 Lesbian candidate for minister helped rescue briefly-banned group By John H. Adams The Layman Online Tuesday, September 30, 2003 Whether or not she gains ordination in the Presbyterian Church (USA) through the Presbytery of Milwaukee, Elisabeth "Eily" Marlow, who acknowledges that she is a lesbian, has already made her mark on the denomination. Marlow played a key role in getting the 210th General Assembly (1998) to give a new lease on life to the National Network of Presbyterian College Women, a group that defied Presbyterian theological standards by promoting lesbianism and Sophia-worship and providing links to pornographic Internet sites through its own PCUSA Web site. A campus chaplain, Marlow has been accepted as a candidate for ordination by the Presbytery of Milwaukee despite her public acknowledgement that she is a lesbian and her involvement in the Re-Imagining God movement that the 206th General Assembly (1994) declared beyond the bounds of the Christian faith.
Lundy, who had persuaded the denomination to divert $66,000 from its Bicentennial Fund to help sponsor the ecumenical Re-Imagining Gathering in 1993, was fired after there was a backlash from the pews. Olson, who serves on the personnel subcommittee of the council's executive committee, was the one who disclosed Marlow's involvement in the rescue of the National Network of Presbyterian College Women. On the night before its adjournment, the 210th General Assembly voted to abolish the network because of its ties to Sophia-worship and lesbianism. However, with help from the denomination's staff and former moderator Doug Oldenberg, a number of protesters held a pre-staged demonstration, including a candelight rendering of This Little Light of Mine. The commissioners voted to reconsider the issue the next morning. After the commissioners recessed, Olson said in his comments to Re-Imaginers who met in Minnesota in June, he and Marlowe worked together on a report to get the commissioners to continue financial support for the National Network of Presbyterian College Women. That report was approved the next morning. One of only a handful of men involved in the leadership of the Re-Imagining movement, Olson describes himself as "just one of the ladies." He recalled that the singing of This Little Light of Mine – often considered the theme song of the gay-lesbian movement – during June's Re-Imagining gathering brought to mind the 1998 General Assembly. "When they started playing This Little Light of Mine, I started weeping, literally. I went through an experience several years ago when I was involved in a Presbyterian college women's group" – the NNPCW. "Some of us of us – Eily and I – spent most of the night, crafting the report" for the commissioners to consider on the final day of the 210th General Assembly. In her comments about the 1998 events to the Re-Imaginers in June, Marlow emphasized the bonding that occurred for feminists. She claimed that some conservatives were "naming us demonic, the prodigal daughters who won't repent. It was some of the most ostracized that came to our cause – the crones and a handful of lesbians. Our struggle to maintain the integrity of our faith had been carried on the broad shoulders of women, as well as the very broad shoulders of our beautiful god Sophia." She also said then that whether she succeeds or not in her quest to become an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament in the PCUSA will determine "whether mine is a story of resurrection or one of rage." |
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