[MLPnews] MLPnews November 29, 2005

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MLP News

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....working for the full inclusion of LGBT people of faith
in the life, ministry, and witness of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

	

Volume 2
Issue 11
  Nov. 29, 2005



 

 

 


In this issue:

    - Going forward: Redwoods Presbytery votes to receive openly gay
    pastor John Gerity Scott
    - Anti-equality efforts to rescind ordination overture fail in
    Detroit Presbytery
    - Tennessee: First Elizabethton expands its welcome
    - Thanksgiving message from Michael Adee and the MLP board
    - Presbytery of Southern New England sends a delete-B to GA
    - Baltimore Presbytery sends a delete-B concurrence to General Assembly
    - Our next More Light church? MLP and Michael in the news in Arizona
    - Ray Bagnuolo, gay elder, ordained as Presbyterian Minister
    - Ray Bagnuolo ordination in the news, with violent rhetoric from
    those opposed
    - Moderators release statement on Theological Task Force
    - MLP at the Creating Change Conference
    - MLP in the news: Michael Adee presents at NGLTF's Creating Change
    conference
    - More Light Church in the news: Clarendon Presbyterian opts out of
    marriage discrimination
    - More delete-B overtures pass!
    - MLP hits a triple: Another church participates in More Light Sunday
    - A pro-LGBT stance strengthens denominations

*Going forward: Redwoods Presbytery votes to receive openly gay pastor 
John Gerity Scott*

/Good news reported by MLP board member Heather Reichgott, with some 
additional notes by Michael Adee at the end./

On Saturday, Nov. 19, Redwoods Presbytery voted to receive Rev. Dr. John 
Gerity Scott into the presbytery so that he can be installed as pastor 
of Valley Community Presbyterian Church in San Geronimo, CA. Rev. Scott 
is an openly gay man ordained before 1978. He has been serving in Santa 
Fe Presbytery, most recently as a hospital chaplain and interim pastor.  
About 35 members of the 70-member San Geronimo church came to the 
presbytery meeting (over an hour's drive from their church) in support 
of their new pastor. Several members spoke, including deacons, elders, 
and members of the PNC (Pastor Nominating Committee), some through 
tears, sharing how much they wanted Rev. Scott to come and serve their 
church.
*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20051123225639823>*

**

*Anti-equality efforts to rescind ordination overture fail in Detroit 
Presbytery*


On November 22, an effort to rescind the Ordination Overture approved by 
the Detroit Presbytery months ago was defeated by a vote of 65-95. This 
means 65 voted to rescind, 95 voted in support of the ordination overture.

*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20051123223543679>
*



*Tennessee: First Elizabethton expands its welcome*


Good News in and from Tennessee! First Presbyterian Church, Elizabethton 
<http://www.1stpres-eliz.org/> expands its welcoming statement to 
include sexual orientation.  Please join National MLP in celebrating the 
good news of the Session approval of its Peacemaking Committee's 
recommendation to expand and include GLBT persons and their families in 
its statement of welcome as a congregation, to make this welcome public 
and known within its community and as a witness to the Presbyterian 
Church (USA). *
Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20051122213805197>
*



*Thanksgiving message from Michael Adee and the MLP board*


Dear More Light Presbyterian member, donor, supporter and friend:

We thank you for your faith, gifts for ministry and service to God as 
expressed within your local congregation, campus ministry or seminary 
community. We thank you for continuing to plant and nurture the seeds 
for peace and justice, acceptance and change in our Church and world, as 
you live your life with grace, love, integrity and joy. We thank you for 
standing up against the anti-gay attitudes, policies and legislation 
within the Presbyterian Church (USA) and against discrimination in civil 
society.
*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20051122213514852>*

**

*Presbytery of Southern New England sends a delete-B to GA*


On Saturday, November 19, 2005 the Presbytery of Southern New England 
adopted the Heartland overture by a vote of 72 to 56 with 3 abstentions. 
The rationale for the overture that PSNE adopted is based on 
reconciliation. (You may read the overture and rationale online 
<http://www.firstpreshartford.org/session_request_to_presbytery.htm>.)

The overture first was presented to the Presbytery by the session of 
First Presbyterian Church in Hartford at the September meeting of 
Presbytery with the request that debate and vote take place at the 
November meeting of Presbytery. Seven additional sessions had sent the 
identical overture to the Presbytery between September and November.
*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20051121214238404>*


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*Baltimore Presbytery sends a delete-B concurrence to General Assembly*


Rev. Don Stroud recently forwarded this good news our way. Thanks to 
everyone within Baltimore Presbytery who worked to get this concurrence 
passed!


