Scott Anderson, an openly gay member of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is seeking to be ordained once again as a PC(USA) minister.
Anderson, executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches and a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, set aside his ordination in 1990 after two members of the congregation he then served in California publicly revealed that Anderson is gay.
But Anderson said in an interview that he is asking John Knox Presbytery in Wisconsin to approve him as an inquirer seeking ordination. If the presbytery accepts him as an inquirer, he intends to declare a “scruple” or an objection to the part of the PC(USA)’s constitution that limits ordination to those who practice fidelity if they are married or chastity if they are single.
Anderson met with John Knox’s Committee on Preparation for Ministry on Nov. 2, receiving the committee’s support. The presbytery will consider his request on Nov. 14.
In an interview, Anderson said he and his life partner, Ian MacAllister, have been in a committed relationship for 16 years.
After giving up his ordination, Anderson became a leader of More Light Presbyterians, a position he no longer holds. Before moving to Wisconsin, he worked for 12 years in leadership with the California Council of Churches.
Anderson said it is not his intent to create a test case, and said of his role on the task force: “I’m not expecting that it’s going to bring me any special treatment.”
The task force, in a controversial report the General Assembly approved last summer, did not ask the PC(USA) to change the “fidelity and chastity” standard. But the assembly did approve an authoritative interpretation, which says that candidates for ordination or installation can declare scruples, or objections based on conscience, to the ordination standards.
A presbytery or session could ordain or install such a candidate if the governing body were to determine that the departure from the standard did not involve an essential of Reformed faith or polity. John Knox presbytery repeatedly has supported removing the “fidelity and chastity” language from the constitution.
Anderson said he decided to ask to become an inquirer for several reasons.
One factor was “turning 50 last year and assessing, taking stock of my past and the next season of my life,” he said.
“I’ve always had a call to ministry. The most fulfilling work I’ve done in my life has been as a Presbyterian pastor.”
Anderson also described his involvement with the theological task force as “a transforming experience that give me real hope for the Presbyterian church,” and said that without that experience, “I don’t think I would be doing this now.”
Two other members of the theological task force — Barbara Wheeler, the president of Auburn Theological Seminary in New York, and Mark Achtemeier, who teaches systematic theology at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary — also will speak at the November presbytery meeting. But Anderson said they will be providing information about the task force report, and “I don’t think they’re coming in an advocacy role for me at all.”
When Anderson renounced his ordination, he was pastor of Bethany Presbyterian church in Sacramento and a member of Sacramento Presbytery. He said he considered approaching Sacramento Presbytery this time, but decided against that.
Anderson said he hasn’t been part of Sacramento Presbytery for 16 years, and “Wisconsin is my home … I have community here. I’d be going back 2,000 miles to talk to folks I don’t really know” if he asked Sacramento Presbytery to approve him as an inquirer.
That presbytery already has voted not to grant any exceptions to the PC(USA)’s ordination standards and not to recognize any “scruples” involving individual conscience. Anderson described it as one of the most conflicted presbyteries in the country, and said: “For me to go back there and pursue this would be a form of martyrdom.”
Anderson said if he were to be ordained, he would ask that his work with the Wisconsin Council of Churches be considered a validated ministry. But he would like some day to again be pastor of a church.
“I’m just taking this a step at a time,” Anderson said. “The presbytery will have to do the same.”
