As a gay Prbyterian, we shouldn't pat ourselv on the back jt yet | Broadview Magaze

Contents:

• FIRST OPENLY GAY MISTER TO BE ORDAED BY PRBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA) TOMORROW
• HOW A GAY ST. LOUIS PASTOR TRIGGERED A WAR WH THE PRBYTERIAN CHURCH AMERI
• AS A GAY PRBYTERIAN, WE SHOULDN’T PAT OURSELV ON THE BACK JT YET
• LOG IN LOG OUT SUBSCRIBE MEMPHIS EVENTS METRO BS OPN SPORTS ARTS & CULTURE FOOD SUBURBS NEIGHBORHOODS PODSTS OBUARI NEWSLETTERS CY OF MEMPHIS SHELBY COUNTY STATE GOVERNMENT EDUTN CRIMAL JTICE ELECTNS SPIR OF MEMPHIS THE EARLY WORD ON THE RERD BEHD THE HEADL ADD DAILY MEMPHIAN TO HOME SCREEN (FUNCTN () { GOOGLETAG.DISPLAY('DIV-GPT-AD-1575557230823-0'); }); (FUNCTN () { GOOGLETAG.DISPLAY('DIV-GPT-AD-1575558347846-0'); }); CY OF MEMPHIS BALMORAL HIR GAY MISTER, FIRST AMONG MID-SOUTH PRBYTERIANS BY JANE ROBERTS, DAILY MEMPHIAN UPDATED: JULY 17, 2023 8:39 AM CT | PUBLISHED: JULY 15, 2023 4:00 AM CT (FUNCTN () { GOOGLETAG.DISPLAY('DIV-GPT-AD-1576080080820-0'); }); THE NGREGATN AT BALMORAL PRBYTERIAN CHURCH EAST MEMPHIS APPROVED THE NEW MISTER BY UNANIMO VOTE. (SUBMTTED) (FUNCTN (DOCUMENT) { VAR SHAREBUTTONS = DOCUMENT.QUERYSELECTORALL("[DATA-WORK]"); FOR (VAR I = 0; I SVG { WIDTH: 35PX; } (FUNCTN () { GOOGLETAG.DISPLAY('DIV-GPT-AD-1568903208082-0'); }); IF (("LUMN-ARTICLE")) { GOOGLETAG.EVENTLISTENERS = GOOGLETAG.EVENTLISTENERS || {}; GOOGLETAG.EVENTLISTENERS.ONRENREND = GOOGLETAG.EVENTLISTENERS.ONRENREND || {}; VAR HANDLERS = GOOGLETAG.EVENTLISTENERS.ONRENREND["DIV-GPT-AD-1576080080820-0"] || []; IF (TYPEOF HANDLERS === 'FUNCTN') HANDLERS = [ HANDLERS ]; (FUNCTN (EVENT) { VAR $ADCONTAER = $("#DIV-GPT-AD-1568903208082-0").CLOST("")(); IF (EVENT.ISEMPTY === TE) { VAR ADSLOT = ().GETSLOTS()(S => S.GETSLOTELEMENTID() === 'DIV-GPT-AD-1568903208082-0'); $SERTBEFORE($ADCONTAER.SIBLGS(".AUTHORCALLOUT")()); ().REH(ADSLOT); } ELSE { $ADCONTAER.ADDCLASS("AD-NTAER--FULL-FLOAT"); } }); GOOGLETAG.EVENTLISTENERS.ONRENREND["DIV-GPT-AD-1576080080820-0"] = HANDLERS; } “WE ARE A NEW PLACE, AND THIS IS A CELEBRATN OF THAT,” SAID REV. JAM GALE, EXECUTIVE PRBYTER OF THE PRBYTERY OF THE MID-SOUTH, WHICH REPRENTS 37 NGREGATNS. (FUNCTN () { GOOGLETAG.DISPLAY('DIV-GPT-AD-1570048159401-0'); }); TOPICS
• PRBYTERIAN CHURCH AMERI LEARS SAY THOSE WHO INTIFY AS GAY ARE NOT QUALIFIED FOR ORDATN
• PRBYTERIANS APPROVE ORDATN OF GAY PEOPLE
• PRBYTERIAN CHURCH AMERI LEARS VOTE TO BAR GAY MEN OM BEG ORDAED AS CLERGY
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
• SEXUAL INTY, STIGMA, AND DEPRSN: THE ROLE OF THE "ANTI-GAY PROPAGANDA LAW" MENTAL HEALTH AMONG MEN WHO HAVE SEX WH MEN MOSW, RSIA
• NOT THE ONN: MOSW BANS GAY PRI FOR NEXT 100 YEARS

