INTEGRITY

GAY EPISCOPAL FORUM

c Integrity 1976   ISSN: 0095-2184

Vol. 2  No. 7   May 1976

 

INTEGRITY:  GAY EPISCOPAL FORUM is the official newsletter of Integrity, Inc., a nonprofit religious, charitable, educational, and literary organization of Gay Episcopalians and our friends.  Editorial offices are maintained at 701 Orange Street, No. 6, Fort Valley, GA 31030.  Subscriptions and all business matters are received at INTEGRITY, P.O. Box 2516, Chicago, IL 60690.  Signed articles represent the views of the contributors.  The editors reserve the right to revise all sexist language.  Copyright 1976 by Integrity, Inc.  10 issues/$10, including membership, unless otherwise requested.  Add $1 for all subscriptions that require plain envelopes.  Couple rates are $13 for one newsletter.  Copies of earlier numbers, when available, are $2.50.  Volume 1 is out of print.

 

Editor-in-Chief............................ Louie Crew, Ph.D.

Business Editor............................... David Williams

National President.............................. Jim Wickliff

National Vice President.............................. Dan Fee

National Executive Secretary....................... Bob Diehm

 

Trustees:     Ernest Clay, Louie Crew, Julie Peterson,

              The Rev. Richard Younge

 

Consultants:The Rev. Malcolm Boyd, The Rev. Robert W. Cromey, The Rev. Norman Pittenger

 

A PSALM FOR US

 

For one day in your courts is better than a thou­sand

     in my own room, and to stand at the

     threshold of the house of my God than to dwell

     in the tents of the wicked.

For the Lord God is both sun and shield; he will

     give grace and glory;

No good thing will the Lord withhold from those

     who walk with integrity.

O Lord of hosts, happy are they who put their trust

in you!                       (Psalms 84:9-12)

 

MALCOLM BOYD WILL KEYNOTE OUR CONVENTION

 

San Francisco.  Fr. Malcolm Boyd will be the keynote speaker at our second annual convention here on August 5-8, 1976.  Fr. Boyd, who has served as our consultant from February this year, is nationally known as an author and speaker on the Christian faith, particularly on its presentation in contemporary terms.

 

Fr. Boyd said in accepting INTEGRITY's invitation:  "Speaking at the convention would represent my first comprehensive statement about the Gay condition and experience -- this after having spoken in the past con­cerning the Black condition and experience, the libera­tion of women in the Church and society, and liberation from war.  Indeed, I am now ready to make this state­ment, and I want to do so."

 

Other speakers at the convention will be The Rev. Laud Humphreys, Professor of Sociology at the Clare­mont Colleges in southern California and author of Out of the Closets: The Sociology of Homosexual Liber­ation, The Very Rev. Dr. Clinton Jones of Christ Cathedral, Hartford, CT, and author of Homosexuality and Counseling, and many other persons of distinc­tion.

 

Convention meetings will be held at historic Trini­ty Church, organized in 1849 as the first Episcopal Church west of the Rockies and honored as "Mother Church of the Pacific Coast."

 

A preliminary program with details is included with this issue.  For more information contact INTEGRITY/ San Francisco, P.0. Box 6444, San Jose, CA 95150.

 

POSSIBLE OPEN FORUM AT GENERAL CONVENTION

 

Minneapolis.  Richard York (745 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215), political coordinator for our committee for General Convention, has requested the Executive Office to arrange an "open hearing" for the discussion of resolutions relating to Gay people being brought to the Convention via the Joint Commis­sion on the Church in Human Affairs.

 

Those resolutions will be published in their final form early in the summer.

 

Such an open hearing would give members of Inte­grity and other interested people an opportunity to have some official input at Convention within the regu­lar procedures of Convention.

 

Interested persons should contact either Richard York or The Rev. Ronald Wesner, overall coordinator for our INTEGRITY witness at General Convention (5014 Willows Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19143). Finan­cial contributions are most urgently needed.

 

CHICAGO TO THE RESCUE

 

The Chicago chapter has come to the rescue by assum­ing responsibility for the printing and distribution of Forum.  The Chapter will also process subscriptions.

 

Mr. David Williams, convenor in Chicago, joins thereby Louie Crew as an editor.

 

Previously the entire operation has been done at the Fort Valley office.  With over 650 regular mailings, this had become an impossible task for one person.

 

Dr. Crew has also asked INTEGRITY's executive committee to search for a new editor-in-chief to bring innovations to the publication.  Persons in­terested in the assignment should send resumes and letters their ideas about how they would view this assignment to our president, Jim Wickliff, P.0. Box 28424, Central Station, Washington, DC 20005.

 

Meanwhile, Forum continues to need the support of all members, with contributions in writing and in dollars.

 

AROUND OUR DIOCESES

 

ATLANTA  The diocesan commission on human sexuality has had several preliminary meetings, with input from commission member Dr. Ara Dostourian, who is also a co-convenor for our Atlanta chapter.  The chapter is small, but growing, meeting on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month at St. Bartholomew's at 7:30 p.m..

 

In Fort Valley, the television ministry continues with chapter convenor Louie Crew's regular appearance on the NBC local affiliate's program "With Middle Georgia's Ministers."  On a recent segment his colleagues, fundamentalists all, left the questions sent in by the audience to attack him heatedly as "one of the seducing spirits."  He was talking about God's indiscriminate love.

 

CHICAGO  On 21st April Fr. Grant Gallup took part in a panel discussion arranged by David Blix, a presbyterian divinity student, at a meeting of 70 faculty members and students at the University of Chicago Divinity School.  The panel discussed "The Emergence of Gay Religious Groups," with spokesper­sons also from MCC, DIGNITY, and Lutherans Concerned for Gay People.

 

On 27th April Fr. Gallup and Convenor David Williams addressed a class in social ethics at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary.  The class is taught by Dr. Paul Elmen, Chairperson of the Bishop's Advisory Commission on Social Concerns.

 

CONNECTICUT  One of our youngest chapters, INTEGRITY/Hartford is already drawing crowds of over 35 at regular meetings.  Recently the chapter received member Sandy into the "fellowship of Christ's Church" at a service of Holy Baptism.

 

LOS ANGELES  On April 27th the chapter had a dinner and reception for guest The Rt. Rev. Robert C. Rusack, celebrant and preacher. May events will include programs on "Cinco de May," "Gay Self-Esteem: Who Is the Enemy?" "Homosexual Heroes: Celebrating Our Ancestors," and "World Hunger."  On June 1st there will be a Low Requiem Mass for All Departed Relatives and Friends of Members of INTEGRITY/Los Angeles .

