Personal Statement on G-6.0106b

Today I attended the hearings for the removal of G-6.0106B from the Presbyterian's Book of Order. Over 60 people signed up to testify for or against the deletion of this amendment. I spoke in favor of having G-6.0106B removed to the committee that will eventually vote to send it to the full floor of the assembly. It is hard to comprehend sometimes why any Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (LGBT) person would remain in the PC(USA). Even with so many supportive and loving people in this denomination I am not sure why we continue to stick around. The church has made it explicitly clear that LGBT people are not welcome. Psychologists, therapists, and probably most people would say we are a bit insane. And to some degree I concur. It is a bit insane! I'll come back to this in a minute.

I first want to talk about the people who spoke to keep G-6.0106B in the Book of Order. The majority of people were part of the X-gay movement. I am not sure if they actually went through an X-gay degayification program, but you know what I am talking about. They would get up there and say, "I have struggled all my life with same-sex attraction. I even experienced life as a gay/lesbian individual and my life was horrible. Thanks to the church and Jesus Christ I was brought back to my heterosexuality. And here are the three children [holds up picture of children] that I have had with my husband/wife. So please keep G-6.0106B in the Book of Order." There were at least 7 people that said something like this while I was in the room today. First of all how sad is that? That was my first response. How horribly sad for these people. My second thought was how the HELL does this have anything to do with G-6.0106B? If a gay/lesbian person wants to live their life as a pseudostraight person then great! But how does choosing that path provide an argument for keeping someone like me from being ordained in the PC(USA)? The whole thing is just ridiculous.

The other thing that struck me today were all those beautiful gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals bearing witness to God's call in their life and the church's refusal to accept them as leaders. You can see it on every single LGBT person that has stuck with the church. You can see it in their eyes and you can see how their hearts ache. Beautiful children of God sharing what they know to be true. The church says one thing and yet we know that God's call is real and powerful. We know another reality exists. It always reminds me of the story of the blind man that was given sight in John's gospel. The Pharisees keep asking, "how could this happen!?!" And the blind man always responds, "I don't know I can only tell you what happened to me...I can only share the experience I know." That is all we can do as LGBT people...share the call God has placed in our hearts. We have no idea why it is happened to us no more than a straight person called by God. All we know is that it has happened. If the Presbyterian Church wants to know how this can happen...then my advice is for them to drag Jesus to the stand and have Him testify. But my guess is that the church is really not interested in what Jesus has to say about this issue even if they could get Jesus on the stand. The church is too busy trying to protect the purity of the church than to listen to Jesus.

So why again do we LGBT people stay in this broken discriminatory denomination? There are some things I guess we can never fully answer. For me I stay because I care. It sucks that I care, but I do. I wish I didn't and I could just walk away. But right now I care too much to walk away. So I am here in San Jose taking a week of vacation from my job to testify why the church should allow me and so many others to be ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

-from the desk of David Paul

Who I am and why I'm here with NC(R)

My name is Heather Grantham. I grew up in a conservative Presbyterian church in rural Oklahoma. I’ve had the privilege of working with the Presbyterian Church (USA) in various capacities: local churches, national office, mission field, to name a few. My love for the church runs deep through my veins. However, I’m disappointed with this institution. Instead of sharing the love of Christ with all of God’s children, we are denying a specific group of people from sharing in the fullness of the church.

I did not consciously know of any Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Queer (LGBTQ) folks growing up. Being “gay” was something that we did not talk about in my household. Gay people were projected in the media as something “different” or “other” or even “gross.” Any education about the subject was from the media. Our sex ed curriculum in Middle and High school only covered STDs and abstinence. I was ignorant to the spectrum of sexuality. I remember the first time I even talked about LGBTQ issues was in High school when a young man I was in love with told me he was gay. After digesting what this man told me, I went to the church to see its opinion. Up to that point I had accepted most of what the church told me to believe. However, the propaganda espoused by our church body left a bad taste in my mouth. How could God be love, yet reject a certain group of people? When I asked this question to a Christian group I belonged to in college, the answer was “God hates fags.” This is illogical when placed up against the inclusive phrase, “God is love.”

God does not hate LGBTQ folk. All of God’s children are wonderfully made! God calls each of us - regardless of sexuality - to be in full communion with our Parent. So why does the PC(USA) still reject LGBTQ people from the pulpit? Why does it reject the covenantal relationship between two same gendered people? I don’t have the answers to these questions. I only know that this is against the message of Christ to be an intentional, covenantal, loving, and inclusive community.

