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                         MORE LIGHT UPDATE

                            Summer 2003

                        Volume 23, Number 3

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                            HIGHLIGHTS

 215th General Assembly: Assessments from MLP, TAMFS, Witherspoon,

  Network, Hal Porter, Ralph Carter, Martha Juillerat, 

 Erin Swenson, Michael Adee. Awards. Ex-gays. Churches. Chapters. 

 Families. Leaders. Seminarians. Inmates. Books & Videos. Church 

 Courts. A Polity Lesson. & On the Road with Michael.

 

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                           FULL CONTENTS

         (Items in Electronic Version only marked with *)

 

 *CHANGES

 OUR COVER: The Presbyterian Church New England Congregational 

           Church, a More Light Church in Saratoga Springs, NY. OUR 

 PHOTOS FEATURE STORIES

      215th General Assembly: A House of Prayer for All Peoples

      Theme for General Assembly Falls Short, But No Big Losses

      MLP Moderators' Letter from G.A.

      G.A. Denies Justice with More Delay: MLP & TAMFS

      Justice Delayed -- Again -- Is Justice Denied -- Again: The 

                Witherspoon Society

      215th General Assembly Is Peaceful, Productive: Covenant 

 Network

      MLP Award to Hudson River Dissenting and More Light Churches

      Hudson River Presbytery on the Chastity Amendment

      MLP's David Sindt Award to Rosemarie Wallace

      Critique of Sexual Conversion Therapy, MLP Luncheon: Cleve 

 Evans

      An Ex-Gay Witness

      *G.A.'s Biblical Theme: Hospitality -- "A House of Prayer

 

                for All Peoples"

      *The 215th General Assembly: Hal Porter

      *Ralph Carter at G.A. 215

      The Shower of Stoles at G.A.: Martha G. Juillerat

      The "T" Was at the Table at the 215th G.A.: Erin Swenson

      A Long Way Home from Denver: Michael Adee

 OUR CHURCHES

      *Kentucky More Light Church Joins UCC

      *Welcoming Churches Give More!: Covenant Network

      *Seeking MLP Support in MLP Congregations

 BOOKS & VIDEOS

      Finding Out: The ABCs of Same-Sex Relationships

      Subversive Devotions: A Journey into Divine Pleasure and Power

      Books and Videos Looking for Reviewers!

 OUR FAMILIES

      *Congratulations! You Have a New Daughter! By the Way, She's 

                Sixteen, and a Lesbian: Rev. Susan Quinn Bryon MLP 

 PEOPLE

      *John Hobbs Leaves PCUSA for UCC

      PFLAG/DC Honors Madeline Jervis

      Celebrating Howard Warren

           PCUSA News Service Story: Alexa Smith

           A Gay Youth Remembers His Pastor: Mark Lee

           Michael Adee Sums Up:

 OUR INMATES

      Role Reversal?: Jud Van Gorder

 OUR LEADERS

      MLP Nominations: Donna Riley

 ON THE ROAD WITH MICHAEL ADEE

      Love Makes a Family, Love Makes a Church

 OUR CHURCH COURTS

      Court Cases: Same-Sex Marriage

      Joint Statement on the First Van Kuiken Decision: MLP, TAMFS

      MLP Statement on Removal of Van Kuiken by Presbytery of

 Cincinnati

      *Joint Statement on the Porter Agreement: MLP, TAMFS

      A Polity Lesson: A Church Lawyer's Court Presentation: Lynne 

 Reade

 OUR SEMINARIANS

      MLP Chapter at United Theological Seminary, St. Paul

 NEW MLP CHAPTER

      More Light in Tennessee!

 EVENTS

 MLP OFFICERS

      MLP Board of Directors

      MLP National Liaisons

 MASTHEAD (Publication Information)

 

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                  *We limit not the truth of God

                  To our poor reach of mind,

                  By notions of our day and sect,

                  Crude, partial and confined.

 

                  No, let a new and better hope

                  Within our hearts be stirred:

                  For God hath yet more light and truth

                  To break forth from the Word.*

 

  -- Pastor John Robinson, sending the Pilgrims to the New World,   

 1620; paraphrased by the hymnwriter George Rawson, 1807-1889.

 

                           SEXUAL ETHICS

 

       "More Light Presbyterians (MLP) envisions that 

       Christian sexual ethics marked by covenantal 

       fidelity shall be the standard for all 

       Presbyterians, irrespective of sexual orientation."

           -- MLP Board, September 1999.

 

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            For all ministers, elders, deacons, members

          and friends of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

 

                     More Light Presbyterians

                  4737 County Road 101, PMB# 246

                     Minnetonka, MN 55345-2634

 

                         MORE LIGHT UPDATE

                     James D. Anderson, Editor

                            P.O. Box 38

                   New Brunswick, NJ  08903-0038

      732-249-1016, 732-932-7500 ex 8210 (Rutgers University)

               FAX 732-932-6916 (Rutgers University)

                 Internet: JDA@mariner.rutgers.edu

                    (or JDA@scils.rutgers.edu)

                      Email Discussion List:

              MoreLightPresbyterians@yahoogroups.com

                     (To join, send email to:

         MoreLightPresbyterians-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com;

                     to leave, send email to:

        MoreLightPresbyterians-Unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com).

 

                 MLP home page: www.mlp.org

 

      Masthead, with Publication Information at end of file.

 

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

 

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 CHANGES

 

 Please welcome Dick Wunder of Salt Lake City as our new editorial

 assistant (and super expert proof-reader) for the More Light 

 Update.  I hope you notice the difference! -- JDA.

 

 Sa`ra J. Herwig has moved: Here's her new address: 84 Middle

 St., Lexington MA 02421, 781-454-5231, sjherwig@earthlink.net

 

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 OUR COVER

 

 Our cover features long-time More Light Church, The Presbyterian

 Church New England Congregational Church, Saratoga Springs, NY.

 

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 OUR PHOTOS

 

 Other photos have been contributed by Michael Adee, Mike Smith,

 Chuck McLain, Bob Patenaude, John Martin, and Mark Lee. *Send us 

 your photos -- especially photos of More Light Churches!*

 

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 FEATURE STORIES

 

                 A House of Prayer for All Peoples

 

     Theme for General Assembly Falls Short, But No Big Losses

 

 We begin with some overall assessments of our 215th General

 Assembly in Denver, CO, May 24-31, 2003.

 

 

                 MLP Moderators' Letter from G.A.

 

 May 31, 2003

 

 Dear More Light Presbyterian Member,

 

 Justice cannot wait! This is the MLP commitment that inspired us

 here in Denver, where the 215th General Assembly has just 

 concluded. The centerpiece of this past week was the "Des Moines 

 overture," which we brought to the Assembly despite the 

 misgivings of some of our friends. It would remove G-6.0106b and 

 the preceding barriers to ordination. This is our goal -- for 

 every Assembly -- until our Church gets this right.

 

 The first hurdle was the committee consideration and vote. Board

 members Bear Ride and Mike Smith marshaled 30 superb witnesses in 

 the open hearings, whose personal testimonies inspired the 

 committee to recommend the overture to the Assembly. This was a 

 shock to many who assumed this was a futile effort this year. It 

 demonstrated yet again that when we are allowed to speak, we 

 change hearts, minds and votes.

 

 The Assembly got bogged in a substitute motion and referred the

 overture to the Theological Task Force. This did not give the 

 Assembly a genuine opportunity to deal with the committee 

 recommendation. We are grateful for the committee's approval and 

 saddened that the Assembly has denied justice to LGBT persons and  our

families once again.

 

 We sponsored a whole series of events along with our sister

 organizations, That All May Freely Serve and The Shower of Stoles 

 Project. Rev. Jim Rigby, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, 

 Austin, TX, offered a passionate keynote on justice to an 

 enthusiastic crowd of 200 at our National Celebration Dinner. We 

 gave the Hudson River Presbytery Dissenting Churches our 

 Inclusive Church Award for their courageous witness. Rosemarie 

 Wallace received the David Sindt Award for her many years of 

 leadership in the church and in our movement.

 

 175 people participated in the second installment of our National

 Education Luncheon with the topic "Gay to Straight? Bad 

 Theology and Bad Medicine," challenging the claims of ex-gay 

 ministries. And 70 people joined us for an organizing luncheon 

 that created the new National Presbyterian LGBT Seminarians, 

 ms and Allies Network.

 

 Other events and outreach included:

 

      %% Joyful worship at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church 

      with over 300 people;

 

      %% Consultation with members of the Theological Task Force;

 

      %% Youth Advisory Delegates' pizza lunches and educational 

      outreach;

 

      %% Exhibit Hall educational booth with new resources visited 

      by hundreds;

 

      %% Interviews with the Associated Press (AP), local papers 

      and CNN;

 

      %% Evening worship, LGBT movies and hospitality;

 

      %% Sunday morning witness/rally led this year by our youth 

      and young adults.

 

 This is perhaps the most intense week of the year for MLP and our

 Church. It is the one time when a large cross-section of the 

 church sees and hears committed, faithful LGBT persons and our 

 supporters -- close up and in person. It is here we make our case 

 for justice, meet power face-to-face, and it is here we make new 

 allies and friends.

 

 It is you who make this outreach, advocacy, education and witness

 possible. Your financial and prayer support makes this national 

 outreach a reality. Your gifts will defray the costs of 

 educational resources, youth and young adult outreach, exhibit 

 space and other costs associated with G.A. work. We carried your 

 stories and your dreams for our Church with us to Denver. We will 

 do the same next year in Richmond.

 

 For this national effort and our on-going field organizing work,

 we ask for your continuing and increased financial support -- 

 today! Since 1974 we have been working for the full embrace of 

 LGBT persons in the life and ministry of our Church. Through our 

 national network of individuals, churches, MLP Chapters and the 

 extraordinary work of Michael Adee, your national field 

 organizer, much progress has been made.

 

 But we could do so much more. This past week has given us

 opportunities for outreach that we yearn to explore. With 113 

 More Light Churches, two dozen MLP Chapters in cities, on 

 Presbyterian college and seminary campuses, and now more than 500 

 Welcoming Congregations, our grassroots network continues to 

 grow. We have much to do together to ensure the full 

 participation of LGBT persons in the life of our Church.

 

 Please make MLP a giving priority. Give generously yourself. Let

 your churches and your friends know we need their help now to 

 raise the call for justice and love so that our Church may become 

 the beloved welcoming community God intends it to be. -- With 

 hope for our Church, Mitzi Henderson & Bill Moss, MLP Co-

 Moderators.

 

 P.S. Thank you for your membership, support and partnership in

 this life-changing work!

 

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                G.A. Denies Justice with More Delay

 

       More Light Presbyterians & That All May Freely Serve

                           Media Release

 

 May 30, 2003 -- The 215th General Assembly of the Presbyterian

 Church (U.S.A.) has referred to the Task Force on Peace, Purity, 

 and Unity the Des Moines overture, a proposed constitutional 

 amendment which, if ratified by the presbyteries, would have 

 lifted the ban on the ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and 

 transgender (LGBT) people as ministers, elders and deacons.

 

 "The 'House of Prayer for All Peoples' continues to close its

 doors on God's LGBT children," said Elder Bill Moss, MLP Co-

 Moderator. "We thank the committee that recommended approval, 

 but we are saddened that the General Assembly has denied justice 

 by continuing to impose second class status on sexual and gender 

 minorities."

 

 Today's decision delayed a change in the language in the *Book of

 Order* that requires candidates for ministry to observe "fidelity 

 in the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or 

 chastity in singleness" (G-6.0106b). The proposal would also have 

 done away with the definitive guidance of the 1978 General 

 Assembly that "practicing, self-affirming homosexuals" are 

 prohibited from serving as ordained ministers, elders, and 

 deacons.

 

 Bob Bidwell, commissioner from Maumee Valley Presbytery, noted

 during the floor debate that the Hard Rock Cafe down the street 

 has a sign saying "Love All, Serve All." "Isn't it sad that the 

 Hard Rock Cafe is more Christian than us," said Bidwell.

 

 "For more than twenty-five years our church has been wrestling

 with matters of sexuality and faith and this vote is not the end 

 of the debate," said Jake Young, Associate Pastor at First 

 Presbyterian, Springfield, IL, and board member of the 

 Witherspoon Society. "We appreciate the commitment of all those 

 who continue to work for change."

 

 A partnership of justice-oriented Presbyterian organizations has

 pledged to work together to bring this same issue before every 

 General Assembly until it is approved. "Like the widow knocking on 

 the door of the unjust judge, we are not going away," said Lisa 

 Larges, Regional Partnership Coordinator for That All May Freely 

 Serve. "The church is mistaken in thinking that it can have peace 

 without justice, unity without diversity, and purity without 

 integrity."

 

 More Light Presbyterians and That All May Freely Serve work for

 the full participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 

 people of faith in the life, work, and ministry of the 

 Presbyterian Church, which includes the ordination of qualified 

 LGBT candidates as ministers, elders, and deacons. For over 30 

 years the Witherspoon Society has advocated for peace and social 

 justice issues in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

 

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      Justice Delayed -- Again -- Is Justice Denied -- Again

 

               The Witherspoon Society Media Release

 

 May 30, 2003

 

 The officers of The Witherspoon Society are dismayed by today's

 action of the 215th General Assembly in rejecting yet again God's 

 call to do justice, as sought by the Des Moines overture to 

 remove G-6.0106b from our *Book of Order*.

 

 We recognize the concern of many sincere Presbyterians for

 patience in the continuing effort to shape a more just, more 

 welcoming church. We recognize the weariness of many after years 

 of conflict, and now of litigation. The exhaustion afflicts many 

 of us as individuals, and it weakens our whole church.

 

 But we still hear God's call to do justice, and we remember those

 saints who have reminded us that we are called to be faithful, 

 not to be successful.

 

 The afternoon brought its share of ironies:

 

      %% The glorious motto of this Assembly, "A House of Prayer 

      for All Peoples," shines in a house of prayer for less than 

      all.

 

      %% The Moderator, following the vote, invited the 

      commissioners to join in singing "Jesus loves me, this I 

      know." But not everyone felt included in that love.

 

      %% Before the afternoon session ended, there was an urgent 

      reminder of the church's growing shortage of ministers -- 

      just after the Assembly had voted to continue excluding a 

      large percentage of its members from that call.

 

      %% There were expressions of sympathy for the pain felt by 

      many, but no hint of hope for changing the situation that 

      causes such pain.

 

 The debates on this issue have demonstrated anew the ambiguities

 of power: Those who hold power in the church by virtue of their 

 positions can hasten the changes that we all seek, if they so 

 choose. Those who are excluded and therefore have limited voice 

 and limited power in the church, must continue their struggle for 

 their rightful place in the "house of worship for all peoples."

 

 The Witherspoon Society will continue to stand with our sisters

 and brothers in the struggle for justice in our church, not only 

 for the sake of those now excluded, but also for the sake of the 

 health of our church as a whole.

 

 It is not clear now what the coming months may hold, but we

 pledge to follow their lead to the best of our abilities, in 

 cooperation with all those who seek justice and a church that 

 will truly be "a house of worship for all peoples."

 

 Contact: Kent Winters-Hazelton, Witherspoon Society president,

 909-392-8301; Doug King, Witherspoon Society editor, 952-473-

 2711, dougking2@aol.com

 

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          215th General Assembly Is Peaceful, Productive

 

                 Covenant Network of Presbyterians

 

 Presbyterians returned to their home churches Sunday, June 1,

 after an intense and productive General Assembly in Denver.

 

 This General Assembly chose not to send out to the presbyteries

 an amendment to delete G-6.0106b from the *Book of Order*, noting 

 instead that the issue is already before the Theological Task 

 Force on the Peace, Unity, & Purity of the Church. Disappointing 

 though this vote was to some, it reflected the generally moderate 

 tone of the 215th Assembly.

 

 In urging all Presbyterians to pray for the deliberations of the

 Task Force, the G.A. also:

 

      %% Heard moving and important testimony about the continued 

      cost -- personal and institutional -- of categorically 

      excluding some Presbyterians from ordained service;

 

      %% Heard less of the egregious and offensive "gay bashing" 

      of previous years;

 

      %% Heard implicit acknowledgments in some speeches from 

      opponents that a broader ordination standard is inevitable 

      in time;

 

      %% Gave the Task Force more room to find faithful and 

      creative ways of finding some common ground, by permitting 

      it to hold some sensitive theological discussions without 

      press present;

 

 This G.A. also made some welcome decisions that affect the

 church's polity. It:

 

      %% Refused to adopt a narrow interpretation of "chastity";

 

      %% Issued an authoritative interpretation of the 

      Constitution making clear that G.A. may not intervene under 

      its Standing Rules, as sought by Shenango Presbytery, in 

      judicial cases;

 

      %% Sent a pastoral letter reminding synods and presbyteries 

      of the option of administrative review, rather than 

      mandating the development of uniform procedures for review;

 

      %% Overwhelmingly approved an amendment that will raise the 

      number of commissioners needed to recall the G.A. into 

      Special Assembly;

 

      %% Turned down several proposals to insert higher governing 

      bodies, or the G.A. itself, into "enforcement" of one 

      party's constitutional interpretation.