 

NORTH CAROLINA  The Rev. Thomas B. Woodward, Episcopal Chaplain at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill (Chapel of the Cross), has written that he has "a sizable Gay community affiliated with the Episcopal Church here," and they are contemplating beginning a chapter.  Persons interested in participating are urged to contact Fr. Woodward.

 

NEW YORK  In addition to weekly Mass, programs for May include a presentation on Christopher Street Liberation Day, 1976; a visit from Patricia Nell Warren, author of The Front Runner; a visit from Louie Crew, our founder, who will discuss our second convention forthcoming in San Francisco; and a special toast to the Feast of the Ascension.

 

Our NYC chapter is also publishing The New Anglican Gradual, described elsewhere in this issue, an important addition to every priest's working library.

 

PENNSYLVANIA  Co-convenor The Rev. Ronald Wesner, has been asked to return to his alma mater, Earlham College, in Indiana, as the guest of the campus Gay Students Association for a week, more or less quean in residence.

 

INTEGRITY/Philadelphia continues to draw weekly crowds of 40+ at St. Mary's on the Penn campus .

 

SAN DIEGO  The Rt. Rev. Robert M. Wolterstorff has given his permission for INTEGRITY meetings, but only without Eucharists, ostensibly to prevent segregation of homosexuals in the Church.  Of course, as nearby Los Angeles Convenor Dick Sheppard has rightly observed, there is no such thing as an "INTEGRITY Eucharist."  All of our Masses are open to everyone and most are attended by our nonGay friends as well.

 

ROCHESTER  Convenor The Rev. Walt Szymanski has announced that regular meetings are now occurring for a joint chapter of INTEGRITY and DIGNITY here in Rochester, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church.  Interested persons are urged to partici­pate.

 

VIRGINIA  In March The Rt. Rev. Robert B. Hall, Bishop of Virginia, met very cordially with Dr. Louie Crew.  In their discussion, Bishop Hall spoke very supportively of those in Richmond who are trying to organize a chapter of INTEGRITY, perhaps in conjunction with a small DIGNITY group as well.  Also on this occasion Dr. Crew met with The Rev. Ben Campbell, editor of the award-winning Virginia Churchman, who plans to publish the interview therein at a later date.

 

WASHINGTON  Our chapter continues to meet weekly here at the Church of the Epiphany.  Much strong support has been forthcoming for us from other Gay and/or Christian groups in Washington, and our members in the area not already active in chapter events are urged to support this important effort .

 

                    ----------------------

 

Editor's Note:  Many of our chapters are now publish­ing very impressive newsletters of their own, and this reporting of activities is unfortunately very abbreviated, with omissions of the activities of many chapters, as listed on the back page.  You are urged to become involved locally, even if that means an occasional ride of 200-300 miles.  We need each other.

 

SISTER IN JAIL

 

Lexington, KY.  Open Lesbian Jill Raymond has not been indicted or accused of any criminal activity; yet March 8th marked the first anniversary of her detention here, for her failure to answer questions of a Grand Jury and the FBI about her private life.

 

The Establishment refuses even to place her in a federal prison here which is equipped to handle women prisoners; and as a federal prisoner herself she remains in a county detention center, one of several places to which she has been moved, without access to sunlight and fresh air.

 

When Janet Cooper (see her article in Forum [August 1975]) visited Ms. Raymond in March, Ms. Raymond said:

 

"I was not ready for the jailers when they came for me a year ago.  I had only a carton of cigarettes, a change of clothes, and lots of fear.  Now a year later, I have a carton of cigarettes, a change of clothes, and still, lots of fear."

 

Persons who want to contribute to her Defense Fund are urged to do so by contacting Professor Dolores Noll, Department of English, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44240.  In a bizarre way Kentucky justice will let her send out for pizza and buy those cartons of cigarettes.  She also likes to sew and can use supplies.

 

AW RIGHT! OF COURSE THEY'RE NOT

 

NYC.  Dr. Bruce Voeller on behalf of the National Gay Task Force has released the following statement:

 

"We wish to state categorically that to the best of our knowledge and information neither Pope Paul VI, Richard M. Nixon, Bebe Rebozo, Henry Kissinger, Scoop Jackson, nor J. Edgar Hoover are or were at any time practicing homosexuals.  It is our fervent hope that our information is correct."

 

THE REV. CARTER HEYWARD ON THE CHURCH'S PASSION

 

NYC.  The Rev. Carter Heyward called for "a return to a life of passion, within or without the Church as we know it" in her address here at a symposium on "Gays and the Religious Community" sponsored here in March by the National Gay Task Force .

 

The Rev. Ms. Heyward is a professor at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge.

 

Ms. Heyward assailed the Church as a "passionless institution" preferring to make women and homosexuals its victims, and by so doing, she argued, the Church has lost touch with "Jesus the Passionate" and with the Intimacy of Christ's ministry.

 

A GAY CHRISTIAN HAPPENING IN ENGLAND

 

Durham, ENGLAND.  The Student Christian Movement of Britain and Ireland held here a weekend happening on the theme "Towards a Theology of Gay Liberation."

 

Contributors included Jim Cotter, Chaplain at Caius College, Cambridge and secretary of the Gay Christian Movement; Giles Hibbert, one-time head of the Dominican theological college, Blackfriars, Oxford; The Rev. Malcolm Johnson, Rector of St. Botolph's, Aldgate in London; and The Rev. Michael Day, chaplain of the Royal College of Art and member of the Church of England Working Party on Homosexual­ity .

 

Further details can be had from the organizing secretary, Malcolm Macourt, 12 Mavin Street, Durham City, DH1 3AU, ENGLAND.

 

                         ------------

 

Street scene in Washington, DC's new Gay directory, Just out:

 

An attractive quean is carrying a sign saying:  Is the pope upset because we wear prettier dresses?

 

                         ------------

 

BIVINS COMMENTS

 

Bert Bivins

 

Concerned Citizens League on Public Awareness

 

At Fort Valley State College I've had the chance to meet lots of people.  People with a variety of ideas and concepts about life, religion, and politics.  Some seem to believe in tyranny, as long as they have the right to be tyrant.  I have never been impressed with people who believe in tyranny or tyrants.  I am impressed by people who believe in helping their fellow-man, and treating all people with equality and justice.

