Date: Wed, 5 Apr 95 17:34:58 EDT
From: "James D. Anderson" <jda@gandalf.rutgers.edu>

MORE LIGHT UPDATE

June-July 1993

Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns
James D. Anderson, Communications Secretary
P.O. 38
New Brunswick, NJ  08903-0038
908/249-1016, 908/932-7501 (Rutgers University)
FAX 908/932-6916 (Rutgers University)
Internet: janderson@zodiac.rutgers.edu or jda@gandalf.rutgers.edu

Note:  * is used to indicate italicized or boldface text.


CHANGES

Cleve Evans, Executive Board:  Change apartment number from 26 to 
22 and zip code from 68107-2261 to 68107-2260.

Richard Sprott, Co-Coordinator for the Synod of the Pacific:  
Change apartment number from 304 to 301; add email address 
sprott@cogsci.berkeley.edu

Lindsay Biddle's email address is:  lindsay@geom.umn.edu


CORRECTIONS

Grandparent clause in the PCUS homosexuality policy.

The article in the April Update on the Hudson River overture was 
incorrect when it stated (p. 4) that the position paper "Homosexuality 
and the Church," adopted in 1979 by the Presbyterian Church in 
the United States, "does not contain a grandfather clause such as 
that in Paragraph #14 in the UPCUSA document."  On the contrary, 
among the actions of the 119th General Assembly of the PCUS 
(1979) was item G. "That the General Assembly declare that these 
actions shall not be used to affect negatively the ordination 
rights of any deacon, elder, or minister who has been ordained 
prior to this date in the Presbyterian Church in the United 
States.

Nor was the policy binding.

Furthermore, the PCUS policy, like the original UPCUSA policy, 
was not binding on any governing body.  Action B states: "That 
the 119th General Assembly commend [!] this paper and these 
recommendations to presbyteries and sessions as they perform 
their constitutional duties in the ordination and discipline of 
ministers, elders, and deacons and in reception and oversight of 
members."


CONTENTS

Changes

Corrections

**Illuminations 1993**

Prayer of the People, by Shelley Scheirer

"Manifesting the Works of God" -- a sermon by the Rev. Jeanne W. 
     Baum

PLGC Named Beneficiary of Major Trust

Greetings from the March on Washington, by Chuck Collins

We Pray for Light:  A More Light Hymn, Melody "Finlandia," 
     Sibelius -- Text by Bill Cleary

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Illuminations 1993

A Cycle of Christian Worship
for Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexual and Transgender Christians,
and Their Families and Friends

Advent, Christmastide, Epiphany, Lent, Eastertide, Pentecost

by Chris Glaser

Written sections and hymn adaptations:  Copyright (c) 1993 by 
Chris R. Glaser. All rights reserved.  Permission granted for 
non-profit use in community worship, with credit to author and 
Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns.

Introduction and Dedication

A friend suggested, "Why don't you create worship services for 
individuals to use?"  He was thinking, of course, of the many 
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Christians who do not 
enjoy an accepting worship environment who might find such a 
resource useful.

I responded in good, theological fashion that worship was a 
communal event, explaining that though I believed in personal 
prayer, even an individual's prayer life was not *private*, i.e., 
done in isolation, but rather a voice added to the chorus of 
prayer and praise of unseen pray-ers around the globe.

But as I spoke, I realized that the same holds true for worship.  
Yes, I may worship individually, as long as I am aware that I 
worship with a community of faith--in this case, the often unseen 
and even unknown network of believers that make up Presbyterians 
for Lesbian & Gay Concerns.

In the past two annual issues of *Illuminations*, I have 
collected individual liturgical pieces for use as the reader saw 
fit.  Some readers may be disappointed that I have not done so 
this time.  Rather, I have decided to write a cycle of services 
for the Christian calendar that are original and unique to our 
circumstances.

There are several reasons for my decision.  One is an extremely 
personal one: because my ordination has been denied, I may not 
serve a congregation by developing liturgies as I once did when I 
was on the staff of West Hollywood Presbyterian Church.  You, the 
readers, are the only congregation I serve, and I wanted to enjoy 
this opportunity of creating worship for you.

Another reason is that I have felt vaguely dissatisfied with 
accumulating material for this issue.  There is a disjointed, 
disconnected assemblage of materials, sometimes bereft of 
unifying themes.  Attribution is a problem--one liturgy I was 
sent for last year's issue was taken entirely from pieces of the 
previous year's issue, without acknowledgment.  As a writer, I am 
sensitive to copyright problems, and am bothered that the 
appropriate creator is not always credited and has not always 
given permission.

Having said that, the liturgies that follow have allusions to 
scripture and to hymns that will be familiar to you, but I have 
not always identified the sources because they emerge from a 
collective worship experience that is ancient, beyond copyright 
applications.

Finally, I share a dream I had last night that reveals my present 
experience of the church.  The dream was presented as a film, 
with a narrator who had been crippled in an accident, who 
apparently was me.  You know the collegiate sport of going out 
for crew, rowing as an oarsman in a long, narrow boat?  In the 
film/dream I was captain of such a crew, and we had decided to go 
to the Orlando 1993 General Assembly in our boat.  At one point 
we went under water to avoid being detected, and I signalled to 
the team that we were to take a fork along a shore, one that led 
us to disaster. Construction crews on the edge of the water were 
dumping slabs of broken concrete into the water, and my vision 
witnessed this from outside the water in terror at the thought of 
what injuries to which these pieces of concrete were subjecting 
those crew members beneath the water.

