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The Newsletter of the Interfaith Working Group
November 2001
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Presbyterian Church (USA)
On October 21, the Rev. Katie Morrison became the
first openly-lesbian candidate ordained in the
Presbyterian Church (USA)
as a Minister of the Word
and Sacrament since the 1978 ban on ordaining
"practicing, self-affirming homosexuals." The Presbytery
of the Redwoods ordained and installed Morrison, a
life-long Presbyterian, as a National Field Organizer for
More Light Presbyterians (MLP).
MLP works for "the
full participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender people in the life, ministry, and witness of
the Presbyterian Church (USA)." Participants in the
service included: the presbytery's executive presbyter
and moderator; Morrison's father, Steve Morrison, an
elder at
Pasadena Presbyterian Church;
former PCUSA minister Martha Juillerat, director of the
Shower of
Stoles Project, who was unable to work after engaging
openly in the 1993 denominational dialogues on sexual
orientation; the Rev. Dr. Jane Adams Spahr of
That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS),
who was ordained before
the 1978 ban, but whose call to
Downtown Presbyterian
Church in Rochester, NY was denied by the General
Assembly's Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC) in
1992; Lisa Largess, denied ordination in 1993 because
she was open about being a lesbian; and the Rev. Susan
Leo, a lesbian who left the PCUSA to serve openly in the
United Church of Christ.
On September 27, the Rev. Don Stroud, Baltimore
Minister of Outreach and Reconciliation for TAMFS,
was officially accused of heresy at the stated meeting of
the Baltimore Presbytery.
An unnamed accuser who
reportedly attends a California church in the
Los Ranchos Presbytery,
alleged that Stroud practices "the
sin of homosexuality," is not governed by church polity,
believes holy unions are equivalent to marriage, and is
open about his homosexuality in defiance of the
denomination's constitution.
After the September 11 attacks, the GAPJC
postponed and has not rescheduled a September 14-15
hearing in the
Stamford,
CT Wayne Osborne elder-ordination case.
Voting on Amendment 01-A, which would lift the
1978 and 1996 ordination bans, is under way in the
presbyteries. By October 26, nine presbyteries had
voted. Two presbyteries including Baltimore voted for
the amendment, and seven voted against;
all nine voted the same as in 1996 (formalizing the 1978 ban) and 1997
(failing to undo 1996).
A simple majority of 88 of the 174 presbyteries must
approve Amendment 01-A for the ban to be lifted. An
October 5, PCUSA News Service story referred to the
Presbyterian Coalition's "$300,000 effort to defeat
Amendment A."
Religious Right Letter Writing
The American Family Association (AFA)
is urging people to complain to the chairman of Procter & Gamble
(P&G) about the company's decision to broaden the
eligibility requirements for dependents to include domestic
partners and their children. The AFA said the decision
"cheapens the institution of marriage;" is a "slap in the
face of true families;" and that P&G has "thumbed its
nose at God." We wrote a
letter of thanks to the
chairman of P&G. If you are not on the letterhead and would
also like to thank P&G for the fairness of this policy,
write to Chairman John E. Pepper, Procter & Gamble, 1
Procter & Gamble Plaza, Cincinnati, OH 45202.
The Culture and Family
Institute (CFI) is asking
people to write to the CEOs of AT&T, American Airlines,
and J.P. Morgan Chase to complain about their
sponsorship of the
GLAAD Fairness Awards.
The sample letter from CFI said, "I do believe the political agenda of
groups like GLAAD to be damaging to the institution of
the family and marriage, and especially threatening to
impressionable young people."
We wrote
letters of thanks and
appreciation to all three
companies,
in which we said: "The negative stereotypes
of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people
that pervade our culture and are reinforced by quasi-religious
political organizations can lead to isolation,
violence, despair, suicide, and broken families. It is vitally
important, especially for GLBT youth, that we recognize
and reward those who dare to provide a few fair,
accurate, and positive media images of GLBT people and
their families." To encourage these companies with
additional thank-yous, write to: C. Michael Armstrong,
Chairman and CEO, AT&T, 32 Avenue of the Americas,
New York, NY 10013; Donald Carty, Chief Executive
Officer, American Airlines, 4200 Amon Carter
Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76155; and William B. Harrison,
Jr., President and CEO, J.P. Morgan Chase Co., 270
Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017-2070.
Letterhead
We are pleased to announce the addition of
Collenbrook United Church (Drexel Hill, PA), as the
twenty-third congregation/organization on the
letterhead.
Collenbrook is our second
More Light
(PCUSA) and fourth
Open and Affirming (UCC) congregation. Welcome also
to Rev. Dorothy Field (Crozerville UMC), and Rev.