 

 The 215th G.A. elected as Moderator Susan Andrews, Pastor of

 Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, MD, the first 

 parish clergywoman ever to serve in this position. Susan, who 

 resigned from the Board of Directors of the Covenant Network 

 following her election, openly affirmed her own hope that the 

 church will one day be able to welcome to office all whom God 

 calls. Her moderatorial style, which deftly combined a clear path 

 through complex proceedings with a light and pastoral touch, won 

 widespread praise.

 

 In other actions, the G.A.:

 

      %% Reaffirmed last year's decision to move to biennial 

      G.A.'s after next year;

 

      %% Approved a major report on Clergywomen's experiences in 

      ministry, with recommendations to help the church make 

      better use of their gifts;

 

      %% Adopted a Resolution on Africa, five years in the making, 

      that calls the church to strengthen mission partnerships, 

      assist with efforts against AIDs and malaria, encourage 

      self-development projects, and advocate for human rights;

 

      %% Voted to continue funding and support for the World 

      Council of Churches;

 

      %% Heard an encouraging progress report on "Joining Hearts & 

      Hands," the $40-million mission initiative for mission 

      abroad and at home;

 

      %% Debated an important study on the church's response to 

      Families in Transition (all the changing family models we 

      encounter today in our churches) and referred it back to the 

      Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, with directions 

      to confer with the Office of Theology and Worship and bring 

      a revised document to next year's G.A.;

 

      %% Issued resolutions on the Middle East, urged U.S. 

      ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, and 

      encouraged a host of other economic justice initiatives;

 

 Covenant Network friends met and talked with directors and staff

 at two Open Houses, a busy exhibit booth, and two well-attended 

 events. At the Commissioner Convocation Dinner the night before 

 G.A. opened , Robert Bohl described signs of hope, and Deborah 

 Block pointed to friendships outlasting tactical differences in 

 "What Unites Presbyterians."

 

 At the traditional Covenant Network Luncheon, this year as always

 the largest unofficial event at G.A., Joanna Adams repeated the 

 Covenant Network's resolve in the year ahead. Theodore "Ted" 

 Wardlaw, newly inaugurated President of Austin Seminary, 

 presented a moving tribute to the memories and witness of former 

 Advisory Board members Harry Smith and James Costen. And Tim 

 Hart-Andersen brought the crowd to their feet, describing his own 

 journey toward commitment to change in "This Is Our Time."

 

 In a statement issued immediately after the vote on the overture

 to delete G-6.0106b, the Executive Committee of the Covenant 

 Network described our commitment going forward to create a 

 climate for change: "We pledge our own active efforts during the 

 coming year to create conditions for informative dialogue and 

 discernment within presbyteries across the church. We intend to 

 make use of the period without a pending vote to engage in 

 expanded conversation and connection. We pledge to help 

 colleagues all across the church continue to explore scripture 

 together and to share stories of life and faith in relation to 

 this important issue. We will provide resources to encourage 

 productive collaborative discernment and will seek to develop the 

 conditions that will enable Presbyterians to acknowledge and 

 accept differing interpretations of ordination standards."

 

 "We recommit ourselves to the mission and ministry of the

 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and to its unity despite our 

 differences. And we will continue to work and pray without 

 ceasing for a church that rejoices in the gifts of all believers 

 and reflects some portion of our Lord's generous hospitality.

 

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          Hudson River Dissenting and More Light Churches

               Receive MLP Award at General Assembly

 

             Based on MLP Media Release, May 17, 2003

 

 The More Light Presbyterians Board is pleased to announce that

 the recipient of its 2003 Inclusive Church Award is not just one 

 faith community, but 13 More Light and/or dissenting 

 congregations in Hudson River Presbytery. For many years, these 

 congregations have worked together to build a more inclusive 

 church at the local and national levels. What is remarkable about 

 these congregations, more than their long history of concerted 

 action (see highlights below), is their ability to work together 

 on a local level and influence debate at the national level. MLP 

 is grateful for their leadership and witness.

 

 The Inclusive Church Award was presented at the annual More

 Light Presbyterians Celebration Reception and Dinner at the 215th 

 General Assembly in Denver, Saturday, May 24, 4:00-7:30 p.m. at the 

 

 Hyatt Regency Hotel.

 

 The Inclusive Church Award seeks to recognize congregations or

 More Light chapters in presbyteries or seminaries/colleges for 

 their ongoing history of commitment to the mission of MLP, 

 namely, "following the risen Christ, and seeking to make the 

 Church a true community of hospitality ... [by working] for the 

 full participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 

 people of faith in the life, ministry and witness of the 

 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)."

 

 The 13 More Light and/or dissenting Hudson River Presbytery

 churches receiving the award are: First Presbyterian, Bedford, NY 

 (dissenting); Brook Presbyterian Hillburn, NY (dissenting); First 

 Presbyterian, Congers, NY (dissenting); South Presbyterian, Dobbs 

 Ferry, NY (ML & dissenting); First Presbyterian, Goshen, NY (ML & 

 dissenting); Mt. Kisco Presbyterian, Mt. Kisco, NY (ML & 

 dissenting); Nauraushaun Presbyterian, Pearl River, NY (ML & 

 dissenting); Palisades Presbyterian, Palisades, NY (ML & 

 dissenting); Huguenot Memorial Church, Pelham, NY (dissenting); 

 All Souls Parish, Port Chester, NY (dissenting); Stony Point 

 Presbyterian, Stony Point, NY (dissenting); Good Shepherd 

 Presbyterian, Yonkers, NY (dissenting); First Presbyterian, 

 Yorktown Heights, NY (ML & dissenting).

 

 Some examples of these congregations' work for a welcoming and

 just church:

 

 %%   As early as 1984 and as recently as 2003, congregations in 

      Hudson River presbytery have named themselves More Light 

      churches as a public declaration of welcome. Both before and 

      since the passage of Amendment B, these churches and others 

      in their presbytery have declared their opposition to unjust 

      laws that would prohibit lesbian, gay, bisexual and 

      transgender persons from full participation in the life of 

      the church.

 

      %% In 1998, South Presbyterian Church in Dobbs Ferry was 

      charged with violating the *Book of Order* because it 

      allowed -- as it had for many years -- the use of the 

      property for same-sex union ceremonies. Through that case, 

      South Church and Hudson River Presbytery helped define and 

      shape the debate over marriages and holy unions across the 

      denomination.

 

      %% The First Tuesday Group at Mt. Kisco Presbyterian Church 

      produced and broadly distributed a document entitled "What 

      we wish we had known," more commonly referred to as "The 

      Bluebook." This resource has been well used in high schools, 

      university and seminary libraries, and by congregations 

      studying how and whether to stand for justice for LGBT 

      people.

 

      %% In 2000, eleven church sessions in Hudson River 

      Presbytery collaborated in declaring -- or re-affirming -- 

      their unwillingness to abide by G-6.0106b, and in writing a 

      letter to the Stated Clerk of the presbytery stating their 

      dissent. These churches further invited other churches in 

      their presbytery, and indeed, across the denomination, to 

      join them; many did. As the circle of dissenting churches 

      widened, a group of individuals from these congregations 

      offered a memorable street-theater witness at General 

      Assembly declaring, "G-6.0106b is barbed wire around the 

      hospitality of God."

 

      %% Collaborating with other more light and dissenting 

      churches in their presbytery, as well as Presbyterian 

      Promise and Presbyterian Welcome in Southern New England and 

      New York City Presbyteries, South Church Dobbs Ferry hosted 

      a Reformation Sunday service in October 2002. Hundreds of 

      participants from throughout the region nailed messages to 

      the denomination to the door of South Church, and then 

      reaffirmed the ordinations of LGBT clergy. Similar events 

      were organized throughout the country, echoing this bold and 

      dramatic call for a just church.

 

 Recent winners of the Inclusive Church Award include: 1999 (211th

 G.A.) Ft Worth TX: Christ Church, Burlington, VT; 2000 (212th) 

 Long Beach CA: Church of the Servant Savior, Houston, TX; 2001 

 (213th) Louisville KY: Central Church, Louisville KY; Central 

 Church, Owensboro, KY; MLP chapter at Louisville Seminary; 2002 

 (214th) Columbus OH: Good Samaritan Church, Pinellas Park, FL.

 

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         Hudson River Presbytery on the Chastity Amendment

 

 On Saturday, May 17, 2003, the Presbytery of Hudson River

 approved the following statement:

 

 The Presbytery of Hudson River declares two things, things true

 at the very same time:

 

 First, that we will continue to abide by the Constitution of the

 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

 

 And second, that we do so with a heavy heart and a troubled

 conscience because of the presence of G-6.0106b. We believe G-

 6.0106b is an abhorrent section of the *Book of Order*, which we 

 find to be theologically and morally unacceptable. We reject G-

 6.0106b because it validates the alienation of and violence to 

 many Christians by excluding them from the full work and worship 

 of our church.

 

 THEREFORE, we continue to pray for those wounded by G-6.0106b, to

 pray for the Church, to pray for ourselves, to honor the many 

 voices of God's people in this place and to continue to work for 

 the elimination of G-6.0106b.

 

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        Rosemarie Wallace Receives MLP's David Sindt Award

 

             Based on MLP Media Release, May 17, 2003

 

 The More Light Presbyterians Board is pleased to announce that

 the winner of its 2003 David Sindt Leadership Award is Rosemarie 

 Wallace. The award was presented at the annual More Light 

 Presbyterians Celebration Reception and Dinner at the 215th 

 General Assembly in Denver, Saturday, May 24, 4:00-7:30 p.m. at the 

 

 Hyatt Regency Hotel. The David Sindt Leadership Award, given

 since 1999, recognizes individuals who best exemplify the 

 pioneering efforts of David Bailey Sindt, the founder of our 

 movement within the Presbyterian Church in 1974, when he held up 

 a sign at the General Assembly which said, "Is anybody else out 

 there gay?"

 

 A dispeller of stereotypes, Wallace persons the issue for people

 in our denomination, bearing witness to the reality that we are 

 everywhere! Participating in countless workshops, panels, 

 marches, and other educational events, her faithful and 

 courageous witness to the dream of an inclusive church has 

 spanned the history of our movement. Her life is an example of 

 persevering witness utilizing every opportunity, small and large, 

 to build significant social change.

 

 In 1978, Wallace attended General Assembly as a commissioner from

 Baltimore Presbytery, participating in Presbyterians for Gay 

 Concerns (PGC) events and voting among the 10% of commissioners 

 in favor of ordaining gay and lesbian people. She firmly and 

 publicly stood her ground when she formally registered her 

 dissent from that Assembly's action to issue Definitive Guidance 

 against ordaining "practicing, self-affirming homosexuals." She 

 marched with PGC the following year in the first march on 

 Washington for gay rights at a time when most people, including 

 her partner Virginia, felt it was too risky, especially for 

 someone in her position as a public school administrator.

 

 Wallace is an accomplished grassroots organizer and a national

 leader of our movement. She helped launch three PLGC/MLP 

 chapters, helped one chapter gain recognition in presbytery as an 

 affiliate group, and worked with two congregations to become More 

 Light churches. She served on the PLGC board as a member at 

 large, and for two terms as co-moderator from 1985-1989. She was 

 responsible for bringing speakers such as Dr. Virginia Ramey 

 Mollencott and Rev. John McNeil to our annual G.A. luncheons. 

 While she was co-moderator, PLGC distributed for the first time 

 informational brochures for lesbian and gay youth and young 

 adults. These brochures, a welcome lifeline to those who received 

 them, were made available at the 1989 Presbyterian Youth 

 Triennium, despite significant backlash.

 

 Wallace's service to the denomination is extensive, including a

 three-year commitment to the Presbytery of Baltimore as vice-

 moderator, moderator and chair of council. She has served three 

 terms as stated clerk of Synod of the Southwest, chaired numerous 

 committees in local congregations, and served on committees at 

 the presbytery, synod, and General Assembly level. She has served 

 local congregations as elder and deacon, and attended two General 

 Assemblies as a commissioner.

 

 Rosemarie Wallace lives in Mesa, AZ with her partner, Tabb

 Forster, whom she met at a PLGC conference at West Hollywood 

 Presbyterian Church in 1986.

 

 Recent winners of the David Sindt Leadership Award include: 1999

 (211th G.A.) Ft. Worth TX: Jane Loflin; 2000 (212th) Long Beach 

 CA: Grayson Tucker; 2001 (213th) Louisville KY: Tricia Dykers-

 Koenig; 2002 (214th) Columbus OH: Gene Huff.

 

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

 

               Critique of Sexual Conversion Therapy

 

               MLP Luncheon, 215th General Assembly

                        Denver, 29 May 2003

 

                   by Cleveland K. Evans, Ph.D.

 

 As Michael said, one of the courses I teach is Human Sexuality.

 Some of my students have threatened to have T-shirts made with 

 the slogan "I had sex with Dr. Evans." Of course my response to 

 that is that having me teach the course is a great example of the 

 old joke about "Those that can do; those that can't, teach." But 

 as the joke points out, I am an academic psychologist, not a 

 psychotherapist. That actually may give me a slight advantage 

 here, as my training focused more on evaluating research than 

 that of many psychotherapists. There are quite a few techniques 

 in psychotherapy, such as rebirthing therapy and primal scream 

 therapy, which some well-meaning therapists have adopted on the 

 basis of superficially plausible theories even though research 

 has found them to be ineffective or even harmful. Most 

 psychologists, whether academics or therapists, believe that 

 reorientation therapy for homosexuality is another ineffective or 

 harmful technique, in spite of the fact that proponents often 

 claim research backing for it.

 

 But there are many problems with this research. One of the chief

 problems is in basic definitions. What does it mean to say 

 someone is gay, lesbian, or bisexual? As the text for my Human 

 Sexuality course points out, there are three different ways to do 

 this. The first is identity, or self-labeling. Do persons call 

 themselves, gay, lesbian or bisexual? The second is behavior. 

 Does the person have sexual contact with members of the same 

 gender? The third is orientation. Are the person's immediate 

 sexual attractions and experiences of romantic love focused on 

 members of the same gender? Most psychologists, and most lesbian, 

 gay, and bisexual persons themselves, believe that orientation is 

 the most appropriate definition to use for psychological 

 research, precisely because behavior and identity are more 

 subject to outside situational pressures. But many advocates of 

 reorientation therapy focus mainly on behavioral change in their 

 claims of success. For example, one of the latest such claims is 

 in an article by Schaeffer and colleagues titled "Religiously 

 Motivated Sexual Orientation Change," which in spite of its title 

 defines change only behaviorally, stating that 60% of men and 70% 

 of women recruited as research participants at conferences 

 sponsored by Exodus International had "changed orientation" 

 simply because they had not had sexual contact with another same-

 gender person over the past year. Some other reports on 

 reorientation therapy actually claim that people must have been 

 healed of homosexuality since they have married someone of the 

 opposite sex and have children. When I see that I always remember 

 the lesbian woman I once met who had given birth to ten children 

 before she came out. By the way, it's interesting that those in 

 favor of reorientation therapy are now referencing Shaeffer's 

 article without mentioning that Exodus members who had been 

 individual clients of reorientation or reparative therapists were 

 no more likely to have been homosexually celibate during the past 

 year than those who had not had such therapy.

 

 So what is this reparative or reorientation therapy? Almost all

 of it is based on theories derived from psychoanalysis and fully 

 developed by Irving Bieber in the 1960s. It has since been 

 championed by Charles Socarides and Joseph Nicolosi. These 

 theories (which almost always focus on men and have much less to 

 say about lesbians) postulate that homosexuality develops because 

 one's mother is too dominant and one's father is weak or 

 rejecting, leading the son to be unable to identify with the 

 father and develop a heterosexual identity. Over time these 

 theories have shifted from putting most of the blame on the 

 mother to emphasizing the father's role, and have put forward 

 more strongly the idea that gay men or lesbians feel inadequate 

 in their masculine or feminine identities, respectively. They 

 therefore desire support and companionship from same-gender 

 partners because they missed such gender-role affirmation while 

 they were children, and then misunderstand this desire for 

 affirmation from same-gender others as being sexual attraction. 

