Date: Mon, 5 Aug 96 16:18:49 EDT From: James Anderson Subject: More Light Update S-O 96, part 1 of 3 (49 K) Part 1 of 3, 49 K MORE LIGHT UPDATE For all ministers, elders, deacons, members and friends of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) September-October 1996 Volume 17, Number 1 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 PEOPLE Our Officers PHOTOS EVENTS PLGC Winter Conference The Shower of Stoles: Continuing the Witness RESOURCES We Are All Children of God The Rhetoric of Intolerance: An Open-Letter Video to Pat Robertson from Mel White. Your New Update FEATURE ARTICLES 208th General Assembly Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) June 29-July 6, 1996, Albuquerque, New Mexico Affirms Full Civil Rights for Same-Gender Couples Sends Chastity Amendment to Presbyteries for Vote by James D. Anderson The Minority Report Our Witness After the Vote Invitation to an Inquisition Same-Gender Marriage Moderatorial Election Our Celebration of Reconciliation Solemn Stoles -- Upbeat Gathering A Stole Story, By Vicki Moss Our Inclusive Church Awards In Honor of Jim Anderson In Honor of Deb Price More Light Churches Receive Witherspoon Society Award Testimony The Whole Bible for the Whole Human Family Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos A Plea for Acceptance, by Glen Fennema And finally, Danielle Thibeaux-Milner, Aged 10 A Mugging at General Assembly, by Rick Fisher The Chastity Amendment: Some Commentary from Our Friends Sexuality, Ordination and the Confessions What's the Background of the "Fidelity and Chastity" Amendment Regarding Presbyterians and Their Proposed Dogma Regarding Marriage Between One Man and One Woman and Chastity in Singleness No Forgiveness Without Justice, by Chris Glaser PLGC Heroes and Heroines, Sung and Unsung Meanwhile, ecclesiastical court cases abound Cincinnati Judicial Commission Overturns Ordination of Allegedly Gay Elder Church Challenges Presbytery Action on Investigation of Same-Sex Blessings Gay Elder Attacked in Florida New Transgender Cases SECOND FEATURE "Dance the Dream of Freedom" The Rev. Daniel E. Smith More Light Churches Network Keynote Address Rochester, New York, May 3, 1996 BOOKS TO WATCH OUT FOR A Separate Creation: The Search for the Biological Origins of Sexual Orientation, by Chandler Burr *Out, Thank God! -- Autobiography of George J. Link, "The Gay Deacon," PLGC Officers and Contacts (at end of file) Masthead (publication information) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PEOPLE The Rev. L. Dean Hay, until recently our activist coordinator in the Salt Lake City area, has moved to Southern California, so he is joining Doug Elliott as a coordinator in the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii. Here's his new listing: Rev. L. Dean Hay, P.O. Box 77, Fontana, CA 92334, 909- 829-0931. Two of our coordinators in the Synod of the Trinity, Jim Ebbenga and Kurt Wieser, have a new address: 203 E. Prospect Ave., North Wales, PA 19454-3208. Richard Sprott, our coordinator for the Synod of the Pacific in the San Francisco Bay Area, has a fax number to add to his Update entry: fax, 510-271-0127. Lew Myrick, our treasurer, has a nice new, short email address, to replace that long, complicated one he used to have. Here it is: myrick@jhu.edu (jhu is for Johns Hopkins University). Sally Witherell, one of our Coordinators in the Synod of the Northeast (in Boston Presbytery) has resigned. We thank her for her faithful service to PLGC and her church. Sally writes: "I will keep PLGC in my prayers, being thankful for all the good work it does and for its continuation." We wish Sally the best in her new home. Dorothy Fillmore, PLGC liasion for PresbyNet has new work telephone/fax numbers. They are: 804-828-1831, fax 804-828-8172 wk. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Our Officers Please welcome our new officers and board members, and join us in sending hearty thanks and appreciation to officers and board members who are retiring from their current posts. Scott Anderson is our new co-moderator. Rob Cummings is serving as Recording Secretary "pro tempore," until he is formally appointed by our board. New board members are: Lisa Furr, Richmond, VA; Susan Leo, Portland, OR; Gene Huff, Indianapolis, IN (moving to San Francisco, CA); Bill Moss, Washington, DC; and Woody Smallwood, Baltimore, MD. Retiring officers and board members are: Bob Patenaude, Los Angeles, CA (co-moderator); Jim Earhart, Atlanta. GA (recording secretary and board member); and board members Dorothy Fillmore, Richmond, VA; Louise Thompson, Portland, OR; and Michael Purintun, Louisville, KY. Jim Earhart writes: "I was surprised, pleased and made to feel very good inside by the card I received after GA with the signatures and notes of best wishes from the PLGC Board and my many friends. I did miss being in Albuquerque but hope to see all of you in another place at another time." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PHOTOS All photographs in this issue were taken by Harold Snedeker, to whom we send hugs and thanks for getting his pictures printed even before he left General Assembly. We regret that these great photos are NOT in the electronic version! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * EVENTS PLGC Winter Conference Save February 21-23, 1997 for PLGC's Winter Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. Lisa Larges, leader of Witness for Reconciliation in San Francisco, will be the leader. The gathering will begin Friday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. and conclude after worship Sunday morning, Feb. 23 at St. Joseph Retreat Center, 18485 Lake Shore Blvd. in Cleveland. Anticipated cost for the weekend will be $125 for two nights plus meals. Watch for registration materials and information about financial assistance in the Nov.-Dec. *Update.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Shower of Stoles: Continuing the Witness The Shower of Stoles was a powerful presence at General Assembly in Albuquerque. The entire collection of over 350 stoles from gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Presbyterians from all over the country was displayed at the PLGC Celebration on Saturday night. Following this event, over 300 gay folk and straight allies signed out stoles to wear for the entire week. This "walking display" became a highly visible witness day and night in meetings, restaurants, on the street, and on the floor of the Assembly itself. More stories about the Shower of Stoles will appear in future issues of the *More Light Update*. In the meantime, we strongly encourage you to continue the symbol of the stoles locally, as presbyteries begin debate of the proposed *Book of Order* amendment this fall. Make a straight ally "signature stole," have folk from your presbytery sign it, and wear it to every presbytery meeting. Make simple "stoles" out of narrow strips of cloth and distribute them to supportive folk to wear in their churches every Sunday. Put information about the stole project in your presbytery mailings, so others will know about the symbol of the stoles. Or make arrangements to have the Shower of Stoles brought to your area. To contribute a stole to the project, or for more information, contact Martha Juillerat and Tammy Lindahl, 6146 Locust Street, Kansas City, MO, 64110, (816)822-8577. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * RESOURCES We Are All Children of God Rutgers Presbyterian Church, in cooperation with the New York City Presbytery's Unit for Lesbian & Gay Concerns, has produced an insightful video called "We Are All Children of God." Prominent lesbian and gay Christians share their faith journeys in the hopes that Christians around the globe will gain a greater understanding of God's wonderful diversity. This video is an outstanding resource for congregations involved in dialogue concerning the ministry of lesbian and gay Christians. It's a "must see" for any church contemplating More Light designation. For a copy of "We Are All Children of God," contact Carl Bisson or Robert Doyle at Rutgers Presbyterian Church, 212-877-8227. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *The Rhetoric of Intolerance: An Open-Letter Video to Pat Robertson from Mel White.* This 30-minute video was an important "hit" at the PLGC booth at the Albuquerque General Assembly. The video, and a detailed user's guide, will remind you of Mel White's four year effort to help Mr. Robertson understand the dangers of his false and inflammatory rhetoric, which he regularly uses to attack lesbian and gay folks and our families. The video and user's guide are available free except for the cost of shipping ($5.55) from *Justice Report,* 1280 Bison, Suite B9- 431, Newport Beach, CA 92660, 714-224-9329. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Your New Update For several years in the 1970s, Chris Glaser edited the PLGC Magazine *More Light.* It appeared every two months in an 8-1/2 by 11 inch format. In 1980, Chris passed *More Light* on to a new editor, who never managed to produce a single issue. However, at the same time, the *More Light Update* was born, as the "quick and dirty update" between issues of the *More Light* magazine. Now, your *More Light Update* is returning to the larger, bimonthly format and schedule of the first *More Light* magazine. The impetus for this change is new U.S. Postal Service regulations, which complicate the mailing of the smaller format. Also, by sending out a larger Update every two months rather than every month, we can send you just as much information (and we hope inspiration), but at considerable savings in postage. The larger format will accommodate more photographs, too, so if you have interesting PLGC-related photos, do send them along. -- Jim Anderson. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * FEATURE ARTICLES 208th General Assembly Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) June 29-July 6, 1996, Albuquerque, New Mexico Affirms Full Civil Rights for Same-Gender Couples Sends Chastity Amendment to Presbyteries for Vote by James D. Anderson God's justice-loving spirit made great strides toward a truly inclusive church in Albuquerque, but our church was not quite ready for full affirmation of lesbian and gay Presbyterians and their committed relationships. On the one hand, the assembly voted to support full civil rights for lesbian and gay couples. On the other hand, it declared same-gender sexual relations, even in committed unions, to be sin, and that openly gay and lesbian Presbyterians in committed relationships cannot be ordained as elders, deacons and ministers. But rather than say this directly in a binding way, the assembly is proposing an amendment to the *Book of Order* (our church's constitution). This amendment will now go out to our 171 presbyteries for discussion and vote. If approved by a majority of the presbyteries, it will become a part of the constitution. The great progress toward a truly inclusive church is indicated by the narrowing vote by which this exclusionist amendment was approved. It was only 57% in favor (313), with 43% voting no (236). In the past, votes against admitting lesbian and gay Presbyterians into full membership have generally been 90% or higher. So God's Holy Spirit is indeed moving among faithful disciples in the Presbyterian Church. The proposed "chastity amendment" does not mention lesbian or gay people or same-gender sexual relationships directly. Rather, it states that: "Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage of a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament." The original version of the this amendment came from the Assembly Committee on Ordination and Human Sexuality with the phrase "marriage of one man and one woman." On the floor of the assembly, this was changed to "marriage of a man and a woman," in an attempt to circumvent clear prohibitions of divorce in the words of Jesus and in the confessions. It was thought that "a," rather than "one" would permit heterosexuals to continue to enjoy as many spouses as they wish, as long as they engage in their serial marriages one at a time. In contrast, lesbian and gay folks are held to quite a different standard. We are not allowed even a single life-long partner. Such is the morality of apartheid. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Minority Report Nineteen members of the fifty-member Assembly Committee on Ordination and Human Sexuality signed a minority report, which was eloquently presented to the full assembly by Scott Opsahl of Newton Presbytery (New Jersey). The assembly declined to accept it by a vote of 59% to 41%. For the record, here it is: *"The undersigned members of the Assembly Committee on Ordination and Human Sexuality offer this report to the church in the spirit of peace, reconciliation, and openness to the leading of God's spirit.* The 208th General Assembly (1996) has been asked to resolve a matter that has painfully divided the church for two decades: whether or not any practicing homosexual persons can be eligible for ordination to office in the church. As commissioners and as church members, we have all struggled to find the grace and truth that will allow us to live together as God's church. Scripture reminds us that where we can see only two paths, God can show us another way. For example, Peter in a vision saw two choices: eat the unclean or go hungry. God intervened with new perceptions. As members of this committee, we have clearly sensed both the deeply held, sincere convictions on both sides of the issue and the apparently irreconcilable differences. But we believe that it is possible for God to open another way. It is possible for us to live together as we continue to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is clear that all of us depend upon church leaders to lead exemplary lives consistent with the teachings of Christ. It is also very clear that all of us look to Scripture and our historic confessions as the chief guides of our actions and our lives together. However, the deeply moving and personal testimony of more than one hundred people has made it equally clear that our members, elders, clergy, and biblical scholars interpret these mandates differently: - Some have taken personal vows of celibacy in order to serve the church. - Some have testified to their belief that God has healed them from homosexuality. - Some lesbian and gay Christians, in long-term, monogamous relationships, devoutly believe that they are living in accord with God's will for their lives. - Some homosexual Presbyterians, gifted for ministry and whose call has been affirmed by their sessions and presbyteries, long for the opportunity to serve Christ in the church without hiding their identities. There are congregations in our denomination that thrive on inclusive ministries, and others who feel that allowing homosexual practice among church leaders would prevent the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) from being a leader in upholding Scriptural standards. We have heard many who believe that there is one clear interpretation of Scripture. And we have learned that the professors of Old and New Testaments at our own Presbyterian seminaries are divided on the meaning of the few biblical references to same-sex practices. Such differences are consistent with the doctrine of Scripture found in the Confession of 1967 (9.27-29) affirming both the authority of Scripture and our obligation to "approach the Scripture with literary and historical understanding" (*The Book of Confessions,* 9.29). Throughout our deliberations and hearings, there has been a civil, respectful spirit, which we have deeply appreciated. We hope that it will continue while we continue as a church to seek the guidance of the Spirit on this matter. The scriptural model for resolving conflict in the church asks us "no [more to] pass judgment on one another" and to "pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding" (Rom. 14:13, 19). And our *Book of Order* reminds us that there are "truths and forms with respect to which [people] of good characters and principles may differ," and in such cases we are called to "exercise mutual forbearance toward each other" (G-1.0305). We present the resolution below to the church so that we can "live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together [we] may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 15:5-6). In place of the committee's action ... we move the following: ... the 208th General Assembly (1966) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, does hereby RESOLVE That the "definitive guidance" of the 1978 and 1979 General Assemblies of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and the Presbyterian Church in the United States is affirmed as the continued best judgment of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and is commended to ordaining bodies, sessions, and presbyteries, as the guidance of the General Assembly; and That sessions and presbyteries, in exercising their constitutional responsibilities to examine, ordain, and install officers, are advised to study the Scriptures, the *Book of Order,* and *The Book of Confessions,* to weigh the General Assemblies' guidance, and not lightly to ignore that guidance nor the results of their study; and That this assembly approves the following authoritative interpretation of G-6.0106 of the *Book of Order:* That a session or presbytery is neither required to consider nor prohibited from considering qualifications for ordination and/or installation not specifically enumerated in the *Book of Order;* and That the entire church is called to prayer, study, and continued dialogue on the issues of human sexuality, seeking always to be open to the Spirit of God that is continually being revealed to us. [Signed by] Joseph Gibney, Boston; Benjamin L. Kornell, Ohio Valley; Scott C. Opsahl, Newton; Diane Wray Williams, Northern Plains; Phyllis Hoekstra Kort, Salem; Burdette Anderson, Central Nebraska; Jane A. Larsen-Wigger, Winnebago; Ronald E. Stone, Arkansas; David MacDonna, Southeastern Illinois; Ann Collins Wasson, Eastern Oklahoma; Jeanne Wilsom Baum, Long Island; Paul Phaneuf, Plains and Peaks; David P. Krum, West Virginia; Palma L. Camren, Wabash Valley; Calvin Chin, San Francisco; Amanda Southard, Missouri Union; Charles M. Mendenhall, Mission; Mason E. Lowe, St. Andrew; Fiona A. Nicolaisen; Milwaukee. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Our Witness After the Vote More than a thousand commissioners, observers, PLGCers, friends and supporters demonstrated their profound disappointment and shame at the continued discrimination advocated by the assembly by participating in a peaceful and solemn march around and through the floor of the assembly, at the invitation of Moderator John Buchanan. Here's the report of the procession by Ann Rodgers-Melnick, writing for the *Pittsburgh Post-Gazette*: "After the vote on the ordination amendment, six gay ordination activists, mimicking pallbearers carrying a casket, silently carried in a prone cross draped with white clerical stoles. They were followed by hundreds of mourners who stood silently in front of the assembly, some men with arms around men, some women hand in hand, many weeping openly. After several minutes of silence, they left singing a song whose only lyric was "we are marching in the light of God." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Invitation to an Inquisition Commentators at general assembly regarded the last line of the proposed "chastity amendment" quite remarkable -- an open invitation to inquisitions across the church, in congregations and presbyteries, with license to inquire into an enormous variety of "self-acknowledged" sin on the part of deacons, elders and ministers. The blackmail that has been routinely employed against lesbian and gay officers, such as PLGC moderator Scott Anderson, can be used against anyone if this amendment is adopted. Already, interested persons are combing the ancient and more modern confessions in the church's *Book of Confessions* to find practices called sin. Sins such as not keeping the sabbath holy by performing regular work or engaging in recreations and charging excessive interest have been identified. The term "self-acknowledged" has not been defined. Can it be assumed that any minister, elder or deacon who plays golf on Sunday is profaning the sabbath? Can officers who work on Sunday, or cause others to work, be assumed to profane the Sabbath? And if these "sinful" practices are done openly, may that be taken as evidence of "self-acknowledged sin" Although the clear motivation of this amendment is to cut off openly gay and lesbian persons who are in relationships from any possibility of ordination, it casts a very wide net. Now is the time for all interested persons to study the confessions and to consider the meaning of this possible amendment on the life of our church, and to share all thoughts with every minister and every elder commissioner in their presbyteries. Now, if not before, all presbyteries will be engaged in the study (if not the dialogue!) advocated by the 1993 Orlando assembly. [See additional commentary later on in this issue.] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Same-Gender Marriage 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. "... [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. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Moderatorial Election The first official assembly business of significant interest was the election of the moderator Saturday evening, June 29 -- the opening day of the assembly. The three candidates were spaced across a spectrum of attitudes toward the ordination of open lesbians and gays in relationships. John Clark Poling believes open lesbians and gays in relationships to be such sinners that they should never be ordained, and furthermore, if the assembly approved their ordination, a great schism would occur in the church. Norm Pott openly affirmed ordination of qualified lesbians and gays. John Buchanan was in the middle, hoping to keep the church together as he espoused trusting sessions and presbyteries to make the necessary judgments about persons whom they know first hand. John Buchanan was elected on the second ballot. During the question period prior to the election, "on the matter of ordination of avowed homosexuals, he enunciated two principles: Scripture is its own interpreter; the Holy Spirit leads us to truth. Noting how the church has changed its position on divorce, he said, 'I can live with diversity.' He then added that 'we should trust the decisions of sessions and presbyteries.'" -- Gene Williams, *Presbyterian Outlook*, July 15, 1996, p. 2. Here is Norm Pott's presentation to the assembly: By Grace Alone (5 Minutes in Albuquerque) My message is like Peter's in Acts 10. Peter could not fathom how a Gentile could receive the gift of God's Spirit, but then God stuck Cornelius right in the middle of his path. Cornelius was a Gentile. He had obviously received the Spirit, so Peter had to file a startling report with the brothers and sisters back in Jerusalem. "Friends, we are going to have to go back to the Biblical, theological, and constitutional drawing board. God is at work beyond our boundaries. God is taking in the very people that we have counted out." Providentially on my path I have been met by a few people who are homosexuals. Some of them are believers in Jesus Christ, and like all believers they are gifted by the Spirit and equipped for ministry, including ministries that we have traditionally recognized and supported with ordination. Some would object as they did to Peter. Then you are asking the church to accept any and all forms of sexual behavior. No, I am not. I would advocate for everyone, whether gay or straight, a positive, healthy, responsible expression of God's gift of sexuality. Most of the gay and lesbian persons that I have come to know seek that, they want that, and sometimes they are faithful, and come close to achieving it, and other times they fall short. In other words they are like me and most heterosexuals I know When we fail we lean back upon God's grace. Let's get back to basics, friends. We are not justified by the practice of one absolute sexuality, we are justified by faith in God's grace in Jesus Christ. It is not the role of the Presbyterian Church to dispense grace, to ration grace, to decide who receives grace and who does not. It is God's grace and it is free and it is for everyone. Of course there are issues of behavior, but they are heterosexual as well as homosexual. What I see in Jesus is **first,** an unconditional acceptance of persons, and then issues of behavior are addressed within loving relationships. What I see in the Presbyterian Church **first,** is a blanket judgment regarding behavior and then an unconditional rejection of a whole group of people, unconditional in the sense that the rejection occurs before we ever meet them as human beings. When we opened this issue in our congregations, it was not easy, it was not without pain, but it soon became an issue of what about Mary, what about the Parkers' son, what about Cornelius? Could they be full members of the church? Are they free to serve among us? Who were we to say "no"? It is not our church. What would Jesus say? What would Jesus do? That is the most important questions that we can ask over the next eight days. No, this is not the only challenge we face here in Albuquerque. On the agenda of each of our committees over the next few days we will be presented with marvelous opportunities for celebration, for evangelism, for pursuing and expanding our mission. We will renew our marvelous Presbyterian partnerships, women and men, racial ethnic persons of whom I am one, children and youth, ecumenical, interfaith. We are a privileged people living in the transition from the old church to the new church of God's making. But to recover our gospel integrity, to get back in touch with the spirit of Jesus, there is first of all this issue of inclusion. I am here because I believe we can work through it. I believe the time has come for the Presbyterian Church to say "yes." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Our Celebration of Reconciliation More than 500 PLGCers, friends and supporters crowded into the ballroom of the Doubletree Hotel Saturday evening, June 29, following the moderatorial election to celebrate the coming inclusive reconciliation in our church. This year's celebration focused on the "Shower of Stoles," organized by Martha Juillerat and Tammy Lindahl of Kansas City, Missouri. Here's the story prepared by Bob Bolt of the General Assembly News Service: Solemn Stoles -- Upbeat Gathering The PLGC Celebration of Reconciliation overflowed the Ulam ballroom of the Doubletree Hotel where three sides of the room displayed a "Shower of Stoles." Over 350 stoles have been given by ministers, elders, relatives, friends and churches on behalf of gays and lesbians, many of whom cannot reveal their true identity, or who have been forced from the path of ministry and service at every stage by the position of the church on their sexuality. The mood was upbeat because of the large turnout and the positive feeling about the election of Moderator John Buchanan. Inclusive Church awards were presented to: Elder James D. Anderson for his tireless efforts in the publication of the *More Light Update*; and, Deb Price, syndicated columnist, for her excellent writings that has led to better understanding of gay and lesbian concerns. Moderatorial candidate Norm Pott, who attended, received a standing ovation when he said to the large crowed: "I would rather have the love and respect of the people in this room than to be moderator of the Presbyterian Church." Martha Juillerat introduced the Shower of Stoles by relating the response to a pamphlet requesting soles at last year's General Assembly. Eighty stoles came in six weeks, 200 during the year, and more than 350 were received by the time of General Assembly. At the conclusion of the gathering, a request was made for volunteers to wear the stoles to worship and around the General Assembly as a witness. A sampling of the messages of the stoles included the following: "John -- an ardent Presbyterian 'son of the manse.' He might have become a minister, but the non-acceptance of his sexuality by family and Presbyterian Church has directed him into another profession and another denomination." Another read: "From an anonymous gay pastor in the hope that the church will affirm my identity in the same way they have affirmed my ministry." And from a lesbian: "You know me. I am your daughter, your pastor. You nurtured me, encouraged me, ordained me. For over 20 years I have served at every governing body level." And it continued: "Yet I cannot tell you my name. For me the risk is still too great. I work and pray for the day when I am free to say who I truly am." A Stole Story by Vicki Moss, Pastor, Terra Alta, West Virginia This is a story about a serendipitous experience we had participating in the "Shower of Stoles" at General Assembly. Following the PLGC Celebration, the participants were asked to choose a stole from among the 350+ displayed around the room and wear it as a witness throughout the week at General Assembly. As I made my "stole stroll" earlier in the evening, I spied the sole of a former colleague from my North Carolina days. When it was time to pick a stole, I went to find hers. My husband, John Harris, set off on his own to find a stole. He moved about the room, considering this one and that one. He finally chose a beautiful woven purple Guatemalan stole submitted by a church session "in support of (the) ministry of reconciling all diversities of persons to God's love." The next day, I struck up a conversation with Lisa Furr, who commented about my stole. She is a friend of the educator whose name appears on the pink triangle appliqued to the stole. I asked her what Marki was doing now. Lisa said that she was still an educator working at a More Light church in North Carolina -- The Church of Reconciliation in Chapel Hill. Later, I asked my husband about his stole. He showed me the letter that was attached to the stole from the session of The Church of Reconciliation in Chapel Hill, NC. Unplanned and unbeknownst to us, together we were representing one church and its educator. If God's spirit can work in this serendipitous way at General Assembly, maybe there is hope that the PC(USA) will one day reconcile all diversities of persons to God's love. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Our Inclusive Church Awards PLGC presented two Inclusive Church Awards this year, one to Jim Anderson, PLGC's communications secretary and editor and publisher of the *More Light Update* since its beginning in 1980; the other to Deb Price, wonderful, insightful, nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian-gay issues. Chris Glaser presented the award to Jim Anderson; Lindsay Biddle presented the award to Deb Price. Here are both presentations. In Honor of Jim Anderson by Chris Glaser on behalf of the Inclusive Church Award Committee There are few awards for what *we* do in the church. The gay and lesbian community has all sorts of awards for politicians merely doing their jobs and for celebrities who deign to acknowledge the dignity of lesbian and gay people, and it has awards for lesbians and gay men who come out and happen to be celebrities themselves or who are related to politicians and celebrities. The gay and lesbian community also gives awards for just plain service to the community, but often ignores the enormous contributions of lesbian and gay people of faith struggling within the belly of the beast of organized religion. The church of course, for the most part, also refuses to acknowledge our contributions with any prizes other than being given heretic-of-the-month awards or being highlighted on the pages of *The Presbyterian Layman,* itself an honor, because as a friend in the church once said, you can tell the quality of a human being by the enemies arrayed against her or him. Believe me, the opposition of The Lay Committee says many good things about our character. That's why I suggested years ago that we establish an award to honor those among us who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to quest for the holy grail of inclusiveness in the church. In my view, no one more exemplifies this than tonight's first recipient of the 1996 Inclusive Church Award of Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. It could also be said that in the beginning was the word and the word was made print and sent among us, full of grace and truth. It is through the word that we all first heard of Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns, it is through the word that we all were welcomed into membership, and it is through the word that we understand our connection to one another in the *More Light Update.