 

I have met many people who fit in the last category.  One of them I met one day while sitting and talking with several persons in a conversation which was general in nature.  By the time I left that table, I still didn't know him but I was impressed with his general humanitarian attitude toward life.

 

Several weeks after that, I saw that man's picture in the paper, along with his name -- Dr. Louie Crew.  I also learned that he was an admitted homosexual.  Within a month of the time I saw the picture in the paper, there was another article stating that the officials of the church he has been attending had all but asked him not to attend services there anymore.  Most of us will tend to agree with those church officials.  We are conditioned by society, and the teachings of the church, to believe it is wrong to be a homosexual.

 

I would like to think though, that in making and supporting such decisions, we never forget some basic facts.

 

Dr. Crew is white.  The church which took down the welcome mat is a predominantly black church.  We should not forget that Black churches were organized because white churches took down the welcome mat.  They took it down because we were different than the officials of the white church.

 

We should perhaps, take note of our over-all sense of moral values.  What do we do about others who break traditional church rules?  What do we do about those who gamble and cheat?  What do we do about those who make love to someone else's husband or wife?  How about those who get drunk?  How about un-wed fathers and mothers?  Let us make a decision, church.  Are we going to enforce the rules or not?  What are we going to do about people who mistreat other people?  What are we going to do about people who refuse to help people.

 

     Page 12 - The Macon Courier, Wednesday, April 28, 1976

 

A MASS AGAINST VIOLENCE

 

NYC.  DIGNITY/NYC held "A Mass against Violence" here in the wake of tension after four chapter members had fallen victim to muggers on the City's streets at night.  The four events were isolated episodes.

 

Recently in Boston our member Dick York was mugged in broad daylight on the Common while he was enroute to visit the Bishop-Elect of Massachusetts about local INTEGRITY business.

 

We are all urged to pray for a return of a loving peace nd full employment for every person.

 

GAY EVANGELICALS

 

Washington, DC.  Meeting here in late winter Evangel­icals Concerned formed as an educational task force for ministry with homosexuals and their families and churches.

 

The meeting was called by Dr. Ralph Blair, Director of The Homosexual Community Counseling Center in NYC and a member of the National Association of Evangelicals.

 

Brad Wilson, a Gay social worker and an ordained mini­ster in the Church of God was named Executive Director.

 

The statement of faith of the new organization is the same as that of NAE.

 

Further information can be had from Evangelicals Concerned, Box 331299, Miami, FL 33133.

 

                          -----------

 

Overheard in New Orleans:  A priest tells a mother that the only way to cure her homosexual son is constantly to embarrass him.

 

GAY ACTION AMONG UNITARIANS

 

By John Kyper

 

BOSTON ‑‑ Recently the Unitarian Universalist Association's Office of Gay Concerns celebrated its first birthday.  The OGC is the first (and only) gay office established within a religious denomination, at the UUA's Boston headquarters.  Arlie Scott has  been its director since January, 1975.

 

The Office was a product of several years of organizing by the denomina­tion's Gay Caucus and their friends.  Finally, by the time of the 1973 UUA General Assembly, in Toronto, they were able to obtain authorization for OGC ‑‑ however, not its funding.  The following year's General Assembly, in New York during Gay Pride Week committed itself, and in October, 1974, the Board of Trustees approved funding by a 12-11 vote.

 

Before the OGC was established, members of the Gay Caucus interviewed candidates for director and made recommendations to the de­nomination.  Arlie Scott of Los Angeles and the National Organization for Women was hired.  She has had two assistants: John Casten and, since January, Ken Sanchez.

 

In an annual report of goals and activities to the Trustees, Scott stated that the "Office for Gay Concerns was established as an education and social action office to work within the denomination and in society at large to help eliminate discrimination and pre­judice against gays politically, socially, and economically."  She saw four areas of operation:  within the UUA, within the religious community, community activities, and social action.

 

 

Scott remarked that the Trustees "seemed pleased" with her report.  At their January meeting they voted funding to mid-1977, by a 16-9 vote.

 

Scott remarked that the recent Boston Globe article stating that the office was in "imminent danger" was "inaccurate."  Support for the Office has increased, but the opposition has solidified. Debate continues in the pages of the denominational news­paper, the World.  A recent letter to the editor charged that "the UUA has been done in by racial pressure groups, gay advocates, etc. ‑‑ groups with axes to grind for chopping away at the institutions they hold captive.  Perhaps our church is lost as an advocate of religious liberty, since it is identified with activities far out from our position of religious liberalism.  Taking freedom from one to give to another is not a noble act; neither is putting one group in positions of power to lord it over others as we seem to be doing."  Then there is the accusation that the office is "radical chic."

 

Opponents of the Office, unsuccess­ful in their attempts to have it abolished, now advocate that it be broadened to cover all social concerns, but on its present budget.  Supporters reply that the proposal would result in spreading the Office too thin. (In the past there had been an entire depart­ment devoted to social concerns, but it was a casualty of budget cutbacks in the early 1970s.)  As it is now, the Director has more speaking invitations than she alone can handle.

 

One of the most supportive members of the Board of Trustees is Edna Griffin, a 70 year old black woman from Des Moines:  "The program is for all of us.  It deals with the last and most rigid taboo in our culture.  Let's deal with it openly."

 

              From Gay Community News

 

GAY PRESBYTERIAN PREACHER PROTESTS

 

CHICAGO‑‑The Rev. David B. Sindt, National Coordinator of the Presbyterian Gay Caucus, has filed a formal complaint with the National General Assembly of the United Pres­byterian Church against the Presbytery of Chicago, for placing him on "in­active status," and denying him "ecclesiastical recognition for his work as a minister."

 

The Rev. Sindt cites this action as "arbitrary and prejudicial," especially since he had gotten permission to "labor outside the bounds of the presbytery" in June 1975.  In Novem­ber however, this permission was rescinded but no reason was given.  Church law requires that a reason be given.

 

Last February, the Chicago Presby­tery said its November action was because it could "see no grounds for Rev. Sindt ... to labor in a volunteer position with an organization (Presbyterian Gay Caucus) which has no ecclesiastical status or recognition."  Rev. Sindt counters that the same might be said of such ministries as sightless piano tuner and teacher of Islamic studies at the American Uni­versity of Cairo Egypt, both authorized and permitted by the same Chicago Presbytery.

