PHEWA plans to display 'Shower of Stoles' GAC oversight group questions propriety but takes no action By Parker T. Williamson The Presbyterian Layman Wednesday, September 30, 1998
The Shower of Stoles is a project supported by More Light Presbyterians (formerly Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns and the More Light Churches Network) and other gay/lesbian/bisexual activist organizations. Its purpose is to advocate the removal of Presbyterian constitutional standards that prohibit the ordination of persons who insist on engaging in sexual relations outside of marriage. PHEWA has a history of dissent from the denomination's standards for the ordination of persons engaged in homosexual behavior. Welcoming angels Committee member Tom Fisher drew a direct link between the conference theme, "Welcoming angels in our midst," and the stoles project when, while voicing support the project, he said, "It is inappropriate to exclude certain angels." Reporting to National Ministries on PHEWA's conference plans, Lois Rifner, vice president of PHEWA' said that Rita Nakashima Brock will serve as "conference theologian." Brock's views were widely reported when, as a ReImagining Conference speaker, she rejected the idea of God's transcendence in favor of celebrating a god-dimension inside all living things.
Rifner told National Ministries that plenary meetings for the PHEWA event will occur in "a big white tent." She said that as conference planners discussed decorating the space they felt that banners and streamers would not carry out their theme of welcoming strangers as well as the "Shower of Stoles" would. Kirk Hudson, chairman of the National Missions' Justice sub-group, expressed concern about the propriety of sponsoring such a display at this time in the life of the denomination, but said he was relieved when assured by the PHEWA executive committee that the stoles would not be worn but will "just hang in the worship area tent." Hudson said he also felt better about the project when he learned that it would be paid for by "others" and that no PHEWA money would go into it.
Committee member Donnetta Wickstrom expressed concern for the "in your face" effect of the planned shower of stoles project. She asked if other options might be considered such as the use of the "AIDS quilt" or the possibility of displaying "victim shirts." Former General Assembly Moderator Patricia Brown also expressed concern about the project. "It is a protest," she said, warning PHEWA leaders that a "particular element in the church will be there to look for you to do something wrong." She said that that she hated to see some of PHEWA's legitimate ministries suffer because of this display. "Why aggravate the situation?" she asked. Rifner defended the project, saying that the PHEWA executive committee and planning committee were not making this decision lightly, but that "the church won't be whole until the ostracized are welcomed." She said that the PHEWA board anticipated the fact that it would receive criticism. She said that they expect the stoles display to be a "lightening rod," but she insisted that PHEWA was firm in its intention to proceed with the project. Members of the National Ministries Division discussed among themselves what they should do about the matter, including procedural questions regarding what it means for the division to have oversight in its relationship to PHEWA. They finally decided simply to record that a discussion had taken place, without mentioning any specifics. No action was taken. |
||||
| GAC meets in Louisville | ||||
| News From the PCUSA | ||||
| News Updates | ||||
|
Home,
· Archives,
·The
Presbyterian Layman, current issue |
||||