* The one who gets that word in print and gets the word out to us is Elder James D. Anderson, PLGC's communications secretary and *More Light Update* editor. He is our most valuable player, and he does it all as a volunteer, a self-less, sacrificial, optimistic, realistic, irreverent, humor-full, understanding, justice-loving, compassionate and impassioned worker of miracles that brings off the best and most reliable monthly newsletter of any lesbian and gay religious group. There is no way we can adequately thank him, there is no way the Presbyterian Church can adequately thank him -- though I'm sure he would happily take the *required* ordination of qualified lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered ministers, elders, and deacons as partial payment for the nearly two decades he has devoted to our organization. Since this is not likely to happen this year, we offer you, Jim, this consolation prize of our thanksgiving for all the tedious yet wonderful hours spent putting together the *More Light Update,* answering our phone and our mail and our e-mail, preparing the annual report, welcoming new members, making G.A. arrangements, and being nice to us no matter when we call on you for one more thing, one more question. We know in acknowledging you we must also recognize the love and support of Rafael Catala, your lover and friend, and of Chea, his mother, who gets the *More Light Update* ready for mailing each month. Together you have made our newsletter a cottage industry, and a model of traditional family values. Please come forward, Jim, to accept this award. And as you do, a hymn written in your honor is being distributed, and before we allow you to speak, we will do our best at singing it. For All the Words (To Sine Nomine "For All the Saints") In honor of James D. Anderson by Chris Glaser For all the words with which you have begun Which you bring together to make us feel as one, The *More Light Update,* you have always done, Alleluia! Alleluia! For all the light you've brought to disparate friends From scattered lay folk To uptight rev-er-ends, The *More Light Update*, on this we depend, Alleluia! Alleluia! From Anderson, And Chea, his mom-in-law, Come words confronting Homophobia, The *More Light Update,* our apocrypha, Alleluia! Alleluia! O blest communion! News from far and wide Of God's gracious action Championing our side, The *More Light Update,* now mailed worldwide, Alleluia! Alleluia! In Honor of Deb Price by Lindsay Biddle on behalf of the Inclusive Church Award Committee My name is Lindsay Louise Biddle. I am one of many Presbyterians for lesbian and gay, bisexual and transgender concerns in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). I am a member of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, and I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where all the winters are strong, the springtimes are good-looking, and the summers are above average. Recently when I interviewed to be the pastor of a small church in rural Wisconsin, and I met with the session of this seemingly- traditional, conservative, family-style congregation, I remember wanting from the start to be open and frank with them about my involvement in PLGC and the More Light Church movement. If this was going to be a problem for them, I wanted to know about it then, and not find out the hard way afterward. So I asked the elders if they had any questions about anything on my resume. One gentleman said, "Yes, I notice here that you are part of Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns. Can you tell us about that?" I paused, took a deep breath, and started talking about my commitment to inclusiveness in the church, my beliefs as a Christian, and my teaching on scripture and homosexuality. I noticed as I spoke the man's wife sitting there and nodding her head. After I finished speaking I waited for the boom to lower. Then two other elders sat up and said, "Yeah, you know, it's not like homosexuality is a disease or something!" Over the past several years, folks in that rural community and people in towns and cities all across the United States have been exposed to the lives and concerns of lesbian and gay people in America through a weekly syndicated column distributed now in more than 100 newspapers, a column that highlighted: - on August 25, 1993, "Many use Bible to back anti-gay beliefs"; - on October 20, 1993, "Virginia Davidson shines for 'More Light' churches"; - on November 29, 1995, "What God has joined together let no one put asunder" about a holy union held at the Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, NY. Now we Presbyterians all know the good works that we do through our various advocacy groups such as PLGC. But we who are working *inside* the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are like Martin Luther who worked *inside* the Roman Catholic church seeking to change it; we tend to speak church language and act out church polity "decently and in order." Yet recall that it was only after Martin Luther's *95 Theses,* originally penned in Latin, was translated into German -- the common language of the people -- and published by the newly-invented printing press, and distributed widely among the German people, that Martin's sparks set off a firestorm just waiting to happen! Yes, Martin Luther's ideas "lit the match," but it was the people's hunger for truth and vision that "fed the fire" of the Reformation. Likewise, PLGC has been in operation for over 20 years now, and More Light Churches have been growing for over a decade. Yet a "secular" columnist has worked to translate our vision of an inclusive church into a vision that speaks to readers of all religions across the nation. She has written well about highly controversial subjects so as to get published in newspapers of various political stripes throughout our country. She has reflected "More Light" through the strongest, clearest lens possible -- the lens of truth-telling -- and thus "feeds the fire" of inclusivity, tolerance, and love throughout our homes, workplaces, religious and social communities. Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns presents to the glory of God, a 1966 Inclusive Church Award to Deb Price. Please welcome Deb, and Joyce Murdoch, her partner in writing and in life. [Later, in her stirring remarks, Deb admitted to being the daughter of an Episcopal minister, but a "Presbyterian by marriage," thanks to Joyce Murdoch!] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Date: Mon, 5 Aug 96 16:19:28 EDT From: James Anderson Subject: More Light Update S-O 96, part 2 of 3 (52 K) MORE LIGHT UPDATE from Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns September-October 1996, part 2 of 3, 52 K More Light Churches Receive Witherspoon Society Award by Jerry Van Marter, General Assembly News Service The 73 Presbyterian congregations that have declared themselves "More Light" (willing to ordain gay and lesbian members to church office) were given the Witherspoon Society's Congregation Award at the society's annual luncheon here [in Albuquerque] June 30. About 75 members and pastors of More light churches came forward to receive the award. The Rev. Byron Shafer presented the award on behalf of the society to Virginia West Davidson, a member of Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, N.Y. "The More Light churches are demonstrating the advent of a new heaven and a new earth -- one of full inclusion and participation for all Presbyterians," Shafer said. Davidson said "the heart of the [More Light] movement is hospitality -- loving each other as we love ourselves." She said that "as love grows, mistrust and fear melt away." ... Keynote speaker the Rev. Jack Stotts, soon to retire president of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, said the real issues of the current debate over ordination of gay and lesbian persons are the church's theology of order and its theology of human sexuality. "It is a theological issue to discover how God is ordering the world toward the fulfillment of God's purpose," Stotts said. "And Christian discipleship then becomes ordering what we have been given in light of God's ordering of creation." Stotts said that order is "a community of inclusive friendship." Human sexuality is part of that ordering process. "The issue is not ordination," he insisted. "The issue is how we order our lives as humans sexual selves." Stotts said the Presbyterian Church has "not yet done sufficient theological homework" to produce an adequate theology of human sexuality. He said that theological work needs to be done in congregations and presbyteries -- "in contexts where people know each other as friends, because ordination cannot be done by strangers." Friends, Stotts said, "are nurturers, not adversaries. Friends treat each other decently." But now and then, he continued, "theological vigilantes arrive -- crusaders for their own absolute truth." Citing *"The Presbyterian Layman"* as an example, Stotts said, "These vigilantes seem to have forgotten that Christians are friends. They loot the time and attention of church leaders, with the result that they scandalize the gospel of Jesus Christ." Stotts said he had just one question for *"The Presbyterian Layman"* -- the same question asked of Sen. McCarthy during the witchhunts of the 1950s -- "Have you no decency?" Decency and order -- hallmarks of Presbyterianism -- "offer hope for the future," Stotts said. "Hope," he concluded, "is a stern taskmaster because it requires us to stay together as friends even when we are most tempted to separate." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Testimony Hundreds of folks testified before the various G.A. committees. Here are samples of testimony presented to the Assembly Committee on Ordination and Human Sexuality. The Whole Bible for the Whole Human Family Members of the Biblical Faculty of the Presbyterian Seminaries Speak to the Issue of Ordination As members of the church universal and as professors of Scripture in our Presbyterian seminaries, we affirm that the Bible is an indispensable means of God's communication, especially in a time when the church is urgently seeking to clarify its message and mission in the world. The question of whether gay or lesbian Christians should be ordained to the offices of deacon, elder, and minister of the Word and Sacrament arises at such a time. We observe that this debate often revolves around six passages that refer to same-sex relationships. We would first of all caution the church against wresting these passages out of context and pressing them into service in our debate. On careful reading, these passages seem to be advocating values such as hospitality to strangers, ritual purity, or the sinfulness of all human beings before God. Before we can hear their meaning for our time, we must first understand their meaning in their own time. Secondly, we would caution the church against any hasty conclusion that these passages present instructions for us on what we know as homosexuality today. In important sections of the Bible -- the Ten Commandments, the prophets, the teaching of Jesus -- this issue does not arise. Indeed the concept of homosexuality as now understood may not appear at all in the Bible. It is likely that the biblical authors never contemplated the phenomenon that we have been able to name and describe for only a little over a hundred years, a sexual orientation which is integral to the identity of a small minority of the human family. Thirdly, we caution the church against an interpretation of the Bible that leads the church into pronouncing judgment upon a specific behavior of a whole category of persons in the human community. As the 1982 General Assembly observed in its *Guidelines for the Interpretation of Scripture in Times of Controversy,* "Let all interpretations be in accord with the rule of love, the twofold commandment to love God and to love our neighbor." We would encourage the church at this time to interpret particular passages of the Bible in the light of the whole Bible, and in the recognition that Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, is the living Word of God. It is the gospel of Jesus that invites gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to full communion in the church; it is the Spirit of Jesus that calls and equips Christians for ministry; and it is the justice of Jesus that calls us to insure that those who are invited, called, and equipped are free to fulfill their ministries among us with the full recognition and support of the church. (May 1996) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos I am Johanna Bos, minister member of the Presbytery of Louisville, and professor of Old Testament at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. I am also a repentant heterosexual. I repent on my own behalf and especially on behalf of my church for words and actions of oppression and exclusion toward those who are by emotion, affection, and sexuality oriented differently than the predominant group. [I am a Reformed Christian, who grew up in The Netherlands Reformed Church during German Nazi occupation. My concepts of oppression and my hope for liberation were forged in the crucible of that experience. I know that, unless there are those who stand in solidarity with the ones whose humanity is taken from them, disaster overtakes *all*. -- This paragraph, left out of my oral presentation for reasons of time, is an integral part of my testimony.] I am a Christian; I love the Church, to which I have devoted my life; I love the Bible and uphold its authority. I believe with the biblical authors that human beings have a special talent for mayhem for which they need repentance and from which they need deliverance. We in the Church partake abundantly of that talent and stand in abundant need of deliverance and repentance: Deliverance from and repentance for our active oppression of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, who are sisters and brothers in Christ, by relegating them to issues, by stereotyping them as sexual beings alone through our oppressive language, and by depriving them of the rights and privileges of membership, thus making them ride in the back of the bus. Ordination? Of course! But also repentance, which in Hebrew means a *radical turn,* a turn toward the good creation God dreams for us. I pray that we may do so, while there is yet time. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A Plea for Acceptance by Glen Fennema I'm fragile, vulnerable, and often fearful -- of death, and of rejection because I have AIDS. Sometimes I'm scared of being myself. Family members have had a hard time handling my HIV status. Some Christian friends can't cope with my being openly gay. They're embarrassed, full of dark thoughts about sin. And none of us knows what to do when someone's dying. I only hope we can love each other: There's no way I can be cured, but God's great gift heals my wounded spirit. It can bind us all together. I often feel set apart. For years I tried to stay anonymous in the large congregation of Fourth Church in Chicago. There was never any question of my being ordained -- unless I transferred to a More Light church. Why are we still second-class members? Centuries of persecution have burdened the church with a tradition that sees gay love as sin. People thought we chose to be bad. Now that you know preference isn't chosen -- what's your excuse? Do you think we should live without sex? We need love and affection as much as you do, perhaps more. I was born who I am. I felt I had to hide. Isn't it pathetic that many of us thought we needed to lie in order to stay in our churches? Isn't it time, finally, for them to accept us into full communion? If in Christ there's neither slave nor free, why should there still be gay versus straight? If we are to love one another, shouldn't we begin by accepting each other *as we are?