Mainline gay rights activists vow fight, expansion

Christian Century, Nov 20, 2002

United Methodist and Episcopal Church advocates for gay rights in their denominations have vowed to stay the course, while a Presbyterian group says it hopes to expand into a broader progressive network.

While affirming the purpose for which it was founded in 1997--the inclusion of gays and lesbians in all ministries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)--leaders of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians said during its recent annual conference in Minneapolis that it will organize in presbyteries and strive to become the voice of "progressive theology" and "a new ecclesiastical spirit" in the church.

The network's co-moderators, Joanna Adams, co-pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, and Eugene Bay, pastor of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania, said the group will deal with issues among "Presbyterians in the great middle of the church in a way that," in Adams's words, "does not result in the church dividing." Bay added that "this is going to take money."

In St. Louis over the Veterans Day weekend, nearly 200 Episcopalians who support same-sex blessings in the church vowed to keep the controversial issue alive through the next General Convention in 2003.

Susan Russell, executive director of Claiming the Blessing, which met with like-minded groups, preached at an opening Eucharist to worshipers she called "a persistent people [who] belong to a most persistent God." If a same-sex blessing emerges from the next convention, Michael W. Hopkins, president of Integrity, a gay Episcopal group, said it would be a rite that not all advocates would prefer.

"We believe in our heart of hearts that our relationships are equal to heterosexual relationships, whether or not the term `marriage' is appropriate for them," said Hopkins, adding that advocates will seek less than such recognition in a spirit of compromise.

Among United Methodists, a group of 25 clergy working with the Chicago-based Reconciling Ministries Network recently issued a statement declaring that "responsible use of sexuality is not dependent on the gender of a partner." J. Philip Wogaman, a retired Washington, D.C., pastor, helped draft the statement with another Washington minister, Mary Kraus. The independent Reconciling Ministries group claims the support of 1,600 pastors.

The statement directly contradicts official church teaching, which says homosexual acts are "incompatible with Christian teaching" and outside the marriage bond. But the group asserted that same-sex unions can be healthy, not harmful, when they are "based upon the faithful, mature, loving and mutually respectful expression of that gift."