conservative." This book is a commentary on that old saw, weighted toward the latter half. Yet it tells of an exceptional Baptist Sunday School teacher who, opposing a gay wedding in his congregation, nevertheless did an exegesis worthy of academia. Among his conclusions: "It is possible for a Christian to read these passages (on homosexuality) and see a totally different interpretation of them from that which has traditionally been given; ... it was perfectly logical that Christians at (our church) could have voted the way they did" (p.45). Later he attended a lesbian wedding to support the couple personally, though still doubtful about the ceremony. Another proverb underscored is, "To raise an issue is to take a side." In accordance with recommendation 5 (above), churches have held forums for education and discussion about homosexuality. But those opposed to opening up the topic see a hidden goal of getting the congregation to accept the gay/lesbian "lifestyle." So no matter how objective, balanced, or relaxed the presentation, merely scheduling it is condemned as "endorsement." I'm not sure whether homophobia is more a symptom or a cause of spiteful, dishonest, aggressive behavior. Anyway, these are the kinds of fears which surfaced among the members and congregations that were studied: fear of losing the known church, in which one has invested and is comfortable; fear of the 'unnatural' and unfamiliar; fear of contaminating the Word of God, of moral relativity; fear of risking faith by being vulnerable; fear of "guilt by association," governmental or ecclesiastical retaliation, and what other people will think; and fear of gay recruitment within or takeover of the church. Sometimes homosexuality becomes a powerful, emotional symbol of unrelated changes which are perceived as threatening. But the best words in the book belong to that Baptist sunday school teacher mentioned previously. Though he "lost" a particular vote, lost members from his class, and his congregation lost its Convention ties, he affirms: "In the midst of my grief ... I have come to know people (in this church) that I never knew before, and on a much more intimate level .... There has been more baring of souls, more honest seeking for the will of God, more pure Christian love and fellowship, than I have ever experienced" (p.48). Amen. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Sleeping with the Enemy: a Political Necessity for All of us? by Tom Hanks A review of *Love Between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoerotism*, by Bernadette J. Brooten (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1966). "I have argued that Paul's condemnation of homoeroticism, particularly female homoeroticism, reflects and helps to maintain a gender asymmetry based on female subordination [=inferiority]. I hope that churches today, being apprised of the history that I have presented, will no longer teach Rom. 1:26f as authoritative" (302). Obviously this is a book that upsets the apple carts on both sides of the religious and secular political debates about homophobia and lesbigay rights. As has happened repeatedly in history, we are faced with a kind of political-theological *menage a trois*: (1) fundamentalists may rush to use Brooten in their exegetical battle to brandish the Bible as a homophobic club full of handy clobber texts, but politically she is firmly and militantly on the side of full rights for lesbigays; (2) those who suggest alternative interpretations for the traditional clobber texts, while seeking to maintain some concept of Biblical authority (following John Boswell, William Countryman, Daniel Helminiak, Robin Scroggs, etc.), will be happy neither with Brooten's exegesis nor her more radical questioning of Biblical authority, but will find plenty of exegetical insights and ideological ammunition -- and be glad for the political alliance; (3) fundamentalists and progressive revisionists may agree with one another in upholding some concept of Biblical authority, but find themselves radically disagreeing about the interpretation of the relevant texts and on opposite sides of the political battle and cultural wars. Perhaps only Margarie Garber, who writes at length on threesomes (in *Vice Versa*, her definitive work on bisexuality) will be ecstatic at the scenario. Most of us (in all 3 "camps") find it continually embarrassing and unsettling. Yet a glance at church history reminds us this is not a novel situation. Every major struggle for human liberation and freedom in recent centuries has witnessed the same embarrassing arrangements (everybody "sleeping with the enemy" -- in fact with two of them!), with some holding to traditional views, others proposing alternative interpretations without jettisoning the authority of Scripture, and others agreeing with traditional exegesis but using it to try to show the necessity of questioning traditional views of Biblical authority. Latin American liberation theologies, of course, view the authority of Moses, Jesus, Paul and the Bible as subversive authority, not the authority of oppressors to keep oppressing. As far back as Galileo, we learned that even if you successfully prove from the Bible that the earth is flat (easy to do from the Bible's original languages), that doesn't make the earth flat. The same scenario was repeated in the use of Bible proof texts to promote anti-semitism, defend divine right of kings (against