from Raymond Bagnuolo, Elder; Candidate for Minister of the Word and Sacrament

Contact: ray.bagnuolo@verizon.net

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October 28, 2003, WHITE PLAINS, NY - There is no acceptable delay. I admit to having lost patience, not in a temporary sense, waiting for it to be found. Rather it is gone, much like an alcoholic who has suddenly lost the compulsion to drink after striking bottom. There is no acceptable delay for the full and immediate inclusion in our church of people who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT). No patience for more strategies or discussions that push this struggle to the more comfortable future. To accept any more such delays is an unconscionable act of violence.

If you believe that progress, real progress has been made, keep this in mind: It has been thirty or more years in this church since the first gay and lesbian Presbyterians stepped onto the floor of the General Assembly and openly presented themselves as prepared to follow God's call into ministry. It is remarkably true that in one of those cases, a woman who identified herself as lesbian required bodyguards for the remainder of that particular GA, following threats against her person by individual(s) who were ready to cleanse the church of her and her sin. The violence, while today seldom as overt, is nonetheless corrosive and dangerous. Just consider the violence of defrocking a Minister of the Word and Sacrament or the violence of myriad constitutional charges brought against leaders in our church because they are LGBT or support those of us who are. The brutality picks up momentum as it rolls down the steps of the PC(USA) into the streets of this nation.

October 12, 2003 marked the fifth anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death. As a gay person, nothing has shaken me to the core as did Matthew's murder. I was certain that after this crime churches around the world, our PC(USA) included, would rise up and shout, "Enough! No More!" Instead, violent acts (hate crimes) against persons who are LGBT have continued to increase; General Assemblies have come and gone with G-6.0106b still intact; and we have groups and individuals leading the charge in the "sexual cleansing" of our denomination. Throughout it all, powerful, influential voices in our movement call for patience and more time for discussion. For me, this part of the discussion is over. We know what is right and we need to do it - NOW. G-6.0106b needs all resources focused on its removal at the next General Assembly, including those of Covenant Network.

The Layman and others who see LGBT persons as blight on the face of this denomination are fond of pointing out that recent votes at General Assemblies on delete overtures for G-6.0106b have increased in percentages against its removal. According to them, the reasons for this include the growing consensus within our denomination that people who are LGBT are not morally fit for leadership or membership in our churches. In truth, it is a part of our movement that has probably done more to increase the "Nay" votes by encouraging the idea that this "is not the time," than any other demographic shifts.

Covenant Network is the most powerful and influential of voices encouraging patience until GA 217 in 2006, which will receive the outcome of the theological task force currently studying our lives. (Click here for the full text of Covenant Network's position, outlined in " Time for Change .") This organization's commitment to the removal of G-6.0106b when the timing will best assure success has given many Presbyterians an easy conscience when voting "No" for the deletion of G-6.0106b. Whether they are cast for better timing or cleansing the denomination, the "No" votes have the same impact: more exclusion, more marginalization, and more violence. Such strategies, in my opinion, impede the Spirit. Some suggest that it is the Spirit who is intentionally slowing our movement down. That would mean that the Spirit accepts violence as a fair price for what appears to be order. For those who agree with that possibility, there is really no reason to read any further.

There is also no reason to continue if you are looking for theological arguments for the inclusion of LGBT persons in our church. If you are seeking some Scriptural proofs for accepting our marginalized group of brothers and sisters, if you feel badly about your complicity in the destruction of individual lives because of our church's position, but still wonder if, in fact, there is something "wrong" with LGBT people - you, too, might wish to read some of the other papers that have been published to help you in discerning your position.

However, if you are one of the many who deeply believe in the inclusion of LGBT persons as full members in the work and worship of our church or will unconditionally support action to suspend concrete proofs because your heart demands you to do so, then there is a good chance that you are running thin on patience, as well.