FIRST OPENLY GAY MISTER TO BE ORDAED BY PRBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA) TOMORROW

He will bee the first openly gay mister ordaed by the Prbyterian Church (USA) sce the nomatn amend s nstutn this year to elimate official barriers to the ordatn of people based on their sexual orientatn. “So much of my work wh the Shower of Stol Project volv holdg my hands every day symbols of loss — loss of mistry, loss of votn, loss of llg, ” says David Lohman, fah work ordator at the Natnal Gay and Lbian Task Force.

But before leavg the church, she wanted to do somethg symbolic to show that she was only one of untls lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) people servg the church silence bee the st of livg thentic, open liv was too high. Correctn append, March 18 The Prbyterian Church (USA) ma a historic cisn Tuday night to formally regnize gay marriage and allow same-sex upl to marry s ngregatns. “Fally, the church s nstutnal documents fully regniz that the love of gays and lbian upl is worth celebratg the fah muny, ” Rev.

Ellison, executive director of the Covenant Network of Prbyterians, which advot for the cln of gay people the church, told the Tim. Greg Johnson scrib himself as a “gay atheist teenager” who fell for J — and found himself at the center of evangelil Christiany’s ternal battl over nearly 20 years, Johnson has pastored Memorial Prbyterian Church St.

HOW A GAY ST. LOUIS PASTOR TRIGGERED A WAR WH THE PRBYTERIAN CHURCH AMERI

When he me out to his church, he said he received a standg ovatn and shouts of “We love you, Greg” om sce Johnson went public wh his orientatn Christiany Today, pastors his nomatn, the Prbyterian Church Ameri, have tried to banish clergy who intify as gay, even if they m to celibacy. “I spent a lot of years nvcg myself that I was a straight man wh a disease lled homosexualy that uld be cured, ” Johnson said on Wednday’s St. ”The ln Johnson is referrg to are people who participated the so-lled “ex-gay movement, ” which centered on the theory that one n change sexual orientatn.

“I really believe that J lov gay people, and I want evangelil church to learn to say that and believe that, ” he said.

AS A GAY PRBYTERIAN, WE SHOULDN’T PAT OURSELV ON THE BACK JT YET

Last year, Johnson released a book lled “Still Time To Care: What We Can Learn om the Church’s Failed Attempt to Cure Homosexualy, ” which scrib the fall of the ex-gay movement. ”When the PCA nomatn voted last year on whether to keep gay people om beg clergy members, one observer wrote that the actn was signed to “prevent another Greg Johnson. ”More than 60% of regnal church bodi voted favor of barrg people who intify as gay om beg clergy, even if they do not engage sexual behavr.

“My nstant fear is that somebody's gog to tell their kid, ‘Why n't you be one of the good gays like Greg Johnson? ”Johnson said there’s a huge need wh the evangelil church to tra parents and pastors to love gay youth whout tryg to ntrol them.

