Commissioners asked to fund office for homosexuals, bisexuals, transgenders The Layman Online Thursday, May 22, 2003 Commissioners to the 215th General Assembly will be asked to expand the bureaucracy of the Presbyterian Church (USA) by creating an agency – or hire an individual – whose "primary concern would be gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender members and their families in local churches." The proposal – Overture 03-23 from the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta – does not spell out what it would cost to establish such an office. It asks the commissioners to choose from a list of alternatives – a pastoral group, an executive board, a committee or an associate. Why? The presbytery's rationale for the overture was, essentially, that other groups have offices for their own special interests and so should the gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender contingent. "General Assembly staff includes pastoral groups for racial ethnic concerns and women's concerns and an Executive Board for Presbyterian Men and a Committee for the Self-Development of People," the overture said. "There are associates for Asian Americans, families, single adults, African Americans, and youth. There is no pastoral group, executive board, committee, associate, or any kind of staff person concerned with the hundreds, if not thousands, of gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender members and their families in our local churches with special needs." But the overture asks for money to create an office that would be quite different from the others. The denomination does not openly fund any groups or individuals whose lifestyles have officially been declared sinful by the General Assembly. Whether or not the General Assembly chooses to fund another bureaucratic arm of the denomination, the commissioners already face some tough financial issues because of declining revenue. In the past three years, mission funding has fallen by $14 million, and commissioners will be asked to make additional cuts to eliminate a projected $4.3-million shortfall for 2004.

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