The 64-14 vote to enroll Scott Anderson, an openly gay man, came after a nearly hour-long executive session. At issue was his affirmation of conscience of G-6.0106b, which requires those serving in ordained office to live in fidelity within the covenant of heterosexual marriage or chastity in singleness.
By a vote of 71-23 in executive session, the body ruled that Anderson’s affirmation did not constitute a departure from essentials of Reformed faith and polity. Then in open session they voted to enroll him as a candidate for minister of Word and Sacrament.
They voted by paper ballot.
Anderson, one of three inquirers appearing before the presbytery at Dubuque’s Westminster Church, spent about 30 minutes before the body, reading his statement of call and affirmation of conscience.
“God’s call is not to privilege but to service, to be partners with God in the healing of creation,” Anderson said in his statement of call. “Followers of Christ are called to be co-workers with God in the mission of liberation and reconciliation.”
Anderson said it was a privilege to have served two Presbyterian congregations over an eight-year period in the 1980s. That service “became the most fulfilling work of my life and provided vivid confirmation of my sense of call,” he said.
Anderson, 53, set aside his ordination in 1990. Since then, he has served in ecumenical capacities in California and Wisconsin. He concluded that those ministries confirmed “the best fit for my gifts is service as pastor in a congregational setting.”
Responding to a question from the floor, Anderson said he desired to return to parish ministry because he misses opportunities to preach regularly, to walk with people through times of crisis and joy.
In his written affirmation of conscience, Anderson said that the church often reads G-6.0106b as excluding from ordained office gay and lesbian Christians in covenanted lifelong partnerships; he does not believe “this categorical exclusion is either biblical or faithful” and provided the presbytery with five reasons for this belief.
First, in citing Gen. 2:18, which declares that it is not good for people to be alone in life, Anderson wrote that one aspect of creation that God declares not good is “human beings living in isolated loneliness, without a suitable companion. The text is not exclusionary; the possibility of divine relationship is God’s good and gracious gift to all human beings, the result of divine discontent with the ways things are in creation, and God’s work in fashioning a ‘partner’ to make things the way they ought be as a sign of redemption.”
While some Christians choose a life of celibacy, Anderson wrote that he does not possess such a vocation. “Like most Christians, I am called to a life of partnership as described in Genesis.”
Second, citing the command of Eph. 5:31-32 for a man to leave his parents and be joined to a wife, Anderson wrote that “life-long covenanted gay and lesbian partnerships can likewise arise from Christ’s redeeming, self-giving love and serve as icons or images of that love to the world.”
Scripture passages prohibiting same-gender sexual expression refer to same-gender sexual activities of the ancient world, which “functioned overwhelmingly as expressions of exploitation and power over inferiors” or were examples of “sexual idolatry.” These forms of same-gender sexual relations are “absolutely incompatible with the kind of sanctified, self-giving love that God intends for the marital bond.” Biblical writers were thus “being faithful in portraying such relationships as disordered and incompatible with Christian discipleship.” Faithful reading of Scripture cannot treat covenantal same-gender partnerships as the same thing that Scripture condemns, Anderson said.
Third, Anderson cited Acts 10:34, in which Peter said that God shows no partiality. Anderson said he believes the Holy Spirit gives the deep faith and devotion to God exhibited by gay and lesbian believers “who seek to live out God’s call in the context of faithful, covenanted, life-long partnerships.”
Fourth, Anderson said that by excluding those in same-gender partnerships from ordination, the church sends a message to gay and lesbian believers that they are disqualified from service “on the basis of unchosen aspects of who we are from every being able to respond to the call of God.” This situation is the “antithesis of the Gospel message,” Anderson said.
Fifth, the Book of Confessions is “not entirely clear cut” regarding same-gender relations, Anderson said. Anderson reminded presbyters of a decision by the 218th General Assembly to review the translation of the Heidelberg Catechism currently in the Confessions referring to “homosexual perversion.” Acknowledging that the Westminster Larger Catechism lists “sodomy and all unnatural lusts” as sins, Anderson said, “it is not at all clear that the term is directly transferable to contemporary discussions of same-gender relationships.”
The body was allowed to ask questions of clarification on his affirmation, and several people asked directly whether sexual intimacy was a part of the relationship that Anderson has with his same-gender partner.
“We’ve been in a relationship for 17 years, and I’m going to leave it at that,” Anderson said. Pushed for clarification, Anderson said that his affirmation of conscience was his answer.
After the meeting adjourned, an exhausted Anderson told The Presbyterian Outlook that, going into the meeting, he did not know what to expect regarding the presbytery’s vote. He said that the vote on his scruple and candidacy made a very strong statement and that he was proud of the presbytery for its willingness to walk with him through this process.
The denomination’s policy regarding the possibility of declaring a scruple – a point of departure from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Constitution – was originally instituted in 1729 and practiced for more than 200 years. It faded from use in recent decades but was revived by action of the 2006 General Assembly. That GA adopted an Authoritative Interpretation to the Constitution, on the recommendation of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church, of which Anderson was a member.
After the denomination’s highest court ruled last February that scrupling would not be allowed on matters of sexual conduct, the 2008 GA declared that the ordination requirements “apply equally to all ordination standards of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)” and that governing bodies are required “to give prayerful and careful consideration, on an individual, case-by-case basis, to any departure from an ordination standard in matters of belief or practice that a candidate may declare during examination.” This action, which also stands as an Authoritative Interpretation, was proposed to the GA by the same John Knox Presbytery that examined and approved Anderson.
The presbytery vote moves Anderson into the final year-long stage of the ordination process. He currently serves as executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches. He told the Outlook that he hopes the presbytery will validate that position as an ordainable call and ordain him as a minister of Word and Sacrament in November 2009. The presbytery’s Committee on Preparation for Ministry is not requiring him to retake the denomination’s ordination exams.
If he is ordained, Anderson said he plans to continue with the Wisconsin council for about five years and then seek a call in a parish setting. He said he believes that there are between 200 to 300 congregations in the country where his gifts and talents would be a good fit.
Grant M. VanderVelden is a seminary student at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary and an inquirer under care of the Presbytery of Milwaukee. He served as a seminary advisory delegate to the 218th General Assembly.