 Over the years therapies based on these theories have shifted 

 from a more classic psychoanalytic examination of one's childhood 

 to a more cognitive reframing kind of therapy, where whenever 

 clients feel a sexual or romantic attraction for someone of the 

 same gender, they are encouraged to tell themselves that such 

 attractions are not really sexual but are disguised wishes for 

 friendship or affirmation that come about when they are hungry, 

 lonely, angry, or tired. Therapists of the Nicolosi school also 

 often encourage women to take cooking or sewing classes and men to 

 participate in team sports or groups like Promise Keepers, to 

 develop their true feminine or masculine identity.

 

 But does this really work? Reorientation therapists since Irving

 Bieber have claimed to have data saying that it does, but their 

 research is flawed for several reasons. It usually depends on 

 reports to one's therapist (who the client of course wants to 

 please), instead of to independent researchers. It almost never 

 includes independent evaluation of the sexual orientation of 

 clients before they start therapy, depending instead on 

 retrospective recollections and not taking the possibility of 

 initially bisexual clients into account. There is little long 

 term follow-up of these clients to see if change is lasting, and 

 change in behavior or identity is often assumed to mean change in 

 orientation.

 

 The most publicized study recently was one done by Robert

 Spitzer, who in May 2001 presented a paper to the American 

 Psychiatric Association where he claimed that after interviewing 

 143 men and 57 women over the phone for 45 minutes each, that 66% 

 of the men and 44% of the women had "achieved good heterosexual 

 functioning." The problems with this study include that most of 

 the participants were activists in the change therapy movement; 

 60% of them reported being at least mildly bisexual before having 

 any therapy; and there were no follow-ups or checks for accuracy. 

 While this study was widely reported in the media, another 

 research project by Ariel Shidlo and Michael Schroeder presented 

 at the same convention was ignored, though it had about the same 

 number of participants and very different findings. Shidlo and 

 Schroeder's interviewees were recruited from ads in the gay media 

 as well as requests sent to reparative therapists; they were 

 interviewed for 90 minutes and most of those who claimed change 

 were given follow-up interviews. Only eight of their 202 

 interviewees claimed complete reorientation, and seven of those 

 eight were counselors in change therapy organizations (four paid 

 staff, three volunteers). Obviously such counselors are going to 

 be highly motivated to convince themselves and others that change 

 is a real possibility. It should be noted that some of the 176 of 

 Shidlo and Schroeder's interviewees who reported no change stated 

 that immediately after they had been in reorientation therapy, 

 they would have said that they had changed; it was only months or 

 years later that they came to believe they'd been fooling 

 themselves, and no real change in their sexual orientation had 

 occurred.

 

 Personally I think another study done by Lee Beckstead, also

 reported in the book *Sexual Conversion Therapy*, is even more 

 evidential than Shidlo and Schroeder's research. Beckstead 

 interviewed 50 members of the Mormon Church in Utah who had been 

 through conversion therapy, 30 who saw themselves as failures and 

 20 who claimed to have changed sexual orientation. Now gay and 

 lesbian Mormons have even more motivation to change than do 

 fundamentalist Protestants. Even the strictest Protestant 

 theology normally says that a celibate and repentant gay or 

 lesbian can be saved, and once we get to heaven we're all equal. 

 In Mormon theology, we aren't all equal in heaven. Only 

 heterosexually married parents receive "everlasting joy" and 

 "exaltation to Godhood." So I'm not surprised Beckstead found 20 

 Mormons who said they had changed from homosexual to 

 heterosexual. Beckstead's data on these people was much more 

 extensive than Schroeder and Shidlo's. He had individual 

 interviews, journal writings, and focus group discussion data on 

 each. These 20 people had been through typical cognitive 

 reframing sorts of reparative therapy, where they were taught to 

 identify same-sex attractions as indicating non-sexual needs. 

 Many reported feeling more peace, contentment, and self-

 acceptance. However, Beckstead himself places in italics the 

 following statement: *"No substantial or generalized heterosexual 

 arousal was reported, and participants were not able to modify 

 their tendency to be attracted to the same sex. Yet, these same 

 participants continued to identify as heterosexual."* I don't 

 think we have a better statement of what reparative therapy does: 

 it changes your cognitive interpretations, identity, and 

 behavior, but not your sexual orientation.

 

 Perhaps being taught to distort and mislabel your own sexuality

 should be considered harmful in and of itself, but Shidlo and 

 Schroeder's research also focused on the harm that came to their 

 176 interviews who had attempted sexual conversion therapy but 

 had not changed. Now it would be unethical of me to imply that 

 those who go through this experience are always deeply harmed. 

 Shidlo and Schroeder found 21 non-changers who believed that their 

 experience hadn't hurt them at all, but instead had helped them 

 develop a positive gay or lesbian identity by proving to them 

 that change was not possible. There will always be such resilient 

 people in any situation, and I'm even willing to bet that if 

 Shidlo and Schroeder had had a true random sample of reparative 

 therapy clients the percentage of resilient people would have 

 been a bit higher. But the harm suffered by the other 155 

 failures of reparative therapy was often grievous. Many reported 

 an increase in depression and guilt because of beliefs that they 

 had somehow chosen to be especially sinful. Some developed an 

 obsessive concern with their masculinity or femininity; some 

 reported broken relationships with parents who they had been 

 taught to blame for their sexual orientation. Many had increased 

 feelings of alienation and loneliness, both from their loss of 

 friends in the "ex-gay" community and the belief that they could 

 never fit into society anywhere. Many had low self-esteem from 

 believing the false information about gay and lesbian life that 

 they had been taught. Perhaps most important for this audience, 

 many of the two thirds who described themselves as religious 

 suffered spiritual harm, such as loss of faith, or anger at and 

 inability to trust God and the church.

 

 Some of this harm was related to practices of some reparative

 therapists that Shidlo and Schroeder found to be unethical. These 

 included telling patients that since they were straight-acting or 

 religious they had to be successful; telling them that high 

 motivation and hard work would always result in success, so if 

 they failed it must be their fault; giving no preparation or 

 counsel to patients who were leaving therapy without substantial 

 change; and in a few cases encouraging clients to heterosexually 

 marry as an aid to change. Perhaps one of the worst ethical 

 violations was the giving of false information about gay and 

 lesbian lives. Joseph Nicolosi and his followers in particular 

 tell their clients that gay relationships are invariably either 

 volatile immature infatuations, or are open relationships where 

 the partners have more sex with strangers than with each other, 

 and that gay relationships can never possess the consistency, 

 trust, mutuality, and sexual fidelity of heterosexual marriages. 

 The latest published professional article by a proponent of 

 reorientation therapy, by Christopher Rosik in the January 2003 

 issue of *The Journal of Marital and Family Therapy*, quite 

 specifically misuses survey research results to claim that 

 homosexually-oriented men should be motivated to change if they 

 wish to be monogamous, since monogamy is nonexistent in the gay 

 community.

 

 Indeed, every major research article I've read recently mentions

 this false belief as a major reason why people choose to enter 

 reparative therapy and why they stay in it, and why those who 

 fail often feel despairing. People who for religious or other 

 reasons believe strongly in monogamy and don't want to 

 participate in anonymous multipartner sex have been convinced 

 that if they adopt a gay identity they will be compelled to 

 engage in these unwanted behaviors. This is of course what the 

 phrase "the gay lifestyle" is used as a code for in the church; I 

 don't think those who repeat that phrase are concerned with gay 

 men going to operas or lesbians playing softball. Here I want to 

 exhort our own movement a little. There's tons of research that I 

 could cite to show that this stereotype is false; unfortunately, 

 there is other psychological research showing that personal 

 anecdotal examples are better at changing people's minds than 

 statistical data. I think we've often done really well at telling 

 our stories about how the church's position has harmed us, 

 telling our coming out stories, even telling about our joy in and 

 commitment to the Christian faith. But I'm not sure we've always 

 countered the incessant repetition by others about the so-called 

 "gay lifestyle" by holding up the fact that many of us are 

 sexually conservative people. Maybe we need to do more conscious 

 celebration of relationships like Tabb Forster and Rosemarie 

 Wallace's, lasting 17 years since they met at a church function. 

 Or Ralph Carter and his spouse Van, monogamously committed for 

 almost 23 years. You know, I'd like to see Martha Juillerat and 

 Tammy Lindahl write a book about how to maintain a strong 

 marriage in the face of years of incredible stress and 

 persecution. Most heterosexual couples could learn a lot from 

 them. And as for single people -- well, if that criterion of not 

 having sex for twelve months is used, I guess I've been 

 heterosexual for years. Many of us in the church prove that being 

 an openly self-affirming LGBT activist is quite compatible with 

 having staid conservative sexual mores, and we need to say this 

 for many survivors of reparative therapy to know they'd feel 

 comfortable among us.

 

 Finally, I'd like to put in a plug for the book *Sexual Conversion

 Therapy*. This is the only full-length book I know critiquing 

 sexual orientation change therapy. So far the OCLC WorldCat 

 catalog says that only 41 libraries in the USA have copies of it, 

 while over 300 have Joseph Nicolosi's books, over 400 have 

 Charles Socarides's most popular works, and over 800 still have 

 copies of Irving Bieber's original book from the 1960s on change 

 therapy. (The Denver Public Library has all three). Please go 

 home and ask your local library to buy copies of this book. 

 Reading in library stacks is still one of the main ways that 

 people concerned about their sexual orientation have to 

 anonymously find information, and it's a tragedy that so many of 

 them will find the change therapists' books in their library 

 stacks and not have the critique to balance them.

 

                        Selected References

 

 Shidlo, A.; Schroeder, M.; & Drescher, J., Eds. (2001). *Sexual

 conversion therapy: ethical, clinical, and research perspectives*. 

 Binghamton, NY: Haworth Medical Press. ISBN 0-7890-1910-8 

 (hardback); 0-7890-1911-6 (paperback).

 

 Bieber, I. et. al. (1962). *Homosexuality: A psychoanalytic

 study*. New York, NY: Basic Books.

 

 Green, R. (2003). When therapists do not want their clients to be

 homosexual: a response to Rosik's article. *Journal of Marital & 

 Family Therapy*, 29, 29-38.

 

 Nicolosi, J. (1991). *Reparative therapy of male homosexuality: A

 new clinical approach*. Northvale, NJ: Aronson.

 

 Rosik, C.H. (2003). Motivational, ethical, and epistemological

 foundations in the treatment of unwanted homoerotic attraction. 

 *Journal of Marital & Family Therapy*, 29, 13-28.

 

 Schaeffer, K.W., Hyde, R.A., Kroencke, T., McCormick, B., &

 Nottebaum, L. (2000). Religiously-motivated sexual orientation 

 change. *Journal of Psychology & Christianity*, 19, 61-70.

 

 Shidlo, A. & Schroeder, M. (2002). Changing sexual orientation: A

 consumer's report. *Professional Psychology*, 33(3), 249-259.

 

 Socarides, C. (1995). *Homosexuality: A freedom too far*. Phoenix,

 AZ: Adam Margrave Books.

 

 Tozer, E. E. & McClanahan, M. K. (1999). Treating the purple

 menace: Ethical considerations of conversion therapy and 

 affirmative alternatives. *The Counseling Psychologist*, 27, No. 5, 

 

 722-742.

 

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

 

                         An Ex-Gay Witness

 

    Our Presence, Witness, Educational Resources, MLP Website,

    More Light Update, The Spotlight, etc. and why they matter!

 

 FYI -- this email -- name removed to protect confidentiality --

 reminds me, and I hope all of us, why and how MLP and our 

 educational resources make a difference in the lives of many 

 persons and churches, many we know, many we may never meet or 

 know about.

 

 I thank God for each of you today as I write this and share this

 email message with you, for your faithful leadership and service 

 within MLP, through MLP, in the Movement, and in our Church and 

 world.

 

 Each of you, through MLP and your own church, is such a

 profoundly important and necessary part of the heart and soul of 

 our Movement. -- with much gratitude for each of you, Michael.

 

 "Hi, Michael. I am writing because I have finally realized that

 I agree with More Light Presbyterians. As someone who struggled 

 with being gay for many years, did the ex-gay ministry for ten 

 years, and then realized I was the same gay man, I have in the 

 last three years been reading more and more of the pro-gay and 

 Christian materials.

 

 "As a lifelong Presbyterian, I find myself on the opposite side

 of so many (almost all) of my Presbyterian evangelical friends. 

 Now I am convinced one can be both evangelical, 

 Presbyterian, and gay. I think that only when more and more 

 people like Mel White, Peggy Campolo, and others in the 

 evangelical camp speak out in the Presbyterian Church will things 

 change. Only when conservative/evangelicals see that the 

 scriptures can and should be read in a way that accepts gays -- as 

 the church came to reread the scriptures regarding many issues -- 

 slavery, divorce, women, to name only three -- will they begin to 

 accept the pro-gay position. This is key.

 

 "I feel that Robert Gagnon's book (*The Bible and homosexual

 practice: texts and hermeneutics*, Abingdon Press, 2001, 520 p.) -

 - or at least the argument he makes -- in particular has 

 reinforced a very strong anti-gay case in the minds of much of 

 the moderate and certainly conservative wings of the church. I 

 understand that, too. As someone who's been on that side of it -- 

 believed it, argued it, voted it -- it is enormously difficult to 

 arrive at the stance that one can take the scriptures and faith 

 seriously and accept homosexuality as something good and 

 acceptable to God and the church. It has been a very long trek 

 for me, and taken a lot of prayer and reading.

 

 "I don't know exactly why I am writing to you; maybe I just want

 some encouragement; maybe, I need encouragement to begin to be 

 pro-active about this issue. I wish and pray for you the best in 

 your endeavor. May God help us all."

 

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

 

                G.A.'s Biblical Theme: Hospitality

 

               "A House of Prayer for All Peoples"

 

 We were pleased to see this year's G.A. "motto" inscribed in stone

 over 

 the entrance of Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church, where the 

 Three Sisters (MLP, TAMFS, the Shower of Stoles) celebrated 

 worship Sunday Afternoon, May 25. The theme was reinforced with 

 scripture from Isaiah chapter 56.

 

 But the *Presbyterian Layman* was NOT happy. Here's the opening

 lines from the article "General Assembly Bible study has pro-gay 

 ordination script," by Paula R. Kincaid, in *The Layman Online*, 

 Wednesday, May 7, 2003:

 

      "What 'foreigners' reside in your community, but do not 

      enjoy full participation in your community's life?

 

      "Who are the 'eunuchs' in your community, those considered 

      unclean or damaged?

 

      "The inclusive message of the prophet of 3rd Isaiah was, in 

      some cases, a direct challenge to the law of God as it was 

      recorded in the book of Deuteronomy. What are we to make of 

      this? What implications does this have for how we study and 

      interpret the Scriptures today?"

 

      The questions are part of a study that sounds like it was 

      scripted by the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, More 

      Light Presbyterians and other gay advocacy groups in the 

      Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

 

 

                   215th General Assembly Bible Study

                   A House of Prayer for all Peoples.

 

      The questions above are some of those included among 

      "Questions for Reflection" at the end of each session of the 

      215th General Assembly Bible Study, "A House of Prayer for 

      all Peoples." The Bible study, produced by the Office of the 

      General Assembly, is based on Isaiah 56 and closely follows 

      the themes of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender 

      lobby in the PCUSA, including the buzz words of hospitality, 

      justice and inclusion/exclusion.

 

 

 John Titus adds:

 

 This is interesting because at the last Sexual Minorities Task Force

 

 of the Racial Social Justice and Reconciliation Unit of

 Pittsburgh Presbytery, we opened our meeting with a devotion and 

 study of Isaiah 56:1-8, which is the passage for G.A. this year. 

 The *Layman* is excited about this because the Bible study that 

 was produced was "pro-gay." Ms. Paula Kincaid is "upset" because 

 the study uses "buzz words of hospitality, justice and 

 inclusion/exclusion," which are "pro-gay." The last time I 

 studied scripture those "buzz words" were still a central part of 

 the Hebrew Scriptures. Then later in the Scriptures there is this 

 poor Jewish man who comes along and stirs up the crowd by 

 teaching these principles of hospitality and justice for all 

 people. The crowd does not like his teachings, and they have him 

 executed. But the final victory is that this poor Jewish man 

 overcomes death for all people. -- Peace, John T.

