On a parlous path
Court cases raise level of risk for gay-affirming
Presbyterians
by Alexa Smith, Presbyterian News Service
[3-30-02]
LOUISVILLE - March 28, 2002 - In the wake of the
resounding defeat of Amendment A, gay-affirming congregations are asking
themselves, and the rest of the church as well, "What now?"
To throw down the gantlet and defy the rules? Or to
step back for the sake of peace, relying on time and education to thin
the ranks of Presbyterians who oppose the ordination of gays and
lesbians?
It's a dilemma.
The stakes were raised this week when Paul Jensen, a
Virginia lawyer, filed 11 new disciplinary cases against church
officials who are openly defying the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s
constitution, bringing the overall number of such cases he is pressing
to 14.
The Rev. Rebecca Strader, who co-pastors Christ
Presbyterian Church in Burlington, VT, with her husband, the Rev.
Michael Brown, said deciding what one's conscience demands is tough in a
denomination so deeply divided.
It is also getting more litigious -- fast.
Strader has some experience with the church's
disciplinary process.
Two years ago, the Presbytery of Northern New England
was hauled before the denomination's highest court over its failure to
force Christ Church to comply with a constitutional provision forbidding
the ordination of gays and lesbians and prohibiting church blessings of
same-sex unions.
The PC(USA)'s Permanent Judicial Commission ordered
the presbytery to work pastorally with Christ Church to "assist it
in fulfilling its obligation to comply with the constitution" and
to point out the possible consequences of non-compliance.
Since then, Strader's congregation has finished a
lengthy pastoral process with the presbytery and launched an internal
exercise in "discernment."
Christ Church hasn't taken any more public stands, but
it hasn't rescinded the last one: Its controversial "statement of
inclusivity" still appears on its Web site.
"The question is, how do you remain faithful and
pastoral?" Strader said. "And that might not mean taking
another public step. On the other hand, we do want the church to change.
We're struggling with how to be prophetic without sounding like we're
looking for more confrontation."
Strader said her 75-member congregation is not of one
mind about what it should do next.
"We're a peacemaking church. We're committed to
that, too. And we don't want to have to choose between being peacemakers
and being prophetic," she said.
The irony is that two conscience-driven movements
within the denomination seem to be on a crash course. One group says
homosexual behavior is sinful; the other says discrimination against
gays and lesbians is sinful.
It has been five years since a divisive amendment was
added to the PC(USA) constitution specifying that ordination was
exclusively for married heterosexuals and chaste singles, straight or
gay.
Most evangelicals in the church believe that the
still-disputed amendment, G-0106.b, only codifies what Scripture and
tradition have long held -- and that defending that understanding is a
matter of conscience. They say those who disagree should submit to the
rules or leave the church peaceably.
Evangelicals are astounded that, after four decisive
"no" votes on efforts to change or remove the amendment, some
congregations are still ordaining gays and lesbians -- and some are
doing so in a very public way.
Conservatives in the PC(USA) are growing more
insistent that it is high time to rein in blatant offenders.
The Rev. Jerry Andrews, of Chicago, said judicial
responses are appropriate in the cases of "openly defiant"
congregations and pastors, who he says "are begging for somebody to
do something."
"That is not the same thing as chasing down every
church," said Andrews, a spokesman for the Presbyterian Coalition,
the largest organization of evangelicals and conservatives in the
denomination. During the Coalition's annual meeting in October, Elder
Bob Howard of the Presbyterian Lay Committee drew applause by arguing
that non-compliant leaders and churches ought to submit, peaceably
withdraw, or face prosecution.
Officials and members of non-compliant churches have
noticed more than a subtle change in the tenor of the debate.
Michael Adee, an advocate of full participation in the
church and its ministry for gays and lesbians, said the gay-affirming
groups have developed no common strategy of dissent, and churches and
pastors act independently.
"The national board of More Light Presbyterians
doesn't issue directives," he said. "This decision is a matter
of conscience, and people do what they feel God is calling them to
do."
For some, that means stepping out on what Adee calls a
"shaky branch."
While some congregations quietly continue to ordain
gay and lesbian members, others opt for a more public stand, although
they know they could be embroiled in judicial hearings and appeals for
years. What's more, the four back-to-back votes to alter the amendment
is understood in these circles as a lack of a clear mandate.
Adee, an openly gay man ordained as an elder at
Cincinnati's Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church a decade ago, said there
is a new level of tension in the church.
"What appears to be heightening the opposition to
ordination is the opposition to homosexuality," he said.
"There are people who oppose having homosexuals as members of
churches, who do not just oppose their ordination but oppose lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgendered people ... in their churches and in
their families."
On the other hand, Adee said, churches that have been
open to gay members and gay leaders are growing less willing to be quiet
about discrimination in the church.
The Rev. Jane Spahr, an open lesbian and ordained
Presbyterian minister, calls herself an evangelist and travels around
the country teaching, preaching and lecturing about how "the
rule" in the PC(USA) is "wrong" and needs to be changed.
Her reaction to the latest spate of charges against
gays and lesbians and their supporters was visceral.
"People keep telling us, ''Just wait -- it isn't
time,'" she said. "Well, you know what? It is past time. I've
been in dialogue. I've been spit upon. I've been told I'm a demon ...
And what do we want? We want our baptismal rights to be honored."
Spahr said she is appalled that some members of her
organization, That All May Freely Serve, are being targeted for judicial
action after disclosing their sexual identities as part of a
denominational dialogue.
She said individuals and churches that are supportive
of gays and lesbians won't be "rolling over."
"This has got to stop," she said.
"Jesus says, ''When the rules are wrong, change them.'"
The cost of litigation is high, emotionally and
financially. Individuals may be suspended from ministry or even
defrocked. Administrative commissions may be installed to run churches
deemed wayward.
"We're trying to ask people to stay calm,"
said the Rev. Gene Bay, a co-moderator of the liberal Covenant Network,
which usually prefers moderate resistance to outright defiance.
"We're asking folks who are supporters of (Amendment) A to be wise
and not to react in a way that is likely to be self-defeating.
"We lost on A, but the issue is not going to go
away."
Amendment A was an attempt to replace the
constitution's blanket prohibition of ordinations of gays and lesbians
with a measure leaving ordination decisions to sessions and
presbyteries.
For his part, Adee said he intends to keep visiting
churches to talk about his life and his faith. "The assumed
immorality of gay people, the categorical prejudice, that reveals to me
that there is lots of education to be done," he said, adding that
his network will repeatedly file legislative challenges to G-0106.b, as
well.
"We're not doing this to be annoying or to be
reactionary. We are clearly and thoughtfully doing this because it is
our mission, our vision. We know it may not be the most politically
savvy thing to do."
Mitzi Henderson, a More Light moderator, is a voice of
calm.
She said it "remains to be seen" how the
litigation will be resolved, and in the meantime, her network will
continue working with congregations that want to be open.
Strader said of her congregation: "We want to
stay Presbyterian ... and we want the church to be inclusive." She
added that she would also see the wider church pay less attention to
sexuality and more to issues like poverty.
