GLAAD at the 219th General Assembly

More Light Presbyterians (MLP) had the privilege of working with Ann Craig, GLAAD's Director of Religion, Faith and Values during General Assembly. Ann worked with us on messaging, press releases and media contacts. In addition to all Ann's work with MLP, she posted two entries about General Assembly to GLAAD's blog:

Presbyterians Vote for Ordination Equality; Vote to Study Marriage, GLAAD

A demonstration and press conference by leaders from Soulforce, More Light Presbyterians and That All May Freely Serve celebrated the progress made at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and urged commissioners to vote for full equality.

Presbyterians Move Toward LGBT Equality, GLAAD

LGBT leaders in the Presbyterian Church (USA) are very hopeful that Presbyterian commissioners to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have set a trend for more inclusion as they worked in committees on the first two full days of a full week of meetings, in Minneapolis that will close on July 10.

To learn more about Ann's work, visit her archive on GLAAD's blog.

Extending Benefits to Same-Gender Spouses; Marriage

Here are the Presbyterian News Service articles on the General Assembly votes to direct the Board of Pensions to extend benefits to same-gender spouses and domestic partners and the marriage votes (photo by Danny Bolin).

Assembly approves benefits for same-gender households, Presbyterian News Service

The 219th General Assembly (2010) today urged the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Board of Pensions (BOP) to extend equal spousal and dependent benefits to same-gender domestic partners as it does to married plan members...

Many supporters agreed with Kati Chan, a Young Adult Advisory Delegate from San Francisco Presbytery, that extending benefits to same-gender households “is a matter of social and financial equality. … We have advocated equality for years. Why not practice it with those in our own churches?”

Opponents argued against the proposal on theological and financial grounds.

The Rev. Harry Hughes of New Castle Presbytery said approval of same-gender benefits “would validate same-sex relationships in violation of church policy and Scripture,” adding that the measure would “increase the level of conflict and division” in the PC(USA).

To address concerns that the added benefit would create a moral dilemma for some church employers, the resolution includes a provision urging the BOP to create a “relief of conscience” fund to segregate dues of employers who are conscientiously opposed to same-gender benefits. The board has a similar provision for employers who object to their dues being used to pay for abortion procedures.

Noting that the measure would raise BOP dues to 32.5 percent of effective salary, the Rev. Faith Jongewaard of Mission Presbytery said, “I’m in a church of 725 members and we could probably afford this, but a lot of small churches can’t, so this is also a justice issue for them.”

Commissioners seemed persuaded by arguments like that of the Rev. John Vest of Chicago Presbytery. “This is not about [gay] ordination or marriage,” he said. “It’s about employers who don’t give and employees who don’t get the same benefits.”

By a voice vote, the Assembly rejected a commissioners’ resolution that would have banned abortion as a covered BOP benefit. Andrew Browne, the board’s corporate secretary, said $11,000 out of $106 million in medical benefit payments last year went for abortions.

The 219th General Assembly maintains current definition of marriage, Presbyterian News Service

The 219th General Assembly (2010) voted Thursday night to maintain the current definition of marriage — between a man and a woman — in its Constitution.

Just prior to the Assembly’s action, the body accepted the recommendation of the General Assembly Civil Union and Marriage Issues Committee to approve the report of the Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union and Christian Marriage by a vote of 439-208. The Assembly decided to send both the special committee report and the minority report generated by three members of the special committee to the larger church for study after a motion to replace the final report with the minority report was defeated, 358-311.

Following that action was a parliamentary maneuver that resulted in the Assembly voting to let the approval of the special committee report “answer all pending items” on the remaining Assembly committee’s list of overtures that included changing the definition of marriage to “two people,” giving pastors and sessions discretion in deciding who may marry and whether they may use church property for the ceremony.

The vote was 348-324, with six commissioners abstaining.

Audible gasps were heard on the floor of the Assembly, and many commissioners and observers burst into applause as the result of the close vote (51%-49%) flashed on overhead screens at the Minneapolis Convention Center. 