I joined the New Church (R)evolution simply because God is inclusive. God is love. We in the PC(USA) need to be inclusive of LGBT individuals who hear the call of God in their life. We need to listen to the Holy Spirit and follow the lead of Jesus Christ. We must change our stance on ordination because it is the fair and loving thing to do.

Why it's not "trendy" for churches to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality

Last summer, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (which, despite its name, is the largest and most liberal Lutheran body in the U.S.) voted recently at their bi-annual Churchwide Assembly to allow their bishops the leeway not to remove or punish gay clergy in committed relationships. It was a major step forward, as it basically allows liberal bishops in the church to ordain openly gay clergy as they see fit.

Here was Cal Thomas' reaction, as published in the Washington Post’s “On Faith” section:
“The Evangelical Lutheran Church bishops have embraced trendiness and abandoned the very scriptures that are their basis for evangelizing. If these bishops choose to
violate God's instruction book, church members have two choices, should they wish to continue to honor the authority of scripture and its Author: They can remove the bishops from office or they can leave the denomination. To remain in the denomination and do nothing makes members co-conspirators in the bishops' apostasy."

We’ll leave aside for the moment that his theology of the bible is indistinguishable from that of a seven year-old—or Christopher Hitchens. What I’d like to comment on is his denunciation of the denomination’s “trendiness.”

As an evangelical and a former spokesperson for Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority, Thomas is not expected to have attended a national meeting of a liberal protestant denomination like the one where the Lutherans made their decision. These conferences happen during the summers on annual or bi-annual or tri-annual schedules. Thousands of Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Congregationalists get together in massive convention halls in a protestant-palooza of worship, meetings, and committees. The proceedings usually resemble Congress more than church, with measures and counter-measures being voted on, reports being issued, and bishops and moderators elected. For the last 15 to 20 years, the pressing issue at these national mainline meetings has frequently been gays.

What Thomas doesn’t know (or chooses to ignore) is that these mainline denominational meetings are full of good, mainline people. Red state and blue state people. The kind of people that, as Bill Clinton used to say, “work hard, pay their taxes, and play by the rules.” And these good people agonize over the place of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in their churches. Should they be ordained? Should they be married? What does this say about the state of the family in our church and in society? And good people disagree—often speaking on the floor and voting with tears in their eyes—then hugging members of the side that has “lost” the vote. These are not trendy people. They’re not hippies smoking pot and handing out condoms to teenagers. They’re mostly white, middle class, increasingly aging, and rending their Polo shirts trying to make a decision that is just, compassionate, and Christian.

The reason they struggle is you can’t go to one of these national meetings without getting to know the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender members of the church. Gay rights affinity groups in the denominations have made a distinct effort for the last 20 years to make themselves known in their churches. What these gay Christians are doing is telling their churches who their ministers, organists, Sunday school teachers, and deacons really are. And how they live their lives. And who they really love.

And you can’t be a member of any church, whether liberal protestant, evangelical, or Roman Catholic, without knowing about the tragedies. Like Reverend Brent Dugan, beloved pastor of 18 years at Community Presbyterian Church of Ben Avon, Pennsylvania, who checked into a motel room in November of 2006, took a bottle of aspirin and washed it down with alcohol. Before he died, he left a note speaking of his "profound sorrow and sadness, and sense of solemn grief and embarrassment, about what he thought would come to be known about his personal life." His former lover was threatening to expose him as a gay man to the local media. As a Presbyterian I can tell you the Presbytery of Pittsburgh is one of the most conservative in the country. No sir, they’re not trendy. They know what’s what. Thank God they never gave into the “gay agenda” long enough to let Reverend Dugan come out of the closet. He might have gayed up the whole damn church.

Responding with compassion to the tragedy of those who have died because of their struggle with their sexuality is not licentiousness. Looking at a public servant like senator Larry Craig taking a ridiculous risk because he is so desperate for the touch of a man and wondering if maybe there’s something wrong with society, not with him, does not go against the Gospel. Listening to members of your church who are sharing a profound spiritual truth about themselves is not being trendy, that’s loving people. You know, like Jesus did.

But the Cal Thomases of the world will continue to sneer at the mainline churches for going down the path to cultural accommodation. They will insulate themselves from the very real struggles of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their churches by calling it “trendy.” They will shake their heads ruefully as they chalk it all up to meta-theories of a hedonistic society run amok. Meanwhile, gay people will fight for their lives.

from the desk of Richard Lindsay

Richard Lindsay - (R)evolutionary

Richard Lindsay, New Church (R)evolution Team Coordinator, began his activist career with That all May Freely Serve, a grassroots organization working for full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the Presbyterian Church (USA). After graduating with a Master of Divinity from Yale University, he worked at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, focusing on raising the profile of their National Religious Leadership Roundtable. He was the media director on the first Soulforce Equality Ride in 2006, and continued as interim communications director for the summer 2006 Soulforce protest of Focus on the Family. He currently works as a communications consultant to the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry and Pacific School of Religion. Richard is a PhD student in Art and Religion at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA.