 

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

 

                    The 215th General Assembly

 

                           by Hal Porter

                         Cincinnati, Ohio

 

 Dear Colleagues in Ministry,

 

 As we all ponder in our hearts the completion of the 215th

 General Assembly with its wonderful theme (and biblical study), 

 "A House of Prayer For All Peoples," I would like to second 

 Michael Adee's comment that good progress was clearly evident at 

 this Assembly.

 

 Even the tension that existed because of the contrasting

 strategies of Covenant Network and More Light Presbyterians 

 proved useful to the reality we face. Yes, there is always a 

 rightness to support the very persons MLP exists for by making 

 sure that they, LGBT persons, are on the Assembly's agenda. How 

 could it be otherwise? Without the Des Moines overture and the 

 healthy debate and attention it provoked, this Assembly indeed 

 would have been bland and far less hopeful. On the other hand, 

 Covenant Network need not be vilified for its stance because it 

 was also made clear to the Assembly that it, too, exists for the 

 same inclusive end as does MLP. Tim Hart-Andersen's fine personal 

 confessional address, "God is calling gay and lesbian 

 Presbyterians to serve our churches as ministers, elders, and 

 deacons," is indicative of that, as was the Moderator's obvious 

 commitment to what we are about.

 

 Indeed, the testimony evident during the debates around G- 6.0106b, 

 the Greater Atlanta Overture, and the paper, "Living Faithfully With 

 Families In Transitions," was surely more heartening than not. I agree 

 with Michael's statement that not only better rhetoric was evident but 

 "people are recognizing there are faithful Christians who are also 

 gay." Christians they are -- and what courage, intelligence and

 faithfulness they offer to us all.

 

 It is also increasingly clear to many, and perhaps now a

 majority, that the unjust and irrational judgment that the 1978 

 General Assembly made that all homosexual behavior is sinful, 

 compounded by its authoritative interpretation of 1993 that such 

 is the confessional position of our church, is wrong! Such 

 absolute dogma flies in the face of God's created order 

 and the love and acceptance Jesus demonstrated, that all persons 

 are created in God's image. To believe such a graceless 

 categorical judgment dilutes any concept of fairness and equality 

 from the Church of Jesus Christ and removes what is essentially 

 the compelling nature of Jesus' life that brought us into 

 his church to begin with. We have no mission unless all are 

 equally loved after the manner of Christ.

 

 G-6.0106b will also have to go, not only because of its ill

 intention, its conflicted meaning, its poor theology, but also 

 because it is grounded in the false teaching that all homosexual 

 behavior is sinful no matter how just, loving and Christ-like 

 that behavior is.

 

 So, let us say yes to the 215th General Assembly which affirmed

 Jesus' hope that we be "A House of Prayer For All Peoples." And 

 let us give thanks for all those in the More Light Movement's 

 leadership, and all other allied organizations, that worked so 

 hard to bring forth such a good witness of the Gospel to this 

 Assembly -- such a great cloud of witnesses for an inclusive 

 church, indeed!

 

 And how sad would our movement be without David Tornblom and his

 wonderful 15 year vigil at the Assembly. Uncompromisingly, he 

 again stood all alone in the path of all the commissioners 

 whirling by, and always with his affectionate smile and beautiful 

 countenance, wearing our buttons and banners and holding up his 

 signs with the messages of Christ's full embrace. And on the last 

 day of the Assembly David rightly held up on our behalf the 

 appropriate placard, "We will be back!"

 

 Yes, we will be back, wiser and with greater love.

 

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

 

                     Ralph Carter at G.A. 215

 

 Hello good friends among More Light Presbyterians, That All May

 Freely Serve and the Shower of Stoles Project:

 

 This is Ralph Carter, your MLP Resources Coordinator reporting in!

 

 We LGBT and allied missionaries for a Welcoming Church are in

 Denver using every opportunity to share the Good News of God's 

 unconditional love and commandment that we offer the same for one 

 another. We are also having a lot of fun!

 

 Here are just a couple of highlights for me so far:

 

 On Saturday, May 24, the *Rocky Mountain News*,

 rockymountainnews.com, had an article, "Presbyterians Meet in 

 Denver: Annual assembly to debate abortion, gay ordinations."

 

 There is mention of Gene Bay, pastor of Bryn Mawr Church in

 Philadelphia Presbytery, co-moderator of Covenant Network, and 

 former pastor of my congregation, Third Presbyterian Church in 

 Rochester, NY, www.thirdpresbyterian.org:

 

      "Bay's organization, Covenant Network, has long fought for 

      ordination of practicing homosexuals. But this year, Bay's 

      group isn't offering active support for the proposal. It 

      fears a backlash is building against gay issues.

 

      "'We think more work has to be done (behind the 

      scenes) to create a climate of change,' Bay says."

 

 Later in the same article, the reporter quotes Mitzi Henderson:

 

      "'This whole issue of scapegoating gays and lesbians is 

      simply a front for a much deeper struggle going on in the 

      life of the church -- a struggle to remake the church in the 

      image of a very conservative element,' says Mitzi Henderson 

      of Moral [sic!] Light Presbyterians, the lead group fighting 

      for gay ordination."

 

 So, one can imagine how grateful we have been to the Holy Spirit

 for influencing the reporter to give us a new name which seems 

 apt, "The Moral Light Presbyterians," so that we are becoming 

 recognized as Presbyterians providing Moral Light to the 

 denomination.

 

 A second wonderful image for me was the presence of the Rev.

 Susan Andrews, the newly elected moderator of the General 

 Assembly. I have been working behind the scenes making sure the 

 Three Sisters have good resourcing of materials in the 

 Hospitality Suite (with the able leadership of Rob Cummings of 

 Jackson Center, PA, and Mary Ellen Webb of Downtown Church in 

 Rochester NY) and the MLP and TAMFS booths in the Convention 

 Center's Exhibit Hall (special thanks to Chuck McLain of 

 Montclair Church in Oakland, Alice Davis of Wilmington DE). As 

 such, I have spent a large amount of time in Kinko's, duplicating 

 resources and making fliers and promotional materials for the 

 various educational events and especially for my dearest project 

 this year, "Movies for the Welcoming Church." More about that in 

 another email.

 

 With all this running around, I was unable to witness the process

 of the election of the moderator. I was rooting for Jim Reese, 

 executive presbyter of New York City Presbytery and a good LGBT 

 ally and African-American with many years of service in the 

 denomination at various levels. The Rev. Susan Andrews was 

 elected on the second ballot. Susan is pastor of Bradley Hills 

 Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, MD in National Capitol 

 Presbytery. At various breakfasts, lunches and dinners, she has 

 spoken freely of the parallels between the barriers to women's 

 ordination and LGBT ordination. At the Covenant Network luncheon 

 on Monday and at the AIDS in Africa breakfast on Tuesday morning, 

 Susan spoke freely of the death of her gay brother from AIDS and 

 her goal to share stories and to listen to the stories of 

 Presbyterians around the country this coming year as she travels 

 as Moderator of G.A.

 

 Tuesday evening, at the ever-fabulous Witherspoon Dance

 (featuring a most excellent and fun DJ), Susan Andrews danced a 

 couple of high-energy dances with Michael Adee, MLP field 

 organizer. How refreshing that we aren't being kept at arms 

 length this year. And I do hope that someone had a camera to 

 capture this milestone moment.

 

 Of course, the huge news is that, to everyone's surprise, the Des

 Moines (Iowa) overture to overturn the G-6.0106b provision in the 

 *Book of Order* was passed by the Committee. We thank God that we 

 have been given yet another opportunity to share God's Good News 

 and to encourage the Church to do the same. We may not pass the 

 General Assembly, and if we do, we may not pass in the 

 Presbyteries. Some folks don't think the Church is ready. Our 

 tribe, of course, isn't giving up on the power of the Holy Spirit 

 in these matters and gives thanks that God continually provides a 

 path for our work as missionaries in the church. With the 

 disappointment in Twin Cities Presbytery, who would have thought 

 that Des Moines Presbytery, a most unlikely presbytery, would 

 advocate for the full LGBT inclusion in the Presbyterian family 

 of faith? And then, how wonderful it was for this overture, 

 called untimely by some, from an unlikely presbytery, to then 

 pass committee and head for full deliberation on the floor of 

 General Assembly.

 

 God does provide. All the time, in ways and in places we do not

 understand. May we continue to trust the signs of encouragement 

 and to not doubt God's steadfast presence.

 

 Tonight, we will be showing the premier of two incredible

 documentaries in the Hospitality Suite:

 

 "Ohm-Ma," a 6 minute video letter from a young Korean-Canadian of

 Toronto to her mother. The information that a queer-positive 

 Korean video actually existed was first discovered by Lisa 

 Larges, Regional Partnership Coordinator for TAMFS, living in 

 Burlingame CA. I was able to locate the video. An incredible, 

 deeply personal sharing by a Korean lesbian woman of her life and 

 friends with her mother, in which the young woman expresses her 

 desire to know and understand her mother and the joys and 

 hardships of immigrating to a new country, and inviting her 

 mother to know and be a part of her daughter's life. This short 

 documentary is very appropriate for Korean churches and for those 

 who seek to understand more of the Korean family experience.

 

 The second video is "De Colores," a 35 minute video (in Spanish

 and English) of Mexican-American and Cuban-American families with 

 LGBT family members. This documentary was recommended by Marco 

 Grimaldo, MLP board member of Baltimore MD, who is active in the 

 Presbyterian Hispanic Caucus. This video, too, is an invaluable 

 resource for Latino congregations and those who seek to 

 understand their deep commitment to family.

 

 The third video to be shown this evening is, "AIDS: Families in

 Crisis", a new 8 minute video produced by the International 

 Health Ministries Office of the Worldwide Ministries Division. 

 We are looking forward to reviewing this video resource for 

 recommendation to all our congregations.

 

 This year, for the first time, we partnered with the

 International Health Ministries Office and with the Presbyterian 

 AIDS Network to sponsor two viewings of, "A Closer Walk", the 

 first film to depict humankind's confrontation with the global 

 AIDS epidemic. The film's director and producer, Robert Bilheimer, 

 is an Academy Award nominee for his film, "Cry of Reason", a 

 profile of the South African anti-apartheid leader Beyers Naude.

 

 Narrated by Will Smith and Glenn Close, the film features

 breathtaking cinematography with interviews in Uganda, South 

 Africa, Haiti, Switzerland, India, Nepal, Ukraine, Cambodia and 

 various U.S. locations. Several notable interviews include: His 

 Holiness the Dalai Lama, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and 

 Bono of U2. The interview with His Holiness was his first on the 

 subject of "universal responsibility" in the context of the 

 global AIDS epidemic.

 

 An aside, Robert Bilheimer lives in Bloomfield, NY, in Geneva

 Presbytery. His father is a retired Presbyterian minister who 

 helped organize the World Council of Churches. Robert is very 

 excited that we have shown this film at the General Assembly and 

 hopes that Presbytery Resource Centers around the country and 

 congregations will utilize this resource to encourage ACTION. For 

 more information about ordering this film for your presbytery, 

 visit www.acloserwalk.org.

 

 While we are talking about resources, the two PCUSA missionaries

 in Africa working specifically to help Presbyterian churches in 

 that continent respond to the AIDS epidemic shared a wonderful 

 PowerPoint presentation at the AIDS in Africa breakfast on 

 Tuesday morning. A fairly self-contained presentation, it could 

 serve very well as part of an Adult Education class in our 

 churches. For more information on this resource, please contact 

 the Rev. Janet Guyer, Regional AIDS Consultant, Southern & East 

 Africa, jguyer@pobox.com. A major initiative this year is to 

 encourage each congregation in every presbytery to assemble an 

 AIDS Home-Based Health Care Kit. Each kit will provide supplies 

 for 10 persons. For more information, visit www.PANonline.org.

 

 Well, that's all for now. -- God's blessings, Ralph Carter, MLP

 Lending Library, 111 Milburn St., Rochester NY 14607, 

 rcarter2@rochester.rr.com, 585-271-7649.

 

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                   The Shower of Stoles at G.A.

 

          Martha G. Juillerat, National Program Director

 

 At the General Assembly in Denver last week I shared three stoles

 with our friends at the Three Sisters dinner, a new one and two 

 that have been a part of the collection since the beginning. The 

 first one I shared was our newest stole, a necktie from a former 

 Baptist minister from Ft. Wayne, IN. The other two stoles were 

 familiar ones to many people at the dinner, Bear Ride's stole and 

 my own.

 

 I pulled out these last two because I discovered that Bear and I

 happened to attend our first General Assembly at San Diego in 

 1978, exactly 25 years ago, the year that the Authoritative 

 Interpretation was passed effectively barring LGBT persons from 

 being ordained or installed in the Presbyterian Church. There 

 were others at the dinner who were in San Diego, including 

 Rosemarie Wallace, recipient of the Inclusive Church Award, who 

 mentioned that she was a commissioner to G.A. that year. We all 

 shared the hope that after 25 years our waiting would soon be 

 over.

 

 At Bear's request I took our stoles to testify on behalf of the

 Des Moines overture, which called for the removal of G.60106b 

 from our constitution. I talked about what it had been like to 

 wait all those years: hiding in the closet with my partner, Tammy 

 Lindahl, so we could be ordained and serve in rural ministry; 

 coming out during the years of dialogue in the early 90s; being 

 unable to work in the church after coming out, and finally losing 

 my ordination after fifteen years in the ministry. I expressed 

 the hope that the church would right these wrongs, and end our 

 waiting.

 

 The committee affirmed the Des Moines overture, referring often

 to the fact that the testimonies of so many people in Bear's and 

 my situation had touched their souls. But the General Assembly 

 had other ideas, and declared that "now is not the right time."

 

 Bear Ride, Rosemarie Wallace and I, and hundreds of our brothers

 and sisters, now enter our twenty sixth year of waiting. We have 

 already waited too long. We can only pray that our General 

 Assembly will soon decide as well that this wait has been far, 

 far too long.

 

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            The "T" Was at the Table at the 215th G.A.

 

                          by Erin Swenson

 

 The 215th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

 may not be remembered for making great strides toward the 

 inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender folks in the 

 church's ministry (although thankfully we did not regress). On the 

 other hand we may remember in years to come that this was the 

 assembly where transgender Presbyterians really made their 

 denominational debut.

 

 The pace was set providentially when a story appeared in

 Saturday's papers as the G.A. was convening about the gender 

 transition from male to female of a senior managing director at 

 Prudential Investment Management. While Maggie Stumpp, the 

 subject of the article, may not be a Presbyterian (the story 

 didn't address her faith journey), she is a financial guru and 

 therefore naturally receives serious Presbyterian attention. This 

 set the stage for the week.

 

 There were three issues before the assembly that were important

 to me as a Presbyterian minister and a transgender woman. While 

 the deletion of G-6.0106b, the infamous "Fidelity and Chastity" 

 amendment, does not directly address transgender issues, in its 

 unwavering insistence that marriage is reserved to relationships 

 between "a man and a woman" it inherently excludes awareness of 

 less rigid gender perspectives. There was also a report from a 

 task force on the changing family, "Living Faithfully with 

 Families in Transition," which presented a hopeful picture of a 

 new perspective on family life that could embrace our emerging 

 transgender families. And my own Presbytery of Greater Atlanta 

 had sent an overture calling for the creation of a denominational 

 entity to support pastoral care for LGBT Presbyterians. I signed 

 up to testify at open hearings for all three, but a schedule 

 conflict allowed me to speak to only two.

 

 And so I addressed the General Assembly's Committees on National

 Issues (on the family report) and Church Orders (on the deletion 

 of G-6.0106b), making certain that I introduced myself as a 

 Presbyterian minister who is transgender. In both committees I 

 was able to ask the committee members to support our efforts to 

 create a church where the Gospel could be preached in an 

 atmosphere friendly to truth, rather than a place where people 

 use the comfort of tradition to hide from the truth. While a few 

 of these committee members responded to my testimony by examining 

 their laps, many responded with smiles and nods of support.

 

 And while neither of these issues passed out of the full General

 Assembly intact, many of us who were there felt a great movement 

 in the church that will eventually press us toward full 

 inclusion. As a director for More Light Presbyterians I was given 

 an opportunity to meet with members of the Task Force on Peace, 

 Unity, and Purity, the group that has been charged with the 

 challenging responsibility to find new ways for the PCUSA to deal 

 with the issues that divide us. I, along with the six other More 

 Light officers and staff who met with them, left that meeting 

 feeling hopeful that this task force will find new ways of being 

 together as church in the years ahead. It was meaningful to me, 

 after telling the story of how my presbytery dealt with my gender 

 transition, to be asked to voice the closing prayer by one of the 

 Co-Moderators of the Task Force.