The overtures, which were never considered by the full Assembly, had passed the Assembly Committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues by approximately 2-to-1 margins.

The Rev. Ryan Balsan of New Brunswick Presbytery, who moved that the study should answer the overtures, said he did not want those overtures to prejudice the study process.

“The church was not yet ready to make a decision,” said 219th General Assembly Moderator Cindy Bolbach during a press conference following adjournment. “This kind of thing happens at every assembly.”

While many people will see the vote simply as winning or losing — “that’s human nature,” the Moderator said — Bolbach said more helpful thinking involves “trying to figure out where God is leading the church. Women’s ordination took us years and years to decide.”

At the same event, the Rev. Rick Nutt, moderator of the Assembly committee, said that “it would have been interesting” to discuss the overtures on the Assembly floor, “but the will of the Assembly is to pursue those issues in conversation,” meaning allowing churches and presbyteries to study the two reports.

Acknowledging the complexity of the decision to send both reports to the church-at-large, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly the Rev. Gradye Parsons said, “We’re going to have to draft a pretty good cover letter.”

Media Coverage of LGBT General Assembly Votes

Presbyterian leaders approves gay clergy policy, The Boston Globe

Presbyterian leaders voted Thursday to allow non-celibate gays in committed relationships to serve as clergy, approving the first of two policy changes that could make their church one of the most gay-friendly major Christian denominations in the U.S.

But the vote isn't a final stamp of approval for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) or its more than 2 million members.

Presbyterians continue to be divided over gays, NPR/Associated Press

A split decision from Presbyterian leaders on two gay-friendly measures guarantees even more debate among the U.S. church's members on an issue they've been divided over for years.

Delegates to the Presbyterian church's convention in Minneapolis voted Thursday for a more liberal policy on gay clergy but decided not to redefine marriage in their church constitution to include same-sex couples. Approval of both measures could have made the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) one of the most gay-friendly major Christian churches in the U.S.

Presbyterian leaders OK lifting gay clergy ban, Louisville Courier-Journal

The ordination vote sends the measure for ratification votes to regional presbyteries, where resistance to such changes has diminished in recent years.

Church representatives, meeting in Minneapolis at the weeklong General Assembly, voted 373-323 to lift the ban in the Louisville-based Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which has 2.1 million members.

Presbyterian leaders approve gay clergy policy, Associates Press

Presbyterian leaders voted Thursday to allow non-celibate gays in committed relationships to serve as clergy, approving the first of two policy changes that could make their church one of the most gay-friendly major Christian denominations in the U.S.

But the vote isn't a final stamp of approval for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) or its more than 2 million members.

Presbyterian leaders split on gay-friendly measures, The Tennessean

Leaders of the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted Thursday to remove the barrier keeping non-celibate gays out of the ministry but stopped short of redefining marriage to include same-sex couples.

Currently the denomination requires clergy and other ordained leaders to either be married or remain celibate. That rule remains in effect until the denomination's 173 regional presbyteries ratify the assembly's decision.

Additional Media Coverage of LGBT Votes at General Assembly

Presbyterians: Gay Clergy Yes, Gay Marriage No, The Advocate

Delegates at the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted Thursday in Minneapolis to advance a proposal to allow gay clergy, but they decided against allowing same-sex marriages by a close margin. The gay clergy proposal now must be approved by a majority of the church’s 173 presbyteries, which rejected a similar measure two years ago.

Presbyterian decision reflects deep divisions, Minneapolis Star Tribune

For the Rev. Ray Bagnuolo, the Presbyterian Church's decision to table a landmark proposal permitting same-sex marriage was a slap on the face.

For the Rev. Clark Cowden, it was a measured response to a potentially divisive issue.

The U.S. Presbyterian Church's vote to sidestep the potentially explosive issue of same-sex marriage at its convention in Minneapolis this week reflected deep divisions within the church and the need to drum up broad grass-roots consensus, observers say.