 

Members of the ruling body (Ses­sion) of the church at which the Rev Sindt worships supported his com­plaint, stating it "deplored the tend­ency to treat the homosexual commun­ity as outcasts and affirms the respon­sibility of the church to minister to this definite minority."  The Session of the church where his parents worship also affirmed its support in a letter to him March 30, pointing out that "It seems to us that the real issue involved is not the kind of work you are engaged in, but rather your homosexuality."

 

              From Gay Community News

 

AT LEAST LET US CAMP, PLEASE!

 

Philadelphia.  About 65 people attended a special session of the American Camping Association meeting here in March, to discuss Gay concerns in camping.

 

One ACA member who had planned to come out to the group sent a very moving letter, read by activist Barbara Gittings, stating why she could not thus jeopardize herself.

 

EDITORIAL:

 

A GAY PSALM FROM FORT VALLEY   l.c.

 

Oh Lord, we call to you from our apartment

Because we are not welcome at the church hall.

Hear us and help us with this terrible fear.

Do not freeze our hurt into false smiles.

Deliver us from countenancing in ourselves the

  rumors our enemies believe and spread about us.

Help our enemies to come to terms with that in

  themselves which they project upon us.

Turn their evil into good, oh Lord.

Make of their children's spit on our faces

  a salve for healing the pains they have inflicted.

Be miraculous, Lord!

Do not fear to show your glory on the side of

  your children.

 

Why have our accusers refused even to hear us?

How can your Church tolerate spiritual lynchings?

Deliver us from vigilantes, oh God.

 

How they hiss against us,

Gossiping on their telephones all the day long;

One of their most articulate ones drives his car

  to house after house, peddling a vestry's

  hateful petition to ask us to leave:

What does he think as the remnant of your

  loving people bid him to turn away,

  to knock at other doors?

Is he ready to be judged with that judgment

  which he has meted to us?  Help him, Lord.

 

Why do you allow the proud to turn your house

  of prayer into a court house?

Why do you allow your priests to bully us,

  to insult us, to spread lies about us in

  their councils, and yet to ignore us

  when we are sick, or in danger, on in need?

Why have you allowed your house to become a

  temple of self-righteousness rather than

  a house of honest sinners?

 

About ourselves we have spoken the truth in love, Lord,

And the keepers of the Church have turned us away.

Were we to debauch ourselves with hypocrisies

  and in secret to be consumed in anonymous

  lust, they would honor us, Lord, and

  welcome us as like unto themselves;

But they have hated us for loving responsibly and

  openly. They ride by our apartment with orgies

  in their heads while we cook supper

  and wash dishes together.

 

Heal this sick town, oh Lord.

You promised that the meek will inherit the earth,

  that with Christ we are joint heirs of your

  everlasting kingdom.

Strengthen us with a sense of our divine

  sonship as your Children. By your power,

  ready us for our witness:

 

"It is not ourselves that we proclaim:

We proclaim Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as

  your servants, for Jesus's sake.

For the same God who said, 'Out of darkness,

  let light shine' has caused his light

  to shine within us!  to give the light

  of revelation--the revelation of the glory

  of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor.4:5-6).

 

RT. REV.  GEORGE M. MURRAY

 

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

 

Most of us accept this second part of the Great Commandment willingly and gladly, though we know how difficult it is to obey.  We at lease acknowledge its claim on us.  We try to care, actively and lovingly, for all other people, regardless of their shortcomings and sins, and regardless of whether we happen to like their looks or their personalities.

 

It is indeed a difficult Commandment.  We have to try to love thieves and adulterers and even murderers, as our Lord showed us how to do.  He ministered caringly to the woman taken in adultery, to a thief who hung beside him on a cross, and even to those who were putting him to death.

 

Recently I had a new test of my obedience to this Commandment.  I am serving during the current three years as Chairman of the General Convention's Joint Commission on the Church in Human Affairs.  Last fall the House of Bishops asked the Commission to take up, and make recommendations to General Convention on the subject of The Church and Homosexual People.  And they asked that we begin by establishing actual dialogue with Episcopalians who are homosexual.

 

Needless to say, I did not welcome the assignment.  But the Commission accepted it, and has begun work on it.  In the process, I have learned some things.  I knew that the American Psychiatric Association no longer lists homosexuality as a treatable illness.  Apparently between 5 percent and 10 percent of the population is made up of people who, as they mature, find that their primary affectional and sexual attraction is toward persons of their own sex.  The cause is uncertain.  But psychiatry has had very little success in changing sexual orientation, unless the case is borderline and the person wants to change.  Many find that they simply have no honest desire to change in that respect, and cannot muster any will to change.

 

The people with whom we talked are not asking for the right to be promiscuous, or the right to seduce children.  They are asking for understanding.  They claim not to be violent by nature, or promiscuous, or seductive.  They ask us to study what facts and statistics are available, to learn that they can exercise self-control and be responsible.  They ask us to learn of the creative contributions many of them have made to society.  They ask not to be condemned and hunted and entrapped because of their condition in life, as long as they control and behave themselves.  They ask not to be denied employment for which they are qualified.

 

Of the Church, specifically, they ask to be accepted in their own churches, rather than being driven to form separate congregations.  They ask to be ministered to as other people are.  They ask the Church to try to understand their problem, and to help society understand their problem.  They ask us to help in the repeal of oppressive police tactics.

 

We in the Commission are studying the problem, and praying about it.  We do not know what we should or will recommend to the General Convention.  But I would appreciate your prayers for me and for the Commission as we try to complete our assignment in a responsible and Christian manner.

 

Reprinted with Bishop Murray's permission from his diocesan Central Gulf Coast/Line, VI, no. 1 (Lent 1976)

 

Religious Strategies

 

"OPPRESSED MINORITY" IS ONLY ONE TACTIC;

"SEXUAL REVOLUTION" IS ANOTHER APPROACH

 

by Robert Herrick

 

As more and more church groups attempt to deal constructively with the gay issue, I wanted to share with you some of the patterns which have emerged from meetings at the regional and local level.  I want to be clear that I am writing not so much about local Church groups which still respond best to an openly gay person speaking from her/his experience backed up by the local pastor who gives the re­vised Biblical thinking and the support of new denominational statements.  Rather this has more to do with groupings of pas­tors and clergy, church boards and executives.