democracy) and slavery, deny equal rights and ordination for blacks and women -- and now for sexual minorities. On many of these themes, Peter J. Gomes new work on *The Good Book* (New York: William Morrow, 1996) provides helpful historical insights. Except for our fundamentalist bedfellows, perhaps the most urgent question is not to resolve the questions about correct interpretation of the Bible and its authority, but to learn how to work together and move ahead in the struggle for human dignity and freedoms -- despite our varying interpretations of Biblical texts and diverse attitudes towards Biblical authority. Aside from the comforting reminder from history that our sleeping arrangements are not new, we might consider another possible starting point in Brooten's work: "In all this discussion [about Paul], the figure within early Christianity most strikingly absent is Jesus of Nazareth himself. We know of no saying attributed to Jesus, either within the New Testament or within any of the many ancient gospels not included in the canon, in which he comments on sexual love between men or between women. Such love was apparently not a major concern to him. In spite of this, the early church set itself on a path that in the late twentieth century has resulted in opposition to lesbian, gay and bisexual civil rights and ecclesial recognition as a hallmark of most forms of Christianity" (194). With Brooten's insistence on the significance of Jesus' silence, we may contrast the remarks of Princeton Seminary's president Thomas W. Gillespie, speaking on July 3 at the Presbyterians for Renewal Breakfast at the 1996 Presbyterian General Assembly: "There are those arguments which are not worth learning, the silliest of which is that Jesus never spoke about homosexuality. I love that one! Do you know all the other things Jesus never spoke about? Do you know that Jesus never spoke about rape? Do you know that Jesus never spoke, so far as we know, about incest? Do you know that Jesus never spoke about child abuse? There are a lot of things that the Jesus tradition leaves out. Are we then to infer from that that these matters are of no consequence to Jesus? The fact that Jesus did not speak about homosexuality is a fact!" As I have pointed out in my comments on the homophobic abuse of the Bible at that Presbyterian General Assembly (*More Light Update*, Nov.-Dec. 1996:17-20), Gillespie misleads his (largely lay) audience by ignoring the linguistic differences between our English translations and the original languages of the Bible (including the Aramaic that Jesus spoke). While the Biblical languages do not have a specific word for rape, other terms were used, such as the Hebrew *'anah*, to oppress, which in many contexts is used to describe rape (Thomas D. Hanks, *God So Loved the Third World: the Biblical Vocabulary for Oppression*. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1983, p. 15). When Jesus spoke against oppression and violence, that included the specifics our language refers to as rape and child abuse. As for incest, again the Biblical languages have no specific word, but Leviticus 18 and 20 prohibits many types of incest with the Hebrew expression "expose the nakedness of...." In Paul's famous warning about what we would call "incest" in 1 Cor. 5, Paul actually uses the term *porneia,* prostitution, sexual immorality, irresponsible sexual relations ("fornication" in many English translations). So again, Jesus used the words available in his language, and in our Greek gospels Jesus does teach against *porneia*, which included what we would call incest (Mark 7:21 etc.). When Jesus referred to the Sodom story, he did not use it to condemn same-gender sex acts, as was common in inter-testamental Judaism, but rather Jesus returns us to the original meaning of the story as a condemnation of the sin of inhospitality (Luke 10:8-12; Mat. 10:11-15). Similarly, Paul avoided reference to the Sodom story when he spoke of same-gender sex (Romans 1:26-27), but used Sodom to refer to God's judgment against sins of injustice and oppression (Romans 9:29, citing Isa. 1:9). Presbyterians like Gillespie (who have long insisted on equal rights and ordination for women) will find Brooten's work particularly unsettling, since she demonstrates repeatedly that homophobia has its deepest taproot in the patriarchal myth of male superiority. Once the axe has been laid to that taproot, it is impossible to maintain a coherent case against equal rights and ordination for sexual minorities. Brooten's definitive work pulls together a vast amount of significant new materials from Egyptian erotic spells, astrological texts, medical treatments and dream interpretation, establishing that female homoeroticism and even same-sex marriage were well known in antiquity. She points out undeniable parallels in terminology with Paul in Romans 1:26-27 and the Christian tradition that condemns same-gender sexual relations. Perhaps her position will come to constitute a new academic consensus in these controversial areas, and I frequently found myself in Agrippa's shoes "almost persuaded" (Acts 26:28). However, at this writing, with her book carefully read but perhaps only half digested, I still find myself inclined to seek to construct another forest that can embrace the innumerable new trees within my new horizon. Paul and Romans obviously are the main objects of contention, and I would begin by