From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: Another IWG Grand Island Letter Date: Sun, 23 Feb 1997 20:55:53 -0500 (EST) The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 3 congregations, 6 religious organizations and 37 clergy from 13 faiths and denominations. If you are in the general Philadelphia area and represent a congregation or religious organization or are clergy, let us know if you want to be added - all faiths are welcome. We will also be happy to help start similar organizations in other areas. Apparantly our letter listing religious bodies supporting marriage legalization was published in the Grand Island Independent, and the local Presbyterian Congregation wrote in to complain that we had incorrectly included the Presbyterian Church (USA). Our response (with enclosure) follows. February 23, 1997 The Grand Island Independent PO Box 1208 Grand Island, NE 68802 Dear Editors: Despite the otherwise correct comments of the Session of Grand Island's First Presbyterian Church, our previous letter said that the Presbyterian Church (USA) supported the legal recognition of same-sex marriages, not Presbyterian Church (USA) recognition of such marriages. While we do not speak for the denomination, we are personally members of that body, as are three of our member clergy and one of our member congregations. During the 1996 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) the denomination passed a resolution which both reiterated its historic position that marriage is a contract between a man and a woman and also instructed the stated clerk to file briefs supporting the ruling of the Hawaii Supreme Court should such an opportunity arise. While it might be more correct to say that the denomination opposes the government's refusal to legally recognize the marriages of same-gender couples, the double-negative is extremely confusing. The Presbyterian Church's statement concerning marriage recognizes the separation of church and state and is consistent with the denomination's position concerning Colorado's Amendment 2, in which the General Assembly instructed the stated clerk to file a brief in opposition to the amendment while at the same time stating that same-gender sexual activity is not consistent with God's plan for humankind. While some of the organizations we mentioned in our earlier letter support both legal and religious same-gender marriage, we were commenting solely upon their stand on legal marriages, not religious marriages. Sincerely, Barbara Purdom Christopher Purdom Interfaith Working Group Coordinators The following press release was copied from the official website of the Presbyterian Church (USA) : http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/oldnews/3713.htm Title: Assembly favors civil rights 06-July-1996 GA96111 Assembly favors civil rights ALBUQUERQUE - After debate that stretched over two sessions, two attempts to forestall the issue and one to take no action on it, the Assembly voted late Friday afternoon to authorize the Stated Clerk to explore entering friend-of-the- court briefs in favor of civil rights for same-sex couples. The vote was 281-244 for the majority report from the committee on National and Urban Issues, and the action concluded an item that had consumed hours of committee and Assembly time. The majority report affirmed the Presbyterian church's historic definition of marriage as a civil contract between a man and a woman, yet recognized that "committed same-sex partners seek equal civil liberties in a contractual relationship with all the civil rights of married couples." The action calls for the church to weigh-in, if feasible, on the side of a ruling from the Hawaii Supreme Court that it is unconstitutional to deny the rights and responsibilities of the civil status of marriage on the basis of gender. In so doing, the Assembly apparently chose the view that the issue was one of civil rights (as proponents of the majority report stated), rather than an endorsement of homosexual marriage (the principal argument offered by those against the report). The Rev. Suzan Hawkinson, commissioner from New Covenant Presbytery, said the majority report "strikes a balance" between holiness and compassion. An attempt to substitute a minority report for the majority was defeated, 300-222. A motion to take no action was defeated, 285-246. An attempt to arrest the matter until after the dinner break also failed -- the body made it clear it wanted to address the issue without further delay. In response to a question, retiring Stated Clerk Jim Andrews said he had not entered any comment on the case previously, despite having been asked to do so in 1995, when the issue originated as a commissioners' resolution. Andrews said he declined to do so after hearing that the majority of Hawaiian Presbyterian congregations were opposed to such action. During open hearings on the issue, a pastor of one of the seven Presbyterian congregations in Hawaii testified that six of those congregations chose to support the traditional view of marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. The Hawaii case, which began in 1991, is expected to be the first to draw a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on civil rights for same-sex couples. It currently is awaiting a re-trial in a lower Hawaii court in August. -- Interfaith Working Group Religious organizations, congregations iwg@libertynet.org and clergy supporting gay rights, http://www.libertynet.org/~iwg/ reproductive freedom, and the 215-235-3050 separation of church and state.