Then came the rescue operation.  Now, in the dream the form of 
the concrete changed.  It had actually been poured into the water 
wet, and the hardened pieces were being pulled out, with the crew 
members stuck inside.  Again a chill went through my body as the 
concrete was broken off the crew, mutilating their bodies.  That 
explained how I had turned out disfigured.

The meaning of the dream was obvious to me.  I and others who 
have tried to take our mission to the church have been tragically 
damaged in our efforts.  We have become stuck in the church's 
concrete.  Even when we are broken free, we are broken.

I want to break free of the church's concrete.  I want healing 
for my body and for my soul.  My prayer is that these worship 
services may make that possible for me and for you, as we worship 
together across the miles, or in our local chapters, or within 
our congregations.

At a moment of *kairos* for me, the Rev. Dr. James King Morse 
introduced me to meaningful worship and eloquent sermons that 
blossomed in social justice.  That's why I dedicate this issue of 
*Illuminations 1993* to God in thanksgiving for his ministry when 
I became a Presbyterian in 1970 at the First Presbyterian Church 
of Van Nuys, California.

Chris Glaser
West Hollywood, California


Editor's note:

In the following worship liturgies, I have designated where a 
scripture or scriptures may be read, followed by "reflections."  
But I leave the choice of scripture and form of reflections up to 
the user or users. It would be best to use scriptures appropriate 
to each season.  Reflections may be inward and silent, or spoken, 
sung, acted out or danced.  The light and bold lines in the 
liturgical elements may be read antiphonally or responsively.


**I. Advent**

Call to Worship

How long, dear God, how long?
**Our longing cries to thee.**
Come out of your distant closet,
**Our yearning beckons thee.**
Reveal thyself to us in this age,
**Make known thy love for us.**

Hymn

(Tune: Veni Emmanuel; "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"; adapted from 
anonymous, translation by John Mason Neale)

In the following hymn, italicized syllables are to be held two 
notes, and emboldened syllables are to be held three notes.

O come, o come, Em**man**uel,
and ransom captive **Is**rael
that mourns in lonely *ex-ile* here
until the Child of **God **appear.
Rejoice, rejoice, Em**man**uel
shall come to thee, O **Is**rael.

You shaped us in our **mo-**ther's wombs,
Those for whom the *world* had no room;
You *formed* our inward *sighs* and dreams,
That we may find all **that **love means.
Rejoice, rejoice, for **Is**rael
gives birth to our Em**man**uel.

We gather now in **hope **and prayer--
Your *bless*ing will **meet **us there--
You *will* never *leave* us alone,

Your steadfast love's eternally enthroned.
Rejoice, rejoice, O **Is**rael,
God will come: Em**man**uel.

Prayer

In the fertile darkness of soil,
the green of life bursts out of its shell;
In the fertilized darkness of womb,
the flesh of life builds cell upon cell.

**Those born in darkness**
**Have seen life.**

The closet may be a fertile place:
creativity bursts out of a lonely hell,
And from a closet fertilized with hope,
the spirit leaps from a monastic cell.

**Those born in darkness**
**have seen life.**

Out of dark soil sprouts new life,
>From dark wombs springs embodied hope.
Both stretch for the illumination
Of the cosmic kaleidoscope.

**Those born in darkness**
**have seen life.**

Dear God, **we seek your Word embodied**
**In life rooted in fertile darkness.**
**In life stretching for illumination,**
**We await your transforming Word.**

Hymn

(Tune: Picardy; "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence"; adapted from 
the Liturgy of St. James, translated by Gerard Moultrie)

Let all mortal flesh show reverence,
And in awe and wondrous delight
Ponder One born from among us
To inspire and to invite
Reconciliation: Christ, God's Word,
Spoken to redeem, reunite.

Child of God, yet born of Mary,
That God's children all may be
One in faith and in baptism,
One in hope and charity;
One in Christ's blood and **bo**dy
Offered in diversity.


Alleluia! God comes among us,
Blessing us with earthly hands,
Loving us in earthly pleasures,
Leading us to take our stands
For healing love in our broken world,
For sweet justice in our lands.

Scriptures

Reflections

Prayers of the People

      Response: By your Word, we pray.

Hymn

(Tune: Hyfrydol; "Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus"; adapted from 
Charles Wesley)

Come, thou long expected Jesus,
Born to set thy people free;
>From our fears and bonds release us,
Let us find our rest in thee.
Our own strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth thou art;
Dear desire of every station,
Joy of every loving heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
Born to hallow body-soul,
Born to open up our closets
Born to lead, not control.
Keep us `from weak resignation
To the ills that we deplore':
Guide us in thy common purpose,
To our home, become the door.

Benediction

Now may the advent of God in our world
give us pause,
may it give us pleasure,
may it give us peace,
now and forevermore.  Amen.


