11/6 I confess that in the first hours after the election results in Maine were known, I felt like I’d been hit by a truck. As the returns came in, way past my bedtime, I watched the No on 1 party in Bangor and followed the streaming chat room alongside. Especially powerful for me were […]

10/23 John Shelby Spong’s passionate e-mail declaring his withdrawal from further discussion about GLBT inclusion in the church was brought to my attention at the end of an inspiring week of accompanying Lisa Larges to presentations and conversations at local colleges in the Pittsburgh area. Listening to Lisa talk about her experience in the church […]

9/4 In the summer of 1974 at the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church (the predecessor of the PCUSA), Rev. David Sindt stood at the back of the hall, lifting a large sign for all to see that asked, “Is anyone else out there gay?” The people who responded to him began Presbyterians for […]

8/7 Jimmy Carter’s prophetic act of ending sixty years of faithful leadership in the Southern Baptist Church because of the public renewal of their prohibition against women in ministry has reminded us that injustice against women continues to plague human society, including American culture. As he explains in his statement, President Carter is taking his […]

7/24 I was utterly blessed this past weekend by the privilege of living and worshipping with about twenty gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (and yes, every single one of these widely different possibilities were present) Presbyterians called to ministry. All are heading to, currently studying in, or have graduated from theological seminary. All are at […]

7/10 In response to several overtures concerning marriage and families, the 2008 PCUSA General Assembly did the very Presbyterian thing: they asked the Moderator to appoint a Special Committee to study the matter. That committee was formed in the winter and began its work with a strong desire to take advantage of modern technology to […]

7/3 On Wednesday, July 1, the Council of Allegheny County of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania became the third county in Pennsylvania to pass into law an anti-discrimination ordinance that will establish a Human Relations Commission to protect the housing, employment and due process rights of vulnerable groups in our community. The County Executive has said […]

6/26 A great question was asked at the American Shorts @ WYEP event during Pride Week here in Pittsburgh recently: “Where did the term ‘straight’ come from, and how can straight people help in the effort for GLBT equality?” I learned an immense amount from the answers offered to this crucial question. First, what does […]

6/19 Earlier this week, a story in Newsweek caught my attention. It talked about a couple, legally married in the state of Massachusetts, who, like many of us, wanted to raise their family with a strong grounding in faith, in the church they grew up in. But the couple is gay, and their church, in […]

6/12 You would be correct if you assumed that I have voted Democratic all my life. I found the eight years of George W. Bush a hard cross to bear and have had little good to say about former Vice President Dick Cheney. But he stopped me in my tracks by supporting same-sex marriage in […]