Covenant board member describes same-sex union ceremony By John H. Adams The Layman Online Friday, November 8, 2002 MINNEAPOLIS – A member of the board of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians described in detail how he came to conduct a "holy union" for a lesbian couple – and later concluded that what he had done was tantamount to marrying them. David Van Dyke, pastor of Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ohio, also said the couple he blessed seemed much more grateful than most heterosexual couples that he marries, both because of the service and the centrality of the church in their lives. Sometime after that service, Van Dyke said he preached a sermon in which he told his congregation that "I cannot see any difference between a holy union and a heterosexual wedding." He said the response was silence and that his sermon "may have just disqualified me from doing another one." Dick Lundy, a retired pastor and the former moderator of the More Light Churches network, seemed uneasy with the marriage-holy union analogy in light of Presbyterian polity. "The Book of Order is very clear," said Lundy, who was Van Dyke's partner in presenting the workshop on same-sex unions Nov. 7, the first day of Covenant Network's three-day annual conference. "Marriage is between a man and a woman." There is no specific constitutional rule that allows same-gender "holy unions" in the Presbyterian Church (USA). But Presbyterians have voted twice in national referendums not to forbid them. The denomination's highest court, the Permanent Judicial Commission, has said that the blessing services are not unconstitutional, but that they must not resemble marriages or be called their equivalent. The court's ruling also said traditional wedding liturgy should not be used for the services. Van Dyke and Lundy both expressed hope that ministers in the Presbyterian Church (USA) will eventually be allowed to marry same-gender couples just as they do heterosexual couples. "If that day comes," Van Dyke said, "the church will follow the lead … of corporate America, which is far ahead of the hospitality of the church." He cited as examples corporations that provide benefits for same-gender couples. The seminar on same-sex unions was one of 30 planned for the three-day Covenant Conference, which was expected to draw a record 500 people, according to Joanna Adams, co-moderator of the network and co-pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. The other co-pastor is John Buchanan, who was one of the founders of the Covenant Network. Van Dyke took the workshop through a step-by-step review of the union service for the lesbian couple. He said they came to him, asking him to do such a service. Noting that Broad Street Church believes in the "gospel of inclusion," Van Dyke said he told his session that he would conduct such a service. He said he did not ask the elders for permission. (The General Assembly court said ministers must secure the approval of their sessions to conduct union services on church property.) Nonetheless, over a nine-month period, Van Dyke invited all members of the church to a series of 30 luncheons to explain what he intended to do and answer their questions. "I made everybody talk," he said. "By the end of these luncheons, we had a pretty good feeling where we were." Van Dyke said he was surprised at the response – with older members being more likely to support the service, equating homosexuality with a civil rights issue, and younger couples with children being more likely to oppose it. The younger couples, he said, "tend to be fearful something would happen to their children." Van Dyke said word got out about the service and media reporters called. That caused some anxiety, he said, because Broad Street Church is in a declining part of downtown Columbus. He said he didn't know who would show up, so he arranged for extra security. "It's the only service where I had the prayer written on a three-by-five card," he said, "in case somebody stood up and tried to disrupt the service." But there were no disruptions, he said, noting that the service did vary significantly from a traditional heterosexual wedding. Some family members of both lesbians did not attend, and friends of the couple had a significant role in the ceremony, he said. He called the service a "moment that was so pure, so loving – it was unfathomable that God was not in this and that he blessed it." He cited two rituals that were arranged by the couple and their friends: 1) Everyone entering the sanctuary was given a flower that was handed to one person, and all of the flowers formed a bouquet; 2) the friends of the lesbian couple held hands in a circle around them as a demonstration of their solidarity. And how did it differ from a marriage? "It's not a legal union," Van Dyke said. "I'm not comfortable with that." Lundy described one of several union services he has conducted – for a Lutheran pastor and a woman who was her parishioner. He said several faculty members from a Lutheran seminary attended the service. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America does not permit same-sex union services.

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