Covenant Network workshops to address homosexual marriage By John H. Adams The Layman Online Wednesday, November 3, 2004 In the aftermath of the national election in which 11 states approved constitutional amendments saying that marriage is only between a man and a woman, the Covenant Network of Presbyterians will meet in Chicago this week with its agenda including two workshops promoting homosexual marriage. The network, an organization whose influence in the Presbyterian Church (USA) far exceeds its 300-plus congregations, will hold its 2004 conference Thursday through Saturday at Fourth Presbyterian Church in downtown Chicago. John Buchanan, the senior pastor of Fourth Presbyterian, was the co-founder of the network, which was formed to try to persuade the denomination to end its ban on ordaining practicing homosexuals. In recent years, however, the network has also espoused services to unite homosexual couples. Two workshops at the network's national conference this week are titled "Marriage in Church and State: A Legal Update" and "Marriage: A Gift for Human Kind (or) Shouldn't All Unions Be Holy?" The PCUSA does not recognize marriages between people of the same gender, and neither did any of the states that voted Tuesday on constitutional amendments that declared that marriage is a union only between a man and a woman. The closest winning margin for the amendments among the 11 states was in Oregon, which homosexual activists and their allies had hoped to win. Fifty-six percent of the Oregon voters approved the constitutional amendment. In the other 10 states, the amendments passed by margins ranging from 60 percent in Michigan to 86 percent in Mississippi. The other states with amendments were Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah. Also on the agenda for the network's annual conference are: Former PCUSA Moderator Jack Rogers, a gay-marriage advocate, will speak on "How I Changed My Mind about Homosexuality." Rick Spaulding, chaplain and coordinator of Community Services at Williams College in Massachusetts, will preach Thursday night. Amy Miracle, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Des Moines, Iowa, will preach on "Are You Saved?" Friday morning. Jack Stotts, retired president of Austin Theological Seminary in Texas, will speak on "In the Beginning Was the Relationship" Friday morning. Former PCUSA Moderator Susan Andrews, pastor of Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Md., will preach on "Eros & Ethics" at a worship and communion service Friday night. Luke Timothy Johnson, professor of New Testament and Christian origins at the Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, will speak on "Sexuality and the Holiness of the Church" Saturday morning. Gene Bay, co-moderator of the network and pastor of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church in Bryn Mawr, Pa., will preach during the closing worship service Saturday. The network has also scheduled a workshop that calls for a "Conversation with the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity." The agenda lists Barbara Bryant, Vicky Curtiss and Sarah Sanderson-Doughty as the three task force members who will be involved in the conversation.

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