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Doug is Calm at Center of Church Storm
Cincinnati Enquirer, November 1, 1997 312 Elm St.,Cincinnati,OH,45202 (Fax 513-768-8610, print run 198,832) (E-MAIL: letters@enquirer.com) By Krista Ramsey The Cincinnati Enquirer Doug was invited to serve as a leader of his church, and he accepted. That would be the end of the story except that some people say Doug is gay. In the Presbyterian Church, homosexual and elder are not words that flow together. The result has been two years of unsought controversy for Doug. In 1995, he was ordained an elder at Knox Presbyterian Church in Hyde Park. Then a church member filed a complaint, saying there was proof Doug was gay. A local church court nullified his ordination. This week, an appeals court reversed that decision. Doug did not accept the position as elder to make a statement. He did not refuse it to avoid one. He became an elder for the same reason he had been a deacon, an usher, chairman of adult education, the person who arranged rides to church for people who needed them. ''I just believe that when the church asks you to serve, you should try to say yes,'' he says simply. Finding acceptance His service has taken a form Doug did not expect, one he and fellow members may not fully comprehend. It has offered this church of 1,300 members the chance to find unity in the midst of individual differences. It has allowed them to struggle with theological issues without struggling, irreparably, with one another. Doug, an attorney, does not know where his fellow members come down on the issue of ordination of homosexuals. Perhaps more importantly, he does not feel the need to know. What he does know is that his church continues to be his spiritual community, a place where he is allowed to be who he is. A place to confess one's faith and one's failings. A place to find acceptance and love. A seeking life Doug was not born into Presbyterianism. He chose it. His family was not religious. In high school, as his friends rebelled by leaving their faith, Doug rebelled by embracing his. It was at Ohio State University that Doug began attending a Presbyterian church. ''I found it a community that welcomed openness. You were free to think. You could ask questions, have doubts,'' he says. At 19, he was baptized by a Catholic priest, attended both Catholic and Protestant services, and sometimes went to a synagogue as well. He acted out of religious interest, not confusion. Then as now, he knew who he was. A child of God. In the last two years, his faith has been tested. His best friend died of cancer. His mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. His ordination as an elder was approved, then denied him, then approved again. At times, he wondered about his denomination, but never about God. ''The facet of God that speaks to me is God as the giver of freedom,'' he says. ''Jesus' ministry was about the unshackling of people.'' It is upon this point - not the public controversy - that Doug has taken his stand. His God is not a God of exclusion, he says. His spiritual family - Knox Presbyterian - is not a family that casts away one of its own, even over great differences. Doug felt, at times, he should leave the Presbyterian church. But he could not leave his family at Knox. They have not merely weathered this storm, but been revealed by it. ''I don't know that Knox has been changed by this,'' he says, ''but what it has always been, has been made visible to us. I'm not sure that the people at Knox ever really had to be brave before. I'm not sure they knew how brave they were.'' These church members have not settled the issue of ordination of homosexuals. They have not changed church policy, or led a revolt. They have simply loved Doug. They have asked him to lead them. They have patted his shoulder, taken communion from his hand. Whatever the complexities of the issue, on this point Knox Presbyterian has been abundantly clear. ''The people of Knox may not be of one mind on whether homosexuality is a sin, but they are of one mind that it is God's job to make judgments, not ours,'' Doug says. That is why he chose to serve them. And why this gentle, thoughtful man remains. Krista Ramsey's column appears on Saturdays. Write her at 312 Elm Street, Cincinnati 45202.Church Watches Trial on Gay Elder Local Case May Be Watershed
