Douglass, Russell and Spahr receive Women of Faith awards By Paula R. Kincaid The Layman Online Sunday, June 20, 1999 Jane Dempsey Douglass, Letty Russell and Jane Spahr were presented the PCUSA's Women of Faith awards Sunday morning at a General Assembly breakfast. An estimated 400 people, including many top-ranking PCUSA staff members and elected officials, attended the sold-out event. The award became a source of considerable controversy when it was announced that two of the recipients were lesbians, and that all are actively involved in attempts to undermine or overturn the denomination's constitutional ordination standards. Gusti Newquist, intern for the National Network of Presbyterian College Women, and the Rev. Judy Wrought, a staff member in the PCUSA's Women's Ministries Program Area, offered "The Word of Blessing." In a litany preceding the award presentations, the "Wisdom/Word of God" was praised. Participants declared "In the beginning, wisdom (sophia), 'When God established the heavens, I was there ... I was beside God, like a master worker.'' (Proverbs 8:27a, 30a)
"I can't imagine becoming moderator in any year better than this one," said newly elected moderator Freda Gardner. "I am so proud to be sharing this place with the three recipients of this award." Referring to the question and answer period preceding the election of the moderator, Gardner said, "I had a lot of answers in my head to questions that were never asked." "I expected a question to come related somehow to my gender, but it didn't come. What I was going to say was that I had been born a woman. I have been pleased to be a woman all the years of my life ... and never more pleased than when I finally realized that being a woman excused me from being a man." Jane Dempsey Douglass Douglass, who was nominated for the award by Gardner, said it was a privilege to receive the award in the company of Jane Spahr and Letty Russell. "I have been deeply troubled by attempts to deny the award to Janie and by some of the hostile reactions to the careful decisions to reinstate it." "... I live in hope that one day soon our church will agree that it also excludes restrictions on participation by gay and lesbian people of faith in the life of the church. This biblical vision of the new creation lays an obligation upon all Christians to reform the church so as to realize this vision more fully. The life of such a reconciled community of faith would indeed be a moving evangelical witness in our violent world to the power of the risen Christ," she said. Letty Russell Russell centered her speech on a quote from Jane Spahr's film "Maybe We're Talking About a Different God," in which Spahr likened being with her partner to "sitting at the table of God." "This quote may no longer apply to Janie's relationship to Connie [their committed partnership was dissolved], but it is a quote that brings all of us up short," said Russell. "It asks us, 'In what way is our relationship with our husband, wife, partner, lover, friend ... like sitting at the table of God?' It also asks us in what way is this Women of Faith Breakfast like sitting at God's table? In what way is being in the Presbyterian Church (USA) like sitting down with God to dine?" She first spoke of personal relationships. "How often do these relationships feel so blessed that we could say with Janie that to be with our partner is like sitting at the table of God?" she asked. "I know for myself, my partner Shannon Clarkson, who is here with me today, creates for me a center of grace and love in my life. ... Partnership is a gift of God, but it needs to be worked at all the time." "And what about this breakfast? Does it feel like sitting at God's table? With God's gracious Spirit and the courage of a lot of women and men it may be just that: Spirit-filled with love, tears and hugs," said Russell. "If the Women of Faith breakfast is an ambiguous sign of 'sitting at the table of God,' how much more the church in general and the Presbyterian Church in particular? Considering the many possible ways that people may be harmed by what happens here at General Assembly, we might even say the we would prefer a table at McDonald's to one in the Convention Center. At least there, you can have a 'happy meal.' Here, where we should be able to point to the direct connection between our life together in the Spirit and the blessings of God's welcome table, we begin to question whether the church is 'together in God's grace.'" Jane Spahr Jane Spahr was the last to speak. "Women of Faith, this Women of Faith Award has gone beyond labels. By women doing and standing up for what is right and just, the whole body of our church is permeated with a model of authenticity and sincerity. Amidst an exclusive constitutional amendment and a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy which reek of institutional cleansing, this award comes with such kindness, with such a breath of goodness." "As a lesbian pastor, to be named Woman of Faith moves me and the people I serve to great hope. For we, as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of faith have been maligned, discredited, and named godless by so many who do not know us for who we really are," she said. Spahr spoke of how for hundreds of years women were told they were not worthy to serve in leadership. "The Church's exclusive policies about women were wrong then, and the Church is just as wrong now about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people." "This Women of Faith Award recognizes women of faith. It has gone beyond hateful, patronizing symbols to honor those who are reformed and transformed by the Word to live as if the Kingdom of God were here and now," she said. "Today, by this award, you have given voice to us to be able to say, 'We are who we are because of God. We are who we are because of our faith.'" Spahr continued, "This award represents years of work by women to be able to see each other beyond disparaging definitions, into the goodness of one's heart and soul. To see Sophia/Christ in each of us." Editor's note: Quotes from the three recipients were taken from prepared speeches distributed after the meeting by PCUSA newsroom staff. GAC explains its affirmation of Women of Faith award recipients |
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