 

Such gatherings have taken on an al­most ritual quality.  First a senior minister states the problem, "Gays are surfacing everywhere and what are we going to do?"   Next a distinguished layperson usually a psychiatrist states that bishops and clergy can no longer pass gays to psychiatrists because "gays aren't sick anymore."  Then a Biblical scholar gives a carefully guarded exegesis or explanation of Genesis, Leviticus and St. Paul.  The scholar is careful not so much because he or she isn't sure of the facts but rather because he/she knows there is usually a feisty conservative parson in the house who will badger him it he or she is too enthusiastic.

 

Now this is a perfectly good scheme and certainly gets people to the point, "Where do we go from here?"  Usually that means a slightly more enlightened person who will do a better job in counseling or preaching related to gays.  Or it may mean a study group or task force will be set up to make recommendations to the synod or presby­tery on how to "deal with gay ministers."  All too often not much is planned as follow-up because folks are so happy they finally discussed the issue, follow-up doesn't seem important.

 

In reflecting about all this it seems to me that part of the reason for this lack of en­thusiasm has been the result of current tactics.  Following the black civil rights movement which received significant sup­port from religious groups, gays presented themselves and said," We are human, too and we demand our rights as citizens."  Church boards and bodies pass such statements but without a great deal of en­thusiasm.  Somehow the issue remains peripheral.  Gays are perceived as just one more group banging on the door demandi­ng attention and upsetting things.

 

Another tactic to be used puts gays in a different perspective.  It's not just homo­sexuality but sexuality that is anathema in churches.  It's only recently that storks went out of fashion, and sex education in the public schools is still considered to be daring.  If churches aren't responsible at least they have been co-conspirators.  Psychiatry has at least shown the integral part of sex in humanity which fits far better with Christian belief in the unity of bodies and minds than St. Paul's railing against the flesh and the avoidance of sexuality by churches.  Abortion and birth control aren't issues; they're symptoms of sexual avoidance.

 

One of the reasons people seem to be disenchanted with religion is its apparent separation from central life issues of which sexuality is certainly one Church leaders do recognize this and see the sexual re­volution not as a sign of the end but as an opportunity for renewal.  In this context gays are not badgering outsiders but are instead implementors of change and re­newal from within.  Gays not only benefit from ending sex-role stereotyping and sex­ism but are, as well, natural allies of feminists and others seeking the same ends.

 

Reprinted with permission by Fr. Herrick and the National Gay Task Force from It's Time.

 

FORUM

 

At least two priests in the City of Ottawa have been providing a ministry for Gays, Archdeacon Patrick Playfair of St. George's Church and the Rev. Weldy Graham of the Church of St. Alban the Martyr.  I shall send them a photocopy of your publication.

 

              --The Rt. Rev. Wm. Robinson

              Bishop of Ottawa

 

My partner here, John R. King (034729), also desires to become an Episcopalian.  He is locked up on a max wing:  M-2-S-8.  The reason for that is because he had no security on W-Wing in population.  He was not permitted to be on the same wing with me. Other Gay couples are together here; however, we are being discriminated against because of our liberation and Gay rights promotion.

 

              --Bill Dorman, #1011252

              Cell Number K-2-N-5

              P.0. Box 747

              Starke, FL 32091

 

(Re: The Texas decision to proscribe het sins as well as Gayness as a sin [Forum for March 1976, p. 2])

You undoubtedly know that the standard exegesis of Galatians 3: 19-21 is that the list is St. Paul's des­cription of mankind in his fallen state.  In other words, we are all, as fallen beings, guilty of the ways of the flesh listed by Paul.  It would seem therefore that the Diocese of Texas would hope for very high standards indeed in those ordained to the priesthood.  Probably General Convention will not wish to impose such high standards on the Church, but as for the Diocese of Texas ... well we can only wonder where they expect to find candidates for the priest­hood.  I wonder whether St. Michael, et al. would be interested.  The Diocese of Texas prides itself in having one of the highest starting salaries for deacons and we all know you get what you pay for.

 

              --Adam and Eden Striker

              Austin, TX

 

A few random thoughts generated by your March 76 editorial:

 

INTEGRITY in its chapter meetings has gone a long way toward providing settings where, indeed, we need not be ashamed of a sister or brother.  But such meet­ings are only a part of the world-in-which-we-become; it would take a Saint (which I am not) not to feel ashamed of a sister or brother in the hallways of the building I work in -- where homophobia is rife.  The comments on a passing queen made by some of my co­workers have only the effect of reinforcing the spea­ker's prejudices.  Because of my grey hair and marriage I can get away with a rejoinder such as, "0, I don't know.  I think he's kind of cute."  Not a thumping witness, to be sure, but the best I can occasionally manage. 

 

I confess that I lose you with "Sometimes the mobility to leave ... can be self-alienating...."  I was brought up (is this self-denial?) to adapt myself to the manners of those about me; not always easy, but an effort to ease the possible uptightness of those to whom I was the stranger.  In fact -- to be concrete -- I left off going to parties with a young black friend because it simply isn't in my nature to "party" in the (unselfconscious?) manner of Tim and his black peers.  I became (or was on the way to becoming) a liability to him.

 

In general I realize, all too painfully, the gap between what we ought to do and what we do do:  too frequently, I have not loved my neighbor as myself.  Too frequently, I have to endure another person whom I can love as I am commanded to love.  Martin Luther King once made the quite real distinction between "loving" and "liking."  And in certain situations I loath some people.  Correct (!):  because they threaten the hell out of me in some circumstances.  Sometimes I "can behave towards [my] co-inhabitors as towards Children of God."  Sometimes, mea culpa, I can't.

 

Your last paragraph, "The Good Queer," caught my preacher's eye. As a Congregational Deacon, I occasion­ally take services for my father-in-law.  His parish is small, conservative, not overtly fundamentalist but certainly evangelical.  I played with the fantasy of preaching a sermon on the parable of the Good Queer to those folks and broke myself up watching, ln my mind's eye, the reaction.

 

But it is a striking example of the radical (for which read "meaningful for today") interpretation of scripture required to bring the Gospel home to many of today's pagans (and Christians). Thank you for the insight!

 

God's peace be with you and Ernest and with us all.

 

              --Fritz

 

I know nothing of your local situation, but grieve for you that the vestry and priest of your parish have acted with such rejection.

 

Be sure of my prayers and of the Lord's love!  I know the cause to be an anxious road for those of us within as well as those outside.  Peace.

