What's Next?
Ben Fitzgerald-Fye is Director of Mission Services for Goodwill Industries of North Central PA, Inc., and a Ruling Elder at the Presbyterian Church of Punxsutawney; his husband, Sean, is a Deacon. Ben shared this reflection after he and Sean attended the Regional Conference at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill on Saturday, February 7: "As the right to marriage becomes a reality, we must also begin to address the responsibility of marriage."
The Gospel of the Christmas Pageant
Michael Lukens reflects on his congregation's Christmas pageant -- and the deepened meaning of God's gift to the world, when the parents of the infant in the role of Jesus are a gay couple.
They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love
Ruling Elder Ben Fitzgerald-Fye: "Sean loved God and Sean loved me and that reality began to build a bridge that would reshape my view of faith, of Christianity, and of God."
Just Tell Them Who You Are
Ruling Elder Ben Fitzgerald-Fye tells of his experience as a married gay man speaking during the debate on Amendment 14-F in the Presbytery of Kiskiminetas: "I had an intense conversation with God about reclaiming the right of gay and lesbian people to have faith and to shed the shame and fear we all knew too well. I began to feel that Saturday’s debate was no longer about myself and my husband, it was about the nature of Christianity as an accepting and socially just force in a much larger world than rural Pennsylvania."
Marriage: Why It Matters to the Church
Keynote Address by the Rev. Larry Owens at the Covenant Network Regional Conference at Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee, November 8, 2014: “Lord, we are forever asking you for many things, and what you are forever giving us instead…is the gift of one another.”
A Funny Thing Happened
Laura Mariko Cheifetz on her own marriage: "I had become so accustomed to keeping this relationship under wraps in certain segments of the church. And I learned that being public meant something not just to us, but to other people. Neither of us missed the irony that our marriage happened in full view of another church and another state, instead of our own..."
Benton: a change of heart, a plea for forgiveness
The Rev. Marc Benton's complaint against the Presbytery of Hudson River in 1999 led to a decision by the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission forming an important precedent in the development of the constitutional interpretation about marriage in the PC(USA). In a statement to be presented at the next meeting of the presbytery, Benton explains how he changed his mind about same-gender marriage, and asks forgiveness.
"By the authority of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)"
Former Covenant Network Board member Kent Organ reflects on the joy of witnessing the wedding of Gerri Mead and Gail Russell at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, where he had served as Interim Pastor: ' Lincoln Park's current pastor, Beth Buckingham-Brown, said that this wedding was performed "by the authority of the State of Illinois." Just before that, her co-officiant, a longtime friend, supporter and adviser to Gail and Gerri -- as to many gay and lesbian couples in our denomination -- the Rev. Janie Spahr, declared, "By the authority of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)..." and we all erupted in enthusiastic and sustained applause.'
“You will know them by their fruits.”
Address to the Covenant Network by Dr. Mark Achtemeier, 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA): "There have been previous General Assemblies where I worked very hard to pass the constitutional ban on gay people serving in the ordained ministries of the PC(USA). I am co-author of the declaration of faith that the Presbyterian Coalition adopted to unite its members in their opposition to gay inclusion. I keynoted the National Celebration of Confessing Churches, which rallied conservative congregations to stand fast in the struggle to keep the constitutional ban in place.And yet here we are today. I remain fully committed to a high view of biblical authority. But I stand before you as a chastened disciple who now recognizes that the witness of scripture comes down overwhelmingly on the side of gay inclusion."
Marriage Amendment Overture Advocate Presentation
Overture Advocates from the 17 presbyteries that proposed an amendment to W-4.9000, the marriage section in the Directory for Worship of the PCUSA Book of Order, made a presentation the morning of Monday, June 16, to the Committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues of the 221st General Assembly. Read it here.
Authoritative Interpretation on Marriage - Overture Advocates' Presentation
Overture Advocates for three items requesting an Authoritative Interpretation on marriage - 26 overtures and concurrences, the most of any item on any subject before the 221st GA - combined their time to make one presentation to the Committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues. Read it here.
The Urgency of an Authoritative Interpretation on Marriage
By Tim Cahn: A new authoritative interpretation (“AI”) of the PCUSA Constitution is needed to ensure that teaching elders have discretion to officiate same-gender marriages in states where legal. Without a new AI, teaching elders who perform ecclesiastical marriage services for same-gender couples may continue to be vulnerable to disciplinary proceedings under the prevailing interpretations of the Book of Order. These disciplinary proceedings come at a high institutional and personal cost, including the hundreds of hours spent by many persons over several years to resolve these cases, the emotional toll on all parties concerned, and the often harsh public attention that such church trials can fix on the Church...
A College Chaplain's Challenge
The Rev. Kristin Hutson will be an Overture Advocate at the 221st General Assembly on behalf of the overture from the Presbytery of East Iowa seeking authoritative interpretation of W-4.9000. "Please step into my shoes. Please trust me to be discerning. Please allow me to fulfill my ministerial duties and responsibilities as I have been called. Please give me the opportunity to fully serve the people of God in our jurisdiction where we have already felt called to recognize same gender loving, covenantal marriage."
An Overture Advocate's Hope
The Rev. Doris Cowan will represent the Presbytery of Baltimore in calling the 221st General Assembly to issue an authoritative interpretation to clarify that celebrating a marriage for a same-gender couple is a legitimate exercise of pastoral discretion. Read her witness.
The Bible's Yes to Same-Sex Marriage
The Covenant Network luncheon at the General Assembly on Monday, June 16 will feature Mark Achtemeier, whose new book -- The Bible's Yes to Same-Sex Marriage: An Evangelical's Change of Heart -- is being published this month. Join us in Detroit! Call the Covenant Network office for tickets.
Marriage matters... to pastors and parishioners
Baron Mullis: "I want to tell you about the couple whose wedding I’m not officiating this week."
A Letter from a New Presbyterian
A Floridian new to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) wanted to share her story - and her enthusiasm for her new denomination - with commissioners and advisory delegates as the 221st General Assembly considers marriage: 'From all of my readings, I have concluded that if I had to sum up this denomination in one word, it would be “love”!'
It's Not About You. It Is About You
Ken Evers-Hood, pastor of Tualatin (OR) Presbyterian Church, gave this charge to David Norse at his ordination to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament by the Presbytery of Philadelphia on January 5, 2014: "... This day. What we are doing here. It is about you…and it’s not. And you will spend the rest of your days Feeling wonderfully caught between The two, sometimes not knowing what to do But on your best days trusting that knowing that you don’t know Is the very best place to be To follow after where the one wild spirit is blowing in your ministry"
LGBT Presbyterian Journeys - A CovNet Video
A gift from the Andrews Foundation made possible this video premiered at the Covenant Network Conference, “Marriage Matters.”Enjoy, share, and continue the work!
A Season of Welcome- Laurene Lafontaine
Laurene Lafontaine is pastor-elect of Community Presbyterian Church in Rochester, MN. She will be installed on September 22, 2013 at Community Presbyterian. Read Laurene's story on A Season of Welcome – https://aseasonofwelcome.org/.