By Julie Irwin The Cincinnati Enquirer Cincinnati Equirer, October 21, 1997 As the Presbyterian Church (USA) continues its two-decade debate over homosexuality and ordination, this week's ecclesiastical trial of a local man could end up as a test case on the issue before the denomination's highest court. The case involves a man ordained as an elder at Knox Presbyterian Church in Hyde Park, and whether the church overlooked evidence that he was gay when it chose him for the position. The denomination prohibits any "self-affirming, practicing homosexual person" from holding an ordained leadership position. The elder, who has asked not to be named out of concern for his safety, was elected in November 1995 to serve on the congregation's board of trustees. A local commission nullified his ordination in June 1996, and this week's hearing is before a regional appeals board in Findlay, Ohio. The next step is the national judicial commission, the church's equivalent of the Supreme Court. The case takes place against a backdrop of wrangling over church law regarding gays and ordination. The denomination voted last year to require chastity of all relationships outside marriage, and now faces a vote to replace the chastity requirement. Another change in the law could make the Knox decision even more crucial. "This is the ideal test case," said the Rev. Jack Haberer of the Presbyterian Coalition, a group working to keep the chastity requirement. "If (the current proposal) passes, then I have no doubt this (Knox) decision will be appealed and the permanent judicial commission will assuredly vote to approve this person's ordination, which would set the policy as the law of the land, which would put the denomination in total crisis." Local, national debate The elder became a member of Knox in 1989, drawn to the Hyde Park church by its music and education programs. He quickly became active - first in adult education, then as a deacon, and finally as an elder elected by the congregation. The members responsible for examining candidates were aware that sexual orientation might become an issue in this case, so they asked all officers-elect if there was "anything in (their) life which would prevent (them) from answering the constitutional questions with integrity." The elder answered no and was ordained. A member of the church filed a complaint several months later. Testimony at the ensuing local ecclesiastical trial focused on admissions allegedly made by the elder in small groups, in conversation and in the church's pictorial directory, where he appeared with another man listed at the same address. The complainant refused several Enquirer requests for an interview. The elder declined to answer questions about his sexual orientation. "I'm so opposed to the definitive guidance and so believe that it's a form of apartheid by sexual orientation that I refuse to acknowledge it or in any way take it into account," he said. "I did feel like I had been stripped naked in front of the congregation. I felt very violated, especially since I didn't choose to make this an issue." First action on issue In June 1996, the local commission voted 4-3 to nullify the ordination - reportedly the first such action over the issue of homosexuality in the church's history. The four members found there was ample evidence the elder was gay and the questions posed during his interview were vague and subjective. Patricia Brown, a local woman serving as the national church's moderator this year, was one of the dissenters. Weeks later, the denomination passed Amendment B, an addition to the Book of Order that strengthened the legal position of the anti-gay-ordination faction. It requires all ordained Presbyterians to be faithful in marriage - between a man and a woman - or chaste in singlehood, whether gay or straight. The Presbytery of Cincinnati narrowly voted against the measure. Last summer, as Amendment B was ratified, opponents introduced a new measure that requires "fidelity and integrity in marriage or singleness, and in all relationships of life." Supporters say it is a way of holding together a weary and divided church. "In the long term, it has the opportunity to give us the time and space to preserve unity as we continue this important discussion," said the Rev. John Buchanan of Chicago, last year's moderator, who organized a September meeting in support of the "fidelity and integrity" measure. Vote in March But opponents, including the Rev. Mr. Haberer, say the new proposal is a back-door attempt to permit gays and lesbians as leaders. He joined about 1,000 others - including several Tristate Presbyterians - at a strategy session in Dallas last month, at about the same time the other group was meeting in Chicago. "It sets the wheels in motion for what will be a change in policy that will in effect (permit) extramarital sex between individuals who believe their relationships are of fidelity and integrity," he said. "There will be no objective standards." The Presbytery of Cincinnati will vote on the new proposal in March. A decision on the Knox case is expected soon after this week's hearing, nearly two years after the elder's original election. Meanwhile, life, services and Sunday school go on at Knox, despite all the attention from the national church. "The longer it goes on, the more people forget about the original situation," said the Rev. Tom York, Knox pastor. "It's been a long process, and I hope the (regional commission) would act quickly and responsibly, and part of acting responsibly is acting quickly."