 

              --Web

 

I was horrified to read of the abuse you have received at the hands of your local police.  I admire your courage in continuing your fine work in such an hostile environment and only pray that the hearts of those who presecute you might be enlightened.

 

              --Dana

 

Our faggot prayers arise for you daily.

 

              --Ron

 

Sorry you are being martyred, but that's what happened to historical heretics.  Warm good wishes.

            

              --Edna Ruth

 

I am really afraid for you and Ernest.  I wish I could offer some practical help, but I can't.  My prayers are with you.  Is there no way you can get out of that dreadful town?

 

Did you see The Anglican Digest for the first quarter?  I became so angry I tore mine up, but there were at least two nasty things about us in there.  I hope they're deluged with bookmark orders.

 

              --Dave

 

I request and demand that you do not use my name and address as a repository for your "garbage."

 

              --Dr. Clyde Harvey, Chair

              Department of Sociology

              Fort Valley State College

              Fort Valley, GA 31030

 

Forum is so very much help to me, particularly as I am struggling to "work out" a mode of conduct and behavior for myself that I feel consistent with my Christian beliefs.  INTEGRITY's increasing con­cern with this matter is so much needed and appre­ciated by me! May God be with you in your conti­nued "trials" with the local townpeople.

 

              --John

 

I am an Episcopalian who is proud of your effort.  Thanks from all of us who love the Church and want to be ourselves before God and with God.

 

              --Frank

 

As an ex-bisexual, I feel that the Lord led you to write to me.  When I gave my life to Jesus, that meant I also submitted to the written word of God, not just the Incarnate Word, but also the Bible.  I praise the Lord every day for the healings that I did not de­serve nor ever could deserve.  Jesus loves you, and I love you, and we both ask you to turn away from your sins.  I'm fairly certain you're somewhat aware of the verses ln the Bible which specifically con­demn homosexuality, just as I'm aware of the worldly and fleshly arguments which support it.  What it really comes down to is whether or not you are willing to believe the Bible is the Word of God....

 

              Phil Silva

              Praise the Lord Press

 

AN INSIDE VIEW OF FEDERAL REHABILITATION

 

As a federal prisoner in the Federal Mind Control Center, known also as Behavior Modification Unit, I would like to make aware the need for the men here, viz., the need to be counseled by representatives of the Church and the right to worship in the faith of our choice.  The cry of the men in this demoralizing lockup is for the right to see the chaplain or a min­ister, yet we see the representatives of God deny us that right.  The men locked up here are all varieties and races and faiths.  Many are locked up due to our political beliefs and ideas, and later for attempting to organize prisoners, particularly Gay prisoners, to seek our rights.

 

The government has seen fit to keep us in long-term lockup in I and H units of the Mind Control Center of the Federal System.  We are denied regular treatment and denied regular food and access to the commissary, to self-help programs, and to any proper medical treatment.  We are kept 23 hrs. a day in small cells.  Many try to commit suicide under these pres­sures.  Some have been kept in this extreme situation for months, even years, as a brainwash tactic.  Other­wise we are ineligible for "rewards" such as reading material, phone calls, and the like.

 

Assaults, beatings and injuries occur regularly and some are forced into boxcar cells in H unit, a cell sealed off from all communications, air, light, even sound.  Death has occurred in several cases.  The demoralizing effect on human beings in being treated like this can only tell why there is little hope for preparing to return to society and families again with any respect or faith in the system that thus tries to kill us.

 

Fr. Vinson, chaplain here, has denied every type of request to the men in lockup and even refuses to hold services or prayers.  The coldness towards the men who need help and faith is only part of a system.  God is for all of us, and yet reasonably to think that we cannot be given blessings and prayers is only proof of a sick program.  Fr. Vincent is ignoring the fact that turning one's back on the people in need is an insult to God himself.  Even religious material is often denied as officials take it upon themselves to be censors instead of keepers.  We have all made our mistakes against the system, yet to pay more than our share of punishment can only do more harm and hurt.

 

I have always defined the meaning of love as a unity and as an ability to share the knowledge of that love with all people, rich or poor.

 

To help each other we must unite with prayers and try to make officials aware of our needs as God's children.  Our Savior was crucified for us all and he opposed the corrupt system.  He would do so again today.

 

I reach out to all of you to help to end these types of injustices in the dehumanizing process at work in our U.S. Bureau of Prisons.  I request your letters and prayers, particularly letters addressed to Father Vincent, Chaplain of U.S. Prison, Marion, IL 62959, and to Warden Charles Fenton, P.0. Box 1000, U.S. Prison, Marion, IL 62529.

 

              --by John Gibbs, 86976-132, P.0. Box 1000,

              U.S. Prison. Marion, IL 62959

 

RELIGION IN GAY LIFE

by Tom Peters, Religion Editor

 

Gays and lesbians no longer tolerate the traditional lack of under­standing of them by the churches The teenagers and the lonely who masturbate (for lack of any other sexual release) find it hard to forgive condemnation from others who have undoubtedly used the very same means of release at some time themselves.  The young couple that can­not afford a child (in a world which cannot afford more children) no longer heed the call not to practice birth control.

 

Judgment by the churches of the sex acts of others is of the Pharisees it does not flow forth from love.  In fact it is unhealthy for it is really nothing more than a preoccupation with the other person's crotch.  It was decried by Christ (but alas cried out for by St. Paul).  St. Paul said that if our brother or sister is wanton you should avoid that person.  Christ himself was criticized for hanging out with "sinners."  He had to come to his own defense by saying that the sinner was the one who needed his message.

 

Yet that was not the whole truth.  It was not that they were sinners that caused him to associate with them but because they needed to learn to understand their critics.  He knew that those who criticized had hardened their hearts to love through their condemnation of the different and that his message would fall on deaf ears in their midst.  So he went out to those who would hear him hoping that their critics would eventually hear them.

 

Those who say that they don't go to church because it has nothing o offer them are selfish.  They do no ask themselves what they have to offer the church.

 

Those who say that they don't go to church because it condemns them are cowards.  They do not see how only their own presence among the congregations in greater numbers must eventually alter the minds of the "christian" sexists, that it cannot be done otherwise.

 

Those who say that they don't go to church because they are not religious are a least honest.  If I had to choose an excuse, that is probably the one I would choose.  And it is for the gays and lesbians who are religious to convince their own kind, if that is possible and/or to be desired.