questioning whether we do well to interpret Paul as simply reflecting and echoing the dominant homophobia of intertestamental Judaism, much contemporary Roman society, and later church fathers. For fundamentalists and party-line evangelical types (who ever pride themselves on their "high" view of Scripture) it seems especially strange to find them celebrating the conclusions of authors like Brooten, Richard Hays and Thomas Schmidt, who (while differing politically) agree in seeing Romans 1:26-27 as flatly reflecting the ignorance and homophobia common in both Jewish and Greco-Roman culture. While authors like William Countryman and Daniel Helminiak explore alternative interpretations of Paul, and see him in continuity with Jesus as transcending these limitations, they commonly are ignored or excoriated for undermining the inspiration of the Bible and Christian tradition. One would think that traditionalists, who long condemned homosexuals for being "promiscuous" (but now also oppose gay marriage rights) would themselves want to be more careful about whom they sleep with. Perhaps Brooten is correct, that the time has come to simply cling to Jesus and toss Paul overboard, as Romans soldiers long ago determined to do (Acts 27), that the ship of Christian faith might be saved. However, before consigning Paul to Jonah's fate, I would at least like to explore further the possibility of interpreting Paul in Romans as in the Jesus-tradition and transcending the cultural limitations of the dominant homophobia. For the counter hypothesis, for me the most helpful **starting point** is the question of Paul's own sexual orientation. Although for decades this is a question repeatedly explored in German scholarship, it is shockingly neglected in English works (including that of Brooten, who leaves very few stones unturned). However, in Gerd Theissen's standard work on *Psychological Aspects of Pauline Psychology* (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987, translation from the German of 1983) we read that Paul's devaluation of the flesh is due to that fact that "Paul was forced throughout his life to repress latent homosexual tendencies .... Paul's strong judgment on homosexual behavior in Romans 1:25-27 is also held to be a reaction to this inclination ... a passive homosexuality" (p. 26). Elsewhere I have summarized the many details in Paul's life and writings that are best explained from this hypothesis and similar evidence is available in the German works Theissen cites, going back to 1955. **Step two** in the counter-hypothesis would be to recognize (as I pointed out in my review of Thomas Schmidt's work) when we have noted all the linguistic evidence for maximizing the negative overtones of Paul's terms in Romans 1:26-27, we are still faced with the fact that Paul gives us a remarkable combination of AMBIGUOUS terms (unclean, unnatural, causing shame), all of which can describe acts not necessarily sinful. Schmidt, another of the very few stones unturned in Brooten's work, supports her argument on some key points, as he did in his American Academy of Religion paper and debate with William Countryman in 1993. Even more important, **step three**, as we work through to the end of Romans (including chapter 16), we find that each of the key terms and concepts in Romans 1:26-27 has suffered a kind deconstruction of its negative overtones. Same-gender sexual acts are described as unclean (1:24, but not as "sinful"), but in Romans 14:14,20 God declares all THINGS (not just "foods" as in many modern mistranslations) clean. Same-gender sexual acts are described as "unnatural" in Romans 1:26, but in Romans 11:24 Paul celebrates that fact that God acts against nature (the identical Greek phrase) by engrafting believing Gentiles into the "olive tree" of God's people. While same-gender sexual acts cause shame in patriarchal societies that assume female inferiority, Paul is "not ashamed" of his Gospel that centers on Jesus' crucifixion (3:21-26), the most shameful experience known to his society, and thus Christian believers learn to transcend their shame and to "boast" (three times in Romans 5:2-3,11) in their justification and oppression. While Brooten painstakingly notes many of these linguistic facts (trees), she does not perceive any forest of Pauline deconstruction at work as the epistle develops. Her leveling interpretation of Paul certainly is possible (and many radical feminists as well as scholarly traditionalists agree with her), but I am not yet convinced that the flattened Paul (uncritically and simplistically reflecting the prejudices of his culture) is the most probable interpretation. Brooten has a very fine section on impurity, working from Mary Douglas and interacting with Countryman's interpretation, but many questions remain unexplored in this section and much recent work on the gospels has not been dealt with. The whole area of Jesus' teaching about cleanness and uncleanness remains a major point of scholarly dispute. If it be true that Jesus, as everyone recognizes, not only declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19), but also set aside the entire Levitical purity code (by touching lepers, corpses, women with internal bleeding), then again we must ask: should Paul be interpreted as simply mirroring his cultural context, or should we interpret Paul as a faithful disciple of the radical Jesus, who called into question the entire set of