I am happy to announce that at its Stated Meeting on Thursday, November 
17, 2005, the Presbytery of Baltimore voted to concur with the Heartland 
Overture. The vote was 71 for concurring and 28 against concurring. I am 
very gratefully to all the many supporters within Baltimore Presbytery 
for a PC(USA) that is fully just and inclusive of its LGBT members. I am 
also grateful for the witness of the churches of Baltimore Presbytery 
that placed this motion to concur before the presbytery: Maryland 
Presbyterian (initiated the motion), Brown Memorial Park Avenue 
Presbyterian, Faith Presbyterian, First and Franklin Street 
Presbyterian, Govans Presbyterian, Light Street Presbyterian, and St. 
John United Methodist-Presbyterian Churches.
- Don Stroud



*Our next More Light church? MLP and Michael in the news in Arizona*


The Arizona Daily Star <http://www.azstarnet.com/> ran an article 
<http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/103245> about MLP field organizer 
Michael Adee's visit to Tucson over the weekend of Nov. 19-20.

*Church to expand support of gays *
By Stephanie Innes

Tucson, Arizona - St. Mark's Presbyterian Church 
<http://www.stmarkspresbyterian.org/> this weekend will consider 
becoming the first Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Tucson to become a 
"More Light" church that supports ordaining... gay, lesbian, bisexual 
and transgender people as ministers and church elders  ..."We've had an 
inclusion statement for years, quietly being who we are," said the Rev. 
Robert Moore, a St. Mark's parish associate. "It's time for us to come 
out of the closet as a church allied with gay and lesbian people."

*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20051119132653906>
*



*Ray Bagnuolo, gay elder, ordained as Presbyterian Minister*

Please join the National Board of Directors, More Light Presbyterians, 
the welcoming and affirming movement in the PCUSA, and me in celebrating 
our brother and friend, Ray Bagnuolo's faith, witness, call to serve, 
and ordination as a Minister of the Word and Sacrament.   On Sunday, 
November 13 at 4:00 PM, Raymond J. Bagnuolo, 54, an openly gay Elder in 
the Presbyterian Church (USA) , was ordained as a Minister of the Word 
and Sacrament at South Presbyterian <http://www.southpres.org> (Dobbs 
Ferry, NY), a More Light church. *
Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20051119124040460>
*



*Ray Bagnuolo ordination in the news, with violent rhetoric from those 
opposed*

The Associated Press published an article 
<http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--gayordination1114nov14,0,7060864.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork> 
on Nov. 14 about Ray Bagnuolo's ordination at More Light church South 
Presbyterian <http://www.southpres.org>.


*Challenge considered likely to ordination of gay Presbyterian minister 
in Dobbs Ferry*
November 14, 2005

DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (AP) - A Presbyterian congregation has ordained a gay 
man who refuses to embrace celibacy despite the denomination's ban on 
sexually active homosexuals joining the clergy.  A complaint over the 
action is likely to be filed with a regional panel in the Presbyterian 
Church (U.S.A.), which is among several Protestant denominations 
embroiled in a bitter debate over what role gays should have in their 
churches.

*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20051119130337272>
*



*Moderators release statement on Theological Task Force*

Twenty-five former Presbyterian moderators and current moderator Rick 
Ufford-Chase have released a carefully-worded statement on the 
Theological Task Force <http://www.pcusa.org/peaceunitypurity> and its 
report. A copy of that statement, as reported by Presbynews 
<http://www.pcusa.org/news>, appears in the full article 
<http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20051117181158361> at MLP's web site.

The moderators' statement is perhaps more interesting for what it 
/doesn't/ say than for what it does say.
- The statement does not explicitly endorse the report or its 
recommendations.
- The statement doesn't make recommendations to the 2006 General 
Assembly about whether GA should adopt the report - rather, the 
moderators' statement simply encourages the usual "prayerful study and 
discussion".
- The statement makes no reference to, and therefore remains silent on, 
the Task Force report's recommendation that there should be no changes 
to the PCUSA's anti-LGBT ordination rules and policies in 2006. MLP and 
other progressive Presbyterian organizations have strongly condemned 
<http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050828043719511> this particular 
Task Force recommendation.
*Read more...* <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20051117181158361>



*MLP at the Creating Change Conference*

/A November 11 dispatch from MLP's field organizer Michael Adee./

Hello from Oakland and the 18th Annual National Creating Change 
Conference <http://www.thetaskforce.org/ourprojects/cc/index.cfm> 
sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force 
<http://www.thetaskforce.org>. This is a skills-building, grassroots 
activist training conference designed to empower activists from around 
the country working in the LGBT Equality Movement.  I am part of the 
faculty presenting a special conference institute, "Empowering People of 
Faith to Create Change" sponsored by the National Religious Leadership 
Roundtable <http://www.thetaskforce.org/ourprojects/nrlr/index.cfm>. 85 
activists are participating in this special faith-based institute in the 
midst of the larger Conference which is drawing over 2,000 activists 
from around the country.
*Read more...* <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20051111181832409>