 

The reader will say that I am demanding that you go to church here.  However, until you want to go, if you ever want to, don't! Above all, do not be hypocritical.

 

I would like to speak just now to those who do go, to remind you that you have a mission:  to grow in tolerance of the intolerant as they grow in love of the seemingly unlovely.  Without judging them, learn to unders­tand your critics.  Above all, learn to understand yourself, lest you be your own worst critic.

 

Try to advance the idea that God created you as you are, and his creation is a beautiful thing.  Try to believe that; for, in the long run, his opinion is the only one that matters.  It is not possible to believe that God would create anything other than that which is good, and that because he did create you, you have o be good in his eyes.  Do not disrespect yourself.

 

I would also like to speak to you who do not go to church, temple, synagogue, or what have you.  In an age of freedom, in a country founded on that principle (although miserably failing at it in so many areas), allow the other person to exercise his own freedom, including the freedom of religion.

 

Freedom to be gay and in the Armed Forces; freedom to be joined together in a gay union, or not to be; freedom to be openly gay or les­bian, or not to be; that is the issue.  Freedom to be gay and a churchgoer, or not to be, that is the issue.  Freedom is, after all, founded on mutual respect for the right to choose for yourself.

 

The traditional lack of tolerance of gays and lesbians by the churches is not of freedom, but of bondage.  They would have you be bound to their rules.  It is for us to learn to be bound only by God's rules.  And it was Christ who summed it all up in the greatest of all command­ments:  love one another.  It was St. Augustine who later remarked:  love God and do what you will.  And many have said that you cannot love God unless you also love one another, that the two are inseparable.

 

What God has made, let us not criticize.  What God has joined together, let us not separate.  What God has created, let us love.  Above all, because love does begin at home, love yourself, as you are.  You cannot love one another, and you cannot love God, unless you do.

 

Reprinted with the kind permission of the author from Chicago Gay Life, March 5th, 1976, p. 9.

 

NOTES ON PUBLICATIONS  (l.c.)

 

"Another Christian View of Human Sexuality," a sermon by The Rev. A.L. Kershaw, Emmanuel Church, 15 Newberry, Boston 02116.  Copies are available for a large stamped addressed envelope.  This, like Fr. Dutton's sermon reprinted in this issue, is a Boston attempt to come to terms with some comprehensive sexual issues, this one more broad in scope and more specifically tied into the recent Vatican statement.

 

Feminist Supplement to the 3-Year Ecumenical Lectionary.  The Rev. Cathryn Piccard, 60 Sacramento St., Cambridge, MA 02138, invites proposals for entries which will include female images of God and supplementary lessons and prayers.  She would like passages which treat women in salvation history, passages with attitudes and actions contrary to sex role stereotypes, and passages with a feminist consciousness generally.  First deadline is 29th July 1976.

 

The Gay Alternative will print our vice-president's theological fantasy collage "The Visitors" in its June 1976 issue (#12).  Information can be had from the publication, 232 South Street, Phila, PA.

 

The Male Homosexual in Literature:  A Bibliography.  By Ian Young with essays by Ian Young, Graham Jackson, and Rictor Norton.  251 pp.  $9 from Scarecrow Press, 52 Liberty St., Metuchen, NJ 08840. This is an indispensable tool for all persons interested in a systematic study of Gay literature.

 

In Journeying Often.  Love lyrics by George Hyde, founder and former bishop of the Eucharistic Catholic Church, organized in 1946 as one of the first open and public ministries to and for the homosexual community.  $2 from ORTHO, Box 1273, Anderson, SC 29622.

 

The Ladder, longtime leader of lesbian publications, announces the 2nd Ed. of The Lesbian in Literature, by Gene Damon, Jan Watson, and Robin Jordan, $7 to individuals and $10 to institutions, from Box 5025, Washington Station, Reno, NV 89513.

 

The New Anglican Gradual, forthcoming from INTEGRITY/NYC (see back page), this volume presents in one looseleaf volume all alternatives in both contemporary and King James English.  A liturgical form previously requiring as many as 4 or 5 texts at the altar now can be realized by inserting the appropriate page or pages in the standard looseleaf altar book.  It does not duplicate but supplements the work of other liturgical groups and commissions.  It is expected to be available by summer.

 

The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall.  Scribner's.  $7.95 illustrated.  This for years was the only Gay or Lesbian book in most public libraries.  Major literary figures in England came to the rescue to make possible its original publication in the 20s. We are grateful that Scribner's again puts it into print.

 

A Study of Homosexuality in the Bible.  This is a volume in preparation by The Rev. Tom Horner, author of Sex in the Bible (see our notice in December 1975).  The author is willing to share his preliminary bibliography on this theme with interested students and others for a fee of $1 to cover cost of photocopying and mailing.  He would further welcome input and queries from interes­ted person, 622 Greenwood Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11218.

 

----------------------------

 

Perfect love casts out fear!

 

----------------------------

 

The Man Alone

 

A man has not been given water

For centuries of time

And love pours from his wounds

But is scattered upon rocks.

For no one is brave enough to watch his broken face.

His hands are stretched and taut.

Take him off the cross,

Some Magdalene.

For in a church they worship a sun-haired robot

In his place.

 

              --Laura Dennison

 

The Politics of Relationships, #7

 

We no longer call each other

Out of habit,

And yet we are more than civil

When we chance to meet.

Somewhere between

Lovers and friends

We proceed.

 

              --Barbara Ruth

 

Network Difficulty

 

Do not adjust your sets.

Given enough time, the

Bureaucracy will come on earth

As it is at Second Avenue.

 

              Louie Crew

 

SOME HARD QUESTIONS ON SEXUALITY

 

[Reprinted with Fr. Dutton's permission from The Messenger, at Church of St. John The Evangelist, 35 Bowdoin Street, Boston, MA 02114.]

 

The Vatican document, Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics, promulgated December 29, 1975, has produced considerable fallout.  If nothing else, reaction to the statement has shown that sexuality is a topic much on the minds of Christians these days ‑‑ and that views as disparate as possible are held within the Christian Church.

 

The Roman declaration asserted that human sexuality "has its true meaning and moral rectitude only in true marriage."   Thus, the statement went on, pre­marital sex, homosexuality, and masturbation are wrong ‑‑ they are intrinsically disordered actions.  And while it was on the subject of sin, Rome took the opportunity to knock down the view of many contemporary moral theologian that says mortal sin is not so much an isolated act as it is the exercise of a fun­damental option to turn away from God. Hence, Rome asserted, a single sexual sin can be seriously wrong, regardless of other aspects of the person's spiritual life; thus masturbation is labeled "an intrinsically disordered act."  The statement leaves no doubt about its position:  "A person therefore sins mortally not only when his action comes from direct contempt for love of God and neighbor, but also when he consciously and freely, for whatever rea­son, chooses something which is seriously disordered."

