 Homosexual activists hold pre-worship service rally By John H. Adams The Layman Online Sunday, June 27, 2004
The event was staged on a promenade upon which Presbyterians walked to the downtown Richmond coliseum, where the opening worship service of the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) began a few minutes later. Officially, it was billed as "Welcoming Presbyterians' Pre-Worship Rally" and sponsored by three like-minded special-interest groups – More Light Presbyterians, That All May Freely Serve and The Shower of Stoles Project. All three have mustered their supporters for an all-out attack on the constitutional standard that prohibits the ordination of self-affirming, practicing homosexuals and the 1978 and 1979 definitive guidance that was approved by two General Assemblies – the United Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Presbyterian Church U.S., respectively. Both of those statements called homosexual behavior sinful and declared that the denomination's standards prohibited the ordination of practicing homosexuals. In 1996, the presbyteries in the denomination voted to include what is now known as the "fidelity/chastity" standard in the constitution – G-6.0106b. The church's teaching and law on homosexuality has been affirmed by two subsequent denominational votes. There were nearly 100 participants at the rally, including former PCUSA Moderator Isabel Rogers, who sported a big grin and doled out hugs to her friends. Among those on stage was Janie Spahr, who describes herself as a "lesbian evangelist" for All That May Freely Serve. Spahr was the central figure in one of the denomination's major church court cases. After receiving a call to serve as associate pastor of Downtown Presbyterian Church in Rochester, N.Y., the denomination's highest court said that she could not be installed because she was a practicing lesbian. Spahr's role was to lead the participants in a "commissioning" service for their lobbying efforts during this General Assembly. The repeated chant by the participants was their amended version of the General Assembly's theme – "That all may have life in fullness." The rally included boos and cheers. The boos were for "racism, bigotry, patriarchalism, homophobia." One speaker urged: "Lay these things aside and keep your eyes on Jesus." There were also boos for the United Methodist Church, which, earlier this year, reaffirmed its church law that prohibits the ordination of practicing homosexuals, and the Synod of Mid-America, which has reopened a review of the Presbytery of Baltimore's approval of the ministry of the Rev. Don Stroud, who says he is a homosexual minister in open defiance of the constitution. Stroud was one of the participants – carrying a sign that said he was a gay minister. The cheers were accorded to the Episcopal Church (USA) for approving the installation of Gene Robinson as that denomination's first openly homosexual bishop and court and municipal decisions that have declared that same-sex couples may marry. |
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