**II. Christmas or Christmastide**

Call to Worship (Magnificat)

Our soul magnifies the Lord,
**and our spirits rejoice in God our Savior,**
for God has regarded our low estate.
**Behold, henceforth all generations**
**will call us blessed;**
for God who is mighty has done great things for us,
and holy is God's name.
**God's mercy is on those in awe of God**
**from generation to generation.**
God has shown strength,
scattering the proud in the imagination of their hearts,
**putting down the mighty from their thrones,**
**and exalting those of low degree;**
filling the hungry with good things,
and sending the rich away empty.
**God has helped us, servants,**
**remembering the mercy**
**spoken to our mothers and fathers in faith.**

Thanks be to God!
**Jesus Christ is born!**
Alleluia! Amen!

Hymn

(Tune: Antioch; "Joy to the World!"; adapted from Isaac Watts)

Joy to the world!
God's Word is come:
Let earth receive its grace;
Let every heart prepare it room--
Expand its warm embrace,
Expand its warm embrace,
Expand, expand God's warm embrace.

No more let walls divide our love,
Nor fear our hate require;
Christ comes to bless
each co-ve-nant
The gift of love inspires,
The gift of love inspires,
The gift, God's gift of love inspires.

Joy to the world!
The Savior calls
For mercy, truth and grace,
So hope and trust
And faith may glow
In every child's face
In every child's face
In ev'ry, ev'ry child's face.

Prayer

Deliver us from Joseph's fear of scandal.
**Deliver us from Herod's jealous power.**
Deliver us from Zechariah's silenced doubt.
**Deliver us from the innkeeper's inhospitality.**

Free us for Elizabeth's fertile faith.
**Free us for the shepherds' sense of wonder.**
Free us for the magi's insight of divinity.
**Free us for Mary's humble and receptive faith.**

In all nativities of the spirit,
all movements of God's will in human flesh,
**lead us to be as faithful as the prophet Anna,**
**and as attentive as the prophet Simeon.**

Amen.

Scriptures

Reflections

Prayers of the People

      Response for thanksgivings: Glory to God in the highest!

      Response for petitions: On earth peace among all.

Hymn

(Tune: Es Ist Ein Ros'; "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming"; adapted 
from anonymous, translated by Theodore Baker)

Lo, how a rose e'er blooming
>From tender stem hath sprung
A rose, though unassuming
>From human flesh begun.
It came a floweret bright,
To teach a new salvation
Of loving delight.

Isaiah 'twas foretold it,
A flower for all kind,
With Mary we behold it
A-bloss'ming for all time
To show God's love aright
Love manifest in suffering
And earthly delight.

Prayer (Nunc Dimittis)

Yahweh,
now lettest thou thy servants
depart in peace,
according to thy word;
**for our eyes have seen thy salvation**

**which thou hast prepared**
**in the presence of all peoples,**
a light for revelation to strangers,
**and for glory to thy people of faith.**
Amen.


**III. Epiphany**

Hymn

(Tune: Open My Eyes; "Open My Eyes, that I May See"; adapted from 
Clara H. Scott)

Open our eyes, that we may see
glimpses of your divinity,
Open our ears, that we may hear
Your joy in our diversity:
Reverently now, we wait on thee
Your healing touch we hope to feel
Open our hearts, in charity:
Spirit divine!

Open our minds, that we may know
Your love of our humanity,
Loosen our bonds, that we can grow
Outside all captivity:
Reverently now, we wait on thee:
Your healing touch we hope to show
Open our hands, in charity:
Spirit divine!

Prayer

Women:
You are my beloved son,
with whom I am well pleased.

Men:
You are my beloved daughter,
with whom I am well pleased.

Together:
With those words, may we too
believe our call to a ministry
of solitude and solidarity,
of sacrifice and seeking life abundant,
of comforting the poor
and challenging the powerful.

Women:
May our birthings be valued.

Men:

Transform our water to wine.

All:
Lead us to live "as if" in this world
your will were the rule,
your justice the judge,
your mercy the goal,
our celebration your hope.
Amen.

Scripture

Reflections

Prayers of the People

      Response: Open us to thy presence, God.

Hymn

(Tune: Dix; "For the Beauty of the Earth"; words by Folliott S. 
Pierpoint, adapted slightly)

For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies,
Love of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the wonder of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars so bright,
Love of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind's delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight,
Love of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Lover, husband, wife and friend,
And the stranger reconciled,
Love of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the love of those beyond,
Communing in each time and place,
Offering up eternal song
Of prayer and praise, of peace and grace,
Love of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

Prayer (Unison)

Now may the grace of adoption
as God's daughters and sons
transform us:
opening our eyes to our kinship
one to another,
fellow heirs with Christ,
in the Spirit of children, not slaves,
receiving our inheritance:
the commonwealth
of the One who loved us into being
and loves us into becoming.
Amen.


**IV. Lent**

Prayer

Lead us not into temptation,
**but deliver us from evil.**

Deliver us from merely seeking acceptance, O God:
**lead us to live the word that transforms our world.**

Lead us not into temptation,
**but deliver us from evil.**

Keep us from putting you to the test, O God:
**lead us to trust in you and in our own worth**.

