Press Contacts:

Mitzi Henderson, Co-Moderator (650)854-2598
Bill Moss, Co-Moderator, (415)864-0477

PETALUMA, CA: In a letter dated December 4, 2002, the Investigating Committee appointed by the Presbytery of the Redwoods to look into allegations against the Rev. Katie Morrison said they voted not to file charges. All six allegations against Morrison were dismissed, five of them by unanimous vote of the committee. The complainant, Paul Rolf Jensen, a Virginia lawyer and member of St. Andrews Presbyterian in Newport Beach, CA, now has 30 days to make an appeal.

Morrison, a National Field Organizer for More Light Presbyterians, is an out lesbian. This is the first time an LGBT candidate has been open throughout the ordination process and succeeded in having his or her call affirmed and recognized by the presbytery. "We are so pleased that Katie can be fully open and faithfully live into her call," said Bill Moss, Co-Moderator of More Light Presbyterians. "We celebrate this news with Katie and her partner, and pray that many others called by God to serve this church will be able to live openly and answer their calls faithfully."

In a separate action on other complaints filed by Jensen, the Investigating Committee voted not to bring charges against Presbytery Moderator Rev. Mary Wright Gillespie, Executive Presbyter Rev. Brian Tippen, Rev. Barbara Rowe, and Rev. Carolyn Osborn, who were accused in connection with the presbytery-approved ordination. Morrison's own father, Elder Steve Morrison, was also accused of participating in his daughter's ordination, but the session of Pasadena Presbyterian Church, which had jurisdiction for that investigation, decided not to bring charges.