* Why should I be discriminated against by my fellow believers? Because you, traditionalists, want to continue to brand us sinners? Or you, moderates, fear a right-wing backlash? Why be afraid to do right by us? If you continue to deprive us of full communion, won't we -- Presbyterians that are also People With AIDS -- forever haunt you? Presbyterians don't often speak with the tongues of angels; we aren't usually that open to the Spirit. We're not easily moved in new directions. We're reserved: we don't prophesy, for example. Since it's not part of our tradition, we don't believe that we can. How many of us have visions? See bushes burning? I'm no Moses, but if I were, I'd lead you through this wilderness. I would see God in you and in your actions. I would accept my dying as part of God's great design. We could dance down these aisles with tongues of fire on our heads, praising God with hearts and souls and voices. *If* we conquer fear. *If* we can free ourselves from the way we thought in the past. Then all of us could join hands and hearts. Nothing can separate us from Christ's love -- but so much can separate us from each other. ... I hope we can rise to the challenge before us. Life makes us one promise it always keeps: suffering. But we know a greater promise, and the greatest gift. If it were possible for me to have a dream of the future, it would be a vision of union. ... So let it be. Let the light shine! [Not all of this testimony was actually spoken to the committee for lack of time.] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * And finally, Danielle Thibeaux-Milner, Aged 10 Hi, my name is Danielle Thibeaux-Milner, a ten-year-old child from Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church in San Francisco. These are my own words. I wrote this by myself. In the past, the Presbyterian Church has found ways to justify their prejudice towards African-Americans and women. Now African-Americans and women can be ordained. Does that tell you something? My mom has worked her butt off in seminary doing the same papers, studying for the same tests, trying to make good grades, trying to get an internship, just as well as straight, white men, who get ordained. And I know that women can be ordained. But if they aren't straight, they have to lie about it. Yes, lesbian women have to lie about it; gay men have to lie about it; transgendered people have to lie about it; and bi-sexual people have to lie about it. The Presbyterian Church says we shouldn't lie, and they say God's love is inclusive. My mom deserves to be loved, to live happily, and she deserves to have her call to ministry recognized. You can vote no, and you can justify your fears through Scripture. When you vote no, you will hurt us with your fears and condemnations. Thank you. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A Mugging at General Assembly by Rick Fisher I affirm that there are no coincidences. Let me tell you the story of what happened on Sunday night, June 30. I was getting out of the car about 8:45 p.m. on my way to the PLGC evening briefing. Across the corner, I saw three young men clustered around a figure on the sidewalk. I thought, "just another homeless drunk on the street." Then my conscience kicked in and I flashed back to the familiar parable, thinking "what would the good samaritan do?" So I walked over to find out what was going on. I learned that the woman there on the sidewalk had just been assaulted and her purse robbed. When she resisted, she was thrown, face down, to the sidewalk. She was bleeding profusely. I went back to the car and got her a towel to wipe off the blood while we waited for the police to arrive. The young men there, who had witnessed the attack, were quite agitated and excited. At that moment, all I could do was kneel next to the woman, stroke her back, and try to be the hands of Jesus for her in that moment. I focused on speaking softly, trying to communicate Christ's peace and comfort to her in those traumatic moments. I learned that she was here as an observer at G.A. and got the names of those in her party to contact. I learned that she was from Fourth Presbyterian, Chicago. Only later did I find out that she has been the right hand assistant to John Buchanan, our new moderator, for many years. After she was taken away in the ambulance, I went to a phone to try to contact her group. Reaching no one, I left messages and then headed off to the hospital to wait until her friends arrived. Little did I know the attention my response to the Spirit's prompting would generate. The next day, flowers arrived for me at the PLGC booth. The day after, another extraordinary event occurred. Unknown to me, the moderator had gotten a hold of the story, and was retelling it everywhere he went -- a modern day good Samaritan, made all the more vivid because I was with PLGC - - and we are regarded with more contempt by certain groups than were the ancient Samaritans! While I was out monitoring an ex-gay presentation, John Buchanan was at the PLGC annual meeting, where he retold the story yet again. You must imagine my surprise when I arrived at the meeting an hour late. I walked in the door, and someone said, "there's Rick!" and the group broke out into applause and rose to their feet. I was bewildered, thinking "what in the heck is wrong with these people," until someone filled me in on what had happened. Later than evening I got to meet the moderator, who had been looking for me for two days. I had the opportunity to share a bit of my story to explain why I was at G.A. I am told that he is planning to tell the parable to the whole General Assembly. The Rest of the Story [And indeed the moderator did tell the story to the entire general assembly, but he left out the part about Rick being a "good Samaritan," a member of an ostracized group -- an openly gay man. So Lew Myrick, PLGC's treasurer and an elder commissioner to the G.A. from the Presbytery of Baltimore, got up in an open "speak out" period and told "the rest of the story," how Rick was fired as music director after five years of service from a large Presbyterian Church in New Jersey after he came out as a gay man. Rick has now moved to Kansas City, Missouri and is looking for a job, so if anyone knows of one for a great musician (he played for us at our Celebration and our Sunday evening Worship), do let PLGC know! -- JDA] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Chastity Amendment Some Commentary from Our Friends Here is some preliminary commentary about the Chastity Amendment. Please share it with members and commissioners (ministers and elders) of your presbytery. Help them study the issue before they vote on it! Sexuality, Ordination and the Confessions A Few Talking Points from Unity Through Diversity, July 3, 1996 The proposed amendment to the *Book of Order* from the Assembly Committee on Ordination and Human Sexuality of the 208th General Assembly, reads in part, "Persons refusing to repent of any self- acknowledged practice which the Confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament." A General Point The proposed amendment does not conform to the ordination vows in that it gives too much authority to the Confessions. We are to be *guided* by the Confessions but they are not the unique and authoritative witness. See the ordination question put to elders and deacons in G- 14.0207 (d) in the *Book of Order*: "Will you fulfill your office in obedience to Jesus Christ, under the authority of Scripture, and be continually *guided* by our confessions?" For the ordination of ministers the question reads, in part, *"instructed and led* by the confessions" -- *Book of Order* G- 14.0405 b(3). What are some of the specific sins found in the confessions? **Forgetting the Sabbath:** Question #117 of the Larger Catechism asks "How is the Sabbath or Lord's day to be sanctified?" The answer: "The Sabbath, or Lord's Day, is to be sanctified by an holy day resting all that day, not only from such works as are at all times sinful, but even from such worldly employments and recreations as are on other days lawful; and making it our delight to spend the whole time (except so much of it as is to be taken up in works of necessity and mercy) in the public and private exercise of God's worship. And, to that end, we are to prepare our hearts, and with such foresight, diligence, and moderation, to dispose and seasonably to dispatch our worldly business, that we may be the more free and fit for the duties of the day" (*Book of Confessions* 7.227). **Under these conditions, anyone who plays golf on Sunday afternoons, and does not repent of that practice, cannot be ordained.** **Forcing others to work on the Sabbath:** Question #118 of the Larger Catechism asks: "Why is the charge of keeping the Sabbath more specially directed to governors of families and other superiors?" The answer: "The charge of keeping the Sabbath is more specially directed to governors of families and other superiors, because they are bound not only to keep it themselves, but to see that it be observed by all those that are under their charge; and because they are prone oftimes to hinder them by employments of their own" (*Book of Confessions* 7.228). **Under these conditions, the managers of department stores (Wal- Mart, Target, etc.) that are open on Sunday cannot be ordained because they require employees to work on the Sabbath.** **Deceptive Advertising and Exorbitant Interest:** Question 110 of the Heidelberg Catechism in speaking of the Eighth Commandment against stealing, includes: "all wicked tricks and schemes by which we seek to get for ourselves our neighbor's goods, whether by force or under the pretext of right, such as false weights and measures, deceptive advertising or merchandising, counterfeit money, exorbitant interest, or any other means forbidden by God" (*Book of Confessions* 4.110). **Under these condition, bankers, who charge as much as 21% interest on credit cards, could not be ordained. Under these conditions, advertisers, who promote such things as "orange juice that is fresh squeezed from concentrate" could not be ordained.** **Making any picture or displaying any picture of Christ**: The Second Helvetic Confession states in Chapter IV the following: "IMAGES OF GOD. Since God as Spirit is in essence invisible and immense, he cannot really be expressed by any art or image. For this reason we have no fear pronouncing with Scripture that images of God are mere lies. Therefore we reject not only the idols of the Gentiles, but also the images of Christians. IMAGES OF CHRIST. Although Christ assumed human nature, yet he did not on that account assume it in order to provide a model for carvers and painters ... Who, therefore, would believe that a shadow or likeness of his body would contribute any benefit to the pious?" (*Book of Confessions* 5.020). **Under these conditions, anyone who allows any picture of Jesus Christ, whether at the door, holding a sheep or at the Last Supper, to be placed in the church or their home could not be ordained.** **Gluttony, Unjust Divorce and Desertion:** Question #139 of the Larger Catechism asks "What are the sins forbidden in the Seventh Commandment." In addition to "adultery, fornication, rape, incest, sodomy" the answer includes "unjust divorce, or desertion; idleness, gluttony, drunkenness ..." (*Book of Confessions* 7.249). **Under these conditions, anyone who eats too much could not be ordained. Would we have to weigh elders, deacons, and ministers before ordination? Which weight tables should we use? Under these conditions, ministers would have to go back to determining who is the innocent party in a divorce so that they could make sure that the guilty is not ordained. This would seem to conflict with the *Book of Order* G-4.0403 which makes no reference to whether a divorced person is the injured party or not: "Persons of all racial ethnic groups, different ages, different theological positions consistent with the Reformed tradition, as well as different marital conditions (married, single, widowed or divorced) shall be guaranteed full participation and access to representation in the decision making of the Church."** **The performance of baptism by women:** The confessions are in conflict over this point. The Second Helvetic Confession (*Book of Confessions* 5.191) expressly forbids it while the Brief Statement of Faith (10.64) permits it. [The Confessions are indeed rich in the description of practices perceived to be sins by their writers. Here are a few more, noted by a friend in Utah. -- JDA] I read through many of the Confessions last night to determine practices "which the confessions call sin." In The Larger Catechism I found an extensive laundry list of sins forbidden by each of the Ten Commandments, including: - "immoderate use of meat, drink, labor, and recreation" (7.246) - "inordinate prizing and affecting worldly goods; distrustful and distracting cares and studies in getting, keeping, and using them" (7.252) - "commanding things unlawful, or not in the power of inferiors to perform" (7.240) - "removing landmarks" (7.252) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * What's the Background of the "Fidelity and Chastity" Amendment A Witherspoon Society Background Paper for the 208th General Assembly Overtures from the presbyteries of San Gabriel (96-13) and Santa Barbara (96-35) call for an amendment to the *Book of Order*, specifying that the Christian "manner of life" (*Book of Order* G-6.0106) includes "fidelity within the covenant of marriage" and "chastity in singleness." These overtures have an extensive background. Their wording is drawn from the United Methodist Book of Discipline, where it was added in seven places after a judicial decision in 1984, in order to preclude the ordination of self-professed gay and lesbian candidates for ministry. The amendment has been put forward at several General Assemblies; each time it has been rejected. The wording originally called for "celibacy" in singleness, but it was pointed out that "celibacy" means singleness; thus the amendment would simply call for "singleness in singleness." Now "chastity" has been substituted. As Bishop Desmond Tutu has pointed out, "It is only of homosexual persons that we require universal celibacy, whereas for others we teach that celibacy is a special vocation" (Foreword to *We Were Baptized Too: Claiming God's Grace for Lesbians and Gays*, Westminster/John Knox Press). But the Reformation criticized vows of celibacy even on the part of those who felt a special vocation to the monastic life, and the *Book of Confessions* condemns "entangling" vows of celibacy (C-5.250; C-7.249). That, however, is what is being asked for. One woman said during a presbytery debate, "You mean you're asking two people who love each other faithfully that they must become celibate before they can be called as leaders in the church?" The amendment has always encountered opposition on the floor the Assembly, where commissioners expressed uncertainties about exactly what might be permitted or not permitted under this amendment. If it were to be adopted, specific moral guidelines would be needed for its implementation. While the amendment is generally regarded as a move against gay men and lesbians, it would apply to all persons being considered for ordained office. Sooner or later issues of enforcement would be raised, and these would affect all candidates for ordination. What, for example, would be expected of divorced persons? What inquires would be made into the circumstances of the divorce? Would only the "innocent" party be permitted to be ordained or installed as a church officer? Many issues of evidence and procedure under the Rules of Discipline would be raised. The Los Ranchos overture (96-41) would require higher governing bodies to correct any irregularity or cure any delinquency when a lower governing body failed to enforce this rule. A venerable former Moderator of the General Assembly has reminded us that Jesus "redefined the family" in his teaching (Mk. 10:29- 30), urging people to leave parents and siblings, and even omitting the role of father in his description of the new community (cf. also Mt. 23:9). The patriarchal family is not the only standard of Christian life. We can understand why Stanley Hauerwas, the outspoken evangelical ethicist at Duke, when the *New York Times* called and asked him whether he supported family values, replied, "Hell, no, I'm a Christian!" At the 1991 General Assembly a statement that "all who enter a covenantal relationship are to be honored" was narrowly defeated, and David Heim of the *Christian Century* commented that "the church will find itself increasingly hard pressed not to offer some formal acknowledgment of committed gay relationships" in line with the classic Biblical theme of covenant. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Regarding Presbyterians and Their Proposed Dogma Regarding Marriage Between One Man and One Woman and Chastity in Singleness by Harold Porter, Pastor, Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church Cincinnati, Ohio Jesus would have to be examined more thoroughly by the Presbytery before it validated his call to ministry -- for there would be many rumors. Rumors about: - how he loved fallen women; - his special love for Mary Magdalene, Mary and Martha; - how Jesus permitted a woman to wash his feet and wipe them with her hair; - how he broke cultural conventions when he publicly spoke with women, such as the Samaritan who already was judged unclean both morally and religiously; - how Jesus allowed John, his beloved, to lay his head on his breast. Jesus, please *answer.* Clarify the Rumors: - Tell us more about your love life both public and private. We need to know before we can decide your fitness for this office. - Are you sexually active, Jesus? - Are you gay, Jesus -- and practicing? Bi-sexual? - and what kind of family values are you affirming when your mother and brothers and sisters came to you, concerned about you, and you said your family was those who do the will of God? Won't that lead to divorce and division in families? Jesus, for peace, unity and purity's sake, we must know. And so it goes at the 208th General Assembly in Albuquerque. For when the gay and lesbian children of God ask for bread, and those other persons who find marriage unavailable or not helpful to their lives, we Presbyterians simply forgot about Jesus who once said to us, "When your children ask for bread, why do you give them a stone?" Please, General Assembly, don't send this to the Presbyteries. [But of course they did!] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * No Forgiveness Without Justice by Chris Glaser Copyright (c) 1996 by Chris R. Glaser. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit use and duplication. During the Albuquerque General Assembly I was dogged by a woman who several times accosted me with her professed love for me *personally*. She told me she had been praying for me on a daily basis. I could tell from her buttons that she was from our opposition. She was often close to tears, and on one occasion broke down in sobs, begging me for forgiveness for how those on her side of the issue of homosexuality had hurt me and other gay men and lesbians. I'm both a practical and pastoral kind of guy. On the practical side, I thanked her for her prayers, because I can use all the prayers I can get. On the pastoral side, I gave her hugs, and I consoled her when she tearfully asked for forgiveness. But I never comforted her falsely by saying, "That's all right." For twenty years many of us in this movement have joined in Jesus' prayer on the cross, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." We've done it for our own sanity as much as to imitate Christ. But now it's time that our brother and sister Christians lose their sanctuary of ignorance. It's time that we resist offering forgiveness until true repentance is on their lips. Repentance for the church requires justice for us. Ignorance on the side of power produces injustice. Sin committed on the side of power produces injustice and abuse. No matter how nicely or politely or gently our opponents phrase their opposition, no matter how prayerfully or lovingly they come to conclusions that support their prejudices, they are perpetrators of injustice and spiritual abuse and must be held accountable. In the demonstration following the Albuquerque assembly's vote usurping our baptismal rights, I initially resisted looking into the faces of the commissioners. Only at the urging of my partner, Mark, did I look up and see the many faces openly grieving over the church's sin. I myself was so stunned I couldn't feel a thing. Instead of crying, I was marching, as together we sang, "We are marching in the light of God." Presbyterians must transform their tears of grief into the streams of justice Amos prophesied. Sorrow and pity are not adequate to address the injustice that the church perpetrates against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered members. Our friends and our families and we must together open the church's closet door to reality. Praying in secret closets as Jesus admonished his disciples is about not practicing piety in public, not about excluding truth and justice. The church must come out of its protective closet. For that to happen, those Presbyterians and congregations that "quietly" support us must loudly support us; individuals must become activists and congregations must become More Light churches to deserve our respect. Maybe it's time for a More Light presbytery -- either regional or transregional at the More Light Churches Network gathering next May -- to defiantly ordain qualified gay and lesbian candidates for ministry. It may not be time for those who are quietly gay or lesbian to mount crosses or offer themselves as scapegoats in the church's bloody anti-gay crusade -- better for some of us to infiltrate and subvert the heterosexist systems of our church. Yet others may feel called to come out, and they should consider their call as well as whether they have the strength to cope with the slings and arrows of outrageous heterosexism. This may be the call especially of those whose livelihoods do not depend on the church. At the least, I would hope that closeted lesbians and gay men would continue to be or to become activists on our behalf, as well as financially undergird the work of PLGC **and** those of us who are public and struggling financially to survive. If we are to stay in the church, the amendment to our *Book of Order* that limits ordination to those who practice heterosexuality must be defeated, either by "no" or "no action" votes. Those negative votes are up to you who read this. Do everything you can -- decently and in order -- to resist codification of the church's sin. Do it not only on behalf of justice for us, but for the sake of God's justice in the church. SIDE BAR-1 PLGC produced seven daily information papers about homosexuality for G.A. commissioners. If you would like a set to copy for purposes of interpretation in your presbytery or congregation, a limited quantity of white copies are available free of charge. Write to Chris Glaser, 991 Berne St. SE, Atlanta, GA 30316-1859 or phone/fax him at 404/622- 4222. SIDE BAR-2 The Rev. Lisa Bove and Chris Glaser, M.Div., will lead a retreat Oct. 31-Nov. 3 at Ghost Ranch Conference Center, New Mexico. "Our Sensational God" will celebrate the sensual, delightful, and embodied aspects of God in both Hebrew and Christian traditions -- a wonder-full antidote to the Albuquerque assembly. For information, phone 505/685-4333. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PLGC Heroes and Heroines, Sung and Unsung *Please add to this list! Don't be bashful. Send a description of YOUR contributions, and those of others, to Jim Anderson, PO Box 38, New Brunswick, NJ 08903-0038, e-mail: jda@mariner.rutgers.edu* All of PLGC, on behalf of the whole church, wishes to thank and the heroes and heroines of our movement who did so much to prepare for and participate in our witness at the 1996 General Assembly in Albuquerque. * The Unity Through Diversity Project team, lead by Deana Reed and Scott Anderson, who contacted every presbytery, encouraging them to participate in the period of dialogue, and contacted every commissioner with helpful background material. * "Heart to Heart," the parents and family response team, lead by Susan Quinn Bryan, Gail Rickey, and Sandy Lane, who spurred family members in many presbyteries to contact their general assembly commissioners directly, with personal stories about the lesbian and gay members of their families, and why positive General Assembly action is so important for everyone. * The Washington, DC PLGC chapter, who helped Deana Reed put out a mailing to some 800 general assembly commissioners, youth advisory delegates and theological student advisory delegates. After all the envelopes were stuffed, sealed, labeled and stamped, the volunteers circled and joined hands around the boxes of packets and prayed for an inclusive church, that God would open the hearts of those receiving the information. * PLGC's pastoral response team, lead by Dorothy Fillmore, who organized our pre-assembly event, our dailing briefings, and helped to organize our response to assembly actions. Special thanks to Carl A. Smith, pastor and spiritual director from Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco, who offered devotionals each evening and helped us get centered; to Beth Stuever, social worker in private practice from Rochester, NY, who offered strategic analysis of institutional oppression and helped us process our anger; and Jeannette Hickman-Kingsley, minister and therapist in Northfield, MN, who listened to us, heard our hopes and fears, and held our hands, opening the way for soothing and healing. * The Baltimore PLGC chapter assisted "That All May Freely Serve" in handling the distribution and in defraying the postage costs for mailing out more than 200 copies of the book *Called out* to this year's commissioners. A supplemental mailing of a letter from Judy Adamson and fliers for the *Called Out* book and publisher discount order forms were mailed to the remaining 500 or so names on the General Assembly mailing list. * For all the PLGC'ers and friends who monitored committees, and who testified, and also to those, like Carol Bayma, who gave up their places in the queue of witnesses so that other's could speak. Carol was the very last speaker, who gave her spot to 10-year-old Danielle Thibeaux-Milner so she could testify on behalf of her mom, as recorded elsewhere in this issue. * Scott Stebbins from Denver, who came especially so he could share his moving testimony as one who survived the ex-gay movement, not once, but twice. * Char and Gus Sindt, Lisa Larges, Scott Anderson, Janie Spahr, Chris Glaser, and Mike Smith for writing our fundraising appeals. Lindsay Biddle and Scott Anderson for leading the organization of our fundraising efforts. And most of all, to all of you who responded so generously! * Jim Anderson for getting the Update out, month after month, since 1980, and to his mother-in-law (or, according to the Presbyterian Church, "mother-out-law") Caridad de las Mercedes Catala for labeling, stapling and bundling all those thousands and thousands of Updates, and also preparing several of our fundraising letters. Watch for his history of the lesbian and gay movement in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), soon to be published in *The Journal of Homosexuality.* * Laurene Lafontaine and Bob Patenaude, for leading PLGC as our moderators during the past few years. And Laurene for her stirring sermon at PLGC's Sunday worship at G.A. * Martha Juillerat and Tammy Lindahl for organizing the shower of stoles and leading our celebration of reconciliation at General Assembly. * Lisa Larges for leading the Witness for Reconciliation, and presenting the WFR play during the PLGC pre-assembly event at General Assembly. * Chris Glaser for his witnessing and ministry through the Lazarus Project, his Update columns, preaching, and workshops since 1976. And at G.A., his daily More Light newspaper for commissioners and visitors. * All the PLGC'ers who helped Chris Glaser get his daily *More Light* out to commissioners and other folks -- stuffing mailboxes and standing out in the HOT sun handing out the broadsheets. And thanks also to all the stuffers who helped provide other valuable background information to the commissioners. * Janie Spahr as our traveling lesbian evangelist over the past three years, and as a witness to God's inclusive love for more than a decade through the Ministry of Light, which she founded and led. * God's beautiful gadfly, latter day prophet extraordinaire, the Rev. Howard Warren, for his vigorous witness to the church over the past decade. * The More Light Churches Network, through their witness to the whole church, especially in the ever larger annual More Light Churches conferences, and in their local congregations. * The Witherspoon Society, for never ceasing to raise the issues of inclusiveness and equity for lesbian and gay Presbyterians. * PLGC chapters that held special fundraising events: Baltimore and Washington, DC. * Lindsay Biddle, for sending "to do" lists to all PLGC chapters, leading pre-assembly workshops and songs, planning PLGC's worship at G.A., presenting our Inclusive Church Award, participating in the "Shower of Stoles" celebration, and presenting awards to out- going board members, officers, and certificates for all Witnesses for '96. * Rob Cummings, for managing all of PLGC's operations in "the back office," always with a smile, making sure that all our projects, strategies, and witness came off without a hitch. * For all the PLGC'ers and friends who helped staff the PLGC booth in the exhibition hall. * Merrill Proudfoot, for serving as our press representative to the General Assembly Council during 1995-96, his advocacy in *Monday Morning* articles, his book reviews for the *Update,* and for shepherding supportive overtures through Heartland Presbytery. * Jack Hartwein-Sanchez for his testimony and for providing vital radio-telephones at G.A. so all our leaders could stay in close touch with each other. * Doug Elliot, for witnessing over and over in Lazarus Project programs in Southern California and maintaining a weekly jail ministry as long as the authorities permitted it. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Meanwhile, ecclesiastical court cases abound Court cases attacking lesbians and gays continue to pop up all over the church. Imagine what will happen when every "sin" identified in all our confessions, ancient and modern, can be used to persecute folks who are called to ordained offices. Here are a few of the current cases. Cincinnati Judicial Commission Overturns Ordination of Allegedly Gay Elder by Jerry Van Marter, General Assembly News Service The Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) of Cincinnati Presbytery has declared the ordination of an allegedly gay man by Knox Presbyterian Church "null and void." In a trial held June 10-11, the commission voted 4-3 that "the session of Knox Presbyterian Church committed an unconstitutional act by not making further inquiry into the sexual orientation and practice of [the elder elect] and by ordaining him." Cincinnati executive presbyter the Rev. Sam Roberson and the Rev. Tom York, pastor of the church, told the Presbyterian News Service they expect the Knox Church session to appeal the decision. The man was ordained and installed Jan. 7, 1966. Another member of the 1,100-member Knox Church filed a complaint with the PJC on March 2. In its ruling, the PJC directed the Knox Church session to choose one of two options: - "Inform the congregation's nominating committee that there is a vacancy on the session," or - "further examine the elder with these specific questions: 'Did you state that you are a gay man?' and 'Are you a practicing homosexual?'" The commission concluded from testimony it heard that there was "ample evidence" that the elder was a "self affirming, practicing homosexual" and therefore that the session "should have made further inquiry into [the elder's] sexual orientation and current practice ...." According to testimony, the session responded to questions about the elder's sexual orientation and practice by asking as part of its examination of all newly-elected elders and deacons, "Is there anything in your life which would prevent you from answering the constitutional questions with integrity?" The PJC ruled that the question "cannot be considered sufficient" because it did not address the specific issue of his sexual orientation and practice and because it was "vague and subjective." The commission also stated that "the question also permits one who disagrees with the binding nature of the authoritative interpretation [barring ordination of active gay and lesbian persons] to respond satisfactorily according to the dictates of conscience while ignoring the specific details of the constitution and authoritative interpretations." Roberson defended the actions of the Knox Church session. "Knox takes this matter of examining elders very seriously," he said. "I believe this [examination by the session] is good church work -- they very carefully constructed and worded their examination questions." The three dissenters in the PJC decision agreed. Citing the historic principles of the *Book of Order* that "God alone is Lord of conscience ...," the minority asked, "How much inquiry is invasion of privacy? There is no reference in the polity of the church that specifically delineates the process required of sessions ... regarding such matters." York, who has only been pastor of Knox Church for six weeks, said the dispute has "not created a congregation in turmoil." He said there are basically two groups of people at Knox Church: "those who believe you ought not to violate the law and an advocacy group for changing church law [on gay ordination]." York said there "is an air of civility marked by a great deal of respect" between those in Knox Church who disagree about the issue, "and that goes a long way in this kind of situation." Roberson agreed. "The Knox congregation knows this person -- he is a long-time active member -- and respects him. Knox probably won't become a "More Light" church he added, "but they won't back away from this man." [So the inquisition is already under way! -- JDA] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Church Challenges Presbytery Action on Investigation of Same-Sex Blessings Excerpted from story by Robert H. Bullock, Jr., in *The Presbyterian Outlook,* July 15, 1996, page 3-4. Brighton church, Rochester, N.Y., has recently filed a complaint with the Synod of the Northeast Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) after Genesee Valley Presbytery voted to take no action on the church's request for an administrative review of alleged same-sex blessings performed at Downtown United church, Rochester, N.Y., a member of the same presbytery. ... The Brighton church's complaint came following an Oct. 25, 1995, article which appeared in the Rochester *Democrat and Chronicle* describing three same-sex "weddings," "holy unions," "commitments" or "blessings" ceremonies which were conduced at Downtown United church, by two minister members of the church's staff on the same day. ... According to the complaint, "We [Brighton church session] do not find any Scripture or polity in the PC(USA) which could be interpreted as acceptance or approval of 'blessings' being granted or bestowed on any unscriptural or immoral relationship. The church has maintained steadfastly that homosexual behavior and therefore homosexual relationships are not approved by nor acceptable to God, according to his Scripture, and not approved by nor accepted by the PC(USA). The Scripture and the church agree that any relationship is sinful which involves sexuality outside of the parameter of one man married to one woman. These are principles basic to the Christian faith and the PC(USA)." ... [So the inquisition continues. Has the Brighton Church forgotten that in 1995, the presbyteries refused to affirm a proposed constitutional amendment that would have forbidden Presbyterian ministers to participate in the blessing of same-sex unions? -- JDA] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Gay Elder Attacked in Florida For this case, we quote directly from the complaint, which names the gay elder in several places. Because we do not know if he is publicly out as a gay man, we will substitute "this elder" for his name: Ronald L. Wier, Complainant, as Elder and member of the congregation of Second Presbyterian Church, in good standing, having filed a written request with the Session of Second Presbyterian Church of Fort Lauderdale, Florida ..., to correct an irregularity relative to the nomination, examination, election and ordination of an admitted, unrepentant, practicing homosexual, to the office of Elder, ... and the Respondent having failed to do so, hereby files this his Complaint with the Presbytery of Tropical Florida. The Session committed an "irregularity" in the nomination, examination, election, and ordination to the office of Elder, of the homosexual person previously named, who, during examination by the Session, freely admitted his sexual orientation and relationship with another male. ... Wherefore, the Complainant, Ronald L. Wier, respectfully requests that this honorable Presbytery: ... Order that Second Presbyterian Church, through its Session, follow the Rules of Discipline for the removal of an officer who commits an offense, specifically [this elder], a self-affirming, practicing, unrepentant homosexual, for failure (a) to be governed by our Church's polity and (b) to abide by its discipline. Order that Second Presbyterian Church, through its Session, refrain from the nomination, examination, election and ordination of any person who is a self-affirming, practicing, unrepentant homosexual. [This kind of inquisition can expand to attack a much wider spectrum of church officers if the proposed "chastity amendment" is passed. The current attacks against lesbian and gay Presbyterians is just a modest foretaste of the inquisition to come, unless our presbyteries have the sense to say, "enough is enough!" -- JDA] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * New Transgender Cases. Also, we have our first two cases in which presbyteries are trying to remove transgendered persons as ordained ministers. We hope to present more information on these court cases in the near future. -- JDA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Date: Mon, 5 Aug 96 16:20:38 EDT From: James Anderson Subject: More Light Update S-O 96 part 3 of 3 (47 K) MORE LIGHT UPDATE from Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns September-October 1996, part 3 of 3, 47 K SECOND FEATURE "Dance the Dream of Freedom" The Rev. Daniel E. Smith Pastor, West Hollywood Presbyterian Church More Light Churches Network Keynote Address Rochester, New York May 3, 1996 Sisters and Brothers of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community, I welcome you to this gathering of concerned and caring Presbyterians. For some of you this may be the first time you have set foot in a Christian Church in years, and so on behalf of this marvelous group gathered, I want to first welcome you into the household of God, and assure you of a safe and loving place within this gathered community of Christians. To my friends of many years who have gathered here this weekend, I cannot adequately find the words to express how honored and proud I am to once again be among you. To those of you who have been put on a plane by your local church and are uncertain about what the heck you're "in for" this weekend, I want to joyously welcome you into this fabulous journey towards loving-justice that began so many years ago and just keeps growing stronger and stronger. And, it is my ultimate joy to introduce to you one who has supported me longer than any of you here, the only one who has given me life in ways that none of you could, and one who has adored and loved me since conception, my mother, Renee Smith. The other half of this fabulous Creation-team, my father, became my personal guardian angel a few years ago, and he with all the other angels who have gone on before us, watches over me and with the strength of his love, supports me in my journey of justice and truth telling. I do want to take just a second to share with you that I had this beautiful stole commissioned in memory of my dear friend and colleague, The Rev. Warren Zeh, a Presbyterian minister who died of AIDS January 31 of this year. I wear this stole in remembrance of Warren, and all those who have died of HIV/AIDS knowing that their love continues to wrap itself around you and me. Now, you may have noticed, and if you've heard me speak publicly before you know that whenever I am invited to speak on behalf of the Christian Church, I always begin by welcoming my lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender sisters and brothers into the community of Christ's love. I do this intentionally, because the Christian Church today is so very unwelcoming of so many of our brothers and sisters who are gay or lesbian. Last year at the Annual Christopher St. West Lesbian/Gay Pride Parade in Los Angeles, which is by the way, the second largest parade in the State of California -- the only larger Parade in the state is the Rose Bowl Parade broadcast live each New Year's Day -- last year at our lesbian/gay pride parade the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese marched, as he has the past four years, with an ever growing number of his congregants. While the Bishop's lavender clerical dress usually sets him apart in public gatherings, in this parade it's the people that stand out. On this occasion, 400 congregants marched along with the Bishop. Each was wearing a white T-shirt with bright purple letters proclaiming the national slogan of the Episcopal Church: "THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH WELCOMES YOU!" These were not frivolous words. With over 400 lesbian and gay people carrying signs naming more than 1/3 of the churches within the Diocese as welcoming of lesbian and gay people, it was unmistakably clear to the 250,000 people lining the streets of the parade route, that the Episcopal Church does in fact "WELCOME YOU!" Upon seeing this, I was deeply saddened by my own denomination. What does the Presbyterian Church have to say to lesbian and gay people? "The Presbyterian Church HATES YOU," the Presbyterian Church can "Straight You" or simply "The Presbyterian Church DEBATES YOU." Friends, what ever happens at this year's General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church let us keep in mind that first and foremost, our movement is about Inviting and Welcoming God's Gay and Lesbian People into our Churches as equal and respected members of the Household of God. Maybe The Presbyterian Church won't welcome gay and lesbian people; but our Presbyterian Churches will. Until our corporate Bishops, The Presbyteries of the General Assembly, can stand up and proudly march forward with the message of the loving Christ, we must assume that role! Eleven years ago, Chris Glaser and I were sitting together in a staff meeting wondering what in the world we and the other More Light Churches were going to do if the General Assembly's Permanent Judicial Commission ruled against Westminster Presbyterian Church in Buffalo, NY thereby prohibiting it from becoming a More Light Church. Even worse we wondered, "what would we do if the Presbyterian Church tried to stop the More Light Churches movement?" After discussing endless possibilities, Chris and I went to the Session of West Hollywood Presbyterian Church and suggested that we hold a conference and invite representatives from the More Light Churches to come and discuss where we stood. So eleven years ago over the week end of May 21-22, 1985, twenty-five (25) of us from 12 More Light Churches representing 8 states and 10 presbyteries gathered together. Within the first 15 minutes it was absolutely clear that not one of our churches had any intention of "setting aside" our More Light status, nor were we going to stop ordaining gay and lesbian persons who were elected and approved for ordination by the Sessions of our Church. From that moment on the Dance began! Today and beyond, our goal continues to be to "Dance the Dream of Freedom." People keep asking me what I think will come out of this year's General Assembly in Albuquerque. My answer is uniformly the same: "I have no idea, but I have come not to expect much from our church." Our church is in a state of absolute chaos. That chaos takes many forms. It is about form and structure, it is about power and privilege, it is about decreasing adherents of the faith, it is about downsizing, and restricted giving, it is about human sexuality and homosexuality, but most important, it is about finding and naming "Where the heart and soul" of the Presbyterian Church is as we approach the dawn of the third millennium of Christianity. I don't think any of us knows who we are any more. This church that once stood for such clear cut issues as equal rights and justice, certainly does not have any Eugene Carson Blake's left in its national leadership. This church that once took pride in offering one of the finest life-long educational curriculums now seems to have no genuine commitment to education or Christian Faith and Action. This church that once took such pride in having an educated clergy seems to laugh in the face and even scoff at serious Biblical Study and theological reflection. This church that once seemed so open hearted and open minded to me, now seems so closed-minded and filled with hatred. Over the years I have kept the volumes of the Minutes of the General Assembly on my bookshelf in my study. Each year the volumes get thicker and thicker. More and more reports are generated and published, and yet the life and witness of the Presbyterian Church seems less and less meaningful and relevant each year. It is like being afraid that if we ever stop producing studies, we might have to recognize that our existence is really meaningless. Years ago a friend sent me a quote by Thomas Merton. I believe it is from his book *20th Century American*. For me it perfectly describes the contemporary crisis in Presbyterian identity. Merton writes: "A Spirituality that preaches resignation under official brutalities, servile acquiescence in frustration and sterility, and total submission to organized injustice is one which has lost interest in holiness and remains concerned only with a spurious notion of order." Add "decency and order" to these words and it fits us to the "T." Clearly, something has got to change soon in the Presbyterian Church. We have got to find our heart and soul. We have got to name who we are as God's people in this time and place. We have got to name who it is that is welcome in this household of faith, and who is not. We have got to stop pretending that we are a church for all people, if in fact we only want white married heterosexual people. In the last two decades, we of the Christian gay and lesbian community have endured more religious abuse than any human being should ever be subjected to. Two decades ago, we of the lesbian/gay community were willing to enter into processes of dialog and study. But then a decade ago gay men and lesbian women came back to our churches looking for the church's pastoral care and love in the midst of the most horrific health epidemic ever to besiege the modern world. And what did our people get? More condemnation, more exclusion, more patronization and out and out rejection. I have seen gay and lesbian people treated worse in this church than one would treat a dog. My friend, Dorothy Christensen, who is a member of our Lazarus Project Board of Directors at West Hollywood Church, tells her story about the horror she experienced at her son's Memorial service. Dorothy, like so many parents, did not know her son was gay let alone that he was critically ill from complication related to AIDS, until shortly before his death. When her son died, she went to the Pastor of her home Presbyterian Church and asked him to officiate at her son's Memorial service. After a few friends had spoken of the beauty of Dorothy's son's life, the Pastor -- who was actually an Interim Pastor -- proceeded to rant