Reflections on the Presbyterian Women’s Gathering By Sylvia Dooling The Presbyterian Layman Sept/Oct, 1997 Editor’s note: Sylvia Dooling, who hosted the NPWL hospitality suite at the PW Gathering, has given the Layman permission to use portions of her report to the Presbyterian Coalition’s August meeting . I am an ordained elder and deacon, and I take my responsibility to the church seriously. In July, I attended the largest conference of Presbyterians – around 5,300 – at the Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women. And I was responsible for organizing a hospitality suite sponsored by Network of Presbyterian Women in Leadership (NPWL). This room was for the purpose of providing a space for women of traditional faith, the historic faith “once for all delivered to the saints,” and to provide an opportunity for women to hear the other side of the human sexuality issue, presented by Theresa Latini of OneByOne (a position never represented at these PW events). PW used this Gathering to preach and teach “another gospel.” It was skillfully orchestrated. For example, the music was creative, rhythmic, mostly new, and worshiped the earth and ourselves. Music was used as a medium to communicate a clear political agenda. The predominant message in keynote addresses and sermons was “works righteousness” along with a heavy dose of discrimination against one part of the body of Christ; specifically, men. The Bible study, titled “Bible Experience” was a carefully crafted and creatively reckless abandon of the clear and plain meaning of Scripture. Miriam Therese Winter read the portion of Scripture about which she was going to teach, laid the Scripture aside, and said, “Let’s imagine it happened this way.” She urged all to consider the “new revelation,” saying, “after all, the Spirit of God might have had another idea over the last 2,000 years. ... We must look at the diaries and unpublished gospels since the four gospels were ‘filtered’ through human biases.” PW allowed the politicizing of the Lord’s supper, allowing symbolic and overt statements regarding the normalization of homosexual behavior. This cannot go unchallenged. Along with a growing number of women of traditional faith, I am committing myself to a long-term involvement to bring about reform. Proponents of the ordination of practicing homosexuals have used their communication skills creatively. To the Gathering, if it sounded good and felt good, it must be true. We are reaping the consequences of biblical illiteracy in our church. The vast number of Presbyterians do not know how to think critically when it comes to theological issues. They are seeking direction.

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