 

 But perhaps the best occurred on Tuesday evening, when I was

 invited to address the Youth Advisory Delegates (YADs) to tell 

 them about a new organization devoted to education and advocacy 

 for the full inclusion of gender-different/transgressive people 

 in the PCUSA. To this end we have organized Presbyterians for 

 Gender Concerns (PGC), a group allied with the goals of More 

 Light Presbyterians, That All May Freely Serve, and The Shower of 

 Stoles Project (I like to think of it as the "Cinderella 

 Sister"). "PGC" was the acronym for the very first Presbyterian 

 inclusive group, Presbyterians for Gay Concerns, back in the 

 1970s, and we hope that this will be as successful a venture as 

 that in providing a voice in the PCUSA for those who are 

 currently excluded. The YADs were delighted with PGC's 

 presentation, and many sought me out in the hallways later to 

 express thankfulness that transgender folks are included in our 

 work for love and justice in the Presbyterian Church.

 

 Perhaps the greatest proof that people with transgender

 identities are beginning to be heard in the PCUSA came 

 surprisingly from one of the most radical conservative newspapers 

 (the *Presbyterian Layman*), which reported on an educational 

 luncheon sponsored by the Three Sisters (MLP, TAMFS, and TSOSP) 

 on the topic of change ministries. In describing the attendees to 

 the luncheon they used the terms "gay, lesbian, bisexual," and 

 "anatomically altered," rather than the universally accepted 

 "transgender." It is clear to me that this expresses both the 

 ignorance of the conservative wing of the PCUSA (most individuals 

 who identify as transgender have no "anatomical" alterations), 

 and the degree of threat they experience from us. It is ironic 

 that they would use such a term. If by "anatomically altered" 

 they mean people who take medications or seek surgery to change 

 natural processes, they perhaps are including a majority of 

 Presbyterians as transgender. Let it be known that we, as 

 Presbyterians for Gender Concerns, with differing gender 

 identities, along with the Three Sisters, welcome all who would 

 be included as the anatomically altered -- birth control users, 

 HRT (hormone replacement therapy) patients, those who have had 

 hernias repaired (as well as tonsil and appendix removals), 

 people who use hair growth/replacement products, breast 

 augmentation/reduction patients, electrolysis, hair 

 coloring/permanents, people who shave (either face, legs, or 

 both!), face lifts, angioplasty, cardiac stents -- in fact all 

 who have benefited from modern medical/surgical or cosmetic 

 treatment. We envision a church where all of God's anatomically 

 altered people are welcome!

 

 May we continue as a church unafraid to enter the light of God's

 truth in a modern world. -- Erin, June 2003: The Reverend Erin K. 

 Swenson, Th.M., Ph.D., The Southern Association for Gender 

 Education, Inc. (SAGE) "a southern voice in a national dialogue," 

 Atlanta, Georgia 404-315-1303. The SAGE, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) 

 educational non-profit, and welcomes your generous contributions. 

 P.O. Box 29681, Atlanta, GA 30359, erin@erinswen.com.

 

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                    A Long Way Home from Denver

 

                          by Michael Adee

 

 The drive back from Denver to Santa Fe seemed to take a lot

 longer than the trip there. In between those two drives was the 

 215th General Assembly of our Church. My church. This is the 

 church I was born into, then baptized, nurtured, loved, confirmed 

 and called to ministry. This is what churches do.

 

 Well, this is what churches are supposed to do. This was my fifth

 G.A. since I was hired as your National Field Organizer. Time does 

 fly and some things change. And some things do not change fast 

 enough.

 

 It is clear that hearts, minds and congregations have and are

 changing in terms of their recognition and embrace of us -- 

 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons -- in their lives, 

 families and churches. My intuition and experience tell me that 

 part of this change is that they are recognizing and embracing 

 their own lives and faith in a more open way, and maybe even 

 their own humanity and sexuality.

 

 This matter of time dominated the conversations at G.A. in terms of

 

 the full acceptance and embrace of LGBT persons. This is, of

 course, the matter of ordination and the removal of the unjust, 

 anti-gay disposition and ban in our *Book of Order*. Many of us 

 said that it is always the right time to do the right thing. 

 Others said it is a right (or just) thing to do, but it is just 

 not the right time now.

 

 I have been a member of both NOW and the NAACP. As a privileged

 white male, I would never dream of going into either of those 

 organizations' meetings, of women or people of color, and saying 

 to them when it was the right time for them to advance their 

 cause, their lives, and justice. This is how it felt in Denver.

 

 More Light Presbyterians faithfully supported the Des Moines

 Overture on ordination. Some who are committed to such change 

 faithfully said this is not the time to send an amendment to the 

 presbyteries for fear of failure. The few who opposed such change 

 outright supported the move to "refer" the Des Moines Overture 

 to the Theological Task Force, a symbolic gesture only. 

 Constitutional amendment is not in the purview of this task 

 force.

 

 Committee 4 heard the testimonies of more than 30 people sharing

 their hearts, lives and faith. The Committee voted to approve the 

 Des Moines overture and send it to the Assembly for 

 consideration. This alone was a remarkable achievement 

 considering the tug of war over this matter of time. Again, it 

 was proven that when people have a chance to meet, see, hear and 

 experience LGBT persons, our families, and supporters they are 

 moved to vote for change.

 

 Because of abuse of Robert's Rules of Order with an immediate

 substitute motion, and the struggle over time and referral to 

 the task force, the real issues of LGBT persons, our lives, faith 

 and calls to ministry did not get a fair hearing. Even in the 

 midst of all of this, many commissioners did speak on our behalf, 

 for change, for our Church to be a welcoming, Gospel-affirming 

 Church.

 

 It was, it is, a hard thing to shake, this struggle over what is

 good, right and just in our Church and world. It seems so clear 

 to me, why is it not clear to others?

 

 I kept thinking back to the earlier moments of the week which

 were extraordinary, even miraculous. I remembered Laurene 

 Lafontaine greeting 200 people at our National Celebration Dinner, 

 with Jim Rigby offering a stirring keynote about justice now, to a 

 standing ovation. I thought of Rosemarie Wallace receiving the 

 David Sindt Award with her partner Tabb at her side.

 

 I delighted in recalling our Sunday morning witness and rally

 outside the Convention Center so capably and passionately led 

 by our LGBT Seminarians and recent graduates. More and more 

 people joined us with each song or reading. Later that day over 

 300 people would gather at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church 

 for our National Worship Service highlighted by the Denver Gay 

 Men's Chorus.

 

 Addressing the false and harmful claims of ex-gay ministry, our

 National Educational Luncheon would draw 175 people to hear an 

 extraordinary panel. The panel spoke to the fact that LGBT persons 

 are created in the image of God and are to be affirmed in their 

 creation and sexuality, just like heterosexuals. Ex-gay ministry 

 is bad theology and bad medicine. No one needs it, and no one 

 should support it.

 

 My heart was lifted as I thought of the historic creation of a

 LGBT Seminarians' Network and the over 60 people who gathered for 

 this inaugural meeting of this new national network to serve LGBT 

 and allied students, faculty, staff and alumni.

 

 I remembered the viewing of "A Closer Walk" about AIDS in Africa

 and the challenge it brought to my own heart and life. And, I 

 remembered with delight the faces, laughter, joy and tears of 

 people watching Ralph Carter's evening series, "Movies for the 

 Welcoming Church" in our hospitality suite.

 

 As I was winding my way through the Rockies, going up and down,

 it was a plain metaphor -- the ups and downs, the mountains and 

 valleys, of life and the experience of being in and working in 

 a Movement toward justice.

 

 Nearing Santa Fe, I would recall the last night after the defeat

 of the Des Moines Overture on the Assembly floor. As our evening 

 meditations ended we prayed in a circle. We prayed for all of our 

 LGBT sisters and brothers. We prayed for those who oppose us and 

 refuse to see us as children of God and part of the body of 

 Christ. We prayed for our Church and world. And there had been a 

 Biblical reference in the meditation about turning our mourning 

 into dancing, so spontaneously it began with one and then more, 

 then all of us, we danced.

 

 It was a long way, and I was home. -- Michael.

 

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 OUR CHURCHES

 

               Kentucky More Light Church Joins UCC

 

 Every since the PCUSA began formally and officially

 discriminating against LGBT Presbyterians, many have left for the 

 more open and affirming United Church of Christ (UCC). Now the 

 More Light members of Central Presbyterian Church in Owensboro, 

 KY, have joined the UCC as well. The More Light Central 

 Presbyterian Church in Owensboro received the MLP Inclusive 

 Church Award in 2001. Here's their recent news!

 

 May 6, 2003

 

 We have some good news to share about New Hope Church and its

 relationship with the United Church of Christ. Last night, at 

 its May 5 Spring meeting, the Evansville/Tri-State Association of 

 the Indiana-Kentucky Conference of the UCC voted to receive New 

 Hope Church into its fellowship.

 

 During a meeting that was designed in a worshipful setting, the

 Association held an Ecclesiastical Council, in much the same way 

 that it would examine candidates for ordination. Sarijane 

 Moorman, Lyn Burns, David Jarvis, and Darrell Wedding stood 

 before the entire Association and answered the questions that 

 were asked of them, ranging from "Why should there be another UCC 

 church in Owensboro?" to "What is your Sunday School program?" 

 These four did a tremendous job giving witness to the work of God 

 among the constituents of New Hope Church.

 

 The Association invited several New Hope people to provide

 worship leadership, including Robbie Stone, Michael Erwin, 

 Dogabier Gonzalez, the youth choir, and the adult choir. We 

 really worshipped when our youth choir sang "Shine Jesus Shine!" 

 featuring Mykayla Maddox. And the adult choir sent everyone home 

 with an incredible rendition of "Let's Go to God."

 

 So, we are proud to announce New Hope United Church of Christ,

 the newest congregation in the Evansville Tri-State Association, 

 and the Indiana-Kentucky Conference. We are looking forward to 

 further partnership with sisters and brothers in the UCC, and 

 hope to be a blessing to them through our ministries. -- Sarijane 

 Moorman, Moderator; Michael Erwin, Pastor.

 

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                   Welcoming Churches Give More!

 

 The Covenant Network has recently evaluated and compared the mission

 

 giving levels of More Light churches and Covenant Network

 churches with the mission giving of those in the so-called 

 "Confessing Church Movement." I am proud to be part of a justice 

 movement that consistently demonstrates our financial commitment 

 to the connectional church even when we disagree. Here is the 

 link to the analysis (www.covenantnetwork.org/supportcf'n.html), 

 which is reprinted below. -- Ralph Carter.

 

                    Supporting the Denomination

                 When We Agree / When We Disagree

 

 Both conservative, evangelical churches and liberal, inclusive

 churches have some significant disagreements and grievances with 

 the national church. These two groups do, however, appear to 

 differ in their response.

 

 We recently compared the 420 Covenant Network and/or More Light

 churches with the 1,255 churches in the so-called "Confessing 

 Church Movement."*

 

 The average church size is the same (326 for both groups).

 Although they are on average the same size, the 420 CovNet and/or 

 MLP churches give on average more than twice as much to G.A. 

 mission, and more than two and a half times as much to presbytery 

 and synod mission, as do "confessing" churches.

 

 Put another way, CovNet and/or MLP churches devote 4.4% of their

 operating budgets to G.A. mission, and 8% to denominational 

 mission at all three levels. The comparable percentages for 

 "confessing" churches are 1.8% and 3.1%.

 

 Covenant and More Light churches pay 27% more per capita than do

 so-called "confessing" churches ($19.68 per capita vs. $15.50).

 

 Incidentally they also differ very substantially on the role of

 women. 40% of clergy in CovNet and/or MLP churches are women; 9% 

 of "confessing church" clergy are women. (Denominational average 

 for parish clergy is 22% women.)

 

 *We used the denominationally published statistics from 2001. In

 a few cases we have turned to 2000 stats, where the info. in 

 the 2001 book was self-evidently wrong or inconsistent. Note that 

 our analysis is necessarily dependent on somewhat spotty and 

 imperfect data reporting by churches and presbyteries.

 

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           Seeking More MLP Support in MLP Congregations

 

 On the theme of stewardship and support, here's a letter to MLP

 Liaisons in our More Light Churches. Feel free to act on it even 

 if you are not a formal or official liaison!

 

 Dear MLP Liaisons,

 

 A month or two ago, every MLP church received a letter from

 Church of the Reconciliation in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It 

 described how their congregation has responded to the financial 

 needs of MLP by conducting a campaign for individual memberships. 

 And it asked all other MLP congregations to undertake the same 

 effort within their own churches. IT IS WORKING!

 

 Evidence the recent letter from Tim Gillean of College Hill

 Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, OK. He is outreach chair and was 

 the point person for their MLP individual membership drive. He 

 sent photos of his great MLP display board, complete with a light 

 shining on it, which was part of the campaign to encourage church 

 members personally to join MLP. So far we have received twelve 

 new memberships from that congregation alone. Hooray for College 

 Hill, and cheers to folks in Chapel Hill, who have spear-headed 

 this outreach.

 

 Now, has your church made plans for your own personal MLP

 membership drive? If you belong to an MLP congregation, you 

 already have the information from Chapel Hill in hand, so check 

 it out now and schedule your drive. If your church doesn't yet 

 belong to MLP, and hasn't received these materials, you can still 

 help by recruiting 5-10 new MLP members yourself. You can do it 

 using the Chapel Hill materials (on request) or you can host a 

 house party for us. We have a complete kit for house parties 

 that will help you plan one. Just contact Michael Adee for the 

 kit, and get a co-host to help you -- great socializing and great 

 outreach. Let us know the date for your party, and we will try 

 to get a MLP board member there.

 

 Individual members are our life blood -- they are the source of

 most of our income, and the corps of our best supporters. Give 

 us a hand this summer, by helping us double our membership. -- 

 Mitzi Henderson, MLP Co-moderator.

 

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 BOOKS & VIDEOS

 

 **Finding Out: The ABCs of Same-Sex Relationships**, by Homer &

 Sue Spencer. Santa Barbara, CA (P.O. Box 1525, 93102): Fithian 

 Press, c2002. [78 p.] ISBN 1-56474-399-3. $9.95. This "primer 

 for tolerance," 52 short essays, is a gift to parents and 

 families lucky enough to have gay or lesbian family members. In 

 turn, it is dedicated to the Spencers' son, "who, with patience, 

 introduced us to the gay world, greatly enriching our lives." 

 The Spencers are long-time members of Good Samaritan Church, a 

 More Light Church in the Tampa Bay area of Florida (where your 

 editor is also a member!). -- JDA.

 

 "A lively, simple book that provides a quick introduction to the

 subject .... I particularly appreciate their ability to make 

 complex and controversial subjects clear and accessible .... I 

 have seen the need for this book over and over again" -- Mitzi 

 Henderson, MLP Co-Moderator and past President, National PFLAG 

 (1992-1996).

 

 "Writing out of their prophetic witness and practical insights,

 the Spencers offer all of us help in understanding same-gender 

 relationship" -- the Rev. Dr. Jane Adams Spahr, Minister 

 Director, That All May Freely Serve.

 

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

 

 **Subversive Devotions: A Journey into Divine Pleasure and

 Power**, by Pat Youngdahl. BeanPole Books, 2003. $14.95 ISBN 

 0966735951. Pat writes: "I was the Associate Pastor at Third 

 Presbyterian Church in Rochester, NY, who worked closely with 

 Ralph Carter and others to educate the congregation and session 

 about LGBT life and faith, leading to Third's More Light 

 declaration. After that, I was Pastor of First Church in Green 

 Bay, WI, before coming here to Tucson to come out publicly as 

 lesbian and complete a Ph.D. in English at the University of 

 Arizona, where I now teach. This book uses distilled, poetic, 

 erotic entries to explore my spiritual struggle to practice love 

 in the face of our church's condemnation of my life. It is now 

 available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, and by ordering 

 through local bookstores."

 

 "... a new voice that speaks in an extraordinarily clear and

 deceptively simple way of the mighty things of the soul many of 

 us are too busy to notice. I am grateful for this book, which 

 compels my attention and feeds both mind and soul" -- The Rev. 

 Dr. Peter Gomes, Professor of Christian Morals, Harvard

 University.

 

 "A stunningly beautiful little volume of poetics, prose, and

 prayers ... soul-force in the struggle for a more inclusive 

 church and world" -- The Rev. Deborah Flemister Mullen, MLP board 

 member and Dean of Master's Programs, McCormick Theological 

 Seminary.