LOG IN LOG OUT SUBSCRIBE MEMPHIS EVENTS METRO BS OPN SPORTS ARTS & CULTURE FOOD SUBURBS NEIGHBORHOODS PODSTS OBUARI NEWSLETTERS CY OF MEMPHIS SHELBY COUNTY STATE GOVERNMENT EDUTN CRIMAL JTICE ELECTNS SPIR OF MEMPHIS THE EARLY WORD ON THE RERD BEHD THE HEADL ADD DAILY MEMPHIAN TO HOME SCREEN (FUNCTN () { GOOGLETAG.DISPLAY('DIV-GPT-AD-1575557230823-0'); }); (FUNCTN () { GOOGLETAG.DISPLAY('DIV-GPT-AD-1575558347846-0'); }); CY OF MEMPHIS BALMORAL HIR GAY MISTER, FIRST AMONG MID-SOUTH PRBYTERIANS BY JANE ROBERTS, DAILY MEMPHIAN UPDATED: JULY 17, 2023 8:39 AM CT | PUBLISHED: JULY 15, 2023 4:00 AM CT (FUNCTN () { GOOGLETAG.DISPLAY('DIV-GPT-AD-1576080080820-0'); }); THE NGREGATN AT BALMORAL PRBYTERIAN CHURCH EAST MEMPHIS APPROVED THE NEW MISTER BY UNANIMO VOTE. (SUBMTTED) (FUNCTN (DOCUMENT) { VAR SHAREBUTTONS = DOCUMENT.QUERYSELECTORALL("[DATA-WORK]"); FOR (VAR I = 0; I SVG { WIDTH: 35PX; } (FUNCTN () { GOOGLETAG.DISPLAY('DIV-GPT-AD-1568903208082-0'); }); IF (("LUMN-ARTICLE")) { GOOGLETAG.EVENTLISTENERS = GOOGLETAG.EVENTLISTENERS || {}; GOOGLETAG.EVENTLISTENERS.ONRENREND = GOOGLETAG.EVENTLISTENERS.ONRENREND || {}; VAR HANDLERS = GOOGLETAG.EVENTLISTENERS.ONRENREND["DIV-GPT-AD-1576080080820-0"] || []; IF (TYPEOF HANDLERS === 'FUNCTN') HANDLERS = [ HANDLERS ]; (FUNCTN (EVENT) { VAR $ADCONTAER = $("#DIV-GPT-AD-1568903208082-0").CLOST("")(); IF (EVENT.ISEMPTY === TE) { VAR ADSLOT = ().GETSLOTS()(S => S.GETSLOTELEMENTID() === 'DIV-GPT-AD-1568903208082-0'); $SERTBEFORE($ADCONTAER.SIBLGS(".AUTHORCALLOUT")()); ().REH(ADSLOT); } ELSE { $ADCONTAER.ADDCLASS("AD-NTAER--FULL-FLOAT"); } }); GOOGLETAG.EVENTLISTENERS.ONRENREND["DIV-GPT-AD-1576080080820-0"] = HANDLERS; } “WE ARE A NEW PLACE, AND THIS IS A CELEBRATN OF THAT,” SAID REV. JAM GALE, EXECUTIVE PRBYTER OF THE PRBYTERY OF THE MID-SOUTH, WHICH REPRENTS 37 NGREGATNS. (FUNCTN () { GOOGLETAG.DISPLAY('DIV-GPT-AD-1570048159401-0'); }); TOPICS

“If you're gog to be a nomatn that says you n't have gay marriage, then you've got to provi alternate forms of muny, ” Johnson said.

” Meanwhile, on Twter, the Relign News Service announced that wh the PC(USA) change “male Prottants have solidified their support for gay marriage. When an associate pastor said to me, ‘I have a gay brother, and he don’t have any more time for you to study the matter, ’ I ma a cisn. I am glad that a pastor is not forced to officiate at any marriage, heterosexual or homosexual, if they don’t feel is wise.