Presbyterians continue to be divided over gays as leaders split on 2 gay-friendly measures, Washington Examiner

A split decision from Presbyterian leaders on two gay-friendly measures guarantees even more debate among the U.S. church's members on an issue they've been divided over for years.

Delegates to the Presbyterian church's convention in Minneapolis voted Thursday for a more liberal policy on gay clergy but decided not to redefine marriage in their church constitution to include same-sex couples. Approval of both measures could have made the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) one of the most gay-friendly major Christian churches in the U.S.

Even the more liberal stance on gay clergy faces more debate before it can become church policy. A majority of the church's 173 U.S. presbyteries must approve it. Two years ago — after years of efforts by supporters — a similar measure was sent out to presbyteries but died when 94 of them voted against it.

Presbyterian leaders approve gay clergy policy, Salt Lake Tribune

 Presbyterian leaders voted Thursday to allow non-celibate gays in committed relationships to serve as clergy, approving the first of two policy changes that could make their church one of the most gay-friendly major Christian denominations in the U.S.

But the vote isn’t a final stamp of approval for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) or its more than 2 million members.

Delegates voted during the church’s general assembly in Minneapolis, with 53 percent approving the more liberal policy on gay clergy. A separate vote is expected later Thursday on whether to change the church’s definition of marriage from between “a man and a woman” to between “two people.”

Same-Sex Marriage on Media Radar

Today's media coverage of LGBT issues at the General Assembly was strongly focused on the potential of same-sex marriage in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Presbyterian Church USA to vote on same-sex 'marriage,'ordination, Associate Press

Mainline Presbyterians (Presbyterian Church USA) at their General Assembly in Minneapolis could vote today to approve same-gender "marriage" and ordination.

Michael Adee, who heads the homosexual-rights group More Light Presbyterians, says he has "dreamed and prayed and worked for these moments" for years.

Presbyterians consider backing gay marriage, NewsOK

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is poised to become the largest U.S. Christian denomination to permit same-sex marriage if church leaders meeting for their national convention in Minneapolis go along with a committee recommendation.

Presbyterian's General Assembly to consider redefining marriage, Digital Journal

As the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) meets this week one important subject they will be looking at is should the church redefine marriage to include same-sex couples and allow the ministers to perform same-sex weddings.

A new moderator was chosen, Cynthia Bolbach, an elder from National Capital Presbytery in Washington from six candidates. The moderator is the top leadership position for the assembly.

Presbyterians to vote on gay marriage, Sacramento Bee

Delegates at a national conference of Presbyterians will vote Thursday on whether ministers should be allowed to perform same sex marriages in the church. If passed, it will be the largest denomination in the country to marry gay couples.

Four Sacramento area delegates are attending the national gathering of church leaders for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Minneapolis, Minn., and are expected to cast their votes. One of them is Dan Roth, a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) committee recommends allowing same-sex marriage, Louisville Courier-Journal

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 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.”

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?”

The Arc of History is Bending Toward Justice

"The trend among Christian churches in the United States has also been toward acceptance," writes Candace Chellew-Hodge on Religion Dispatches. After long struggles for equality, the arc of history is bending toward justice.

Overall, in a different Gallup survey, those saying gays and lesbians are “morally acceptable” stands at 52 percent. Barely 34 percent thought so back in 1982.

The trend among Christian churches in the United States has also been toward acceptance. The United Church of Christ, on July 4, 2005, became the only mainline denomination to affirm its support for marriage equality. Other denominations, like the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), have moved to remove bans on the ordination of gay and lesbian ministers.

The Presbyterian Church (USA), remains on the verge of giving that right to its gay and lesbian clergy. The General Assembly removed restrictions during its 2008 meeting, but the measure did not receive enough support among the presbyteries to pass. Supporters remain hopeful as the denomination begins its General Assembly in Minneapolis next week.