 

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             Books and Videos Looking for Reviewers!

 

 **Finding Out: The ABCs of Same-Sex Relationships**, by Homer &

 Sue Spencer. Santa Barbara, CA (P.O. Box 1525, 93102): Fithian 

 Press, c2002 (see above!).

 

 **Subversive Devotions: A Journey into Divine Pleasure and

 Power**, by Pat Youngdahl. BeanPole Books, 2003 (see above!). 

 

 **Reclaiming the Sacred: The Bible in Gay and Lesbian Culture**.

 2nd ed. Edited by Raymond-Jean Frontain. Haworth Press, 2003. 

 "Brilliant and surprising ... illustrates the complex relationship 

 of gays and lesbians to the Bible and literature. ... Queer 

 theory meets literary texts and the Bible" -- Robert E. Goss, 

 author of *Queering Christ: Beyond Jesus ACTED UP* and co-editor 

 of *Take Back the Word: A Queer Reading of the Bible*.

 

 

 And Ralph Carter writes:

 

 I have two new videos in the MLP Lending Library and am seeking

 persons or groups willing to review them:

 

 **Questioning Faith**, a film made by Macky Alston while a student

 at Union Theological Seminary in New York. His best friend, and 

 fellow seminarian, died of AIDS and Macky didn't say goodbye.

 

 **Hermaphrodites Speak!** Described as, "the first documentary

 film created by and about intersex people. Meet Angela, David, 

 Heidi, Tom, Mani, Cheryl, Max and Hilda as they tell their stories 

 of growing up intersexed." This film is designed to complement 

 the new one-page dialogue resource, "More Light on Intersex," 

 which can be found on www.mlp.org.

 

 Some new books in the MLP Lending Library:

 

 **Sexual Conversion Therapy: Ethical, Clinical and Research

 Perspectives**, Shidlo, et al, editors, Haworth Medical Press. 

 From the jacket: "In their fervor to 'fix' homosexuals,

 practitioners of sexual conversion therapies have often

 overlooked or completely dismissed the possible psychological and 

 social side effects of such treatments. This book features 

 first-person accounts of patients, who themselves have undergone 

 treatments that include psychoanalysis, religious faith healing, 

 and aversion therapy using electric shock. Documents the harm 

 that conversion therapy may produce in the lives of gay, lesbian 

 and bisexual individuals. An invaluable resource for those 

 professionals who wish to do no harm."

 

 **The Spirit of Intimacy: Ancient African Teachings in the Ways of

 Relationships**, Sobonfu Some, Quill. From Alice Walker, author 

 of *The Color Purple*: "This is a teacher who can help us put 

 together so many things that our modern Western world has 

 broken."

 

 **Cootie Shots: Theatrical Inoculations against Bigotry for Kids,

 Parents and Teachers**, Norma Bowles with Mark E. Rosenthal, 

 editors, Fringe Benefits, Inc. "A unique assortment of plays, 

 songs and poems designed for young audiences from kindergarten 

 through sixth grade. A fun and constructive way to promote 

 tolerance and celebrate diversity by presenting role models of 

 many different races, cultures, classes, genders, abilities, 

 sexual orientations, religions, ages and appearances."

 

 **Holly's Secret**, Nancy Garden, Farrar Straus Giroux, New York.

 "The reason for twelve-year-old Holly's new identity -- The Plan, 

 as she refers to it -- is that she doesn't want the kids in her 

 new town to know that her parents are gay. But as Holly becomes 

 more and more twisted up in the lies she tells to her new 

 friends, she finds that keeping her two moms a secret is no easy 

 task -- and maybe not so great an idea in the first place."

 

 **It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex & Sexual

 Health**, Robbie H. Harris, Candlewick Press. From Ann Landers: 

 "At last ... a book for young people about sex and reproduction in 

 language they can understand, plus pictures they will enjoy."

 

 If you, or your chapter, class or study group would like to see

 one of these films (VHS) or books and write a short review for 

 the *More Light Update* on the content and how it might be used 

 effectively, please send me a personal note.

 

 If anyone has suggestions for the Lending Library, please send

 them in. I have acquired a short video from Canada regarding a 

 lesbian Korean's coming out to her mother, *Ohm Ma*. I'm always 

 looking for video suggestions, especially, regarding sexual 

 conversion therapy. Our only resource at this point is *One 

 Nation Under God*. Excellent, but the only one.

 

 Of course, if you would like to borrow any of the resources in

 the library, please let me know the event and topic of interest. 

 -- Ralph Carter, 111 Milburn St, Rochester NY 14607-2918, H: 585-

 271-7649; O: 585-265-5904; rcarter2@rochester.rr.com; Elder, 

 Third Presbyterian Church, Rochester, NY; Resource Library 

 Coordinator, More Light Presbyterians.

 

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

 

 OUR FAMILIES

 

             Congratulations! You Have a New Daughter!

             By the Way, She's Sixteen, and a Lesbian.

 

                   by the Rev. Susan Quinn Bryon

 

 We had gathered at our Presbyterian church, A Community of the

 Servant Savior, to share a light meal before evening prayers, as 

 is our custom on Wednesday evening. Someone was putting the 

 finishing touches on a pasta dish, and someone else was tossing a 

 salad, and the table was set, and I was filling glasses with ice 

 and water. Meanwhile, light-hearted chatter about our day filled 

 the homey rooms we call Martha's Kitchen and Mary's Portion.

 

 We don't usually have a large crowd for these gatherings. About

 eight to twelve of us enjoy this time together. That night, our 

 preparations were interrupted by two of our members: a single mom 

 and her teen-age daughter. They had brought a friend of the 

 daughter's and began to share the story:

 

 The nearly-17-year-old young woman is a junior at the near-by

 high school. She has figured out that she is a lesbian. Her 

 friends at school have been supportive, for the most part. But 

 her parents have been hostile and abusive since finding out. 

 This night, J (as we will call her) was in the car with her 

 stepfather, and he had threatened to drive the car into another 

 car and kill them both.

 

 Before he could get onto the freeway, J jumped from the car at a

 stop sign and ran as fast as she could. Then she called our 

 teen-age church member (whose mother she knows to be "friendly.") 

 And the mom, knowing we would be at prayers, brought us this 

 walking, talking, shaking terrified prayer concern.

 

 How do we offer "sanctuary" to a teen-ager in danger? What is

 "salvation" if it is not also "saving" from physical and emotional 

 harm? The next few weeks, we discovered how little we knew about 

 the law, child protective services, and what kind of help there 

 is -- and is NOT out there, for teen-agers, and especially for LGBT 

 

 teen-agers -- a high percentage of whom are "kicked out" and

 disowned by their families.

 

 No one can navigate the existing system without a lot of time, a

 lot of help, and some "inside" information, we soon learned. We 

 also discovered that being LGBT does not figure anywhere in the 

 system right now. No foster parents are trained or screened to 

 handle this particular situation. Sixteen-year-olds are given 

 little attention in the system -- overloaded and understaffed as 

 it is -- and the attitude seems to be that they can run away and 

 take care of themselves. But how? How can a sixteen year old 

 support him or herself? (Yes, your worst nightmare seems the 

 logical choice.) What the system fails to recognize is that 

 survival may seem impossible to LGBT youth, and while they could 

 run away, life on the streets may be unbearable, and they are 

 also able to take their own lives.

 

 Covenant House offers these kids some space, but they, too, can't

 handle all of them. HATCH (Houston Area Teen Coalition of 

 Homosexuals) was very supportive, and provided J with a place to 

 sort some things out with kids her age. I am grateful to know 

 that it exists. I just wish there was more than one; it isn't 

 easy for teen-agers to get to the Montrose area from outlying 

 suburbs without supportive adult help, and many simply don't have 

 that.

 

 We agonized over what was before us. We had to report some

 things, but we had to do it in a way that would not endanger J. 

 She did not want to be removed from her school and her friends 

 (sources of support and comfort). Through the grace of God, all 

 that was needed to help navigate the system was provided to 

 us in this small church. A lawyer gave her time, many of our 

 members were willing to offer safe homes, and our new TAMFS 

 Minister of Reconciliation and Social Justice, Helen Bailey, was 

 invaluable, helping us connect with the sources we needed to 

 enable J to stay in school. One, a mother of a gay son, has 

 "adopted" her, and took her for her first visit to the Museum of 

 Fine Art. Another family, two lesbians who have compassionate 

 listening ears, provided some invaluable resources. Another 

 family, two gay men who have a wonderful gift of hospitality, 

 shared their stories. Another member, a single grandmotherly 

 type (former college teacher) encouraged J's scholarly pursuits. 

 (J is 3rd in her class) and took her to the Houston Symphony, 

 again, for the first time (though J plays violin in her school 

 orchestra).

 

 We had a congregational meeting and decided unanimously to

 "adopt" J, and her parents granted us "custody." Legally, she is 

 a "ward" of the church, a role we take seriously, hoping to see 

 her through college. We are presently working on raising the 

 money for a car so J can get a job. She is now living with the 

 single mom and her friend and getting counseling. J has become 

 an integral part of this church and is a delight

 

 We hope to get some training to become foster parents for other

 teens in this situation, and we hope to work with area high 

 schools and junior highs to do some education with teachers and 

 counselors. Sometimes, it seems difficult to discern what God is 

 calling us to do. Other times, God seems to make it clear by 

 dropping it in our laps. There are LGBT teens who are being 

 thrown away, precious children of God, and we feel blessed to 

 have been the ones to receive J in our midst

 

 To contribute to J's support -- especially in relation to acquiring

 

 a car so that she can find a job, contact the Rev. Susan Quinn

 Bryan at A Community of the Servant Savior, 281-481-1692.

 

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

 

 MLP PEOPLE

 

                 John Hobbs Leaves PCUSA for UCC

 

 Dear Friends,

 

 Below is the statement given by the Rev. John Hobbs, a

 Presbyterian Minister for more than 15 years, to the meeting of 

 the Chicago Presbytery, detailing his decision to seek standing 

 as a minister in the United Church of Christ.

 

 Following his statement two thirds of the Presbytery rose to

 affirm his witness. The Moderator of the General Assembly 

 happened to be in attendance at the Presbytery meeting as well. -

 - Lisa Larges.

 

              John Hobbs: Statement to the Presbytery

                     of Chicago, April 8, 2003

 

 In 1975, I was drawn to the Presbyterian Church because of the

 faithful witness of one congregation. That congregation showed 

 remarkable courage by calling a woman to be its pastor. She 

 would be the first woman clergy to serve in a parish in the 

 mountains of rural east Tennessee. It was that congregation's 

 courage, its witness, that caught my imagination as a young man -- 

 a courage that stood against the values of the dominant culture 

 of the day and affirmed the call of a woman to a ministry of the 

 Word and Sacrament, an act of courage that affirmed the gifts she 

 brought to ministry. It was this profound act that pulled me into 

 the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Seeing this courageous witness 

 on the part of the church rekindled within me a renewed sense of 

 hope -- a hope that the church would finally live fully into its 

 gospel calling and live out with integrity Christ's invitation to 

 be a welcoming and inclusive community, a church ever expanding 

 its vision and embrace of those persons Jesus was inviting to sit 

 around his table of fellowship, a fellowship where no one was 

 excluded and all have a place. By affirming the call of a woman 

 to serve as its pastor, I saw a Presbyterian church in East 

 Tennessee put into action a core Christian theological conviction 

 I held, that conviction being, for those who are baptized into 

 Christ, there is "no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer 

 slave or free, there is no longer male or female, for all are one 

 in Christ Jesus."

 

 This church's remarkable courage touched the inner depths of my

 soul, and because of its faithful action I became a 

 Presbyterian.

 

 My imagination was stirred once more by the Presbyterian Church

 in 1980 when a letter was sent out to all Presbyterian 

 congregations, signed by now our own William P. Thompson. This 

 letter asked each "session and congregation to engage in a 

 program of study and action for peacemaking ...." With that 

 letter came a small, but profound document, "Peacemaking: The 

 Believer's Calling." Many of you may remember this document. At 

 the heart of this document the church called itself to explore 

 peacemaking as a central focus for its ministry. Through this 

 document the church openly declared, "God wills shalom, justice 

 and peace on earth for all," and went on to call the whole church 

 to be sensitive to the patterns of injustice, inequality, and 

 oppression within the church and the world, patterns which denied 

 the gospel." When I saw this document, once more I celebrated the 

 church's courage. This document had a profound impact upon me. My 

 imagination was again stirred. My call to pastoral ministry was 

 born. Ultimately the church's call to be about the task of 

 peacemaking called me to seminary and into the ordained ministry 

 within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

 

 I have served as a minister within the Presbyterian Church for

 more than fifteen years, but now I find that to continue 

 to honor my sense of call to ministry, I can no longer remain 

 within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The church that first 

 stirred 

 my sense of call, this church now refuses to affirm that call 

 because I am open about who I am as a gay man. As an openly gay 

 pastor within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), my gifts, my sense 

 of 

 call to Christ's ministry, are not affirmed, not celebrated, not 

 honored, not welcomed within the Presbyterian Church. Therefore, 

 I have concluded that to live faithfully and totally into God's 

 call to ministry, to honor God's call, I must leave the 

 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and join a denomination that will 

 celebrate, and honor, my gifts for ministry and welcome 

 me fully as an open, self-affirming, gay minister. The United 

 Church of Christ is such a place of welcome. Therefore, I would 

 like to read to the Presbytery of Chicago a letter I have written 

 to our Stated Clerk Janet Wilson:

 

 Dear, Janet:

 

 I am requesting that my name be removed from the roll of

 ministers of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and transferred to the 

 

 Chicago Metropolitan Association of the United Church of Christ.

 After a long and prayerful discernment process, I have concluded 

 that to live faithfully into my call to ministry, I am called to 

 leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and join a denomination that 

 

 affirms my call and welcomes my gifts for ministry as an open,

 self-affirming, gay pastor. The United Church of Christ is such a 

 place of affirmation and has welcomed me fully.

 

 While I am very excited about the possibilities for ministry that

 are open to me within the United Church of Christ, my decision to 

 leave comes with a very real sense of grief. I grieve that 

 currently the Presbyterian Church does not validate my sense of 

 call to ministry because I am open about who I am.

 

 Since I became a member of the Presbytery of Chicago in 1996, I

 have found within this presbytery many friends and colleagues in 

 ministry. I am grateful for these friendships and the opportunity 

 to work together in Christ's service. I have a deep place in my 

 heart for the people and ministry of the Presbytery of Chicago.

 

 God's blessing upon you and all the churches and people of the

 Presbytery of Chicago. -- Sincerely, John Hobbs.

 

 So, to you my friends I say Shalom. God's grace be upon you and

 your ministry as you live into your vision of becoming a 

 welcoming, worshiping and witnessing community of Christ.

 

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

 

                  PFLAG/DC Honors Madeline Jervis

 

                        by Jeanne MacKenzie

 

 The Rev. Madeline Jervis was awarded the Faith in Action Award at

 the 20th Anniversary Gala of PFLAG DC Metro Area. More than 

 800 were present at the occasion and the Rev. Jimmy Webb of the 

 Takoma Park Metaphysical Society made the presentation.

 

 Madeline was recognized as a long-time supporter of LGBT issues.

 who was advocating for the full inclusion and acceptance of LGBT 

 persons in her ministry even years before she knew she 

 herself was a PFLAG mom to her daughter.

 

 As pastor at Clarendon Presbyterian Church in Arlington, VA

 (National 

 Capital Presbytery), she actively sought out those who had been 

 disconnected from their faith communities and created a haven for 

 the disenfranchised. Today that congregation is a thriving 

 community of faith, which fully integrates LGBT folks into all 

 levels of participation and leadership in the church.

 

 She has provided rationale and reasonable interpretations of the

 Bible on homosexuality. She has been an active member of the 

 local Open Doors/MLP organization. She drafted the first 

 dissenting opinion, which was submitted to the 1996 G.A. calling 

 for a reversal of the newly enacted policy on banning LGBT 

 Presbyterians from ordination. This is a position she fells 

 strongly since her own daughter had to resign her 

 ordination as a Presbyterian minister herself when she was 

 threatened with being outed in her home presbytery in Boston. 

 Even in retirement, Madeline remains a strong advocate for the 

 full ordination and inclusion of LGBT persons.

 

 Madeline's son and daughter, sister and brother-in-law were with

 her at the Gala. Her daughter, the Rev. Mary Foulke, is now 

 serving in the Episcopal priesthood in NYC. Twenty members of the 

 Clarendon Presbyterian Church filled two other tables!