PRBYTERIAN CHURCH AMERI LEARS SAY THOSE WHO INTIFY AS GAY ARE NOT QUALIFIED FOR ORDATN

Jt as the church changed her stance on slavery and women’s role the church, some of have e to unrstand the biblil prohibns of homosexual behavr to refer stead to vlent sexual acts agast anyone, wh specific reference to sexual acts between men and children. 1968 November A Brooklyn Heights Prbyterian church holds a “two-hour worship service and symposium on the subject of homosexualy, ” which clus a performance of part of the gay themed off-Broadway play “The Boys the Band. 1970 Undated The General Assembly of the Uned Prbyterian Church releas a statement entled “Sexualy and the Human Communy” which ntas a brief sectn on homosexualy.

PRBYTERIANS APPROVE ORDATN OF GAY PEOPLE

While the stat of homosexualy as a “s” is mataed, the Assembly also approv a remendatn that lls for the “elimatn of laws erng the private sexual behavr of nsentg adults. David Bailey Sdt begs the Prbyterian Gay Cc, which later be Prbyterians for Lbian and Gay Concerns (PLGC), by holdg a sign at the General Assembly that asks “Is anyone else out there gay?

PRBYTERIAN CHURCH AMERI LEARS VOTE TO BAR GAY MEN OM BEG ORDAED AS CLERGY

1975 May The Prbyterian Gay Cc is nied “unofficial anizatn” stat by the General Assembly who “appreciat the reprentativ as Christian persons, ” but “do not ndone their sexual orientatn and life-style.

1976 Undated Bill Silver bee the first openly gay ndidate for mistry the Prbyterian Church, which opens a lengthy bate wh the church over the ordatn of homosexuals.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

1977 May The rults of a qutnnaire sent by the 1976 task force to UPCUSA members and pastors dit that the overwhelmg majory would not accept a homosexual pastor and believe that “homosexual activi are not ‘normal and nsistent wh God’s orr. June The UPCUSA General Assembly rejects a proposals to prevent the future ordatn of gay misters, to end the task force tablished to study homosexualy, and to refer to homosexualy as a “not ‘ndoned as a life-style, ’” and also stat “the need of the Church to stand for the jt treatment of homosexual persons… regard to their civil liberti, equal rights, and protectn unr the law om social and enomic discrimatn. 1978 January The UPCUSA task force studyg homosexualy releas a report which the majory of the group remends that open homosexuals should not be prevented om ordatn or other learship rol the church.

The study, which also stat that homosexual relatnships are pable of beg “ethilly sound, ” mt go before the General Assembly for approval, and stantly opens the church’s ‘most ser ntroversy sce the Civil War.

SEXUAL INTY, STIGMA, AND DEPRSN: THE ROLE OF THE "ANTI-GAY PROPAGANDA LAW" MENTAL HEALTH AMONG MEN WHO HAVE SEX WH MEN MOSW, RSIA

May The UPCUSA General Assembly “overwhelmgly adopts a report” prohibg the ordatn of open homosexuals, but “strongly endorsg” gay civil rights. The report leav up to dividual clergy the cisn to orda a gays or lbians who take a vow of celibacy and also officially wel gays and lbians as church members.

1985 June The General Assembly vot down an amendment to the church nstutn that would have protected homosexuals om employment discrimatn. Addnally, all homosexual acts are clared to be herently sful regardls of nature of relatnship or gree of mment.

1989 June The General Assembly vot to uphold the ban on ordag homosexuals, while also turng the issue over to the Special Task Force on Human Sexualy for further study. 1990 June At the General Assembly, several of the nomatn’s “more several liberal and nservative” groups, cludg Prbyterians for Lbian-Gay Concerns and Prbyterians Pro-Life are clared to no longer have official reprentatn. ), wh about two ln members, voted to change s nstutn and approve the ordatn of openly gay men and lbians same-sex relatnships as misters, elrs, and ans.

NOT THE ONN: MOSW BANS GAY PRI FOR NEXT 100 YEARS

My own tratn is that the 100+ stori of homophobia, transphobia and heterosexism llected by Rabow Communn— a mtee listeng to stori of harm done the church — has not yet been heard.