oppressive purity rules from Leviticus? It would be the height of ingratitude to demand more from a work that gives us so much, but I would hope that Brooten and future investigations will further pursue and clarify the basic questions Countryman planted with his insistence that the sexual acts in Romans 1:24-27 are categorized as unclean but not necessarily as sinful. Brooten gives us a superb and detailed study of Romans 1, and does make considerable reference to the entire epistle, but I believe Paul's deconstruction forest can be clearly perceived when we work carefully through to the last chapter. Writers who begin with questions about homosexuality tend to start with Romans 1:26-27 and see the relevant context as ending in chapter 1 (all gentiles are sinful) or chapter 2 (Jews who condemn gentiles are even more sinful -- ha!), or 3:9 (all humanity is sinful). Brooten pays considerable attention to recent works on the rhetoric of Romans, but each year we see new papers and books that give us a profounder appreciation for the importance of following Paul in careful detail to the very end of the letter before deciding we have understood what his intentions and conclusions were in the opening chapters. While some would see a more conscious rhetorical deconstruction process at work in the letter (Countryman and Helminiak), I would tend to view the process as a subconscious deconstruction, stemming from Paul's repressed anger over his repressed homosexuality. That does not make the deconstruction less real, but for me it better explains the subtleties and ambiguities in the letter, which have birthed such a multitude of conflicting interpretations. Romans 1:24-27 would then be viewed as reaching its primary goal, not just negatively in chapter 1, 2 or 3:9, but in the positive exhortation to the house churches to avoid division and welcome one another in inclusive communities. As I have elsewhere shown, chapter 16 then illustrates Paul's goal, with its evidence pointing to some five house churches that included not only many slaves and women in leadership (as Brooten recognizes), but also an incredible variety of sexual minority living situations (and only 3 married couples; see my study of Romans 16 published by Other Sheep, St. Louis, MO, and forthcoming as a slightly revised book chapter, "Paul's Letter to the Romans as a Source of Affirmation for Queers and Their Families," in *Our Families Our Values,* edited by Robert Goss and Amy Strongheart, Harrington Press, 1997). For the comfort of activists who wish the "experts" would get their act together and agree about something, I would emphasize the large consensus of scholars who agree in ruling out the wrong answer: Romans and related texts should not be used to deny lesbigay rights. We are united on the kind of praxis called for, but disagreements probably always will remain as we reflect critically on our praxis (the task of theology according to liberation theology). Some, like myself, continue to suggest alternative interpretations (exegesis) of texts traditionally viewed as negative on all same-gender sexual relations. Others, like Brooten, would support the traditional view of the texts as negative, but (hermeneutics) point out scientific and cultural limitations that imply reducing or setting aside the authority of the texts for the church today. Very few would argue for a Bible that is literally authoritative in every area (monarchy, slavery, head coverings and submissive marginalization for women). Certainly there are scientific limitations in Paul's understanding of same-gendered sex in Romans 1:26-27. But as in Jesus' parable of the mustard seed (inaccurately described as the smallest of all seeds), we still may discern valuable teaching that transcends the scientific limitations and thus maintains canonical (subversive) authority for the modern church. Even if we accept Brooten's argument, flattening Paul to agree with his homophobic environment rather than transcending it to agree with Jesus, and stressing the possible linguistic links with Leviticus 18 and 20, the results need not be as detrimental to Paul's authority as the casual reader might expect. Brooten follows Saul Olyan who "has convincingly demonstrated that Lev. 18:22 and 20:13 prohibit anal intercourse, but not other male homoerotic acts" (61). For some reason, although Brooten stresses links between Romans 1 and Leviticus 18 and 20, she does not apply the limitation of Leviticus to male anal intercourse when she interprets Romans 1. We should add the obvious, that in an age before safer sex, condoms and precise scientific understanding of the way venereal diseases are transmitted, Leviticus (and possibly Paul) referred to UNPROTECTED male anal intercourse. So if Paul follows Leviticus, any implied prohibition of male homoerotic acts would refer only to unprotected male anal intercourse. Even this may not qualify as a valid ethical absolute (but neither Paul nor any other Biblical author ever pretends to give us "ethics" or "morals" [Greek philosophical categories alien to the Bible]). A healthy gay couple in an exclusive, permanent relationship can remain just as free of disease as any lesbian or heterosexual couple in such a relationship. But it would be difficult to deny that for contexts similar to Paul's (prescientific, before very modern medicine) his rhetoric (sermon illustration) in Romans 1:24-27 can well represent the authority