Note: a searchable, downloadable PDF of the original letter appears below.
We the undersigned were shocked and disappointed to read in the Fall issue, the statement in Donald MacLeod’s report on the 1994 American General Assembly, p. 10, the national organization ‘Presbyterian Women,’ Meeting in Ames, Iowa, a month after Assembly, was dominated by the gay-lesbian lobby in the church.”
Shocked, because we were present at this gathering and could not believe that Dr. MacLeod was writing about the same event.
We remember a multi-faceted four-day programme jam-packed with a variety of presentations: speakers, panels, workshops, forums, skits, special music all centering on the theme, “You Are My Beloved, therefore: welcome the stranger, protect the children, listen to our sisters, share our faith. Celebrate!”
Yes, among the dozens of speakers at the plenary was John Fife whose subject, “Aliens and Angels” was not about gay-lesbians but of welcoming the poor and the refugees. Yes, there was a skit, “Listening to Strangers” where one of the six stories depicted a woman marginalized for not being heterosexual. And yes, among the 4,000 celebrating and dancing around the huge coliseum floor after the last evening’s programme were a few holding up a Gay Caucus banner.
Yes, it was a large and inclusive event with participants from diverse racial, linguistic, and theological backgrounds from across the continent and overseas. But to say that the gay-lesbian lobby “dominated” is a highly exaggerated overstatement of the reality.
We would be interested to know if Donald Macleod was present at the Presbyterian Women’s gathering, himself, or if he received the information second-hand.
In this post-Christian era when the body of Christ needs to be united in our mission to a cynical but spiritually hungry world, we must, in Dr. MacLeod’s own words, “teach and share the Good News without partisanship and with love and grace.”
Tamiko Corbett, Executive Secretary, WMS, WD
Kay Cowper, President, WMS, WD
Barbara McLean, Deputy Clerk, PCC