Jai Wells - (R)evolutionary

Jai is very excited to join the TAMFS (R)evolution team, and brings
with him 8 years of experience with the PC(USA). He began his
affiliation in college, through campus ministry groups, and is
currently a member of a More Light Congregation in Louisville, KY. He
has been lucky enough to attend 3 past General Assemblies and a young
adult retreat with More Light Presbyterians. Jai also attended
Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, where he obtained a Masters in
Marriage and Family Therapy, a Masters in Religion, and worked with a
group of people to organize annual Transgender Day of Remembrance
events on campus. Currently, Jai works as a therapist and case manager
to foster children and as a supervisor to foster families, and lives
in Louisville, KY. Jai identifies as transgender, and has recently
begun using male pronouns.

Katie Anderson - (R)evolutionary

Katie Anderson is a restless pilgrim journeying with the Church. She
is (patiently) wading through the process of becoming an Inquirer in
the PC(USA). She lives in Louisville, Kentucky and works with a
fantastic organization committed to supporting feminist art for social
change. Katie will be attending McCormick Theological Seminary in the
fall and pursuing an MDiv. She stays in the Church because she
desperately wants to be a leader in its ongoing reformation - one that
she hopes will be deep, honest and provocative - one that must call
the Church into radical, theological transformation. She believes the
Church needs her just as much as she needs the Church. Katie is proud
to be Presbyqueerian.

Kate Smanik Moyes - (R)evolutionary

Kate Smanik Moyes, 29 (as of June 14th) is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the PC(USA). She currently serves as the Helen Carnell Eden Chaplain at Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA. As a student at the College of Wooster (class of 2001) Kate developed a passion for Social Justice issues as a Women's Studies major. She continued this work at Yale Divinity School through participation in coursework that explored issues of gender equality at the US Air Force Academy, and through her work as Coordinator for the YDS Women's Center in the 2004-2005 academic year. In her work at WIlson College, Chaplain Kate Smanik Moyes, co-advises the Allies Club, and the Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter, as well as working collaboratively with a variety of departments on campus to promote and plan educational opportunities for students around issues of Social Justice. Kate's claim to fame is that she and her mother, Jinny Smanik were ordained together after graduating from YDS in the same class. Of all of the wise council in her life, Kate's mom is the best.

Kate Kozinski - (R)evolutionary

Kate Kozinski is in her final year of the M.Div program at Chicago
Theological Seminary and is on the ordination track in the United
Church of Christ as an out lesbian. For the past three years she has
worked for DEPTH Youth, Inc., a Lily grant-funded program catered to
accompany high school aged young people as they consider questions of
vocation and social justice concerns. She is a total church geek and
currently lives in Oak Park, just west of the Chicago city limits.

Luke Williams - (R)evolutionary

Luke Williams just finished his first year of seminary at San Francisco Theological Seminary, and is currently under care of the Presbytery of San José as an inquirer. Luke, who was raised in a conservative evangelical home, became a Presbyterian in high school.
He was drawn to the prophetic witness of the PC(USA) (such as the Confession of 1967 and many of its social witness policies) and its representational government. Luke has tried to stay active in social justice movements, especially since starting seminary, and is excited to do more of that at the General Assembly. Luke enjoys liturgy, beer, and living in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Carolina Treviño - (R)evolutionary

Carolina Treviño is a student at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She is a life-long Presbyterian, a double PK, and currently interns with the non-profit Presbyterian Welcome. She hopes to get a call as a Peacemaker when she finishes her seminary studies in 2009.

Katy Moore - (R)evolutionary

Katy is an M.Div student at Union Theological Seminary in New York, where she plans thesis work building a queer christology, thinking about "the body of christ" in conversation with marginalized bodies today. Katy is currently working as an intern at The Brick Presbyterian Church, working mostly with youth ministry and worship leadership. She will be an inquirer in the PCUSA as of June 12, and hopes to create a welcoming church home that pushes the boundaries of what church can be.

Courtney Hoekstra - (R)evolutionary

My name is Courtney Hoekstra, and I currently live in Louisville, KY, where I just completed my Masters of Divinity at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. I spent the past year working as the Student Coordinator of the Women's Center at Louisville Seminary, where I was involved in planning and participating in many events that educated people and advocated for justice for LGBTQ folks. This coming year, I will be working on a Th.M. at the Seminary, and hope to go on to do Ph.D. work in theology in the future.

