Church seeking pastor promotes universalist faith The Layman Online Tuesday, December 3, 2002 In an advertisement for a new minister, a Presbyterian church in California says it doesn't matter what one believes in order to receive communion and become "full partners" in the congregation – even if you are an agnostic. Thus, the leaders of the congregation are advertising for a minister to join them in their public defiance of church law restricting communion to baptized Christians and banning the ordination of practicing homosexuals. Sausalito Presbyterian Church in Sausalito, Calif., has posted on its Web site a pastor-search Church Information Form and a statement of faith that, for all intents and purposes, are universalist and not Presbyterian. "Jesus Christ is the foundation to our path to God, but we recognize that he represents one of many ways to know God," the statement of faith says. "We recognize the faithfulness of other people who have other names for the pathway to the Divine." The faith statement adds, "We invite all sorts and conditions of people to join in our worship, our communion, and our common life as full partners, including but not limited to: believers and agnostics, conventional Christians and questioning skeptics, homosexuals and heterosexuals, females and males, the despairing and the hopeful … We think that the way we treat one another and other people is more important than the way we express our beliefs." Although speaking of the "despairing" and "all classes and abilities," the advertisement assures prospects that the congregation is a high-income, "educated populace with intelligence, proficiency in business, and well-honed organizational skills. Our members hold positions of leadership in 47 industries from medicine to finance and from computer science to education." It offers a minister total annual compensation of more than $84,000, including an estimated $16,000 to $18,000 in projected income from weddings that are scheduled at Sausalito because of its scenic setting and attractive facilities. A large amount of that wedding income will come from blessings of Japanese civil ceremonies. The ad notes that the weddings for outsiders has created a "revenue stream for the General Operating Budget," as well as a perk for the preacher. The advertisement adds, "As an inclusive congregation, we welcome everyone to worship, communion, and baptism; celebrate inter-faith marriages; and continue to draw members from previous faiths. In addition, for many years, we have celebrated a Seder meal during Passover." The advertisement singles out duties that the church wants a new minister to undertake, including introducing youth to "progressive theology." It says a candidate should be a "liberal Christian, open to other spiritual paths and theologies." Sausalito church is a paid affiliate of the Center for Progressive Christianity. It also is a member of More Light Presbyterians, an independent organization that opposes G-6.0106b, the "fidelity-chastity" clause in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA). There appears to be a growing link between "progressive theology" that recognizes saviors other than Jesus Christ and the movement that favors the ordination of self-affirming, practicing homosexuals. "We believe the denomination needs a progressive theology," Eugene Bay, co-moderator of the Covenant Network, said recently at the organization's annual conference. The conference included examples of "progressive theology" – such as a denial of the necessity of the sacrificial death of Jesus as the justifying atonement for sin. The Covenant Network is one of the organizations lobbying for the ordination of self-affirming, practicing homosexuals.

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