of "wisdom," general good advice (males with more than one partner should avoid unprotected anal sex), without pretending to be an ethical absolute or a scientific law without exceptions. Brooten firmly establishes that Paul is working from cultural and prescientific presuppositions about the inferiority of women and implied gender boundaries that few today would advocate. The question remains whether all that Paul writes should be flattened to simply reflect these limitations, or whether he does not soaringly transcend these cultural limitations at many points and thus faithfully extend the radical Jesus tradition deeply into the gentile world. For me a basic problem with the work of Brooten (and with virtually all scholarly works on the Bible of all schools) is the continual assumed move from Biblical exegesis to the Greek philosophical categories of "ethics" and "morals." If we carefully limit ourselves to the Bible's own historically- oriented categories of the "way," obedience to commands and prohibitions that are grounded in specific historical and cultural contexts for guidance in the way, with continuities and discontinuities in relationship to our own historical and cultural context, texts like Romans 1:26-27 look very different. Brooten strengthens the case for interpreting the text as related to the "vice list" that follows (1:28-32). But as in the case of 1 Cor. 6:9-10, vice lists in the Bible do not yield Greek ethical and moral absolutes. Paul includes in his vice lists terms like "jealousy" and "desire / coveting" that in other Pauline contexts are viewed as positive. While for other vice-list terms such as "drunks," churches today almost universally employ a hermeneutical approach that speaks instead of "alcoholics," and establish 12-step groups for "alcoholics anonymous" and their families. For academics and others who revel in bibliographical detail and completeness, Brooten's work is such a marvel that even secular humanist readers may be prompted to reconsider the possibility of the miraculous. She not only cites an incredible number of studies in countless areas, but handily summarizes, astutely critiques, and wisely builds her often original conclusions on the shoulders of others. For male academics, the references to women's contributions that we commonly overlook should be especially welcome. Undoubtedly all of us, whatever our persuasion, will be referring continually back to Brooten's work. And if those who want to ordain women, but keep all the ordained lesbigays in their ecclesiastial closets, will have a hard time with Brooten, perhaps even more will the fundamentalist types who want to insist that women should not teach men. I predict they will find it exceedingly difficult to get the ammunition they will want from Brooten without learning much more than they intended to, and that from a woman. Perhaps they will at least progress to the point of wanting to ordain Brooten, but then they will have jumped half way off the cliff with Thomas Gillespie. Many perhaps will resist Brooten's conclusions from typical evangelical concerns about Biblical inspiration and Pauline authority. However, from the perspective of Latin American protestant liberation theologies the concern would be somewhat different. Roman Catholic churches here always have been more centered in the gospels than in Paul. But, due to their missionary origins, the protestant churches have been much more Pauline than their counterparts in Europe and the North America. As Dr. Irene Foulkes, New Testament scholar and linguist at the Seminario Biblico Latinoamericano in Costa Rica pointed out very early: in our protestant churches in the struggles over issues raised by liberation theologies, either we win the battle over Paul or we lose the war. What I miss most in Brooten's approach to Paul is the kind of liberationist interpretation exemplified in works like those of Dr. Elsa Tamez on justification in Paul (*Contra toda condena: la justificacion por la fe desde los excluidos*. San Jose, Costa Rica: DEI/SEBILA, 1991; *Justicia de Dios: Vida para Todos* (San Jose: SEBILA, 1991). As I recall, English editions of Tamez' works exist, and we have the similar approach of Neil Eliott, *Liberating Paul: the Justice of God and the Politics of the Apostle* (Maryknoll NY: Orbis, 1994). Brooten gives us what is incomparably the best detailed commentary on Romans 1:18-32, with considerable attention to Paul's argument up to 3:9 and good insights concerning the rest of the letter. However, I feel that her negative view of Paul's teaching in 1:26-27 would be more acceptable if it were balanced with more attention to where the rest of Romans road takes us and to the kind of liberationist perspectives on Paul we find in authors such as Elsa Tamez, Irene Foulkes, and Neil Elliott. It would be unjust to criticize a book that gives us so much for not giving us more, but I would hope that future studies by Brooten and others will incorporate more of the perspectives and findings of Latin American liberation theologies, including outstanding women Pauline scholars such as Elsa Tamez and Irene Foulkes. Meanwhile, in the light of Brooten's contribution, those of us who have relied heavily on the conclusions of John Boswell, Michael Foucault, Robin Scroggs, George Edwards, William Countryman and Daniel Helminiak, will be scurrying to rewrite our soundbites as we seek to participate in the raging