An Overture Advocate's Hope

By Doris Cowan

I am a retired Teaching Elder, member of Baltimore Presbytery, and a Parish Associate at Faith Church in Baltimore. I will probably be the oldest Overture Advocate at the GA – having just observed my 83^rd birthday.  This year I also observed the 25^th anniversary of my ordination.  A “late bloomer” you say?  Perhaps.  But I am not a late bloomer to the issue of the rights of LGBTQ people – having first ‘come out’ as an ally of gays nearly 40 years ago.  The year was 1976 – the General Assembly was meeting in Baltimore.  A colleague thought it was humorous to tell homophobic jokes.  I challenged him – and shamed him into attending the first ever GA committee hearing that listened to the pain of Presbyterian seminarians who were being denied the opportunity of responding to God’s call to ministry to them.  His mind was changed!  And it set me on the path of working for equality for LGBTQ people – many of whom became my dear friends.  In fact some of those dear friends hadn’t even been born yet!After ordination I served as an interim pastor and was away from Baltimore for 14 years.  Shortly after retirement and returning to Baltimore I became a board member of That All May Freely Serve, eventually becoming its moderator.  Our work called us to travel to Annapolis to demonstrate, and to meet with legislators to advocate for laws that provided equal rights for LGBTQ persons – and to encourage like-minded people to get to presbytery meetings to vote.  Imagine what a thrill it was to me when I discovered that three of the Presbyterian advocacy groups (That All May Freely Serve, More Light Presbyterians, and the Covenant Network of Presbyterians) were working together to make the ordination of my friends (many of whom I’ve never met) possible.  When that 87^th presbytery voted for passage of  Amendment 10-A, we rejoiced – and vowed to continue our advocacy for marriage equality.The state of Maryland has voted marriage equality.  Again we rejoiced.  But this means that Teaching Elders all over the state are being asked to perform marriage ceremonies for gays and lesbians – many of whom are their long-time members – and many of whom have been together for many years.  Which means that some of them are nearly as old as I am!  I can’t claim to know how those Teaching Elders have responded.  But I do know how I’d like them to be able to respond.I’ve spent nearly all my life in the Presbyterian Church.  It is the home in which my faith has been nurtured, it is the church I’ve served in many capacities.  It is the church my parents found to be more welcoming than my father’s German Lutheran church.  It is the church in which my final rites will be celebrated.  As a retired minister, I can’t expect to receive many invitations to perform marriage ceremonies for my LGBT friends; but while I still have breath, I’d like to be able to say "yes" if I’m lucky enough to be asked!  And I wish that for my sister and brother Teaching Elders in this and every state where such marriage is legal!Doris Cowan will represent the Presbytery of Baltimore in calling the 221st General Assembly to issue an authoritative interpretation to clarify that celebrating a marriage for a same-gender couple is a legitimate exercise of pastoral discretion.