Post General Assembly Pastoral Letter from the Moderator and Stated Clerk

Elder Cynthia Bolbach, Moderator, 219th General Assembly and The Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly have issued the post General Assembly pastoral letter to Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations. Included in the letter are two FAQ documents on civil unions and marriage and on ordination standards:

• Civil Union and Marriage FAQ (pdf)
• Ordination Standards FAQ (pdf)

Marriage Equality at the 219th General Assembly...and what's next?

By Michael Adee

Yesterday was a day of mixed experiences and mixed emotions. We rejoiced with the extraordinary pro-LGBT vote approving by 53 to 46% a "Revise-B" Ordination Overture. This vote advances the moral equality of LGBT persons in both Church and society within the USA and around the world. There are Presbyterians in over 100 countries. So, creating one standard for ordination for all persons regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or any other human condition in the Presbyterian Church (USA) is remarkable statement for justice and equality.

Historic levels of support for Ordination Equality during the 2008-2009 Ordination Amendment 08-B Campaign offer hope and encouragement. We look forward to the life-giving and liberating conversations and work of a national ratification campaign to ensure passage of this overture. Everyone participating in this national grassroots ratification campaign will ensure its passage.

Late in the night after a drawn-out discussion of the Civil Union & Marriage Task Force's report commending the PCUSA to study marriage, the Assembly voted narrowly to have all of the other marriage overtures "answered" by the vote to study. This was a painful moment for those of us at the Assembly and I can only imagine how painful it was to see this happen via live-streaming.

This vote was certainly a disappointing response by not even bringing to the floor for discussion:  (1.)  the reality of faithful, same-gender loving relationships in our Church, (2.) the reality of legal same-sex civil marriages in states where Presbyterian pastors serve and the Authoritative Interpretation offering pastoral discretion to perform civil marriages in states where they are legal, and (3.) widening the Church's understanding of marriage to "two persons" in a faithful, loving relationship rather than the restriction of marriage between "a man and woman."

This morning there is work being done to encourage a reconsideration of last night's vote on marriage to bring to the floor the work of Committee 12. Please join us in praying that this will happen. "Justice Delayed is Justice Denied" signs and "Reconsider 12" were held by Soulforce, TAMFS and MLP supporters around the Assembly Hall.

Last night after the vote, Sylvia Thorson-Smith, Presbyterian Voices for Justice, and Elder, St. Mark's Presbyterian Church, Tucson, AZ, a More Light church, reminded us that:  "It is important to remember that marriage equality, widening the understanding of love and marriage to include same sex couples, and challenging the definition of marriage from "a man and woman" is new to our denomination." 

Marriage equality was introduced to our General Assembly only 2 years ago. At the 218th General Assembly in 2008, there was one marriage equality overture from Baltimore Presbytery with a concurrence from Hudson River Presbytery. In 2010, historic levels of support for marriage equality were achieved with 14 Overtures and concurrences sent to this Assembly.

The Overture Advocates for Marriage Equality offered powerful and inspiring teaching on marriage, testimonies before Committee 12 were remarkable. We know what happens when Presbyterians have a chance to actually meet and hear the faith and love stories from LGBT persons, our families and allies --- a change of hearts, minds and votes happens --- as was the case when Committee 12 approved by a large margin the "Marriage AI" and the "Expand W-4" characterization of marriage to two persons.

So, we hope and pray that the Assembly will reconsider Committee 12 today. No matter what, we have our "marching orders" as Rev. Janet Edwards, Co-Moderator, MLP, reminded the group of activists, Commissioners and delegates last night in the MLP hospitality suite. Those marching orders are to get the conversation moving and educational resources on marriage equality in all 173 presbyteries.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) does not have the final word on the goodness of God's creation including God's LGBT daughters and sons. God does.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) does not have the final word on the goodness of Love and the sacred gift of sexuality and companionship,  God does.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) does not have the final word on Love and marriage, God does.

We have plenty of faith and love stories to celebrate and share with our Church. So, may all of us share those faith and love stories with our families and local congregations. Start now to create opportunities in your presbytery to do what the 219th General Assembly has said -- study marriage. Let all of us be good stewards of this opportunity.

with hope and grace,
Michael

PS -- a great 2-page marriage equality educational resource for you right now:  "More Light on Marriage" - http://archive.mlp.org/resources/MLonMarriage.pdf

Dawn Black's Words to the General Assembly on Motion to End Marriage Discussion

Dawn Black's words to the General Assembly against the motion that would use the special report on civil unions and marriage to end discussion of pro-LGBT marriage overtures. The motion passed.

Madame Moderator my name is Dawn Black and I am a TSAD from LPTS. I speak against this motion. On December 6, 2008 my brother, Bradley Gibbs Ciliberto was joined in legal marriage to my brother-in-law Christopher Gibbs Ciliberto in Darien, Connecticut to the joy and excitement of our entire family. This event occurred in a court house, not a church. It was officiated by a Justice of the Peace, and not a Minister of Word and Sacrament. I believe in the sanctity of marriage and my Christian faith calls me to believe that being married in the eyes of God should be done by a Minister in the Church. I was married in the Presbyterian Church and was allowed to do so based on society’s rules and regulations, those rules are now growing and changing and the church needs to respond to this growth, or be left in the dust. We continue to speak about decreasing numbers in the church. I joined the church I was married in. As I imagine others who were married in a church may have done so as well. How many out there will join us when we become inclusive of all people?

