“The Call to Christian Hospitality: Living Into a Truly Welcoming Church”
Keynote Address by Henry Brinton at the Baltimore/DC Regional Conference, March 9, 2013: "I believe that all of you want to be part of a truly welcoming congregation, one that embraces all people with God’s love and grace. But if you are like me, you haven’t mastered the practices of Christian hospitality. You probably set up some barriers to inclusion without even knowing it."
"Just as Christ Has Welcomed You"
A Sermon on Romans 15:1-13 and Revelation 7:9-17 by Tricia Dykers Koenig, at the Baltimore/DC Regional Conference, March 9, 2013: "We have, all of us, been welcomed by Christ, utterly and unconditionally, not because we deserve it but because God is Love and, in God’s will, nothing 'in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.' Despite the accumulated grime in our lives. Even if we haven’t done the requisite dusting. Even if we are sloppy, lazy, misguided, or stubbornly wrong. Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you – totally and unconditionally – for the glory of God."
Joining the religious voices urging SCOTUS toward marriage equality
The Board of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians has signed on as an Amicus curiae in briefs supportive of same-gender civil marriage from a religious perspective, as the U.S. Supreme Court hears the Perry and Windsor cases.
“Beyond Welcome and into God’s Freedom”
A Sermon on Isaiah 61:1-4 and Galatians 3:26-29 by Deborah Krause, for the Regional Conference at Second Presbyterian Church, St. Louis, MO, February 16, 2013: '...What does it mean to say “We Invite All?” Just who do “we” think we are? Who are these all we think we invite? Do they really want to come? If so, where the heck are they? And more seriously, just where do “we” imagine we are – to do this inviting of these “all” we welcome?...'
Thoughts on Officiating at Same-Gender Blessing Services
May Presbyterian ministers officiate at weddings of same-gender couples? May Sessions give permission for such ceremonies to be held on their premises? The Board of the Covenant Network has analyzed the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission’s decisions in cases where teaching elders have been involved in same-gender marriages, and offers thoughts for those who are concerned with providing pastoral care that is consistent with the GAPJC’s authoritative interpretation of the PCUSA Constitution.
Marriage Equality in the PCUSA
At the Rocky Mountain Regional Conference, Dan Saperstein's presentation included both background information - biblical, theological, and constitutional - and a new approach to moving toward marriage equality in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Read his address, with accompanying slides.
My Big Fat Gay Wedding
By David Maxwell ~ Covenant Network week on ecclesio.com concludes as David shares the joy of his wedding: "...Marriage, flawed as the institution may be, is still somehow sacred. Two people agree to an ancient covenant before God and friends. I was converted; perhaps civil unions and domestic partnerships are fine for people who prefer to omit all the God talk or all the institutional religion. Certainly, civil rights should be granted to all couples regardless of the exact title of their contract. But I realized that what we wanted was marriage—nothing less. It more accurately reflects how we have understood this strange, wonderful union. How it works is a holy mystery and it has only survived with God’s blessing. Society and the church need to catch up."
Discipline in Faith, Discipline of Self, Discipline with Church
How a pastor learned from a same-sex marriage and what came after: Day 4 of Covenant Network week on ecclesio.com features Tara Spuhler McCabe's reflection: "...I offer that any one of us can never know when we will have to stand at the intersection of our disciplines and then need to step forward into the next moment engaging all three, even with tension and conflict. When the moment came to me, officiating a wedding for a same-sex couple, as a pastor, I could not turn away. My conviction of faith, of my humble place before the mystery of it all, was deeper than I have known before. I acted with full integrity in that faith and true to the self I am called to be. This is why I can accept the discipline of the church with whom I have committed to be in relationship. I could not deny the call as a pastor to a gap where two people, seeking to have their love explained and professed through the ordering of worship, would celebrate and praise God’s work in bringing them together as no civil union or priest of their own tradition would do..."
A Pastoral Emergency
By Tricia Dykers Koenig: A more comprehensive version of the article first posted at ecclesio.com: "...With the spread of marriage equality, more and more Presbyterian ministers are being asked to perform for their LGBTQ congregants the same ministry that they provide with joy to their heterosexual congregants – to officiate at the services of worship in which couples commit their lives to one another in marriage. And yet, Presbyterian ministers are not free to exercise their own judgment in deciding whether or not to conduct such services..."
The Plan-B God for ecclesio.com
Covenant Network week, with its focus on same-sex marriage, continues at ecclesio.com with an excerpt of Mark Achtemeier's "The Plan-B God," an address delivered to the Twin Cities Area Regional Conference in October 2012.
A Pastoral Emergency: The polity crisis that engulfs teaching elders, sessions and couples around same-sex marriage
Tricia Dykers Koenig discusses the pastoral crisis for Presbyterians in jurisdictions with marriage equality, with a brief history of the development of constitutional interpretation. It's Day 2 of Covenant Network week on ecclesio.com.
Same-Sex Marriage: The Church’s Next Big Thing
Brian Ellison introduces Covenant Network week on ecclesio.com, and the Covenant Network's emphasis on marriage in the coming year.
Boy Scouts Moving Away from Discrimination?
Presbyterian minister Eagle Scouts Chris Iosso and Patrick Heery encourage supporting the Boy Scouts of America in their proposal to eliminate the ban on gay Scouts and leaders.
From Fear to Faith
A Sermon on 2 Timothy 1:1-14 by the Rev. Brian D. Ellison, preached at the Rocky Mountain Regional Conference of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, Central Presbyterian Church, Denver, CO, January 27, 2013: "... Why has the Covenant Network focused so exclusively on including some of God’s children in the life and leadership of the church over the years, rather than on some broader mission of justice and evangelism in the world? Why would it be important to make sure that the opportunity to profess one’s faith, to use one’s gifts, to teach one’s wisdom, or make one’s vows is provided when there is so much work that will be done, people who will be touched, mission that will be accomplished, with or without that one person? Why?..."
Weather Forecast
Jay McKell: "... But when thinking about the temperature not in the context of climate change but in the context of cultural change, as well as change in the church, this warming trend is turning into something which we can all celebrate. I am, of course, speaking about not only the acceptance but also the welcoming of GLBT persons into the mainstream of society as well as within the life and ministry of the Presbyterian Church..."
Presbyterian Welcome Launches Youth Group
Our friends at Presbyterian Welcome are beginning a youth group in the New York City area. The first meeting will be on Saturday, January 19. Read the details from John Russell Stanger, Organizer of Mission and Advocacy.
The Way Toward Birth - Dawning Light
A Sermon on Isaiah 11: 1-10 & Luke 1: 67-79 by the Rev. Ken Kovacs: "...the incarnation is not a one-time occurrence but something that has fundamentally changed and is changing the very structure of our existence. In the incarnation we discover a “demonstration” that God is forever “risking spirit” by being active in the world and our lives. The Spirit enters and for all it’s worth charges into earth – where? Yes, in Jesus, but in birth after birth, ever fresh and fresh. In your birth and my birth ever fresh and fresh, doing something new."
Resources on Church Unity Available
The Covenant Network of Presbyterians, from its founding, has had a twofold mission. We have worked for both the full inclusion of LGBTQ people in the life and leadership of the church and the real and manifest unity of that church. Sometimes these two goals seem in tension, but the value of either depends on the other. For either to matter, the church must be whole... Today, we post a collection of resources that we hope will assist those working for unity in their presbyteries.