and rave about the evils of homosexuality and how horrible and sinful her son's "lifestyle" was. To this day Dorothy is still in counseling trying to work through the abuse that was laid on her at her own son's funeral. Those of us who are lesbian or gay and are still in the Church have had it. We are no longer willing to be studied or debated to death. Now is the time to move on. The abuse must stop. In the last four years I have seen an unbelievable rise in the "out and out" hatred of the Christian Church by gay and lesbian people. The young adult gay and lesbian Christian community is almost exclusively post-Christian and extremely proud of it. As I meet with these young people and invite them into the community of faith, they portray a horrible picture of the Christian Church, which unfortunately is an absolute mirror image of who we are. And yet in these young peoples' lives, I see the gifts of the Spirit. They are magnificently spiritual people; people filled with love, patience, forbearance, genuineness, gentleness, human kindness. And they are also filled with LIFE and JOY! They have found a rich spirituality outside of Christianity. Friends, the reality is across all lines, thinking, caring people are no longer willing to put up with religious abuse. There is a post-Christian spirituality outside of the Christian Church which is more life-affirming than the spirituality offered within the Christian Church. We Presbyterians better wake up to this reality before we become extinct. As I read through the Overtures for this year's General Assembly, I keep asking myself "What is going on in the name of Jesus in this Church? " "How can there be so much hatred, anger, mistrust and institutional chaos happening all at once? And why in the world are we, who are gay and lesbian, being blamed for all this craziness?" ... And friends, craziness is the only word to describe it! For example, four years ago at General Assembly, I remember them bringing Jim Brown to the stage as the nominee for the Executive Director of the General Assembly Council. Jim was a colleague of mine in the Presbytery of the Pacific. Four years ago, the Church was gushing all over the place that at last we found some one from the grass roots. We had a local church pastor who understood the people and knew that the local congregation was the place where real ministry happens. Now four years later the General Assembly's Review Committee is recommending that the Executive Director of the General Assembly Council have experience commensurate with a corporate executive of a Fortune 500 corporation! Hello? Hello? Is anybody there? Are we still on the same planet??? Is this the Presbyterian Church (USA)? Just checking! What will be the outcome of this year's General Assembly? I don't know. But I do believe too many people, including too many people in this room, are putting too much stock into the outcome of this Assembly. "The Issue" as people like to refer to those of us who are gay or lesbian Christians in the Presbyterian Church, "the issue" isn't going away no matter what the Assembly does. And to the best of my recollection we've been at this point of decision at least six times in the last two decades. Count them with me: 1978 in San Diego, 1981 in Hartford, 1985 with a Permanent Judicial Decision prohibiting Westminster church in Buffalo, NY from becoming a More Light Church, 1987 when the Task Force to Study Human Sexuality was commissioned, 1991 in Baltimore when the Task Force Reported, 1993 in Orlando when we voted to "study us 'unprotected' subjects" for yet another three years; and here we are again in 1996. The Overtures this time are just as horrific and just as wonderful as in every other year. Are we going to come to a place of justice in our decision making or are we going to just keep dancing around "the issue?" I keep hearing and reading that this "issue," the ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian people embodies the epitome of the struggle for the church's heart and soul because it is intricately related to the problem of Biblical Authority and Scriptural Interpretation in the church today. Friends, let's be real. The answer to the question of Biblical Authority and Scriptural Interpretation, especially around complex matters of social change and justice, is answered in the Confessions of our Church, not in this debate. This particular issue was beautifully addressed in the Confession of 1967 which states: "The Bible is to be interpreted in the light of its witness to God's work of reconciliation in Christ. The Scriptures, given under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, are nevertheless the words of men [sic], conditioned by the language, thought forms, and literary fashions of the places and times at which they were written. They reflect views of life, history, and the cosmos which were then current. The Church, therefore, has an obligation to approach the Scriptures with literary and historical understanding. As God has spoken [God's] word in diverse cultural situations, the church is confident that [God] will continue to speak through the Scriptures in a changing world and in every form of human culture." [C-67, 9.29] As we reflect on the profound significance of these words, I want to share with you an equally profound and significant word. A few months ago some of our gay and lesbian leaders met with the Moderator of our General Assembly, Marj Carpenter. During those conversations, Marj said that she just guessed that she learned that homosexuality was wrong from her grandmother whom she dearly loved and was very close to. The Rev. Lisa Bove, an openly lesbian clergywoman responded to her, "Marj, you can still love and honor your grandmother while at the same time being able to enter into new places and change." It is not beyond the acceptable perimeters of the Reformed Tradition to reach the decision to ordain gay and lesbian persons, nor is it necessary to require celibacy of gay and lesbian persons just because at the present moment lesbian and gay marriage is not a legal or liturgical option. There are ways for us to order our life around these issues which are both biblically faith and JUST. We have done it with the issue of divorce, we have done it with the issue of the ordination of women. And it is now time to do it around the ordination of lesbian and gay Presbyterians! Time and time again, study after study and paper after paper, the study-documents and processes of our church have led us to this same conclusion. We Presbyterians have been "studying" the issue of homosexuality and human sexuality for 20 years now. Twenty years! By now we should all be awarded Ph. D.'s in sexology! We're either very slow learners or completely uneducable when it comes to sexuality. Friends, let me return once more to the issue of biblical authority before moving on. I want you to know that we in the Presbyterian community are not the only ones who have recognized that the problem is NOT biblical authority, but rather cultural prejudice. All of our ecumenical partners in the "main-line" or "old-line" Protestant traditions have come to the same realization. The Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson of the Metropolitan Community Church tells a wonderful story about her work with the National Council of Churches when the National Council was deciding whether to grant The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Churches membership. The National Council decided they needed to focus one of their study session on the Bible and Homosexuality. After months of dickering back and forth, the National Council of Churches folk said they would have to postpone the study because they couldn't find Biblical Scholars who would publicly present the opposing point of view. Nancy Wilson said, "That's no problem. We know who they are. We not only read their books, we debate them face to face." So she faxed a list of some 30 nationally known Biblical scholars who could present the opposing point of view. Months later, the National Council of Churches folk responded that they could not have the study because none of those persons recommended met their criteria of scholastic standards! Unfortunately, even though there is no longer any valid Biblical rationale to prohibit the ordination of gay and lesbian persons, the right wing of our church has made this the litmus test of Biblical authority. Compounding the problem is the reality that the conservative forces in our culture and our churches have associated everything that is both changing and wrong in matters of human sexuality with homosexuality. And over the years, intentionally or not, the General Assembly has allowed this one concern to become so politicized that it has taken on a life of its own. Interestingly enough as we meet just a few miles from the Canadian boarder, we might gain some insight from our ecumenical partners in the United Church of Canada. The United Church of Canada encountered the same situation as we did. A fully qualified candidate came forward for ordination who was openly gay. They formed their own task force and did their own denominational study. The report came back as did ours, that "one's sexual orientation alone should not be the determining factor regarding ordination." Of course the United Church of Canada was not ready for that report, and at their national Assembly in 1988, the conservatives went ballistic. Their remarks we so dehumanizing and degrading, and their action so offensive, that the majority of the Church wanted nothing to do with them. So they passed an alternative resolution which left the decision about ordination to the body immediately responsible for Ordination. In our situation that would be the Session and Presbytery. Consequently two things happened. One was, that a group of very conservative churches left the denomination. The more important, and unexpected result was that "the issue" became a "non-issue." Yes, initially the national church lost members and financial support. But within one year the financial support of the church returned to where it was and the issue has become de-politicized. Now this is not a perfect solution. Even in the United Church of Canada there are not a lot of churches who are ready to call an openly gay or lesbian clergyperson. But some of them are. Some of them are small churches who would never have the quality of pastoral ministry they receive were it not that they are some of the few churches who are open to calling gay and lesbian clergy. Others are larger churches who intentionally want diverse staffs to reflect the diversity of the people they serve and a third group tends to be urban churches who are engaged in ministry in neighborhoods where gay and lesbian people reside. At this point in our journey as Presbyterians, I think this model from the United Church of Canada may be helpful to us as we de- politicize the issue, and then experience what the Holy Spirit may do with that. The present course we've charted during the last two decades reminds of an e-mail that by partner David retrieved off the internet. This is the transcript of an actual radio conversation of a U.S. naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October of 1995. It was released by the Chief of Naval Operations. #1. Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision. #2. Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision. #1. This is the Captain of a U.S. Navy Ship. I say again, divert YOUR course. #2. No, I say again, you divert your course. #1. THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER U.S. MISSOURI; WE ARE A LARGE WARSHIP OF THE US NAVY. DIVERT YOUR COURSE NOW! #2. This is a lighthouse. Your Call. Friends, we've got to help our Church change course. We need to avoid any further collisions so that we can all move forward. We can't keep dancing around the issues of justice and inclusion in the Presbyterian Church. We've got to start dancing towards the direction of freedom. So many have already paved the way for us. We have two decades of education and advocacy in our Church, we have ever so many gay and lesbian people who have come out of the closets of fear to drink deeply from the well of life and liberation. We have Act-Up prophets and lesbian evangelists who have been out there now for years. We are well on the way to the fulfillment of the dream of freedom, the dream of full inclusion. At this time its only a matter of when the dream becomes reality. In closing let me share with you a word of hope about where the dance may end -- what dancing the dream of freedom might look and feel like. Ironically, as is often the way the Holy Spirit works, this word of hope came to me in the midst of the pain of the Orlando Assembly in 1993. I was an elected Commissioner that year so I was on the floor as a voting delegate. As you probably know, each day of the Assembly begins with a time of worship. As I arrived for worship on the day when the Assembly was to vote on what to do with Gay and Lesbian people in our church, I came into the building and started walking down the entry hallway. As I walked down the long hallway towards the Assembly Hall entry doors, I could hear a voice which kept getting louder and louder the closer I got to the doors. When I got to the door, I met our dear friend, The Most Rev. Howard Warren. Our beloved Moderator, Marj Carpenter, has dubbed Howard "a loose cannon." There are many adjectives I might use to describe Howard, but "loose" isn't one of them. Anyway, I'm so honored by her insight, that I think we should recommend that the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship begin awarding the annual Howard B. Warren, Jr. "Cannon Ball Award" for those who continually hit the target by telling the truth like it really is! Well back to my story -- and this by the way is a true story. On this particular day of the Assembly, "God's glorious loose cannon," The Rev. Howard Warren, was standing in the hallway, dressed in casual clothes, and wearing his white clerical stole. He had a sandwich board around his neck with one of his famous messages of inclusion for gays and lesbian in the church. As always, he was holding in one hand, his ten gallon brown ceramic coffee mug and his other hand was flying in the air. As each person entered the Assembly Hall for worship, they met Howard crying at the top of his lungs, and since I don't have quite the resonance chamber that is Howard's body (!) you'll just have to imagine his booming voice crying out: "God cries for justice in the Presbyterian Church!" All during the worship service you could hear Howard's voice resounding from the entry way into the Assembly Hall: "God cries for justice in the Presbyterian Church!" The staff of the General Assembly thought this was too disruptive, so they decided to close the entry doors to block out Howard's voice. But as only God in her justice-loving ways can intercede, the Fire Marshals immediately insisted that at least one of those doors remain open. So all during worship and the beginning of that day's work, above the spoken word from the platform you could hear "the Word of the Prophet: God cries for justice in the Presbyterian Church." I have known from that day on, why the Bible describes so thoroughly the clothing John the Baptist wore, as well as the words that he spoke. When you truly experience a prophet it leaves an indelible picture in your mind. But even more, through that experience, I've heard and felt John the Baptist's message of Hope proclaimed to the Church. The following day, which was one day after the General Assembly voted not to welcome openly lesbian and gay people as ordained leaders in our church, a dear friend of ours, Margie Wentz came over to Howard. Margie was one of the candidates for Moderator of the General Assembly that year. She had publicly stated in her Nomination Speech that she supported the full inclusion of everyone in our Church, and on the second ballot, she lost the election as Moderator by only 10 votes. She came up to Howard and she brought along her five year old grandson, Douglas. She bent down and put her arm around Douglas and said to him, "I want you to meet Howard. Right now you won't understand what he's doing, but he's like John the Baptist, and one day the Church will recognize that." Friends, Dance the Dream of Freedom -- and as we do, let us remember these words which took on profound meaning in Jewish theology after the Holocaust: "THE ONLY THING NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS FOR GOOD PEOPLE TO SAY AND DO NOTHING." Thank you, and may God continue to bless us. AMEN. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BOOKS TO WATCH OUT FOR A Separate Creation: The Search for the Biological Origins of Sexual Orientation, by Chandler Burr (Hyperion, June, 1996, $24.95). Reviewed by Merrill Proudfoot. Sorry, friends, but this book you're going to have to read. You may think (because it's 331 pages, and about science, which you and I were never very good at) that you can get by reading only this review, but some stupid mistake in conversation is sure to betray you. Like "They've discovered the gene that causes homosexuality! This proves that homosexuality is not a choice, and that there's nothing wrong with it -- it's just like some people are born with blue eyes and some with brown. So this should end the discrimination against gay folk." There are at least seven mistakes in those innocent-sounding comments. I will point them out to you. In the first place, although the real news is breath-taking enough, they haven't discovered "the gay gene." Dr. Dean Hamer announced in 1993 that he and fellow researchers at the National Institutes of Health had discovered the locus of a gene or genes involved in male homosexuality. Hamer explained on Good Morning America, "If you think of all your genetic information as a single forest of 100,000 trees, we've now narrowed the search down to a thicket of one hundred trees or so, and we're in the process of searching for the single tree in this area." The epoch-making news here is that Hamer and associates have demonstrated beyond a 99% certainty that there is a genetic component in some -- probably most -- male homosexuality. And that the responsible party is a gene passed from mother to son. (Aha! "Twas our mothers' fault, after all!")* _________ Footnote: Your editor suggested to our reviewer that we change this line to: "Twas our mother's gift, after all," because of course homosexuality, like sexuality in general, is a gift, ultimately from our creator. But our reviewer resisted, fearing that the allusion to the old psychiatric theory about domineering mothers would be lost. He writes: "So ironically the old theory that a man becomes homosexual because of his relationship with his mother is borne out -- but through a genetic rather than a psychological process." _________________________ The story of the discovery is a fascinating one, told in a fascinating way by Chandler Burr. (Bearing in mind always that he is writing for a lay audience, Burr follows the ruse of popular magazines in exposing the substance of his piece by focusing on the person and his or her story.) Hamer and associate Angela Pattatucci first determined through hundreds of interviews that homosexuality in men is a clearly-defined trait and that it's bimodal in distribution -- that is, either you are or you ain't -- a claim so revolutionary that the study it is based on deserves more attention than the book gives it. Then from a study of 114 family histories they noticed the preponderance of gay males on the female sides of the family trees. It followed a familiar pattern of inheritance. And strongly suggested that the culprit gene might be on the male X chromosome, the one which males always get from their mothers. But the X chromosome is a universe in itself. Not knowing where to look or how to recognize "the gay gene," Hamer and Pattatucci could only go for it indirectly. Here's what they did: They identified forty families that had at least two gay brothers, took blood from them and extracted DNA from the blood, analyzing the genetic "markers" at each of the "regions" on the X chromosome. (Hamer compares this to reading the product bar code off the back of cereal boxes.) And what did they find? That at region 28 of the X chromosome 33 of the 40 gay brothers shared the same gene variants. The chance of this being just coincidence is negligible. The scientific community agrees: Hamer's discovery has been listed in the standard reference work on genetics as GAY-1. It's a locus, though, not a gene. And the locus is Xq28. No gay gene will ever be found. Or to put it another way, all men have it! We all have the same genes, Burr explains patiently, but each one is likely to come in several "alleles" or variants. (If you insist on trying to get by without reading the book, drop the word "allele" into the conversation; that will throw them off.) So what we are looking for is a particular allele of a particular gene, or maybe alleles of more than one gene. You've already identified a third mistake in that attempt to discuss the book without having read it: The Hamer study deals only with male homosexuality. If boys inherit the responsible alleles from their mothers, in whom it is never expressed because they have a second X chromosome without the variant, then what makes girls homosexual? Clearly the whole story hasn't yet been told. But Hamer and Pattatucci seem to incline to the view that female homosexuality may be quite a different critter. For one thing, they find women not nearly so bimodal: far more swing back and forth or suspend in the middle between gay and straight. Another possible explanation is suggested by noting still one more mistake made by our conversation-hog: Hamer and company do not claim that the genetic variants they have found in gay men cause homosexuality. It can't be the only cause, or all 40 gay brothers would have shown it. They are quite ready to concede that at least other biological factors are involved. "What we've found is that ... part of being gay, or part of being straight, is determined in the genes," is the way Hamer responded to Ted Koppel on Nightline. So is homosexuality a choice, or not? Hamer laughs at this: "Can you imagine any sane, reputable biologist spending years of their life ... looking through chromosomes for a gene for something that's chosen?" As Burr explains, compare left- handedness: one can recognize by observing the trait whether it is chosen or not, without having discovered a gene for it. So, then, we have shown that homosexuality is not a disease, just a "natural variation"? Not at all. Diabetes is caused by a gene variant and is also inherited. But we'd like to get rid of it and are willing to spend quite a lot of resources to squelch it. Which means that the political fall-out from the discovery of a genetic factor in homosexuality may not be positive for gay rights. Burr's last two chapters discuss this in a way that even the scientific clods among us can understand. Yes, it is conceivable that before long we will be able to do in-utero surgery to change a fetus slated to become homosexual to a boy who will be dear to Daddy's heart. Even before that, and far less expensively, we can simply abort and try again. Burr suspects that Pat Robertson is right, that gay rights advocates will soon be joining in with the Pro-Life movement. It's a remarkable achievement, this book of Chandler Burr's. It bears comparison with Randy Shilts' *And the Band Played On*. Even after the scientific findings it recounts have been buried by further discoveries, his masterful explanation of genetics and gene research to us English and Music majors, and his discussion of the social consequences of finding a biological basis for homosexuality, will cause *A Separate Creation* to retain status as a classic. So you think that now that I've pointed out your mistakes, you're safe in not reading the book? Wrong. I haven't pointed out all the mistakes you would be likely to make, and what's more important, you can't be sure that this English major hasn't made 70 mistakes in pointing out your seven. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Out, Thank God! -- Autobiography of George J. Link, "The Gay Deacon," $10.00 at the PLGC booth at General Assembly, or direct from George J. Link, 1875 W. 12th Ave., #C, Eugene, OR 97402- 3534. Reviewed by Merrill Proudfoot. George Link enjoys being referred to as "The Gay Deacon." But for my money he is "The Presbyterian Saint." Until such time as the Permanent Judicial Commission delivers an authoritative interpretation of what the criteria are for Presbyterian sainthood, I suggest these three: + A deep devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ, evident in the way one lives; + Having suffered for the faith and on behalf of the faith community; + Having served as a vehicle through whom God works a miracle. In this modest autobiography, *Out, thank God!*, George doesn't say a word with the intent to enhance his candidacy for sainthood. But the simple facts of his life speak eloquently to the criteria. + In response to criteria one, let the Presbyterian Sainthood Commission consider an incident which happened at the Wichita Assembly: "As I was sitting at the PLGC booth in the exhibit hall ..., I saw a woman charging across the hall in my direction .... Before I could greet her she jammed her face into mine and almost hysterically shouted, 'You ought to be ashamed of yourself for being one of those!', as she pointed at the PLGC sign. As if to answer the silent prayer I offered for God's help, . . I stood up and gave her a warm hug." + Suffering, your Excellencies? George suffered, as many others have, in an honest attempt for almost fifty years to suppress his sexuality because Church and society said it was wrong. Finally, to reclaim his life, he lost family, home and job, and went out into the world like Abraham, "not knowing where he was going." But I submit for your special consideration that at the Wichita Assembly George took up a five-day fast of bread and water, standing at the entrance to the hall handing out fliers appealing to the Church to repent of its injustices against lesbian and gay people. + In respect to miracle, Excellencies, we are not speaking about raising bodies from the dead. If George Link could accomplish that with the Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A.), that would be a miracle unparalleled. But George's book describes how the Holy Spirit has blessed the life of Central Presbyterian Church in Eugene, Oregon, as a result of that congregation's election of George and a lesbian colleague to the office of deacon, contrary to the declared policy of the General Assembly against the ordination of homosexual persons. And when the Permanent Judicial Commission, the denomination's highest court, refused to kick them out of that office, a few tentative gasps of breath were detected in the stiff, recumbent body of the denomination. George Link's case and his book have reminded gay activists within the denomination that our cause does not have to do with clergy only, and that not all the saints are "Reverends." George Link will be at the PLGC exhibit booth at General Assembly in Albuquerque to autograph copies of his book. He has pledged $3 of each $10 sale to national PLGC. He has expressed an interest in visiting local groups to tell his story, and will make the same deal with them. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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 (pro tempore): 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: Scott Anderson -- see Officers. JUDICIAL ISSUES: Tony De La Rosa, 5850 Benner St., #302, Los Angeles, 90042, 213-266-2690 wk, -2695 fax, 213-256-2787 hm; Peter Oddleifson, Harris Beach and Wilcox, 130 E. Main St., Rochester, NY 14604, 716-232-4440 wk, -1573 fax. PRESBYNET: Dorothy Fillmore, 7113 Dexter Rd., Richmond, VA 23226- 3729, 804-285-9040 hm, 804-828-1831, fax 804-828-8172 wk, PNet: DFILLMORE, internet: dfillmore.parti@ecunet.org (or) dfillmor@cabell. vcu.edu (NO 'e' on dfillmor!); Bill Capel, 123-R W. Church St., Champaign, IL 61820-3510, 217-355-9825, PNet: BILL CAPEL, internet: bill_capel.parti @ecunet.org NOMINATING COMMITTEE: Dorothy Fillmore -- see PresbyNet. coordinator. PRISON MINISTRIES: Doug Elliott -- see Southern California. PLGC POSTINGS -- Positions Referral Service: Michael Purintun, 522 Belgravia Ct. Apt. 2, Louisville, KY 40208, 502-637-4734. LIAISON TO PRESBYTERIAN AIDS NETWORK (PAN): John M. Trompen, 48 Lakeview Dr., Morris Plains, NJ 07950-1950 LIAISONS TO PRESBYTERIAN ACT-UP: 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). LIAISON TO MORE LIGHT CHURCHES NETWORK: Tammy Lindahl -- see Exec. Board. EUROPE: Jack Huizenga,Voice of America, 74 Shoe Lane, London 4C4A 3JB, United Kingdom, (171) 410-0960, preceded by 011-44 if calling from the U.S. ALASKA-NORTHWEST (AK, WA, No. ID): Richard Gibson, 4700 228th St., SW, Mount Lake Terrace, WA 98043, 206-778-7227; Michael Tsai, 1622 W. Jame 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. 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, PresbyNet LISA FURR; Brent Bissette, 223 Riverwalk Cir., Cary, NC 27511, 919-467-5747. NORTHEAST (NJ, NY, New England): Gary Ireland, 10 Winter St., Montpelier, VT 05602, 802-229-5438; John Hartwein-Sanchez, 23 Sherman St., #2, New London, CT 06320, 203-442-5138; Charlie Mitchell, 56 Perry St., Apt. 3-R, New York, NY 10014, 212-691- 7118; Amy Jo Remmerle, 1159 Maple Rd., Williamsville, NY 14221, 716-626-5976; Kay Wroblewski, 74 Freemont Rd., Rochester, NY 14612, 716-663-9130. PACIFIC (No. CA, OR, NV, So. ID): Richard A. Sprott, 531 Valle Vista Ave., Oakland, CA 94610-1908, 510-268-8603, fax, 510-271- 0127.email: sprott @cogsci .berkeley.edu; Dick Hasbany, 4025 Dillard Rd., Eugene, OR 97405, 503-345-4720. 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: Doug Elliott, 1232 Dell Drive, Monterey Park, CA 91754, 213-262-8019; Rev. L. Dean Hay, P.O. Box 77, Fontana, CA 92334, 909-829-0931. 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; John P. McNeese, 1300 Brighton Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73120, 405-848-7498, 405-232-6991; Jay Kleine, 8818 Wightman Dr., Austin, TX 78754, 512-928-4063, 331-7088 work. TRINITY (PA, WV): Rob Cummings, PO Box 394, Jackson Center, PA 16133-0394, 412-475-3285; Eleanor Green, P.O. Box 6296, Lancaster, PA 17603, 717-397-9068; Jim Ebbenga & Kurt Wieser, 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 Woody Smallwood (1997), 1225 Southview Rd., Baltimore, MD 21218- 1454, 410-467-1191 Lisa Furr (1998), 7113 Dexter Rd. Richmond, VA 23226-3729, 804- 285-9040 PNet: DFILLMORE, internet: dfillmore.parti@ecunet.org (or) dfillmor@cabell. vcu.edu (NO 'e' on dfillmor!) Gene Huff (1998), address until August 1: 28 N. Dearborn St., Indianapolis, IN 46201, 317-236-1170; After August 1: 658 25th Ave., San Francisco CA 94121 Susan Leo (1998), 412 NE Hazelfern Pl., Portland, OR 97232-3328, 503-232-4030 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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * MASTHEAD (Publication Information) MORE LIGHT UPDATE, Volume 17, Number 1, September-October 1996. ISSN 0889-3985. Published bi-monthly by Presbyterians for Lesbian & Gay Concerns, an organization of Ministers, Elders, Deacons, and Members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Elder James D. Anderson, Editor, P.O. Box 38, New Brunswick, NJ 08903- 0038, 908-249-1016, 908-932-7501 (Rutgers University), fax 908- 932-6916 (Rutgers University), Internet: jda@mariner.rutgers.edu (or jda@scils.rutgers.edu), 4 Huntington St., Room 316, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1071. Electronic version available via email. PLGC-List: plgc-list@andrew.cmu.edu PLGC home page: http://www.epp.cmu.edu/~riley/PLGC.html Send materials marked "For publication" to the editor. PUBLICATION DEADLINES: 6 weeks prior to issue months. Most material appearing in MORE LIGHT UPDATE is placed in the public domain. With the exception of individual articles that carry their own copyright notice, articles may be freely copied or reprinted. We ask only that MORE LIGHT UPDATE be credited and its address be given for those who might wish to contact us. Suggested annual membership contribution to PLGC: $50.00. Annual subscription (included in membership) to MORE LIGHT UPDATE: $12.00. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *