Minister facing action

High profile lesbian Minister, The Reverend Dorothy McRae McMahon has been threatened with disciplinary action by a Sydney Presbytery following her decision to come out at the Uniting Church's Eighth Assembly held last month in Perth.

McRae McMahon is currently the National Director of the Commission for Mission, a position of great responsibility and seniority within the Church. Previously married, she has stated that she recognised her sexuality just twelve years ago at the age of 51. Although the nature of the complaint against her is confidential, the Uniting Church told BrotherSister that it follows "recent public acknowledgment that she is a lesbian living in a committed relationship".

Simon Moglia, once refused ordination as an openly gay man and currently a member of Uniting Network, a group supportive of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered members of the Church, told BrotherSister that this is "the first time that a Council of the Church has been requested to decide on the activities of a practising homosexual person".

The relevant policies are not expressly prohibitive. In relation to ordination, policy states: "the sexual orientation of a candidate is not and has not been in itself a bar to ordination...[but] may depend among other things on the manner in which his or her sexuality is expressed". And, in relation to celibacy: "the church has not declared 'celibacy in singleness and faithfulness in marriage' to be a specific requirement of its ministers".

Moglia told BrotherSister that "it's very difficult for a church body to discipline, or tell a very well respected member who hasn't actually done anything wrong, that they are wrong". He added: "I think that this battle is setting up a victory for lesbian and gay people, because the Presbytery is going to be very hard pushed to find any fault with Dorothy".

This is the second complaint made against McRae McMahon, who was scrutinised two years ago for conducting services which celebrated gay and lesbian relationships. In response to that complaint, it was stated that "The Assembly has not taken any decision which would prevent ministers and councils of elders acknowledging a same-sex relationship in some form of worship service, as long as such a service does not resemble the marriage service".

Services celebrating same-sex relationships have been conducted for some time "on the quiet", however, Moglia observes that they are becoming more public. He adds that "the willingness to do so [conduct ceremonies] is quite widespread...it is not restricted to lesbian and gay ministers. Lesbians and gay people who want to have their relationships celebrated should be encouraged now to seek out the people who will help them do so".

Moglia explains that "the Perth Assembly has given people permission to be honest and open about what's going on". While the Assembly did not endorse the recommendations of the Task Group on Sexuality which related specifically to homosexuality, it did not institute any prohibitive measures either.

According to Moglia, maintaining the status quo at the Assembly has meant "decentralisation of the conflict". In the absence of prescriptive national policy, regional bodies have assumed responsibility for both freedom and discipline. This means that "if there was sufficient political will in a certain region, or in a certain state, then action could be brought against a minister who is perceived to be doing the wrong thing...[more positively], there may well be decisions in regions or at a state level now that support those actions as well".

letter from Dorothy, August 1997