Lisa Larges, head of That All May Freely Serve, said, “Faith traditions are moving toward a new understanding of God’s diverse creation. The time for policies based on our love of God and call to serve has come. Churches are learning to affirm gifts for ministry rather than reject ministers because of whom they chose as a life partner.”

Several pro-gay measures are on the agenda for the PCUSA including benefits for same-gender spouses and domestic partners of church employees, the right of clergy to perform legal weddings in the states that recognize them, the final removal of a ban on gay clergy, and a review of a creedal statement viewed as anti-gay.

15 Overtures, Years of Debate; Gay Ordination on GA Agenda

The Presbyterian Outlook takes a look at the 30-year conversation about sexual orientation in the Presbyterian Church (USA). As this General Assembly approaches, there are some significant changes all around.

But the persistence of the debate, and the glazed-over look some Presbyterians develop when it revs up again, can mask some incremental but significant developments that observers are noting.

Among them:

• Last August, in a dramatic and emotional vote, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – the third-largest Protestant group in the country, with 4.6 million members – voted to lift a rule that forbade gays and lesbians to serve as pastors unless they were celibate. The denomination’s Churchwide Assembly removed the ban on pastors living in “lifelong, monogamous, same-gendered relationships.” Almost immediately, some Lutherans who say the new policy does not conform with Biblical teaching began to discuss the possibility of leaving the denomination. 
• In July 2009, the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops voted that any ordained ministry is open to gays and lesbians – ending a moratorium on ordaining gay bishops passed in 2006. This spring, a majority of bishops and dioceses in the Episcopal Church approved the election as suffragan, or assistant, bishop of Mary D. Glasspool, a lesbian from Los Angeles who has been involved in a same-sex partnership for more than 20 years. That’s likely to further accelerate divisions within the global Anglican family. The Anglican Church in North America, officially organized in 2009 with 700 congregations and in disagreement with the direction of the Episcopal Church, has elected Robert Duncan as its archbishop and established full communion with Anglican churches in Uganda and Nigeria.
• In 2009, a majority of the PC(USA)’s 173 presbyteries voted, for the third time, not to remove the “fidelity and chastity” standard. But there are some signs of shifting opinion – the vote of 94-78 was by a narrower margin than the last time the presbyteries considered it, in 2001-2002, and includes more than 25 presbyteries that flipped from wanting to keep the current standards to favoring change. Some interpret the vote as the PC(USA) standing firm, yet again, on fidelity and chastity. Others say it’s only a matter of time until the rules change – for them, the question is not if, but when.
• Some of the congregations most opposed to gay ordination have already left the PC(USA) – many of them moving to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. That represents a dynamic other mainline denominations are experiencing as well – with debates over gay ordination in the Episcopal, Methodist, and Lutheran denominations leading to shifting alignments. Following the Lutheran vote last summer, for example, a conservative group called the Lutheran Coalition for Renewal began developing a proposal for the “reconfiguration of North American Lutheranism” and is discussing forming a new denomination, the North American Lutheran Church (NALC).
• A case now is pending in the PC(USA)’s judicial system that could present a direct test of whether the denomination will allow the ordination of a gay man in a committed partnership. In February, John Knox Presbytery voted 81-25 to ordain to the ministry Scott D. Anderson, who has been in a committed relationship for close to 20 years and who set aside his ordination as a minister in 1990, after members of his congregation publicly revealed that he is gay.
• Following the approach suggested by the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the PC(USA), of which he was a member, Anderson had declared a “scruple,” or an objection based on conscience, to the fidelity and chastity standard. Some who disagree with the presbytery’s decision have filed a remedial case with the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies, and a stay of enforcement has been entered until that case is resolved.
• Depending on how things proceed, Anderson’s case could present the first direct question to the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission of whether a governing body can ordain a gay or lesbian in a committed partnership who has declared a conscientious objection to the fidelity and chastity standard.

 All of this is just the back story.