I stand in against this motion and I will hopefully by the grace of God stand for and in a church with joy and in witness on June 4, 2011 at the welcoming and inclusive marriage of two of my dearest friends, two Christian Presbyterian Lesbian children of God.

The Same-Sex Marriage Recommendations

The Presbyterian Church USA would become the largest denomination in the nation to allow same-sex marriage if the recommendations from the Civil Unions & Marriage Committee are approved, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports.

The Louisville-based Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) would become the largest denomination in the nation to allow same-sex marriage if it follows a recommendation made Tuesday by a church legislative committee.

And another church committee, gathering for the church's weeklong legislative General Assembly in Minneapolis, recommended the church begin ordaining non-celibate gays and lesbians.

The assembly's committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues voted 34-18 to change the definition of marriage in the church constitution to describe marriage as a covenant between "two people" rather than between "a man and a woman."

This "would recognize committed, lifelong relationships that are already being lived out by our members," said a committee statement.

The Presbyterian News Service provided detailed reporting on the Civil Unions & Marriage Committee:

The Committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues voted Tuesday (34-18-2) to recommend to the full Assembly changing the definition of marriage in the Directory for Worship from “a woman and a man” to “two people.”

Heeding the advice of the Advisory Committee on the Constitution, the committee agreed to replace “couple” with “two people” because, according to Advisory Committee on the Constitution representative Catherine McDonald, “couple” in some languages “automatically translates as husband and wife.”

The committee also recommended approving an Authoritative Interpretation that gives ministers of the Word and Sacrament and commissioned lay pastors discretion over which marriage services they'll perform. Sessions may refuse the use of church property for wedding ceremonies of which they don’t approve.

An Authoritative Interpretation requires no approval by presbyteries and does not amend the church’s constitution. If it’s approved this week in plenary session, it becomes effective immediately.

The other nine overtures the committee considered Tuesday were either not approved or were similar enough to the two recommended overtures that they were considered by the committee to be “answered” by those overtures.

Advocating for changing the church's language of who may marry, Laura Marsh, an elder from East Iowa Presbytery, said her church, First Presbyterian of Iowa City, decided that “until we are allowed to marry everybody, we aren’t going to marry anybody. Is everybody happy? No. But there’s been no mass exodus, and we didn’t implode. But we’re urgently asking you to act.”

Committee member the Rev. Marion Haynes-Weller of Donegal Presbytery called herself “a pastor of one of those small rural congregations we seem to be worried about. We are in a very conservative community but it’s a congregation committed to welcoming (gay) members who are impatient with our lack of solidarity in standing with them.”

Young Adult Advisory Delegate Paige Eubanks of Mid-South Presbytery said “My fear is that if we open up Scripture to interpretation, we compromise purity, we become susceptible to deception and this body, my family, will disintegrate.”

Rev. Jean Southard on Marriage Equality

Rev. Jean Southard spoke at MLP's Educational Luncheon today about marriage equality and her trials in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Jean Southard is a retired Minister of the Word and Sacrament and officiated at a legal wedding of two women in Massachusetts. Charges were filed in the Presbytery of Boston and were dropped on August 22, 2009. This decision was appealed to the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Synod of the Northeast. The Synod ruled against the Presbytery and Jean. The Synod decision will be appealed.



Rev. Jean Southard on Marriage Equality, Part 2

Today the Civil Unions and Marriage Committee are voting on overtures that allow pastoral/session discretion in performing weddings in those states that have legalized marriage for all couples.

The New Moderator: Unqualified Support for Same-Sex Marriage

All candidates for Moderator were asked about what they thought about changing the constitutional definition of marriage from “between a man and a woman” to “between two people.” Cynthia Bolbach, the new Moderator for the Presbyterian Church (USA), expressed unqualified support for same-sex marriage, the Presbyterian News Service reports.

Only one question from the floor touched upon any of the several controversial issues that this Assembly will tackle in the coming week: whether to change the constitutional definition of marriage from “between a man and a woman” to “between two people.”

Four candidates – Leeth, Nielsen, Kim and Belle – endorsed support for the traditional definition. Though same-sex marriage is not legal in her native North Carolina, Lauterer said “in states where it’s legal, the church should have a part in that union … Covenant makes the community stronger.”

Only Bolbach expressed unqualified support for same-sex marriage. “Who poses the greatest threat – Larry King, who’s been married seven times, or a gay couple [friends of hers] in Washington, D.C., who have been together for 62 years and who got married two weeks ago?” Same-sex marriage is legal in the District of Columbia and five states.

Bolbach, who is a lawyer and legal publishing company executive in Washington, acknowledged, “I don’t think our denomination is ready for [changing the definition of marriage], but what do pastors do in jurisdictions where same-sex marriage is legal?”