 

 In her acceptance remarks, Madeline recognized Ron Bookbinder,

 James Fisher, Terry Gaw and Michael Mullins who were the pioneer 

 gay men at Clarendon. She also recognized her children and the 

 lessons they have taught her as well as her clergywomen support 

 group of twenty-five years, whose example and love has and does 

 continue to lift her up. She declared her efforts for full 

 inclusion in our church are based on her belief that each child 

 of God's is valuable and that what she believes and hopes for 

 herself is and ought to be equally available for everyone.

 

 Another honoree, Sharon Gless, who received the Spotlight Award

 for her role as Debbie on the Showtime series "Queer as Folk," 

 quoted Madeline in her remarks, that "every person is a child of 

 God and loved unconditionally."

 

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

 

                     Celebrating Howard Warren

 

 We included Lisa Larges' wonderful celebration of Howard in the

 Spring 2003 *Update*. Here are more stories remembering God's 

 Glorious Gadfly! -- JDA.

 

        Howard Warren, "God's Glorious Gadfly," Dead at 68

 

             by Alexa Smith, Presbyterian News Service

 

 Louisville, March 18, 2003 -- The Rev. Howard B. Warren, Jr., an

 honorably retired minister of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who 

 proclaimed the "wildly extravagant, inclusive love of God" 

 during his years of advocacy for the full inclusion of gays and 

 lesbians in the life of the PCUSA, died March 14 in a 

 healthcare center in Indianapolis. He was 68 years old.

 

 From the time of his diagnosis with HIV/AIDS in 1987, until he

 required hospital and nursing home care in 2001, he was an

 advocate and caregiver for persons with HIV/AIDS and their 

 families, friends and partners. He served as the director of 

 pastoral care at the Damien Center in Indianapolis from 1989 to 

 1999, a care site for HIV/AIDS patients that was established by 

 the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis and the Roman Catholic 

 Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

 

 His position at the Damien Center -- a validated ministry in the

 Presbytery of Whitewater Valley -- was funded by the Orchard Park 

 Presbyterian Church (where he had served as an associate pastor), 

 the presbytery, the Synod of Lincoln Trails and the General 

 Assembly of the PCUSA. ...

 

 Warren was part of the leadership team of the Presbyterian AIDS

 Network, helping to develop resources for national and local 

 churches to overcome the stigma of AIDS and to become welcoming 

 places.

 

 "He certainly gave hope to people that didn't have any hope. He

 assured folks who had been abandoned by their families and 

 churches that they were not abandoned by God: that they were 

 still God's children. And he did that in his outlandishly 

 powerful way," said the Rev. Judith Carson of Indianapolis who 

 was Warren's colleague in AIDS ministry and his friend. Her non-

 denominational parish, The Church Within, was part of his care-

 team during his illness.

 

 Born Sept. 7, 1934, in St. Louis, MO, Warren "came out" as an

 openly gay Presbyterian minister in 1989, and, in the late 1980s, 

 began Presbyterian Act-Up and was visible on a national level as 

 an advocate for gays and lesbians. He was endearingly known by 

 friends as "God's glorious gadfly."

 

 Ordained by the Presbytery of Kansas City in 1965, Warren served

 Presbyterian churches for 25 years. His pastorates were in 

 Milford, PA, Vernon, NY, Fayetteville, NY, Huntington, NY, 

 Pontiac, MI, and Orchard Park, IN. He was a graduate of McCormick 

 Theological Seminary; and he held degrees from Missouri Valley 

 College and Union Theological Seminary (New York). He held a 

 master's degree from the School of Social Work at Hunter College.

 

 He was the recipient of numerous awards. He received the Justice,

 Inc. Human Dignity Award in 1991, an American Civil Liberties 

 Union Lifetime Membership in 1992, the AIDS National Interfaith 

 Ministry Award in 1994, the Unity Award for Excellence of the 

 Marian County Board of Health, 1994, the Lifetime Member of 

 Diversity, Inc., Award in 1994, the Presbyterian More Light 

 Churches Award in 1996, the Lazarus Award from the West Hollywood 

 Presbyterian Church in 1997, the AIDServe Indiana Superstar Award 

 in 1998; and a production at the Theatre on the Square in 

 Indianapolis was dedicated to him in 2001, as another was at the 

 Phoenix Theatre. He received the Indiana Lambda Legal Leadership 

 Award in 2002.

 

 Warren was the author of many articles in such journals as: *Open

 Hands, National Catholic Reporter, Monday Morning, More Light 

 Update, Pandemic: Presbyterian AIDS Network Newsletter*.

 

 Describing a man who "exploded out of the closet," the Rev. Jane

 Spahr describes Warren's activism in the Presbyterian Church as 

 done "with a passion for justice and for truth-telling, but 

 always with a compassionate heart." Remembering his purple-

 sequined hats, his placards as he stood for years before the 

 General Assembly and his rainbow-colored banners and clothes, 

 Spahr credits Warren with making the gay and lesbian movement in 

 the PCUSA move.

 

 "He was a real person with HIV, and gay, and he came to realize how

 

 much he was loved by God. And he had to shout that out," said

 Spahr, who directs the organization That All May Freely Serve, 

 which works for the ordination of gays and lesbians in the PCUSA. 

 "He was living Gospel. And the Gospel is outrageous. He took us 

 out to a new place. "Now, it is up to us to continue."

 

 Information for this obituary was provided by the Rev. Ed Towne

 

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

 

                 A Gay Youth Remembers His Pastor

 

 I'm not sure how many of you knew the Rev. Howard Warren. Back

 before Howard spent years as God's Gadfly at various gay pride 

 events, and before either one of us were willing to admit that we 

 were gay, Howard was the Associate Pastor at Orchard Park 

 Presbyterian Church in Carmel, Indiana, where I grew up. In the 

 summer of 1987 Howard brought Mark Wright and Michael Hendren to 

 Orchard Park to speak on "AIDS and the Caring Church," and that 

 was the impetus that got me started with 15+ years of volunteer 

 work with people who were HIV positive.

 

 Howard was always very open with me about going to see the Names

 Project Quilt in DC, or anything else gay or AIDS-related that he 

 did throughout the years, but it took a while before he trusted me 

 enough with the knowledge of his own HIV status. Even then I 

 don't think it was trust so much, as he didn't want me eating out 

 of the same bowl as him because he was afraid I might become 

 infected.

 

 It was during December of 1988 when I was tricked into telling my

 father about Howard's status, and he was asked to leave our 

 Presbyterian church. Actually, my father and I were BOTH tricked. 

 The Senior Pastor called my father to let him know Howard informed 

 the session that he was gay, and HIV positive, and would more 

 than likely be resigning from the church by the first of the 

 year. My initial reaction was "Well it's about time!" "You knew 

 about this? Why didn't you say anything?" "I've know for about 6 

 months now, but it wasn't my place TO say anything. Howard has to 

 be the one to make the first move." It wasn't until a week later I 

 found out that was all the "proof" our Senior Pastor needed to ask 

 for Howard's resignation.

 

 At the time I felt horrible; but it ended up being the absolute

 best thing for Howard, and I believe for the gay community as a 

 whole. In the years that followed, Howard BLOSSOMED like never 

 before! He went from being a man who always watched what he said 

 and did, to being someone who spoke his mind to anyone and 

 everyone. The sermons he gave at Orchard Park were never that 

 good, because he always had to skirt around those things that 

 were near and dear to his heart; but a sermon I heard him give in 

 West Hollywood a couple of years later, just blew me away!

 

 When they first asked Howard to leave Orchard Park, they offered

 to pay for him to work as the Director of Ministerial Care at the 

 Damien Center for the next three years, and I know they did it 

 thinking he would be dead within two. So when he finally retired 

 from that job ten years later, it was with a huge sense of 

 accomplishment, and just a touch of "f**k you" to the 

 Presbyterian Church for living as long as he did.

 

 About 6 months after Howard's retirement, I had the opportunity

 to interview him on tape. We talked in the morning, because that 

 was when he was the most coherent. At the time his doctors were 

 trying to decide if he had Alzheimer's or dementia, and I said 

 "Howard, I don't think it really matters at this point in the 

 game." The interview he gave was absolutely AMAZING! Howard B. 

 Warren was the Zelig of Gay Pride [for you non-film-buffs, Zelig 

 is a Woody Allen character in his film *Zelig*! -- JDA]. When the 

 Stonewall Riots first began, Howard stood outside and watched the 

 entire event take place, and he knew that the entire world as we 

 knew it was about to change. A few days/weeks later when they had 

 the first meeting for what was soon to become the Gay Men's 

 Health Crisis in NY, Howard was there contributing money and 

 support. When Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream" 

 speech, Howard was there. About the only thing Howard WASN'T 

 there for, was when Harvey Milk was shot and killed in San 

 Francisco, and even that wouldn't surprise me.

 

 Even in his death, Howard continues to inspire me. In a lot of

 ways, Howard tried to squeeze 68 years worth of living in the 

 last 10 to 15 years of his life. And what a life it was! -- 

 Peace, Mark A. Lee, GreatExposures@aol.com (who would love to 

 hear from others with memories of Howard!).

 

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

 

 Michael Adee Sums Up:

 

 The LGBT Movement in our Church and HIV/AIDS care and ministry

 are both better for having had our Howard Warren, God's Glorious 

 Gadfly, as one of our most loving, kind, passionate, and 

 "fabulous" leaders and servants.

 

 Howard brought more light to all in his path and he clearly

 understood that one leads best through service. -- To Howard's 

 memory and his legacy of love, kindness and justice, Michael.

 

 PS: I will never forget Howard's t-shirt that he often wore at

 the General Assembly with the icon of Jesus and these words -- 

 "Jesus, Save Me from Your Followers."

 

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

 

 OUR INMATES

 

                          Role Reversal?

 

                         by Jud Van Gorder

                MLP Liaison to Prison Ministries

 

 In the six years I've been your Liaison to Prison Ministries,

 I've often wondered why More Light Presbyterians keep this 

 position on their contact list. The usual explanation by Board 

 members is that if they receive a letter from an inmate, they'll 

 know to whom to forward it. And, to those inmates on the *Update* 

 mailing list, it names a particular person to whom they can 

 write.

 

 Now is a time of intensified struggle against clobber texts, the

 Killer B, and attendant lawsuits, with full inclusion of LGBT 

 persons as officers and members of our church further hampered by 

 shortage of contributions. At such a time, prison ministries may 

 seem even more of an eccentric appendix for MLP.

 

 I had to develop a set of purposes for being liaison and

 submitted them to the MLP Board for approval. (It reminded me of 

 when I was an Executive Presbyter and offered a list of job 

 priorities to my personnel committee for their rating. Silence! -

 - until the Chair said, "Well, just do whatever you have to."

 

 From time to time I've written think pieces for the *Update* to

 interpret the prison situation. Editor Jim Anderson has been most

 considerate and cooperative in printing these. Yet since 1997 I 

 can count on the fingers of one hand the number of responses I've 

 had from MLP persons asking about this work or seeking help. No 

 one has ever volunteered to me to become a prisoner's pen-pal.

 

 Well, beloved in Christ (who have read thus far), it may also be

 a time for role reversal. Instead of being those trying to find 

 an unguarded way into the Church, what if we LGBTs saw ourselves 

 as those wanting to bar its door against undesirables? Let me 

 explain.

 

 I'm in correspondence with a woman inmate who's a lifer. For

 several reasons it's extremely important to her to be accepted as 

 a full member of a mainline congregation. We've discussed this at 

 length in letters. Of course she couldn't "come to church," 

 participate, or contribute much. It would be difficult to make 

 pastoral visits to her, and few if any members could ever meet 

 her in person. There's no More Light Church anywhere near her 

 place of incarceration. Would queer Christians view membership 

 status for her as meaningless and bothersome as straight 

 Christians might?

 

 I heard from a man who was going to be released into a

 conservative state under "intensive lifetime probation." He was 

 convicted as a child molester, and there will be public 

 notification and close scrutiny of his every move. No group will 

 help him find housing or a job. He was hoping to locate a church 

 where he might be accepted and assisted toward starting a new 

 life. He has had extensive therapy to prepare him. But since many 

 people think gays are all pedophiles anyway, would any More Light 

 Churches take the risk of receiving him? I did suggest a couple 

 in the area but don't know his current situation.

 

 See what I mean about Role Reversal? We are so used to being the

 victims, we may not realize how we could be offenders. I'm very 

 appreciative of the new website list of More Light and Welcoming 

 Churches. I'd sure like a sublist of which ones would take a 

 chance in cases such as these two.

 

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

 

 OUR LEADERS

 

                          MLP Nominations

 

                          by Donna Riley

 

 I am pleased to report that the work of your Nominating Committee

 for the 2002-2003 program year is now complete. I wish to thank 

 the members of this year's Committee for their service:

 

 Representing the 2002-2003 MLP Board of Directors: Elder Ralph

 Carter; Elder Katie Ricks; Donna Riley.

 

 Representing the MLP membership at-large: The Rev. Laurene

 Lafontaine; Elder Scott Anderson.

 

 And very special thanks to our outgoing board members for their

 years of dedication and service: Mitzi Henderson, outgoing Co-

 Moderator, Pat Rickey, Eunice Poethig, Marco Grimaldo, and Ralph 

 Carter.

 

 Our Committee has prayerfully considered a number of capable,

 committed and faithful candidates for membership on the More 

 Light Board of Directors. We believe we are presenting an 

 outstanding and balanced list of nominees this year.

 

 This year's Nominating Committee was particularly focused on the

 specific leadership needs of MLP at this time, and sought to name 

 individuals whose professional skills and abilities matched those 

 needs. At the same time, we also sought to maintain the Board's 

 wide-ranging diversity of geographic origins, sexual and gender 

 identities, ordination status, and theological views within the 

 LGBT movement.

 

 We are therefore proud to present to the MLP membership the

 following nominees for your consideration for election to the 

 Board of Directors of More Light Presbyterians for terms ending 

 in the year 2006.

 

 For renomination:

 

 1. The Reverend Dr. Erin Swenson of Atlanta, GA, is Founder

 and CEO of the Southern Association for Gender Education, Inc., 

 and a pastoral counselor at the Morningside Presbyterian Church 

 in midtown Atlanta. Dr. Swenson is also parish associate at 

 Ormewood Park Presbyterian Church, a More Light congregation in 

 southeast Atlanta. Dr. Swenson has served to educate the Board 

 and membership about transgender and intersex issues, and, as a 

 member of the Communications Committee was instrumental in 

 developing the "More Light On" series of educational materials. 

 Along with Dr. Susan Craig she presented the inaugural program 

 for the educational General Assembly luncheons presented with our 

 "Three Sisters" partners, That All May Freely Serve and Shower of 

 Stoles Project, at the 214th General Assembly (2002) in Columbus, 

 Ohio.

 

 For first-time nomination:

 

 2. The Reverend Kenny Davis is currently stated supply pastor at

 First Presbyterian Church, Ruidoso, NM. He has previously served 

 Beacon Hill Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, TX as their 

 Associate for Redevelopment. He has been a board member of the 

 Network for Churchwide Transformation, a Presbyterian covenantal 

 organization for church redevelopment. Rev. Davis was also co-

 moderator of TAMFS-Texas/San Antonio. He comes to the MLP board 

 with a passion for working with youth and young adults.

 

 3. Elder Bruce Hahne was born and raised Presbyterian, and has

 been a member or affiliate member of PCUSA churches in Iowa, 

 Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, and now California. He and his 

 wife Margaret Okuzumi moved to the Bay Area in 1997 and have been 

 members of First Presbyterian Palo Alto (More Light) since 1999. 

 Bruce has produced one major More Light-focused San Francisco Bay 

 Area event each year since 2000, including the "New Visions" 

 lecture/film/worship series in 2000 and 2001, and the October 

 2002 More Light Presbyterians film fundraiser. He was a 

 nonviolence instructor for the summer 2000 Soulforce action at 

 General Assembly in Long Beach, and is the author of the April 

 2002 essay, "Turning Point: The Need to Escalate the Struggle for 

 LGBT Equality within the PCUSA." Bruce serves as a session member 

 (class of 2006) at First Palo Alto, and is also a member of the 

 joint More Light Presbyterians / TAMFS media team.

 

 4. Elder Harlan W. Penn of Oakland, CA is an Attorney for the

 Federal Bureau of Prisons. He grew up on a farm near Kirksville, 

 Missouri. After law school, Mr. Penn lived in Washington, D.C., 

 where he was active in PLGC at the presbytery, synod and national 

 levels including serving as Co-Moderator of the national PLGC 

 Board. After moving to California in 1993, he was ordained as an 

 elder and served as clerk of session at Seventh Avenue Church in 

 San Francisco, where he remains a member.

