Marriage Equality in the Media as General Assembly Nears

As the start of the 220th General Assembly nears, the media is starting to cover the decisions about marriage equality facing the assembly. A number of pro-LGBT voices were interviewed this week including Michael Adee and Rev. Janet Edwards from More Light Presbyterians and Rev. Brian Ellison from Covenant Network.

From the Christian Post:
Michael J. Adee, executive director of More Light Presbyterians, a pro-gay organization within PC (USA), told The Christian Post that his organization is supportive of these efforts.

"More Light Presbyterians support both kinds of marriage equality overtures," said Adee, referring to the Authoritative Interpretation Overture and the Amendment Overture.

"I hope and pray that the General Assembly meeting soon in Pittsburgh will stand on the side of love and the right side of history."

When asked whether a potential change in the PC (USA)'s constitution on marriage definition would lead more congregations to leave the denomination, Adee said that congregations have left before.

"I am sad when any church feels it must leave because of the removal of barriers to faithful, qualified LGBT persons serving God in ministry within and through the Church," said Adee.

"There is no accurate way to know if a church might leave the denomination when it offers pastoral discretion with same-sex marriage. It is my hope and prayer that no church will leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) over same-sex couples seeking to be faithful in their relationships."
From the Pittsburgh Gazette:
The Rev. Janet Edwards, a member of Pittsburgh Presbytery who has been an advocate for gay marriage, resigned her voting commission to the General Assembly in order to care for her husband after surgery. But she believes that on issues where there is no consensus in the church, there should be freedom for each congregation to act on its own beliefs.

She argues that the Presbyterian Church has historically followed civil law on marriage, so that clergy in states where gay marriage is legal should be allowed to offer marriage ceremonies. The church currently allows blessing ceremonies but insists that they not be called marriages.

"The heart of marriage is the love and commitment between the partners, and we all know couples of two men or two women who show all the qualities that we recognize as marriage," she said.
From the Huffington Post:
"One thing that could pass is having the assembly issue an 'authoritative interpretation' of the constitution, which would say ... 'It's OK for presbyterian ministers to officiate same-sex marriage if it is legal in the state where they are officiating,'" said the Rev. Brian Ellison of Parkville Presbyterian Church near Kansas City, Mo. That option has been proposed by five presbyteries and is supported by the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, a pro-LGBT organization for which Ellison was recently tapped to become the executive director. The proposal is also more appealing to some gay rights activists because it would not change the constitution, thus bypassing any need for approval from individual presbyteries.
 From the Tribune-Review:
A leading voice calling for Presbyterians to extend marriage equality and other rights to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered members belongs to the Rev. Janet Edwards of Squirrel Hill.

“My deepest hope is that we will open our eyes to do what God is already doing,” said Edwards, 61, a board member of the Pittsburgh Presbytery Foundation and More Light Presbyterians, a pro-gay organization within the church. “We can already see how God blesses the marriages of gay and lesbian couples.”

Definition of marriage

Edwards wants the assembly to endorse a change to the definition of marriage. She relinquished her rights as a voting assembly member to help care for her ailing husband, Alvise, and abandoned her campaign to become moderator of the General Assembly — the denomination’s highest elected position. The Pittsburgh Presbytery, for which she served as moderator in 1987, declined to endorse her candidacy.

Still, Edwards said she plans to attend sessions, particularly those related to gay and lesbian issues. The church twice put Edwards on trial for conducting the 2005 marriage of a lesbian couple. The first ended on a technicality, the second in acquittal.

She hopes congregations do not leave the church.

“For me, the way to do that is to talk to one another, and to talk about the issues we most tenderly disagree about,” said Edwards, who was ordained in 1977.
Media coverage leading up to General Assembly:
at 6/27/2012 07:39:00 AM
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