Angie Gunkler - (R)evolutionary

My name is Angie Gunkler and I am an active Elder at the Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, NY. I currently co-direct the church’s youth group and am a member of both the session and Marketing Ministry Team.
I enjoy living in Rochester and experiencing all the opportunities for music, art, and culture that the area offers. I have been singing in the Rochester Women’s Chorus for 3+ years. This semi-professional group performs many styles of music and this past May put on a concert to benefit Water for Sudan. This organization is dedicated to building wells in the drought-ridden areas of Sudan.
I am a full time nanny as well as a student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in early education. After finishing my master’s degree in education I would like to go to seminary.

Heather Grantham - (R)evolutionary

Heather Grantham is a Middler at San Francisco Theological Seminary.
She is originally from Oklahoma and is an inquirer with the Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery. After a year in the Philippines with the Young Adult Volunteer Program and a year working at the Presbyterian National Office with Women's Advocacy, Heather followed the call to SFTS. She currently works at Noe Valley Ministry PC(USA) in San Francisco as the Director of Family Ministry.

Le Anne Clausen - (R)evolutionary

Le Anne Clausen, 30, is a candidate for ordination in the PCUSA from the Presbytery of North Central Iowa. She is a senior at Chicago Theological Seminary (UCC), which has become the premier institution for training LGBTQ ministers and religious leaders in the United States. Raised Lutheran, she is passionate about the Reformed tradition and the social justice activism found in the PCUSA and Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and related programs. In Chicago, she serves as Director of the Center for Faith and Peacemaking, a new program that brings young religious leaders together across faith lines to work on a wide spectrum of peacemaking and justice concerns.

Kelly Carlblom - (R)evolutionary

I grew up in Taipei, Taiwan, where my parents were missionaries for over 25 years. I am a junior at Coe College, majoring in Global Development Studies. I play soccer for Coe, and am involved with our diversity club, Coe Egalitarians, and our gay-straight alliance. I also am very involved with campus religious life, serving as a peer minister with our chaplain, Kristin Hutson. I first became conscious of GLBT issues when several friends came out to me in the course of two weeks. As I have learned more, my ideas have changed to be more inclusive and welcoming of GLBT people in the Church.

Fred - (R)evolutionary

I'm Fred and I'm a grad student. I first discovered that I have feelings for the same-sex when I was around 12 or so, a year before I received Christ as my Savior. For many years, it was a struggle for me to accept that I am gay, because the church kept saying that being gay is wrong. I finally came to terms that I cannot hide my gay feelings forever. It'll make me a liar if I do. Our God is all-loving and gracious, and He accepts who I am. In Christ, I know I am free.

I am a Presbyterian for over 14 years already. I am currently attending St. John's Presbyterian Church, Berkeley, CA, and I love attending it because it is a welcoming church to gay Christians. Being a foreigner and coming from a hometown whose churches still are relatively conservative and, dare I say, still opposed to homosexuality, I am excited to know that there had been so much progress in the acceptance of gay Christians in the US. At the same time, I realize that there are other gay Christian equality issues unsettled. I'm excited about New Church (R)evolution and I'm excited to be part of the team. I think it's going to be a great step forward for gay Presbyterians at the General Assembly this year.

Steven Andrews - (R)evolutionary

My name is Steven Andrews, and I'm a New Church
(R)evolutionary.

By the time General Assembly begins in late June, I will be
twenty-five years old, certified and ready to receive a
quarter-life crisis. I am already an Inquirer, exploring a
call to ministry in the Presbyterian Church. I am also a
former atheist, former correctional educator, and current
student at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta. All
this sounds fine so far, but I'm also openly bisexual, and
therein lies the rub.

As part of the NCR(e) team at this year's GA, I hope to work
for the full inclusion of LGBTQ people in the life and work
of the Presbyterian Church. For too long (because any
amount of time marginalized is too long), we have been
second-class citizens in the church, able to exist and
participate to some extent, but not to participate fully.
Not to be allowed to follow God's call into ordination as
deacons, elders, and ministers. Not to have our loving,
committed relationships celebrated and affirmed by our family
of faith.

I have been ordained as a deacon and become an Inquirer only
because, until recently, I have been willing to hide one
aspect of who I am. But now things are different, and I
hope that this change in me will help bring about change in
the church. At GA, I will be part of a team participating
in fun and creative actions that model a new way forward for
Presbyterians, and building relationships with people who
make decisions on the policies that impact me and people
like me. I have faith that through these actions and these
relationships, we can encourage PC(USA) to move in a more
inclusive direction, reflecting the God of love and
hospitality we attempt to faithfully serve.