 

 5. Heather Reichgott is in her Intern year at San Francisco

 Theological Seminary, where she is on the steering committee of 

 the More Light chapter. An Inquirer under care of Redwoods 

 Presbytery, she is an active member of First Presbyterian Church, 

 San Anselmo, especially as a musician and volunteer with the 

 youth group. At SFTS she is pursuing an M. Div. with a 

 concentration in theology, for which she has nearly completed a 

 thesis on atonement theology. Heather is a graduate of Oberlin 

 College and plans to continue through Ph. D. studies in theology 

 before seeking a call. She hopes her ministry will involve some 

 combination of academic and small-church work.

 

 For a one year unexpired term:

 

 6. The Reverend Susan G. De George of Dobbs Ferry, New York is a

 pastor at South Presbyterian Church in Dobbs Ferry, a More Light 

 congregation since 1984, a host sanctuary for holy unions since 

 1992, and one of the Dissenting Churches of Hudson River 

 Presbytery. DeGeorge was the officiant at the holy union 

 ceremony that brought about the Benton v. Hudson River Presbytery 

 case, and is currently being investigated because of a complaint 

 filed by R. Jensen around her officiating at both gay ordinations 

 and holy union services. DeGeorge served on the PJC (Permanent 

 Judicial Commission) of the Synod of the Northeast for 6 years 

 and is currently moderator of the PJC of Hudson River Presbytery. 

 DeGeorge is also a professor at Mercy College and a lawyer. She 

 holds MA and M.Phil. degrees from Union Theological Seminary, New 

 York, an M.Phil. from Columbia University, and a JD from Pace Law 

 School.

 

 Respectfully submitted, Donna Riley, MLP Board Nominating

 Committee Chair.

 

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 ON THE ROAD WITH MICHAEL ADEE

 

             Love Makes a Family, Love Makes a Church

 

 People really did come from East and West, North and South --

 from all over the state of Oregon to participate in the 

 organizing of a MLP Chapter. Hosted by Cottage Grove Presbyterian 

 Church on a glorious Saturday, over 40 Presbyterians gathered for 

 worship led by Donald Purkey, and a day of education and 

 grassroots organizing. I offered an educational program on 

 pastoral care for LGBT persons and their families. Janet Stang, 

 of First Presbyterian Church, Medford, and Don Purkey, interim 

 pastor at Bellevue Presbyterian Church in Washington State, 

 offered guidance and inspiration to the organizing.

 

 Chris and Beverley Jackson make sure that their church,

 Southminster Presbyterian Church, Beaverton, genuinely welcomes 

 all of God's children. Peg Pfab, pastor, and the more light 

 committee faithfully led by Chris, put together a Celebration of 

 More Light Sunday at Southminster. Prior to my preaching, a 

 lesbian couple joined me in worship leadership as liturgists. 

 Each Mom read a Biblical text. Their daughters had been part of 

 the children's choir earlier in the service. It is love that 

 makes a family, and it is love that makes a church. It was so 

 clear -- right before our eyes and hearts that morning at 

 Southminster.

 

 During Lent I was at Lake View Presbyterian Church, Chicago, with

 Joy Douglas Strome, pastor. The seamless blending of both 

 tradition and the contemporary in music, liturgy, theology and 

 mission is accomplished skillfully and magically here. Joy and 

 the warm, caring Lake View congregation clearly are a 

 neighborhood church committed to being and sharing good news to 

 all who come their way.

 

 Palm Sunday at Second Presbyterian Church, Kansas City, Missouri,

 meant palm branches, and a baptism of an infant by Edward 

 Thompson, describing to us the promises we make as a Church to 

 those we baptize. As Edward spoke, I was reminded again of how we 

 revoke those baptismal promises when a child says later that she 

 or he is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Sitting by Carol 

 Smith, clergywoman and mother with a gay son, I observed this 

 baptism as with new eyes. I remembered Carol's statement on the 

 video, "A Cloud of Witnesses," when she says, "It's all about the 

 children." Earlier that morning I offered an educational program 

 to a SRO (standing room only!) crowd of over 120 people. Second 

 Presbyterian Church is serious about its welcome to all of God's 

 children.

 

 Since Kansas City is the site for the National Conference in

 2004, a joint conference for both MLP and TAMFS, Carol and Gary 

 Smith generously hosted organizing meetings with Katie Ricks and 

 Dick Hasbany, Conference Co-Chairs. Carol and I also offered a 

 program for the Gay and Lesbian Center on faith and spirituality 

 for LGBT persons at her Center for Shalom.

 

 Converging upon the Crescent City of New Orleans, George Smith,

 Ralph Carter and I attended the National Presbyterian Men's 

 Conference. George offered us a tour of the French Quarter and 

 later that day we set up our MLP Booth for the conference. With a 

 big rainbow flag our table was covered with educational resources 

 and books with men and their families in mind. This is new 

 frontier in terms of LGBT work with Presbyterian Men. 

 Conversations were engaging and many of our materials were 

 received by the men. We were told over and over again "we're glad 

 you are here."

 

 Knowing the needs of these men, their families and churches, we

 were glad we were there, too. Plus, the French Market beignets 

 were a bonus.

 

 Will McGarvey and Heather Reichgott, theological student leaders

 at San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, CA, gathered 

 students, alumni and members of the community for an evening that 

 included a meal, conversation and an educational program. Lisa 

 Larges, TAMFS, and I offered a program on pastoral care for LGBT 

 persons and their families. Even with the end of term exams 

 to prepare for and papers to write, the questions continued about 

 how to make our Church a welcoming and affirming Church for all.

 

 Robert Moore and Steve Melde, leaders of the Luminarias de Cristo

 MLP Chapter, Tucson, AZ, created a more light weekend for 

 southern Arizona. Programs included a luncheon with clergy and 

 lay leaders, a potluck dinner hosted by Debbie and Steve Melde in 

 their home, and an educational forum hosted by St. Mark's 

 Presbyterian Church. Matt Moore, Robert's son, one of the 

 founding members of this MLP chapter, met with us for that 

 luncheon, three weeks before his untimely death of a congenital 

 heart problem. Matt loved his Dad and became a strong advocate 

 for LGBT embrace in the church and other justice concerns. Matt's 

 legacy of love and justice lives on in the hearts of those of us 

 who knew, loved and respected him.

 

 It was Matt who contacted me a couple years ago to ask me if I

 would work with him and his father to start an MLP chapter in 

 Tucson. Matt was 24 when he died and was described as the Youth 

 Director at St. Mark's Presbyterian Church, Humanitarian, and 

 Activist.

 

 The day of Matt's death I spoke with his father, Robert. I

 reminded Robert what he already knew of course, that "Matt got 

 it." In the midst of sharing my condolence with Robert, we 

 joyfully and tearfully relived the story of Matt wanting the 

 Presbyterian Church to accept his father and his asking me to 

 come to Tucson to work with them. They met me in Casa Grande in a 

 western-themed restaurant. The food was bad, the decor 

 embarrassing, and the conversation filled with laughter. We 

 shared hopes and dreams for our Church and world to embrace all 

 of God's children.

 

 Matt made sure that the Luminarias de Cristo MLP Chapter got

 started. He also volunteered with the Samaritan Border Patrol in 

 addition to being a youth director. And, because of your support of 

 

 MLP, I could go to Tucson to work with Matt, his Dad and others.

 

 MLP exists for sons and fathers like Matt and Robert. It is Love

 that Makes a Family, It is Love that Makes a Church. -- With hope 

 and grace, Michael.

 

 This column is lovingly dedicated to the memory of Matthew Moore,

 6/12/79-5/31/03; and to the honor of his parents Gayle and Robert 

 Moore, his brother, Jonathan Moore; and to St. Mark's 

 Presbyterian Church, Tucson where Matt served as Youth Director.

 

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 OUR CHURCH COURTS

 

                  Court Cases: Same-Sex Marriage

 

         Joint Statement on the First Van Kuiken Decision

                          April 21, 2003

 

                     More Light Presbyterians

                     That All May Freely Serve

 

 Cincinnati, OH: The boards of directors of More Light

 Presbyterians (MLP) and That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS) today 

 extended their congratulations to the Rev. Stephen Van Kuiken of 

 Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church (Cincinnati), to the session and 

 congregation of Mount Auburn, and to all those who have stood 

 with the Rev. Van Kuiken in support, for the tremendous strides 

 towards justice and fairness which have occurred as a direct 

 result of the Rev. Van Kuiken's willingness to face a church 

 judicial trial rather than compromise his commitment to equality.

 

 Although the Presbytery Judicial Commission's decision, released

 today, upheld one of the two charges against the Rev. Van Kuiken 

 and issued a formal rebuke, the victories had been won long 

 before the court ever reached its decision and can be neither 

 diminished nor silenced by any rebuke. "Events and actions both 

 before and after the Van Kuiken trial have demonstrated, now more 

 than ever, that the days of the *Book of Order*'s anti-gay clause 

 G6.0106b are numbered" noted TAMFS National Evangelist Rev. Janie 

 Spahr. "The tide is turning," said More Light Presbyterians co-

 moderator Bill Moss, "and it is turning in the direction of 

 justice."

 

 The Rev. Van Kuiken's actions generated both numerous actions of

 support as well as positive coverage for the Presbyterian LGBT 

 equality movement, and will continue to inspire acts of bravery 

 in support of the gospel well into the future. Here is only a 

 partial list:

 

      %% Our friends from Soulforce organized nonviolent vigils 

      outside the judicial trial venue which brought over 100 

      people from all over the country to stand in solidarity with 

      the Rev. Van Kuiken.

 

      %% The vigil and the Rev. Van Kuiken's trial received 

      extensive coverage on Cincinnati television news on the 

      evening of April 8. Several stations chose to give the story 

      local top billing by running it second, immediately 

      following their coverage of Iraq. WCPO, Cincinnati channel 

      9, continues to list the Van Kuiken trial on their web site 

      as "the day's top story" for April 8. A long history of past 

      experience demonstrates that the more we tell our stories to 

      the public, the more we win people's hearts and minds.

 

      %% Local press in Cincinnati published balanced articles 

      about the case on nearly a daily basis during the week 

      leading up to the trial.

 

      %% The number of signatures on the March 2003 TAMFS Michigan 

      "Upholding Our Ordination Vows" statement has swelled to 

      nearly 400 people, with a banner of the first 350 signatures 

      unfurled at the Van Kuiken vigil on April 8.

 

      %% In a completely unexpected act of solidarity, *Cincinnati 

      Enquirer* metro columnist Denise Smith Amos "came out" as an 

      ally in her April 13 column and wrote of her memories of 

      attending her lesbian sister's holy union service. Amos 

      noted that when the service was held 14 years ago, such 

      relationships often needed to be kept secret, but that "the 

      time for such secrets should be over."

 

 Ms. Amos has it right. The time for secrets is over. The time for

 silence is over. The time for don't-ask-don't-tell is over. The 

 time for a silent complicity which uses calls for "unity" as a 

 means of resisting the will of God is over. The time for 

 postponing justice to wait for the next study committee, the next 

 task force report, the next call to earnestly study the issue, is 

 over. The time for church-sanctioned pastoral and ecclesial 

 violence against LGBT people is over.

 

 The boards of directors of That All May Freely Serve and More

 Light Presbyterians reiterate our support for radical acts of 

 obedience to the inclusive gospel of Jesus of Nazareth. We 

 continue to stand in solidarity with those who are led by 

 conscience, as informed by God's Spirit, to refuse to cooperate 

 with policies and structures of exclusion and oppression within 

 the church. God calls us to begin living out the gospel not 

 tomorrow, not next year, but today. We extend our thanks to the 

 Rev. Stephen Van Kuiken for reminding us once again that when we 

 take that brave step, God goes with us and often showers us with 

 unexpected support.

 

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

 

              MLP Statement on Removal of Van Kuiken

                    by Presbytery of Cincinnati

 

 June 16, 2003 -- Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church, long recognized

 for its work for the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, 

 and transgender (LGBT) persons in the life of the Presbyterian 

 Church from a context of peace and justice for all of God's 

 children, has experienced yet another challenge to its work in a 

 presbytery vote that removed its pastor, Steve van Kuiken. The 

 Presbytery of Cincinnati found van Kuiken to have renounced the 

 jurisdiction of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) because he dared to 

 

 name same-sex covenantal ceremonies marriages, treating them the

 same as opposite-sex ceremonies. This is a very difficult, 

 challenging and sad time for Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church and 

 for all persons and congregations working for justice and change 

 in our Church.

 

 More Light Presbyterians extends its love and care for the

 Session, Church Staff, Congregation, and friends of Mt. Auburn 

 Presbyterian Church, for its pastor, Steve along with his spouse, 

 Debbie and their children, Hannah and Aaron; and for its pastor 

 emeritus, Hal Porter and his spouse, Betty and their family.

 

 More Light Presbyterians is further shocked and dismayed by the

 apparent precedent set by this decision, which effectively 

 declares the semantic distinction between same-sex unions and 

 marriages to be an essential tenet of the Reformed faith. This 

 should alarm every Presbyterian, for it suggests that any 

 minister who deviates from any jot or tittle in the *Form of 

 Government*, or *Directory of Worship*, or any PJC decision is at 

 the same risk as van Kuiken! The Presbytery neglected its duty 

 to extend mutual forbearance on matters about which people of 

 good characters and principles may differ. Now, those who use 

 their good judgment based on their understanding of the Gospel 

 and Reformed tradition should beware; the issue of conscience in 

 nonessential matters of faith has been elevated to a high stakes 

 game with ordination on the line, whether one calls a holy union 

 a marriage or administers communion to an individual who proves 

 not to be baptized (W-2.4011).

 

 There is no consensus in either church or society on the issue of

 same-sex marriage. The Presbytery of Cincinnati has acted 

 precipitously, as the denomination did with Amendment B. The 

 Presbytery's rush to judgment has set a troubling precedent for 

 restricting freedom of conscience for every Presbyterian.

 

 More Light Presbyterians continues to live into the hope that the

 PCUSA will one day repent of their efforts to treat as inferior 

 the faithful, loving, covenantal relationships of lesbian, gay, 

 bisexual, and transgender Presbyterians, and come to celebrate 

 with us the abundant blessings God continues to bring into our 

 lives, homes, and hearts.

 

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

 

              Joint Statement on the Porter Agreement

                          April 22, 2003

 

                     More Light Presbyterians

                     That All May Freely Serve

 

 Cincinnati, OH: The National Liaison Board of That All May Freely

 Serve and the Board of Directors of More Light Presbyterians 

 extend their deepest thanks to the Rev. Dr. Harold Porter for his 

 strong, clear, faithful witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in 

 light of the agreement reached with the Permanent Judicial 

 Commission of the Cincinnati Presbytery with regard to the 

 investigation of the charges filed against him. In listing 

 the conditions by which he would agree to the terms of the 

 investigating committee's proposal of an alternative resolution, 

 the Rev. Dr. Porter used the occasion to affirm the equality of 

 same gender relationships, and to call the Presbyterian Church 

 (U.S.A.) to repentance of all policies and statements that 

 denigrate the humanity of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender 

 persons, calling such policies "a scandal to the Gospel."

 

 "Hal Porter has set an example of integrity for LGBT-affirming

 pastors nationwide. We trust many others will answer his 

 challenge to the church in faithful and creative ways," said 

 TAMFS Regional Partnership Coordinator Lisa Larges.

 

 The Rev. Dr. Porter is the first Presbyterian minister to

 publicly renounce heterosexual privilege in this way, vowing to 

 marry no couples, so as not to favor one type of relationship 

 over another. "Henceforth, I will conduct only worship services 

 for the exchange of promises between couples, whether same-sex or 

 opposite-sex, who wish to live out their lives together as one 

 family, without my declaring their relationship a marriage. In 

 such services, I acknowledge that after all I am not performing a 

 sacrament (our [denomination] does not recognize marriage as a 

 sacrament) but only witnessing what the couples themselves 

 affirm."

 

 "Porter's stand calls us back to our Reformed theological

 tradition and reminds us what marriage is truly about," said MLP 

 Co-Moderator Mitzi Henderson.

 

 The Boards of Directors of That All May Freely Serve and More

 Light Presbyterians reiterate our support for radical acts of 

 obedience to the inclusive gospel of Jesus of Nazareth. We 

 continue to stand in solidarity with those who are led by 

 conscience, as informed by God's Spirit, to confront all policies 

 and structures of exclusion and oppression within the church.

 

 For more information go to: