PW press policy makes workshops secret An analysis by Terry Schlossberg The Presbyterian Layman Sept/Oct, 1997 There were 84 workshop choices for the approximately 5,000 women attending Presbyterian Women’s Gathering in Louisville. Evenly divided, that would produce workshops of about 60 people each. However, the workshops on issues like homosexuality and abortion drew fewer than 20 people while Bible-focused workshops attracted more than 100. Although women openly report that they avoid the more controversial workshops, PW planners persist in offering them, not only in plentiful supply but also from an unbalanced perspective. “Abortion as a Theological Issue” was presented by Heidi Vardeman, who is chair of the Minnesota Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights, hardly representative of the General Assembly’s current stance, which “encourages an atmosphere of open debate and mutual respect for a variety of opinions” on the issue. Several women who attended that workshop said they felt pressured to keep their pro-life views to themselves. The workshops held each afternoon in the PW-sponsored PLGC Hospitality Room were titled “Ministry with Gays and Lesbians and Their Families.” They were led by Sylvia Thorson-Smith, Barbara Lein, who introduced herself as a lesbian, and Michael Smith, whom the PW program book described as “member of the National Executive Board of Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns (PLGC).” Louisville staff member Beth Basham led a workshop titled “Sexuality ... Faith ... Personal Choices. ...” She began by reading the new PW press policy to her group, which PW leadership insisted barred reporters from quoting not only workshop participants, but also leaders. Their press policy is intended to protect even those who, as in Basham’s case, are members of General Assembly staff. When a reporter responded by saying that she considered workshop leaders subject to quotation, Basham told the group how sorry she was that she “would not be able to share with them as I had hoped.” At the 1994 PW Gathering in Ames, Basham defied the denomination’s open meeting policy and canceled her workshop rather than risk being quoted by the press. In a workshop series called “Faith Community Dialogue on Sexuality,” Deborah Boucher-Payne introduced the amendment on sexuality adopted by the 1997 General Assembly, which has not yet been voted on by the presbyteries. She omitted any reference to the PCUSA’s current constitutional standard. In one of Boucher-Payne’s sessions, a participant complained about the implied preference for the proposed amendment over what is presented in the PCUSA Constitution.

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