Richard J. Lichty
(Germantown Mennonite). Rev. Rudy
Nemser and Rev. Elizabeth Smith have left the area.
United Methodist Church
In a counterpoint to Religious Right complaints about
GLBT advances post-September 11, Michael L.
Gonzalez
(Unofficial Confessing Movement Page)
wrote of "the demise of homosexual advocacy;" claiming that
"large numbers of visible cheerleaders of the homosexual
movement have abandoned the 'cause' as they now focus
on real concerns," and, "the fifteen minutes of fame for
the homosexuals may now be at a close."
According to a UM News Service story, a
twelve-member committee of leaders from the
Baltimore-Washington Annual
Conference will be meeting
three times this fall to discuss "the issue of transgender
clergy" in order to "provide clergy and laity with a way
to be well informed, understanding of all positions, and
engage them in a spiritual discernment process so that
when they are confronted by decisions brought to the
clergy session we have a thoughtful and well
grounded -- spiritually grounded -- basis for the church to
address those decisions."
Park Slope UMC
(in Brooklyn) announced a new
policy on holy unions and other covenant services:
"It is the policy of Park Slope United Methodist Church that
exchanging of vows for all covenant services including legal
weddings for all couples in our church community will be held in
places other than in our church, such as churches of other
denominations, private homes, the garden, or parks and other public
spaces. The pastor will no longer conduct legal marriage or holy
union ceremonies. As an inclusive Christian community, we refuse
to discriminate against each other, and we will work to remove
discriminatory policies in the UMC Book of Discipline, which offend
against Christ's teaching that we love one another as God loves
us."
The United Methodist Judicial Council has ruled that
the Book of Discipline forbids the appointment
of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" as pastors of local
churches, and that declaring involvement in a same-gender
relationship would be enough to subject a pastor to review
of his or her standing as a minister.
California
The governor of California signed AB 25 into law,
giving the state what has been called the most extensive
Domestic Partnership law of any state. The governor was
joined in the signing by the former partner of Mark
Bingham (a gay rugby player credited with being one of three
passengers who thwarted terrorists on the flight that
crashed near Pittsburgh on September 11).
The law takes effect January 1, 2002, and applies
to same-gender couples, or mixed-gender couples
with at least one partner over 62, who register with the
state. Under the law, anyone may relocate with a
domestic partner without losing unemployment benefits; use
sick leave to care for an ill partner/child of a domestic
partner; file disability benefits on behalf of a seriously ill/
incapacitated partner; be exempt from state income tax
on health benefits provided to domestic partners (current
benefits are taxed as income); make medical decisions;
act as a conservator; sue for wrongful death; seek
damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress;
administer a partner's estate; use the statutory will form to
bequeath property to a domestic partner; adopt a
partner's child using the stepparent adoption process; and
continue health coverage for surviving domestic partners
of government employees and retirees. AB 25 also
requires health care service plans and disability insurance
carriers to extend employer-based or association-based
(unions or trade associations) coverage to the domestic
partner of an employee or an association member.
The AP quoted Randy Thomasson
(Campaign for
California Families): "In one fell swoop, Gray Davis has
cheapened every marriage in the state, undermined the
vote of the people, pandered to the special interests,
frivolously spent taxpayer money and broken his written
promise to the citizens of California." Ken Connor
(Family Research Council)
said, "The governor signed on the
Sabbath, a holy day for Christians who cherish the
institution of marriage as emblematic of the relationship of
Christ and His Church." Robert Knight of the
Culture
and Family Institute said that "as America reassesses its
moral foundations, California has taken a giant step
toward moral anarchy."
September 11 Aftermath
Religious Right organizations have been calling for
more state-sponsored religious observance, especially in
public schools, while simultaneously complaining about
GLBT-rights activists using the September 11 tragedy to
advance an agenda. The Rev. Louis Sheldon of the
Traditional Values
Coalition said that private and public
relief agencies "should be giving priority to those widows
who were at home with their babies and those widowers
who lost their wives. It should be given on the basis and
priority of one man and one woman in a marital
relationship. This is just another example of how the gay
agenda is seeking to overturn the one man-one woman
relationship from center stage in America, taking
advantage of this tragedy."
