Harvard theologian: Vote for A and risk schism By John H. Adams The Layman Volume 34, Number 7 Posted November 30, 2001 PASADENA, Calif. – Two of the major speakers for the annual conference of the Covenant Network Nov. 1-3 were high-profile academicians who say they are homosexuals – Harvard preacher-theologian Peter G. Gomes and Dr. Letty Russell, a feminist theologian who is retired from Yale Divinity School. Gomes, an American Baptist, and Russell, a Presbyterian, urged the 300 people at the conference to work to overturn the constitutional standard that requires chastity in singleness and fidelity in marriage. Gomes said they should “go to the brink” – even if it leads to schism – to end the ordination standard. Furthermore, Gomes said the cause should never be abandoned even if presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church (USA) defeat Amendment 01-A this year. The presbyteries defeated similar proposals by 55 percent in 1997 and by nearly 65 percent in 1998. “You have an apparent unity that is at risk here,” he said. “You may have to go to the brink for that Christian principle. Do not be intimidated by that. Recognize the risk and proceed.” “Change is inevitable. Change to the right is God’s desire. The right will prevail. You cannot grow weary of well-doing. It is not a question of if. It is a question of when.” Without the assurance that she was welcome by Christ, Russell said she – as a feminist theologian, a Harvard graduate, a divorcee and now a lesbian – would have never felt welcome in a denomination, which, she contended, has at one time or another excluded all four. “I would not stick around except for my deep trust that I am welcome,” she said. Russell has been a leader of the ReImagining God movement that gave rise to the worship of a goddess named Sophia (Greek for wisdom). She echoed some of the themes of that movement without using the kind of language that prompted the 1994 General Assembly to declare Sophia worship beyond the boundaries of the Christian faith. Instead, Russell used wisdom as a “metaphor” for God and Christ – and she declared that wisdom evolves in different cultural contexts. She called for re-imagining Christ in a cultural context. “Re-imagining Christ has the potential for speaking to the hearts and minds of a growing diversity, not only in this country but abroad.” “We must change our interpretation (of Scripture) so that it makes sense,” Russell said.

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