Gay-ordination advocate elected PCUSA moderator By John H. Adams The Layman Online Saturday, May 24, 2003 215th General Assembly Denver, Colo. May 24-31, 2003 DENVER - The commissioners to the 215th General Assembly have elected as their moderator the Rev. Susan R. Andrews, a Maryland pastor who wants the denomination to allow the ordination of practicing homosexuals. On the second ballot Saturday night, Andrews received 269 votes (53 percent) to defeat retired missionary Harold Kurtz (179 votes, 35 percent) and New York Presbytery executive James Reese (64 votes and 13 percent). On the first ballot, Kurtz also had 179 votes - meaning the only changes were made in the shift of votes from Reese to Andrews. Susan R. Andrews It was, in fact, one evangelical in a contest with two prominent liberals. And the responses of the candidates - particularly Andrews and Kurtz -- made those differences clear, especially on the continuing efforts by homosexuals and their allies to repeal the denomination's constitutional standard that prohibits the ordination of practicing homosexuals. The Rev. John Mann of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, who said he has a "son who is constitutionally barred from full participation in the church," asked the candidates: "What would you say to this 23-year-old man who cannot participate fully because he is gay?" "I know what it feels like to be excluded from full participation in the church," Andrews said, contending that some men opposed her enrolling in seminary to study for the ministry. She said the PCUSA has moved beyond opposition to women as ministers and "it is my fondest dream that in my lifetime we will move beyond" the prohibition against ordaining practicing homosexuals. But Andrews said she would not work for repeal of the ordination standard during the 215th General Assembly. "Because of the sensitivity of the issue, this is not the year to send out an overture to the presbyteries." She said she will work for a "middle way," which is often a reference to allowing presbyteries to set their own ordination standards. That's not permitted now under the denomination's constitutional government. Andrews is a director of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, an organization that was established to work for repeal of G-6.0106b, the "fidelity/chastity" ordination clause in the Book of Order. Kurtz defended the constitutional, Biblical and historical approach. "As as a denomination, we have set boundaries on who is to be part of leadership," he said. "We have gone through that three times. … I think we have to accept this reality. This is what the church has said and we need to abide by that." Kurtz pointed that only five of 34,000 Christian denominations in the world "are willing to accept avowed, practicing homosexuals as ordained people in leadership." Besides, he added, "there are 3,000 years of history, of both the Old and New Testaments. The Word of God has spoken to us under the spirit as we stand here today." Andrews is the pastor of the 700-member Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Md.; Kurtz, a long-time missionary and mission pilot in Ethiopia, is the the retired executive director of Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship; and Reese, interim executive presbyter in New York City, is a former denominational staff member. Related links: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/nation/1924864 http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1414286,00.html http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030524-105511-2491r.htm http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1412360,00.html

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