Clergy for a Fair Houston
Clergy for a Fair Houston is a new group begun the
Rev. Robert Schaibly (First Unitarian
Universalist Church in Houston). He issued a statement opposing a city
proposition to stop the city from offering insurance benefits
to domestic partners of city employees. The statement,
signed by over 100 clergy, says:
"We come from many faith traditions and communities. We are
residents of a great city, and citizens of a nation that guarantees
constitutional freedoms and protections to all. Discrimination in
the workplace is immoral as well as economically costly. In our
various faiths we find support for laws which protect persons from
discrimination. We respect the diversity of the world in which we
live. Hatred and prejudice are not family values. Therefore, we urge
Houstonians to defeat any attempt to limit equal rights in
employment. We support the goal of equality, dignity, and respect for all
people."
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
An ELCA
News Service story (Oct. 17) reported that
the Conference of Bishops listened to proposals for
carrying out the 2001 Churchwide Assembly directives to
"produce a study on homosexuality, develop a plan and
timeline leading to a decision regarding the possible
ordination of gay and lesbian people in committed
relationships and initiate a process to develop a social statement
on human sexuality." A preference was stated for a
$1,000,000 six-year process; a formal decision has yet to
be made by the Church Council.
On October 28, the Bergen County Record reported
on a year-long series of meetings already held in the
New
Jersey Synod, reportedly considering joining the
Reconciling in Christ program
at their May 2002 convention.
Applying the Constitution
Americans United (AU)
has released
a position paper
titled "Applying the Constitution in the Wake of the
Terrorist Attacks."
The introduction notes that the September 11
attacks have "led to an increase in what many scholars
call 'civil religion'-- endorsements (usually fairly generic)
of God and faith by political leaders and government
officials. It is important to remember that our civil
liberties are at great risk in times of crisis, and that we
should therefore be more, rather than less, vigilant about
protecting them from erosion in the coming weeks and
months." Some excerpts follow:
* The United States is a pluralistic society: Hundreds of religions
are represented in America. Christian denominations constitute the
majority, but even among these there is a great diversity of opinion
on matters of theology and politics. Non-Christian faiths are well
represented in America. In addition, millions of Americans do not
believe in God at all, are agnostic or embrace humanistic
principles. This diversity of thought and religion is one of our
greatest assets.
* Public schools must be especially sensitive to religious issues
and flagrant violations of the law cannot be tolerated: The
terrorist attack should not be used as an excuse to ignore Supreme
Court rulings on religion in public education. Public schools serve
children of an impressionable age. Since parents, and not school
officials, bear the responsibility for the religious upbringing of
children, schools must refrain from sponsoring religion or doing
anything that coerces (even subtly) participation in religious
activities.
* School officials should foster unity rather than division. A
practice that has proven divisive in a few communities is posting of
the phrase "God Bless America" on school marquees. Courts have
not addressed the legality of this practice. Rather than focus on
narrow legal questions, it is more important to recognize that the
introduction of school-sponsored declarations with any religious
references are often controversial and that schools serving a diverse
population will better serve families of all backgrounds with more
inclusive statements such as "United We Stand."
* Patriotic activities that contain religious references are not
unconstitutional in public schools. Public schools may sponsor
recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, but students who object may
not be compelled to join in or be punished if they refuse. (Some
individuals have religious and philosophical objections to reciting
the pledge.).
* State and local governments have more leeway than public
schools, but must still remain sensitive to religious diversity.
The Supreme Court and lower federal courts have permitted some
government bodies such as city and county councils and state
governments to engage in some types of activities that remain
forbidden in public schools. For example, state and local
governments may in some cases include nonsectarian prayers at
legislative meetings or engage in other forms of "civil religion."
Whether they ought to do so is another question. Government
officials should remain aware of the fact that they represent people
of many different religious and philosophical points of view and
should avoid even the appearance of favoritism in religious
matters.
* There is no "natural" reaction to recent events. Government
officials should refrain from asserting that prayer and religious
worship are somehow the natural, logical or expected reaction to
recent events. For many Americans, increased attention to religion
is a natural reaction to a crisis such as this. However, other
Americans may take a different view. It is inappropriate for
government officials to assume that the former reaction is correct
and that those who pursue the latter course are somehow not
patriotic or love their country less.
* This is the time to reaffirm our commitment to church-state
separation, not turn our backs on it. On Sept. 11, our nation was
attacked by terrorists who dislike America in part for its official
policy of government neutrality toward religion. These terrorists
come from nations where there is no separation of religion and
state. They want a theocracy where one faith is mandated by the
government. It would be highly ironic if our response to this threat
was to lower our own wall of separation between church and state.
Rather, we should reaffirm the importance of that wall in
safeguarding the principle of religious freedom and the incredible
religious diversity it gives us.
The wall of separation has given the United States more individual
freedom, religious diversity and interfaith peace than any nation in
world history. At this time of crisis, that diversity is a source of
great strength, not a weakness. We as a nation should not hesitate
to protect that wall from attack.
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