secular and ecclesiastical battles over lesbigay dignity and liberation. For Brooten's work is not just the current best in a long series of significant contributions, but like Boswell's 1980 work, it really ushers in a new era in the debate. However, the reworking of favorite soundbites need not imply contradicting or junking them altogether (p. 361). - While Brooten undermines John Boswell's conclusion that pre-modern Christians accepted love and marriage between women, her references to marriage between women provide support for Boswell's later work on same-sex unions. - While Robin Scroggs' theory that Paul opposed homosexuality as pederasty does not square with evidence Brooten cites regarding women, it may remain a helpful major insight to understanding why Paul viewed same-sex relations as commonly involving exploitation and oppression. - While Michel Foucault's view that the medicalization of homosexuality first occurred in modernity needs qualification in the light of ancient medical attempts to explain and cure same- sex attraction, such prescientific explorations are hardly comparable with the major shift in cultural perception that occurred in the 19th-20th centuries with modern medicine. - Particularly our often-repeated affirmation that sexual orientation was unknown in antiquity requires careful attention. Brooten cites ancient astrological materials that attributed same-sex attraction to the stars, and thus showed some awareness of lifelong same-sex erotic preference. However we should not equate this astrological superstition with modern biological and psychological understandings of sexual "orientation" (a term Brooten uses, but which does not literally occur in her sources). - David Halperin's conclusion that "homosexuality" did not exist until the 19th century may stand in need of careful qualification, but significant precedents and antecedents in antiquity do not really constitute identity with the developing modern understanding. The complexity of the picture presented by Brooten, as well as by other scholars she builds on and to a significant extent refutes and qualifies, demonstrates the difficulty of the entire common "sound-byte" approach in which much of the secular and religious debate is conducted. While most everyone will find certain aspects of her carefully researched and well-argued conclusions unsettling, for anyone interested in the pursuit of truth, I believe Brooten's work will prove an invaluable resource and constant point of reference for many years to come. The Rev. Tom Hanks (Presbyterian Church U.S.A.) Adjunct Professor, Seminario Biblico Latinoamericano Executive Director, Other Sheep Buenos Aires, Argentina * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Caught in the Crossfire Caught in the Crossfire: Helping Christians Debate Homosexuality. Sally B. Geis & Donald E. Messer, editors; Abingdon Press, 1994. 206 pp. $12.95 (paperback). ISBN 0-687- 09524-7. Reviewed by Merrill Proudfoot. Hold on to your seats, folks, here comes another of those "debate" books! Jud van Gorder reviewed the Presbyterian engendered *Homosexuality in the Church: Both Sides of the Debate* in the August 1995 *Update.* Now we have the Methodist version. The two books are so alike that many folks will think they have the one when they really have the other. And it won't matter -- much. As a loyal Presbyterian (aren't we all?) I'm pleased to be able to give a slight edge to *Homosexuality in the Church*, and I'll reveal why in a minute But there are more important things to say about these books. The first is to bemoan the fact that the Church is buying into the model which has become almost obligatory on TV, of "Michael Kinsley on the left -- And John Sununu on the right." Take any issue, there are only two positions on it, and they are diametrically opposed to one another. What we are called to do is not to discuss the issues, but to debate them. There is no point in discussing them, apparently, because there is no in- between ground, and no one ever changes his/her/its mind. *Caught in the Crossfire* -- an instant reminder of Sununu and Kinsley -- *Helping Christians Debate Homosexuality*: The expectation this title lays upon the authors and the invitation it issues to the readers are about as objectionable as could be. Maybe we can forgive Abingdon, because Methodists haven't been asked to engage in dialogue. But it's hard to forgive Westminster/John Knox for inviting us to a debate. It was dialogue and study, not debate, that the General Assemblies of 1993 and 1995 asked us to do. Which brings us to the question of how these books are going to be used. Some of the articles are better than the titles or format would require. (The "Presbyterian" volume seems to have been more concerned to choose "relatively moderate perspectives," as the editor affirms.) It's possible to imagine a bunch of nice Methodists or Presbyterians reading the pro and con articles of a given chapter, sitting down together, and showing the good sense to knock off the sharp edges of the more extreme pieces while they grope together toward a common position in which justice, love and purity all get their due. But that's the hard way. "I, Paul, show you a more excellent way." Get the testimonies first-hand from live human beings. The biggest deficiency in both these volumes is that we don't hear persons telling their own stories. (An exception is Virginia Ramey Mollenkott