From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG USA Today Letter Date: Wed, 26 Feb 1997 00:35:10 -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. February 25 , 1997 USA Today 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington,VA 22229 Dear Editors: On February 24 you reported that the Kendall Presbytery of Burley, ID had voted to bar homosexuals from holding church office. This was not an isolated vote by the Kendall Presbytery. The "Fidelity and Chastity" amendment is being voted on by all 171 presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and will become part of the Presbyterian Book of Order if it is passed by a majority. While you quoted the amendment accurately, your summary was incorrect. Whatever the motivations of those who supported passage of the amendment may be, it actually bars from church office anyone who has sexual relationships outside of mixed-gender marriages, regardless of their sexual orientation -- it makes no mention of homosexuality at all. We understand your difficulty summarizing in one sentence a seemingly simple amendment fraught with so many levels of discrimination, prejudice, faulty assumption and moral ambiguity. Sincerely, Barbara Purdom Christopher Purdom Interfaith Working Group Coordinators -- 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.