Lead us not into temptation,
**but deliver us from evil.**

Free us from false choices, O God:
**lead us into the integrity of body and spirit.**

Lead us not into temptation,
**but deliver us from evil.**
**For thine is the commonwealth,**
**and the power, and the glory**
**now and forever. Amen.**

Hymn

(Tune: St. Flavian; "Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days"; 
adapted from Claudia F. Hernaman)

Christ, who throughout these forty days
For us did fast and pray,
Teach us with thee to find our way
And close by thee to stay.

As thou with tempters did contend
And did the victory win,
O give us strength to strive with those
Who name our love a sin.

And through our days of wilderness
And by our Passion call
The church to penitence and awe
That God's love is for all.

God, send thy angels to our care,
Freed from our suffering past,
So Easters of unending joy
We may receive at last!

Scriptures

Reflections

A Prayer to Jesus

Jesus,
our fast has been imposed by others,
our wilderness sojourn their choice more than ours.

**Our fast from the sacraments,**
**our fast from ordination:**
**our only choice was honesty.**

With the scapegoat of the ancient Hebrews
sexual sins of generations
have been heaped upon our backs,
and we have been sent away,
excommunicated, into the wilderness to die.

**Yet we choose life,**
**even in our deprivation.**

Jesus,
lead us to discern our call
parallel to your own:
rebelling against the boundaries,
questioning the self-righteous authorities,
breaking the Sabbath law
to bring healing.

**Jesus,**
**lead us from the temptations you also faced**
**of self-preservation,**

**of proving our origin,**
**of coercion over persuasion.**

Jesus,
in your temptation you taught us
our survival,
our authority,
our power
do not lie there.

**Jesus,**
**by your ministry**
**lead us to give of ourselves so others may live,**
**grant us the courage to speak from our experience,**
**and grace us with the power only of love.**

Jesus,
help us understand that giving of ourselves
means not only feeding the multitudes,
**but also overturning tables in the temple;**
that speaking of our experience
means not only a comforting mountain top sermon,
**but also rebuking religious and political authorities;**
and that love does not always wear a happy face,
**but may express anger, may grieve, may yearn,**
as you did over God's house of prayer for all peoples,
as you did over Jerusalem's killing of prophets,
as you did from your cross.

Lead us from our temptations, Jesus.
**Deliver us from the evils of our day.**
**Because the commonwealth that means life,**
**the glory in which we share,**
**and the power of love we enjoy**
**belong to the God whom you serve.**
**Amen.**


**V. Easter or Eastertide**

Call to Worship

Jesus Christ is risen!
**Christ is risen indeed.**

>From the cross
**comes hope,**
>From the grave
**comes life.**

Jesus Christ is risen!
**Christ is risen indeed.**

>From grief

**comes passion,**
>From doubt
**comes faith.**

Jesus Christ is risen!
**Christ is risen indeed.**

Hymn

(Tune: Easter Hymn; "Jesus Christ is Risen Today"; adapted from 
anonymous)

Jesus Christ is risen today,
Al- - le - lu - ia!
Our triumphant holy day,
Al- - le - lu - ia!
Who showed love upon a cross,
Al- - le - lu - ia!
Suffering, Christ saved the lost.
Al- - le - lu - ia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing
Al- - le - lu - ia!
For Christ has shown us how to bring
Al- - le - lu - ia!
Transformation from death to life
Al- - le - lu - ia!
By coming out in love's new life.
Al- - le - lu - ia!

All the pains which we endure
Al- - le - lu - ia!
Means deliverance we assure
Al- - le - lu - ia!
Generations yet to be
Al- - le - lu - ia!
Knowing love's sanctity.
Al- - le - lu - ia!

Prayer

God,
who raised your child, Jesus,
from death to life:

Raise us, as your Church
**from betrayal to commitment,**
**from denial to affirmation,**
**from rejection to inclusion**
**of all of your children**
**who confess faith in you.**

God,
then lift us--your Church--up
**from death to life abundant**
**that we may go into all the world**
**and preach your gospel of grace,**
**baptizing others in the name of one**
**who embodied that grace to others,**
**even Jesus Christ, our Lord.**
**Amen.**

Scripture

Reflections

Hymn

(Tune: Victory, "The Strife is O'er, the Battle Done";
adapted from anonymous, translated by Francis Pott)

The strife is o'er, the battle done;
The victory of life is won;
The song of triumph has begun.
Al-le-lu-ia!

The powers of death have done their worst,
But Christ has raised the last to be first:
Let shouts of holy joy outburst.
Al-le-lu-ia!

Christ gives the cure we've waited for
Christ brings us home, becomes our door
And offers God's love evermore:
Al-le-lu-ia!

Invitation to Christ's Table

Friends, this is the joyful feast
of the people of God!

People will come:
people of all colors and nations,
lesbian, gay, bisexual and straight,
male, female, transgender,
people with disabilities.
People will come
to share at the table
of the commonwealth of God.

This is Christ's table.
Our savior invites those who trust in God
to share the feast prepared for them.

According to Luke,
when our risen savior
was at table with disciples,
the stranger blessed and broke bread with them,
opening their eyes to the recognition
of Christ in their midst.

The Thanksgiving

Lift up your hearts.

**We lift them up to God.**

Give thanks to God, for God is good.

**God's love is everlasting.**

Holy God, Mother and Father of all:

(Prayers, ending with:)

With women and men of faith from all times and places,
we lift our hearts in joyful praise,
for you alone are holy:

**Holy, holy, holy One,**
**God of love's power and might,**
**heaven and earth are full of your glory.**
**Hosanna in the highest.**
**Blessed are those who come in the name of God.**
**Hosanna in the highest.**

Together we proclaim the mystery of faith:

**Christ has died,**
**Christ is risen,**
**Christ will come again.**

O God, who calls us from death to life,
from closet graves of secrecy,
and from whitewashed tombs of human dogma,
to full, abundant life:
**we give ourselves to you,**
**and with the church through all ages,**
**we thank you for your saving love**
**in Jesus Christ, our Lover.**

We recall the names
of those who have gone before us
whose love and life stay with us:

(Anyone may name names of those who have died.)

Now let us pray the prayer Jesus taught:

(The prayer Jesus taught Us, beginning, "God, mother and father 
of us all . . .")

Words of Institution

[Ordination is only required to say these words to make this an 
"official" communion in the eyes of the church; ordination is not 
required to make this a sacred feast before God, if those who say 
the words do so in good conscience.  Any or all may say these 
words.]

**This is my body given for you.**
**Eat this in remembrance of me.**
**This is my blood, poured out for you,**
**drink this, remembering my new covenant.**

Distribution of the Gifts

Prayer (From the Episcopal *Book of Common Prayer*)

**Eternal God, heavenly Father and Mother,**
**you have graciously accepted us as living members**
**of your Child, our Savior Jesus Christ,**
**and you have fed us with spiritual food**
**in the sacrament of his body and blood.**
**Send us now into the world in peace,**
**and grant us strength and courage**
**to love and serve you**
**with gladness and singleness of heart;**
**through Christ our Lord. Amen.**


**VI. Pentecost**

Call to Worship

Come, Holy Spirit,
unite our spirits,
**give voice to our sighs**
    **too deep for words,**
offer the prayers
    of our inmost thoughts,
**lead us into more truth**
    **and more light,**
weave us with those
    who have gone before us
    in the vision
    and the proclamation
    of your spiritual commonwealth,
**that all may enter,**
**hear their own language spoken,**
**and become no longer strangers**
**to the covenants of promise,**
**no longer aliens**
**to the commonwealth of God.**
**In the name of Jesus Christ,**
**who sends you, Spirit,**
**we pray.**
**Amen.**

Hymn

(Tune: Morecambe; "Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart"; adapted 
from George Croly)

Spirit of God, rise within my heart:
Spring from this earth, through all this beauty flow;
Strengthen my purpose, mighty as thou art,
And help me love earth with my body and soul.

Spirit of God, lead us to Promised Lands:
Reign with us now in all our wandering;
Give us the patience, bless our own hands
That we Christ's love may make offering.

Spirit of God, help us now discern:
Where you are found, whom you send to lead;
Send us your Passion by which to yearn
So that our fruit we bear by your own seed.

Scripture

Reflections

Reaffirmation of Baptism

[As in communion in the previous service, ordination only makes 
baptism "official" in the eyes of the church.  Baptism is made 
sacred by the work of the Spirit and the willing participation of 
the believer.  Ordination is not required.]

A participant makes the sign of the cross on another's forehead 
(an individual may do this for her/himself) with a finger dipped 
in water for each of these sayings, read individually:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them 
in the name of Creator, Christ, and Spirit, teaching them to 
observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you 
always, to the close of the age."

"To the eunuchs . . . and the foreigners . . . these I will bring 
to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer . 
. . for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all 
peoples.  Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of 
Israel, I will gather yet others besides those already gathered."

"I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them 
now. When the Spirit of truth comes, the Spirit will guide you 
into all the truth."  "Can any one forbid water for baptizing 
these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"

The Peace

Greet one another, saying, "May the peace of Christ be with you!" 
responding, "And also with you."

The Prayers

      Response to individual petitions and thanksgivings:

      **Send your Spirit, God.**

Hymn

(Tune: Sine Nomine; "For All the Saints"; adapted from William 
Walsham How)

For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who thee by faith before the world confessed,
Their memory, Jesus, please forever bless.
Al-le-lu-ia!  Al-le-lu-ia!

O blest communion, present and divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.
Al-le-lu-ia!  Al-le-lu-ia!

And as we march around the church's walls
May we detect their distant trumpet calls
Cheering our victory as division falls.
Al-le-lu-ia!  Al-le-lu-ia!

Thou Holy Spirit, giver of our dream:
A commonwealth for our shared esteem
And reformation, truth's more light to beam.
Al-le-lu-ia!  Al-le-lu-ia!

Benediction

Now may the grace
bestowed by the Creator on all creation,
embodied in Jesus Christ,
and inspired by the Holy Spirit
keep us mindful of God's loving embrace
for us all, now and forever.
Amen.


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Prayer of the People

by Shelley Scheirer

Blessed God of Compassion and love, hear our prayers.  The 
prayers of your people affected by HIV.  Help us see a world of 
@we@, not a world of *us& and *them*.  Help us see that when this 
or any other dis-ease affects one of your children it affects all 
of us.  Let us realize that all your children are worthy of your 
gifts of love, compassion, joy and respect; regardless of what 
state of health we are in.

Blessed God, help us to look at HIV in a new light.  Let us look 
at HIV as a dis-ease free of shame, guilt, and stigma.  Help us 
overcome the idea that HIV is always fatal.  Help us believe in 
Miracles, not just for us who have HIV, but also for the medical 
researchers, health care practitioners, healers, and all people 
working toward a cure.  And when we can't see the miracles, bless 
our anger and rage, for rage will call us into action.

Let us who do not have HIV, see this dis-ease as an opportunity 
to express love and compassion.  Help us to realize that our fear 
can give way to love. And help us support all people with HIV, no 
matter what choices are made.

Blessed God, help people with HIV in the journey for spiritual 
growth and physical healing.  Help people with HIV develop the 
ability to ask for help and find the supported needed.  And when 
or if this dis-ease makes changes in our bodies, show us how to 
honor and respect our limits.

Blessed God, we ask you to remember those who have succumbed to 
this dis-ease, and welcome them into your Kingdom, as you will 
someday welcome us all.

-- In his cover letter, Shelley, a member of PLGC / Delaware, 
wrote:  "I'm a member of West Presbyterian Church in Wilmington.  
I am a Person With AIDS, and I've been living with this dis-ease 
almost 5 years.  In October I wrote this prayer for our More 
Light Service.  Love and Peace."  Shelley succumbed to this dis-
ease on March 20 and was welcomed into God's kingdom.  Thank you 
Shelley! -- JDA.

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"Manifesting the Works of God"

The Rev. Jeanne W. Baum presented this sermon at Old South Haven 
Presbyterian Church, Brookhaven, NY, on March 21, 1993 in honor 
of the commissioning of Evangelist Rev. Janie Spahr in Rochester, 
NY, on March 6.

Scripture:John 9: 1-7

As Jesus passed by, he saw a woman, lesbian from her birth.  And 
his disciples asked him, Teacher, who sinned, the woman or her 
parents, that she was born a lesbian.  And Jesus answered, It was 
not that the woman sinned, or her parents, but that the works of 
God might be made manifest in her.

I have paraphrased this morning's lectionary rather boldly but it 
speaks this way clearly to this time and place.  The question is 
asked these days in the media as more and more evidence mounts 
that for the majority of gay and lesbian people sexual 
orientation is not a choice.  A short article in *Newsweek* 
reported on a recent study of 108 lesbians with identical or 
nonidentical twin sisters and 32 additional lesbians who had 
adoptive sisters.  Each pair grew up in the same environment and 
in almost half or 50% of the 108 identical pairs, both twins were 
homosexual, compared with only 16% of the nonidentical pairs and 
6% of the genetically unrelated sisters.  This study suggests 
that biology plays a role in lesbianism but other factors may 
also contribute.  In the media, it is cold and analytical but to 
the mothers or fathers who realize that their child is gay or 
lesbian and asks themselves, "Why?" it is far from cold but 
fraught with emotion and often filled with recriminations.  
Certainly in the original story of the blind man it is not a leap 
to believe that the man and his parents had frequently asked 
themselves where to lay the blame for the man's blindness.  Now 
what Jesus says next is extremely important.  He says what this 
is all about is not *sin* - that, my friends, is irrelevant.  We 
aren't talking about that and we aren't talking about blame 
either.  Jesus answered, It was not that this woman sinned or her 
parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in her.  
What Jesus said is as applicable to the gay and lesbian community 
today and to those who would consider the question of sin in 
relation to homosexuality, as it was to the blind man.

So much for the question of sin.  Jesus dismisses it in regards 
to the status of blindness of the blind man and I would add so 
might we, in regards, to the status of sexual orientation.  It is 
the second phrase that speaks most powerfully *that the works of 
God might be made manifest in her*.

Recently the Presbyterian Church has been turned upside down with 
the Janie Spahr case.  In early November of 1992, the Permanent 
Judicial Commission of the church's General Assembly, our 
church's highest governing body, set aside the call of openly 
lesbian pastor Jane Spahr to join the pastoral staff of the 
Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York.  "Set 
aside" is a strange phrase in regards to ordination.  How can one 
somehow pretend that an ordination which occurred is no longer 
acceptable on the basis of sexual orientation only.  Since Jane 
Spahr was ordained in 1974, the decision was particularly 
surprising.  In 1978, the General Assembly offered "definitive 
guidance" *against* the ordination of gay and lesbian deacons, 
elders and ministers.  However, there was a grandparent clause 
protecting lesbians and gay men ordained prior to 1978 as well as 
a recommendation opposing investigation of an ordinand's 
sexuality.  With the ruling of the Permanent Judicial Commission, 
the grandparent clause seems to have been ignored.