**


*
MLP in the news: Michael Adee presents at NGLTF's Creating Change 
conference*


MLP's field organizer Michael Adee is mentioned as one of the kickoff 
speakers in a recent NGLTF press release 
<http://www.thetaskforce.org/media/release.cfm?releaseID=890>/ /for his 
presentation at /Empowering People of Faith to Create Change/, a 
pre-conference event convened as part of the larger Creating Change 
conference <http://www.creatingchange.org> (Oakland, CA) this year.  
Extracts from the press release:

Unprecedented Turnout for Faith Institute Marks Beginning of Task Force 
Creating Change Conference

Oakland, CA: November 11, 2005
The key theme during the Creating Change pre-conference institute, 
/Empowering People of Faith to Create Change/, was relationships... 
Leaders on the front lines of the struggle for equality in churches 
presented the first panels. Michael Adee of More Light Presbyterians, 
Emily Eastwood of Lutherans Concerned North America and Rev. Rebecca 
Voelkel of the Institute for Welcoming Resources.
*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20051117173646220>*



*More Light Church in the news: Clarendon Presbyterian opts out of 
marriage discrimination*

/More Light Church Clarendon Presbyterian 
<http://www.clarendonpresbyterian.org/> (Arlington, VA) made the 
Washington Post on Nov. 15 in an article about Clarendon's approach to 
establishing equal treatment for couples seeking marriage. Many 
welcoming churches in the PCUSA and in other denominations are searching 
for the optimal way to offer equal marriage rights (and rites) to 
same-gender couples. / Extracted from the full Washington Post article 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/14/AR2005111401484.html>: 


Wedded Bliss for All or None
To Protest Ban on Gay Unions, Arlington Pastor Refuses to Conduct Marriages

Clarendon Presbyterian Church Pastor David Ensign has an alternative air 
about him... To protest Virginia's laws banning same-sex marriage, 
Ensign and the church's governing council decided recently that 
Clarendon Presbyterian will no longer have any weddings, and Ensign will 
renounce his state authority to marry couples.
*Read more...* <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=2005111521224040>

**



*More delete-B overtures pass!*


On Tuesday Nov. 8, the Presbytery of Lake Michigan passed a concurrence 
with the Heartland delete-B overture 
<http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050419234203172> by a 2-to-1 
margin, with a vote count of approximately 78 to 35 according to reports 
we've received so far. Opponents of the concurrence tried the usual 
delay tactics, including an attempt to refer the concurrence motion to a 
special committee and an attempt to postpone discussion until 2006, 
however these delay attempts were voted down. On Nov. 8, the Presbytery 
of Newton also voted 50 to 35 in the affirmative to concur with the 
Heartland overture. One More Light supporter and Newton Presbytery 
member who was on the floor for the vote sent us these comments:

*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20051111182536386>

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*MLP hits a triple: Another church participates in More Light Sunday*

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*

We received word on November 8 that Good Samaritan Church, a joint 
PCUSA/UCC church in Pinellas Park, Florida celebrated More Light Sunday 
<http://www.mlp.org/morelightsunday> earlier this year on June 26, 
coordinating its More Light Sunday with the St. Petersburg Gay Pride 
Street Festival on June 25. We've updated our 2005 More Light Sunday 
summary church list 
<http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20050626180411122> accordingly. 
This brings the total number of churches that organized More Light 
Sunday activities this year to 36, exactly triple the participating 
church count from 2004. Many thanks to Good Samaritan for helping us to 
reach this fantastic level of participation.

Be sure to mark your church calendars for More Light Sunday 
<http://www.mlp.org/morelightsunday> next year: June 4, 2006, just 11 
days prior to Presbyterian General Assembly in Birmingham. A web signup 
form for churches that want to participate in More Light Sunday next 
year will be available on this web site in early 2006.



*A pro-LGBT stance strengthens denominations*


We normally keep the scope of our news items focused on all things 
Presbyterian, however this news item 
<http://news.ucc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=370&Itemid=54> 
from the UCC news page recently caught our eye. The UCC's July 4 public 
endorsement of marriage equality 
<http://news.ucc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=243&Itemid=54> 
for all people is leading large, previously nondenominational churches 
to seek UCC affiliation, strengthening the UCC as a denomination. The 
UCC now appears poised to pick up an additional 4300 members from the 
Cathedral of Hope in Dallas, and several other thousand-member churches 
are exploring UCC affiliation in the wake of the denomination's 
pro-equality stance.


/Extracted from a larger article 
<http://news.ucc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=370&Itemid=54> 
at news.ucc.org/

*Cathedral of Hope votes overwhelmingly to join UCC*
The 4,300-member Cathedral of Hope in Dallas, Texas, has voted 
overwhelmingly to seek denominational affiliation with the UCC.  On Oct. 
30, during a congregational vote, 94 percent of voting members answered 
"yes" to the question, "Shall the Cathedral of Hope affiliate as a 
member church with the United Church of Christ?" The congregation's 
decision now awaits response from the UCC's North Texas Association, 
which is the denomination's setting charged with taking up a request for 
"congregational standing."
*Read more... <http://www.mlp.org/article.php?story=20051108222353597> *



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