in the W/JK book.) We don't even have "ex-gays" telling their stories. If there is any hope for finding a resolution of this issue that all can live with, it is by talking with, not about one another. There's no need for you to have to rely on written resources. Look at all those names on the back of this Update, most of them itching to tell their stories. And if they can't do it, they'll help you find someone who can. As for Biblical interpretation, it's a poor presbytery that can't come up with two ministers who approach this subject with different principles of Biblical interpretation. The scientific stuff you can ignore, because as the pieces in these two books demonstrate, the hard sciences don't have anything important to contribute to our dialogue. Psychology does; contact the psychology department of your university or a practicing therapist. Another type of resource we in our presbytery are finding useful is representatives of churches that have already gone through a dialogue and reached some resolution. In our city, one is Methodist and one is Southern Baptist, believe it or not. One of these articles speaks to our present situation as none other does. That is the piece by Jack Rogers in the W/JK volume. Observing that the Church is not ready theologically or socially for a fundamental solution, and that for either side to push one through in 1996 would be hurtful to the church, he calls for "an interim strategy that will allow us to live together while we learn more." He suggests, "Following the traditional policy of affirming community norms while granting individual exceptions could provide such a possibility." I, for one, hope Dr. Rogers is talking with other respected figures in the church along these lines. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Erotic Contemplative *The Erotic Contemplative*, by Michael Bernard Kelly, Published by EroSpirit Research Institute, (P.O. Box 3893, Oakland, CA 94609, 510-428-9063). Six videocassettes (8 hrs.) $199. Review by Josef Stack. *The Erotic Contemplative* came to me as a form of manna from heaven. I must admit up front that the gift predisposed me to view it with an openness of expected healing. And I wasn't disappointed. *The Erotic Contemplative* arrived while I was being "shunned" by my adult daughter -- a difficult time in my life. It was a spiritual prescription from my spiritual doctor - - a Cistercian (Trappist) monk. Prognosis is excellent; the patient is alive and well. *The Erotic Contemplative* is the life experience of a gay man, Michael Kelly. It is a lived experience that confirms and affirms my own gay experience. Kelly and I both come from a Roman Catholic tradition and he draws heavily on the mystics of the Middle Ages and offers a variation of Liberation Theology as a promise of freedom from institutional oppression of gay people in the Church -- and a way of handling the mess which we all inherit from our families. In six rather long teaching sessions (videos), Kelly presents a gay version of liberation spirituality in a loving and gentle way. The Institution always told us what we are experiencing. These tapes tell us to say what we are experiencing. Our bodily lives and our spiritual lives are ONE -- especially inviting to people of mid-life: *be who you really are*. Kelly is saying, "what gay people are learning is the law of the heart." There is nothing human which can separate us from the presence of God. Hey folks, you know what you are experiencing. You know what you know. This is genuine and real and holy. Don't let anyone tell you it isn't! Our experiences are as good as anyone else's. Hey, we live it. It is authentic. It is genuine. It is OUR STORY. Ideally viewed as the basis of a discussion group, it is nourishment badly needed for spiritually starving gay men and lesbian women. It shakes up what we believe about ourselves and Christianity and the Church. "It is better to be whole than to be good." *The Erotic Contemplative* begins rather heavy -- don't be scared off by this. You don't have to know Julian of Norwich, Meister Eckhardt, or even Thomas Fox to experience the wellspring of self love that Kelly is offering. In many ways it reminds me of Thomas Moore (the contemporary psychologist not the saint) who currently is on the best seller list with his *Care of the Soul* and *Soul Mates*. Consider it *Gay Care of the Soul and Body* and *Gay Soul Mates Are Sexy and Holy*! This work should be considered essential to anyone serious about their sexuality / spirituality (consider them congruent), and mandatory for anyone straight or gay who in any way acts as a spiritual director for gay and lesbian people. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Our Tribe: Queer Folks, God, Jesus & the Bible *Our Tribe: Queer Folks, God, Jesus & the Bible*, by Nancy Wilson (Harper San Francisco, 1995) xi + 292 pp. $15.00 (paperback) ISBN 0-06-069396-7. Reviewed by William A. Courson Does the Bible have a message for gay, lesbian and bisexual persons other than that embodied in "texts of terror" used for countless decades to stifle gay voices and maintain an oppressive silence in the Churches (and from time to time, to snuff out gay and lesbian lives)? Are the cultic purity injunctions contained in Leviticus' "holiness code" and Paul's admonitions in Romans to the first Christians central to what the Bible has to say about human sexual expression or are they to be viewed as peculiar cultural artifacts, belonging to their own time and place, and dismissed as peripheral to the centrality of biblical teaching? The Rev. Nancy Wilson, the author of this wonderfully readable and very important book, answers an emphatic and joyous "yes" to the first of these questions. Wilson, who is the ecumenical relations officer for the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Churches, has crafted an engaging story. Her seamless prose tells four tales: the founding and growth of the Metropolitan Community Church, a denomination whose principle ministry is one of outreach to the gay and lesbian community; the unsuccessful attempts of that denomination to acquire observer membership status in the (U.S.) National Council of Churches; the politicization of the process of Scriptural interpretation, in which demonstrably erroneous spins on Scriptural text and very questionable exegetical development have been used to maintain homophobia, misogyny and authoritarian patriarchalism in the Church; and, perhaps most importantly, the means by which alternate meanings in Scripture are to be discerned through a non-prejudiced but culturally sensitive reading. Those alternate meanings convey a momentous notion: that Queer people -- marginalized, despised and vilified by two millennia of Christian homophobia -- have a culture. That culture is tribal: specific and identifiable, continuous, rich in meaning, tradition and spirituality, and old -- very, very old. Wilson's reading of Scripture makes an audacious claim: that gay, lesbian and bisexual people (Queer folk, in her phraseology) and their lives on this planet have purpose and meaning, that they are possessed of tribal gifts of enormous consequence and potency, particularly in times witnessing drastic social shifts and millennial cultural change, and that neither the Church nor creation itself is complete without our presence. We are the midwives, in Wilson's view, whose presence both provokes in a most revolutionary fashion and yet assures the safety of delivery by an old society pregnant with a new one (or more to the author's point, an old Church pregnant with a new one). In Chapter 7 ("A Queer Theology of Sexuality") Wilson writes: "If we were really about to propose a 'queer millennium,' part of what might characterize this new era would be a new theology of sexuality. Many of us in the gay and lesbian religious community have talked about this for a long time. We have struggled to understand how feminist critique and gay and lesbian experience might not just add to a theology of sexuality but might be able to reframe the discussion. This has been difficult because for the most part, we have seen our theological agenda as trying to 'normalize' gay sexuality for the public, struggling for our human rights, wanting simply to be included in the panorama of human life and lifestyle. We've been bogged down by the necessity to do Biblical or theological apologetics. But what if we actually claimed a role in re-shaping the basic questions concerning God and human sexuality?" (p. 231). Our Tribe is an anecdotal, Scripture-citing, and often very funny account of Wilson's mission to evangelize, radicalize and re- educate the mainstream denominations of institutional Christendom by loudly and joyously enunciating a Queer theology. That theology has as its distinguishing feature a deep appreciation of the inclusive hospitality of God in Jesus Christ (that which we have called salvation). It is a theology that Wilson, amongst many others, feels will lead the Church into the next century and into the next millennium. (Bill Courson is a member of the Evangelical Anglican Church in America [EACA] and an ordained deacon in that denomination. He is presently Deacon-in-Charge of Saint Aelred's Mission Church, an EACA Parish-in-Formation in Montclair, New Jersey) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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, c/o Harris, Beach and Wilcox, 130 E. Main St., Rochester, NY 14604, 716-232-4440 wk, -1573 fax. BISEXUAL CONCERNS: The Rev. Kathleen Buckley, 2532 Rosendale Rd., Schenectady, NY 12309-1312, 518-382-5342; Skidmore College chaplain 518-584-5000 ext 2271, 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, 201-538-1655. 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; 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, email mcneese@theshop.net; Rickey, 13114 Holston Hills, Houston, TX 77069, 713-440-0353, 713-440-1902 fax, email patrickey@aol.com TRINITY (PA, WV): Rob Cummings -- see Officers (Recording Secretary); 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 Gene Huff (1998), 658 25th Ave., San Francisco CA 94121, 415- 668-1145, email: huffrevs@hooked.net, or Eugene_Huff.parti @ecunet.org; PNet: Eugene Huff Susan Leo (1998), 4508 SE Lincoln, Portland, OR 97215, 503-235- 6986, 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 Davidson, co-moderator for advocacy, 173 Gibbs St., Rochester, NY 14605, 716-546-6661, virginia_davidson.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, P.O. Box 1344, Everett, WA 98206-1344. 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 4, March-April 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; to subscribe, send message to: plgc-list-request@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. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * corrected version 2-27-97