Right now, you are needed to do all that you can to move overtures through your presbyteries in time for the General Assembly in 2004. You are needed to deluge Covenant Network with prayers, petitions, and personal stories to gain their enthusiastic support for the passage of a "Delete B" overture at the 2004 General Assembly. As we saw earlier this year, lack of vocal support by this organization is tantamount to a "pocket veto" of any overtures that reach the floor of GA. Covenant Network's silence at the last General Assembly was as effective as if they had openly opposed the deletion of G-6.0106b. Unless something changes, one could expect the same stonewalling at GA216.

As an openly gay Elder and Candidate for Minister of the Word and Sacrament, I am not seeking just to secure my ordination. Some may say I am pretty well assuring that won't happen by taking these positions. Perhaps. The fact is, however, that ordination is a critical target for those who wish to design the future of the PC(USA) along exclusive heterosexual lines. The "gay card" accepts the destruction of a group of people (LGBT people) as a justifiable way of maintaining the eternal well being of the PC(USA) along a narrow set of parameters that literally hinge on G-6.0106b. The thrust of such myopic views is that if LGBT persons were ever fully accepted as leaders in this church, all the teachings and practices that have been seen as exclusively heterosexual would have to change. The fear is that were such to happen, our young people might begin to think that being a gay person was acceptable and instead of destroying themselves, they might actually start to thrive and grow in the light and grace of the Spirit in our own churches. Such a thing would bring about the downfall of so many of the boundaries that have been built to divide us that the Spirit would surely be unleashed in powerful and prophetic ways; not the least of which would be that the PC(USA) would no longer be complicit in the cruelty and violence emanating from our practices of exclusion of people who are LGBT. These possibilities are incredibly frightening for our brothers and sisters who work to keep G-6.0106b in the Constitution. For those of us who are LGBT, these possibilities are the differences between our collective life and death in this church.

To those who say, "Wait, wait for the results of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church," I say let's refocus the report on how we will live together in peace, unity, and purity in the time after G-6.0106b has been deleted. It is up to the LGBT people and their supporters in this church to claim our place now and not wait for a report to tell us whether or not we belong. Let's orient ourselves toward the vision of all people included in this church and plan on how we can live together -- not if we can live together.

My request is for prayers that seek the radical hospitality of Jesus in our denomination, so that we may witness to the world that such violence is not our violence. Visit The Matthew Shepard Foundation's website: www.MatthewShepard.org . While you are there, think of yourself sitting in front of his parents, saying: "Wait, we're working on making our church welcoming. Just a few more years…"

Then think of the Rev. John Mann of Twin Cities Presbytery, a commission at last year's GA, who as a father asked the three candidates for moderator at pre-election forum, "What about my gay son, where does he fit in this church." For many of us watching, our hopes ran high that the soon-to-be-elected moderator, the Rev. Susan Andrews, would put her full and immediate support behind the removal of G-6.0106b. Here is what she said: "It is my fondest dream that in my lifetime we will move beyond this and open up the full privileges of membership, including ordination, to all of our gay brothers and sisters. I am on record believing that, and I still do…. [However] this is not the year to send out an overture to presbyteries." According to the PC(USA) website, she stated further that, "The Assembly should defer to the Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church, better known as the theological task force, which is addressing ordination issues as part of its work." Source: http://www.pcusa.org/ga215/news/ga03014.htm

"If we are really your brothers and sisters," I ask, "how could any of you wait one more day to let us in, knowing that we are dying outside your doors?"

In closing, YOU must do something. If you agree with what you have read here or enough of it to believe that NOW is the time to "Delete B," once and for all, you can learn more about ways to move overtures and concurrences in your own presbyteries by visiting That All May Freely Serve's website at www.TAMFS.org You can also write to Covenant Network through their website at www.CovenantNetwork.org and encourage them to join with their brothers and sisters who have lost patience with those bridling justice and the Spirit. If you choose to, you can also contact any of the following:

Office of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202

Web site: www.pcusa.org/oga

Contact Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick by e-mail, or dial (888) 728-7228, then 1, plus the extension number, 5424.
Or send a FAX to him at (502) 569-8005.

You can contact the Rev. Susan Andrews, Moderator of the 215th General Assembly, by e-mail.