Homosexuality As Sin

A vote against gay clergy

During his senior year at New York City's Union Theological Seminary, William Silver "came to the point at which I could say openly that I was gay. I told almost everyone." Among those he told were members of Central Presbyterian Church, a Park Avenue parish that found his homosexuality no reason not to "call" Silver as its assistant pastor.

But the Presbytery of New York City, which must approve ordinations of new clergy, was not so sure. Two years ago, it asked the 2.6 million-member United Presbyterian Church for "definitive guidance" on ordaining homosexuals. That led in turn to the most thorough study of the issue ever undertaken by a major church. Last week in San Diego the New Yorkers got their guidance: 651 General Assembly delegates pronounced a resounding no to acceptance of openly homosexual clergy and lay officers.

The San Diego decree, approved by a 12-to-l ratio, states that homosexual behavior is always wrong. Given that premise, the conclusion is obvious. The Presbyterians could no more ordain openly practicing homosexuals than they could accept those who continually advocate or indulge in any other life-style that the church regards as sinful. The church thus rejected a liberal policy that had been proposed by a special task force. But the new document says that homosexuality should not be singled out as any worse a sin than pride, greed or adultery, and it denounces "homophobia" (hatred and fear of homosexuals). The nuanced policy admits the possibility of ordination for people with a homosexual orientation, so long as they are "repentant" and committed to celibacy. It directs presbyteries not to quiz ministerial candidates about homosexuality unless they themselves have raised the issue. An "anti-witch-hunt clause" leaves unclear whether the church would act against open homosexuality among those already in the ministry.

The Presbyterian statement also endorses homosexual rights legislation, even while requiring discrimination within the church. Some liberals found this inconsistent, but the rationale is that secular law need not follow the dictates of religious teachings. Significantly, the document declares that all sexual relations ought to occur only within heterosexual marriage. This signals a retreat from the so-called New Morality by the denomination that published Joseph Fletcher's influential Situation Ethics in 1966 and four years later came close to embracing such theories officially.

In practical terms, the Presbyterian policy was partly based on the delegates' unspoken perception that acceptance of homosexual practice as an alternate Christian life-style might cause rebellion among rank-and-file members of the church. During the political maneuvering, the church's liberal patriarchs were silent for the most part, and its conservative Evangelicals launched their most effective campaign in a generation.

The San Diego decision will undoubtedly add to the caution in other Protestant denominations now struggling with the problem. The Presbyterians' own perplexity is far from over. The statement fell short of ordering presbyteries not to ordain, and last week the 30-year-old Silver said that he hopes to arrange a call to an experimental ministry in Manhattan.

He thinks he can muster majority support in his presbytery, even though it was the one that requested last week's definitive guidance in the first place.

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