In 1979, the Session here at Old South Haven, with Pastor John 
Long, after study of the issue of ordination of gays and lesbians 
foresaw the possibility of what has just occurred and in a letter 
to the Presbytery of Long Island requested *endorsement of an 
overture* to the General Assembly that would return "definitive 
guidance" to the original understanding of guidance and not an 
order which admits no exception.  The letter then spoke to the 
situation in other than legalistic sounding terms.  It spoke in 
human terms of the times when a session might, after considerable 
prayer and discussion of "definitive guidance," decide to proceed 
with ordinations.  The overture that was presented at that time 
affirmed the right and responsibility of each church to elect its 
own church officers and the right of each presbytery to determine 
its own members, following the guidance of the Holy Spirit in 
determining the faith and godliness of such individuals, being 
guided but not constitutionally bound by "definitive guidance." 
The overture was passed by our Presbytery and presented to the 
General Assembly where it was sent to the Bills and Overtures 
Committee.  The recommendation from that committee was that no 
action was necessary since the then Stated Clerk, William P. 
Thompson, said that "definitive guidance" was binding and that no 
one who openly acknowledged homosexual orientation and practice 
could be eligible for ordination.

Fourteen years later Old South Haven is again sending letters to 
our Presbytery requesting endorsement of an overture which again 
affirms the rights and responsibilities of each church and 
presbytery in the matter of ordination.  This time the overture 
did not originate with us but with the Presbytery of New 
Brunswick, New Jersey, and it is one among many which wrestles 
with the issue.  If our overture in 1979 had passed the General 
Assembly, it would not have been possible to set aside Janie 
Spahr's call now.  And again we are hearing the words, "No 
action," this time from the Presbytery's Bills, Bylaws and 
Overtures Committee.

To return to that phrase "that the works of God might be made 
manifest in her." God worked through the witness of the blind 
man, through him others were invited to new sight - or perhaps we 
could say "insight." It seems to me, that it is the work of God 
which is being made manifest in Janie Spahr and through her 
others are being invited to new insight.

Perhaps we need to now look at the whole question of cure - in 
today's lectionary the question of sin set aside, Jesus cures 
the blind man of his blindness.  He is able to see.  If we are to 
continue our paraphrase or analogy, it is here that we must be 
careful.  It is not *impossible to say Jesus cured the lesbian 
woman*, but we must be careful that we say of *what* - to 
paraphrase in such a way as to suggest that the cure for the 
lesbian woman is to make her heterosexual would not do justice to 
our understanding of the woman or of Jesus.  The cure, "the 
opening of the eyes of the lesbian woman," may be to give her the 
spiritual sight that was given to the blind man - that she may 
have her eyes open to see God's love for her and to recognize 
Jesus in her life.  Once this is done, she cannot deny it.

The first eight verses that we read this morning in John's gospel 
about the giving of sight to the blind man is just the beginning 
of the story.  The next 33 verses deal with the reaction of the 
Pharisees to this miracle.  And so also for the Presbyterian 
Church, the declaration of spiritual wholeness by the lesbian and 
gay community and their supporters is only the beginning of the 
story.  The Jews throw the man who had been given sight out of 
the temple.  The Pharisees seek to discredit Jesus.  But it is 
the one with the newly claimed sight who really understands who 
Jesus is and Jesus seeks him out.

It is here that I can only pause to give testimony and say that 
here at Old South Haven, it has been a special contribution of 
the gay and lesbian members and friends to share what their 
journey, their new claimed sight, has meant to them.  Because it 
has often been their experience to be cast out of the temple, 
their understanding of who Jesus is and how God works in their 
lives is sometimes quite different from those who have not taken 
their pews and the acceptance of their identities for granted.

While the blind man in John's gospel is cured of physical 
blindness, the Pharisees are challenged to shed their spiritual 
blindness.  Whenever we are confronted with Jesus, we have a 
decision to make as to whether to recognize Jesus or not and in 
the recognition to respond and in that response to become closer 
to God.  If we are conscious of our own blindness and we long to 
see better and to know more, we are open to having our eyes open.  
If we are conscious of our own homophobia - and homophobia like 
racism isn't something we like to admit to - but if we are open 
to having our views changed and letting God's Spirit in, we will 
see more clearly.  The person, on the other hand, who believes 
that they know it all, those people who do not realize that they 
cannot see, are those who are truly blind and beyond hope and 
help.  Only those who realize their own blindness can learn to 
see.

"We must work the works of God who sent me, while it is day; 
night comes when no one can work." When Jesus spoke these words, 
he was intimating that his days walking and working on this earth 
were limited, and that there was urgency in the labor of the days 
ahead.  So, also for us during these days of crisis in the 
Presbyterian Church, we too must work the works that we believe to 
be of God now while there is still time.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

PLGC Named Beneficiary of Major Trust

[PLGC has sent this press release to the major media of our 
denomination.]

26 April 1993 -- PLGC, an organization within the Presbyterian 
Church (U.S.A.) that advocates full membership and participation 
by lesbian, gay, and bisexual Presbyterians in the life of the 
church, has been named the end beneficiary of the income from a 
major Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust.  The trust has been 
established with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation by 
Howard and Mary Ann Jacob of Dallas, Texas, long-time members of 
PLGC.

Mr. and Mrs. Jacob will receive income from the trust until the 
death of the surviving spouse.  Thereafter, the trust will be 
permanently invested by the Foundation with income to be paid to 
PLGC.  The Jacobs ask that PLGC use the income for "ministries 
of justice and advocacy for members of the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.)."

Following the lifetime of the donors, the trust will be known as 
the Howard W. and Mary Ann Jacob Memorial Fund.

Howard and Ann Jacob are elders in Bethany Presbyterian Church of 
Dallas, a More Light congregation.  Howard is a former Trustee of 
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation and a current Trustee 
of the United Presbyterian Foundation of the Synod of the Sun.  
Ann is a former Trustee of the Grace Presbytery Foundation.  Both 
are active leaders in local social justice, peacemaking and 
ministries with the poor and hungry.

PLGC rejoices in this affirmation of the faithful and inclusive 
church that its members and friends have been struggling for 
since David Sindt first asked, at the 1974 General Assembly, "is 
there any one gay out there?"

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Greetings from the March on Washington

[Chuck Collins prepared this for his home congregation, the 
Downtown United Presbyterian Church of Rochester, NY.  We thank 
him for sharing it with the Update.]

Good morning. I would like to share several snapshots of last 
weekend's March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Civil 
Rights with you, snapshots which I think you will find affirming.

Before I do, I should bring greetings to all of you from Janie 
Spahr and Coni Staff. Janie continues to express her 
appreciation to all of you for the opportunity to meet with 
people across the denomination. During one of her visits a woman 
said to her, "Janie, always remember. You're not on the fringe of 
the church. You're on the horizon." And much is happening on the 
horizon, as we all know.

Janie has shared with us that we helped her to come home to the 
church, to heal from her "churchphobia." My snapshots of the 
March indicate that Janie is not the only gay person coming home 
to communities of faith.

In the early morning hours last Sunday, before the hundreds of 
thousands of marchers began to populate the Mall in front of the 
Capitol, over 1000 gathered to worship God at the Lincoln 
Memorial. Reverend Troy Perry of the Metropolitan Community 
Church celebrated baptisms and communion with many who a decade 
ago would have been loath to rise at 6 AM on a Sunday.

At 7:30 that evening after 6 tiring hours of standing, waiting, 
patiently inching along the march route, and sitting on the Mall 
in 80 degree heat surrounded by 1 million other marchers, a 
standing-room-only crowd gathered at St. Margaret's Episcopal 
Church to worship God. For two hours they sang, prayed, laughed, 
and wept. And despite their exhaustion, no one wanted to leave 
the church when worship had ended.

In the atrium of a Washington hotel the morning after the march, 
an ensemble of 8 women quietly began to sing: "Amazing grace, how 
sweet the sound, that saved a soul like me. I once was lost, but 
now am found; was blind, but now I see." With each verse, the 
volume grew and voices joined them until virtually everyone 
within earshot was singing the final verse.

At the National Airport, a former Baptist minister from Texas 
came up to me and said, "Where did you get that pin with the 
cross and pink triangle?" When I explained that it was the More 
Light Network pin, he asked how he might obtain one. I told him I 
would give him mine as long as he promised to wear it often. He 
promised, and told me he would say a prayer of thanks for the 
More Light churches whenever he put it on.

At the same moment, a woman standing next to us said, "Did you 
say you're Presbyterian? I'm on the session of my church in 
Atlanta. Our minister is homosexual."

"Does the congregation know he's gay?" I asked. 

"The session does. And some members of the church. We're really 
supportive of ordination for gay people."

When I asked if her church was a More Light church, she admitted 
that she had never heard of More Light churches. She said she 
would appreciate my sending her more information.

The evidence is clear. Lesbian and gay men of faith are coming 
home. Some are reclaiming the Gospel taught to them in their 
youth; others are finding new sources of spiritual communion with 
God and God's people. And like the parent running to greet a 
child who has been like a stranger for too long, congregations 
like ours stand with open hearts and arms to welcome them.

Tori Osborn of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has 
proclaimed the `90s as the decade when gay Americans come home to 
America. It is also the decade when gay Christians come home to 
the church. May churches everywhere greet them with joy.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We Pray for Light

A More Light Hymn

Melody "Finlandia," Sibelius -- Text by Bill Cleary

We pray for Light, Great Seven-Day Creator,
On your First Day that was your first command,
"Let there be Light," and Light was new created,
Then you made heav'n, and under it the land --
     But Light was first of all this reach creation
     This day we ask More Light -- to understand.

We ask More Light, Great Fire Within Creation,
For we discern a wider world each day,
We need More Light to make a space for wonder,
To understand what silence has to say,
     Without the Light the darkness builds around us,
     Without discernment we will lose our way.

We pray for Light, Great Warming Sun of Morning,
We pray for hearts renewed and unafraid,
Create in us new space for comprehension
So we may love and reverence all you've made
     So we may live amazed by your creation
     Grant us that Light and Love for which we've prayed.


Bill Cleary, author of the hymn "We Pray for Light," is a former 
Catholic priest partnered with a campus minister and lecturer on 
feminist spirituality who once was a nun.  Five of his songbooks 
and tapes have been published, as well as three books on prayer 
with a fourth, entitled *A Doubter's Prayerbook*, forthcoming 
soon from Paulist Press.  He has also recently produced 
educational videos on poverty and economic justice.  Bill 
and Roddy O'Neil Cleary attend a More Light Presbyterian church 
on the University of Vermont campus in Burlington, Vermont" -- 
Christ Church Presbyterian.  For information about his 
publications, contact Bill at 37 Juniper Ridge, Shelburne, VT 
05482.