 

Reaction to the Vatican declaration was immediate.  Fr. Charles Curran, probably the leading Roman Catholic ethicist in America, played down its importance and asserted it was condemning a straw man in its section on the "fundamental option" approach to sin.  Theologians who have been striving to build a bridge between the homosexual and the Church were quick to contra­dict the statement's prohibitions and emphasized its expressions of compassion (it says that the subjective seriousness of sins must be judged prudently, even when they are objectively grave, and asserts that "homosexuals must certainly be treated with understanding and sustained in the hope of overcoming their personal difficulties and their inability to fit into society"). Locally there were sermons on the whole issue, the more noteworthy being delivered at the Church or the Advent on January 18 and at Emmanuel Church a week later.  In the former, Fr. Harris Collingwood said that "Sexual purity is not something to snigger at but to strive for."  He went on:  "Paul ‑‑ ancient apostle or present Pope ‑‑ is not old-fashioned in statements on morality.  Both give voice to uni­versal truth."  In the sermon at Emmanuel, on the other hand, Fr. Alvin Ker­shaw argued:  "Sex has other meanings beyond procreation.  If those meanings include accepting our own sexuality as good, and include entrusting our se­xuality to another person, as I to Thou, and receiving the sexuality of another person as Thou to I, then there is an entirely new basis for evaluating the meaning of masturbation, homosexuality and pre-marital sex.  In fact, they no longer make sense as moral categories."  In regard to homosexuality, the con­clusion was drawn:  "It was in light of procreation that homosexuality was called a sin or disorder.  We live now in a different light which reveals to us that such judgments are themselves sinful and disordered."

 

In the two attitudes of the preachers we see reflected the polarization within the Church as a whole, between those who assert the predominant Christian view that sex is permissible only within marriage and those who maintain that changing times and new insights dictate revised attitudes toward sex.  Viewpoints on sexuality and the Christian are manifold:  In the Episcopal Church today, we have Churchmen who believe the scriptural prohibitions of sex outside marriage remain valid and crucial for our own day; at the same time we have Integrity, an organization of gay Episcopalians which wishes to see homosexuals accepted; then we have a surprising number of clergy wishing to commit themselves to a life of celibacy, along with others who have extra­marital relationships, whether homosexual or heterosexual.  Now the Roman Church is experiencing the same diversity:  conservatives protest the views of the liberal theologians, a congregation of gay people is allowed to meet at St. Clement's in the Back Bay, and here and there Roman priests lead an active gay life.  Some Christians see no connection between their sex life and their religion; others accept traditional Christian teaching without equivocation.

 

Are we undergoing the birthpains of a new enlightenment about sexuality?  Or are we seeing the first stages of the collapse of our society?   Are we experiencing the exhilarating liberation of the oppressed, or are we making the way for an orgy of campy decadence and mindless promiscuity?  Though stated in deliberately outrageous opposites, these are in fact questions which Christians ought to be pondering.  These are not theoretical problems which we can debate without emotion ‑‑ we are concerned with real people with real lives to lead who still care what the Church says about their lifestyle.  "Those homosexuals" are not out there somewhere; they are in our churches, they are worshipping at our altars, they are even celebrating our eucharists.  Further, they are in the bars located within our parish, and they search for the same love and companionship sought by all people.  What we say to them cannot be flippant; it ought not to be hateful.

 

Since the Episcopal Church is well known for its numerous gay communicants, let's look specifically at the issue of homosexuality in more detail.

 

What are the options for a homosexual man or woman who wants to be a Christian?  The first option is total abstinence from sexual activity.  This is the Church's constant teaching; it remains the position of the teaching authority of the Roman Church.  There is no question many Christians have successfully followed this way. There is also no question it is a difficult way.  The loneliness  of the celibate life is often overwhelming, and the temptations to fall are numerous.  Without some sort of support in a community (in the monastic life or an arrangement patterned on it), the homosexual Christian's prospects for remaining celibate are slim.  In addition, the non-celibate homosexual makes a valid point:  If God has given us sexuality and if through no fault of our own that sexuality is directed toward persons of the same sex, how can celibacy be required?  Hasn't it got to be a gift freely given to God?  Of course the answer must be yes ‑‑ and we all know many sad cases of people who have not chosen celibacy freely and who become not loving celibates but bitter old maids.

 

The other extreme is the homosexual Christian who is promiscuous sexually.  Of course the Church has never approved of his behavior, but he does not perceive any conflict.  His argument usually has two parts:  First, God is a God of love ‑‑ he is not out to condemn me, and he accepts me as I am.  Second, the permanence of marriage is for heterosexuals, and since I am not heterosexual, I cannot be subject to the same rules they are.  The school of thought that has been called "situation ethics" would accept a limited promiscuity: If there is actually love (not just erotic fascination) in a given relationship, then it is good.  To put it another way, if the two people are relating to each other as loving persons ‑‑ and one is not using the other as a thing ‑‑ then their relationship is good.  On this subject Fr. Kershaw in his sermon offers this warning:  "The abiding sin in all sex as in all relationships is when sex or self is separated from I ‑‑ Thou to I ‑‑ It, when one's own self infatuation reduces another person to an object to be used and manipulated.  This grave sin is as prevalent in marriage and family as it is with single persons."

 

Most homosexual Christians fall somewhere between the extremes of celibacy and promiscuity.  It may not be a marriage relationship they seek (with one in three marriages ending in divorce, heterosexuals are hardly providing ideal role models), but many do want a permanent bond with another person, a total love relation that will usually include sexual expression.  One of the difficulties of such a relationship is the lack of social and religious supports; there is simply not as much to hold a gay couple together during difficult times.  Thus we encounter the homosexual reputation for instability.  It is a fact that there are relatively few homosexual relationships which endure, and whether the causes are entirely societal or stem from problems connected with homosexuality is a question that cannot at present be answered.  Certainly the typical homosexual encounter, which begins with sex and may then move on to something more lasting, is not the ideal prelude to a monogamous, enduring relationship. With nearly all restraints on sexuality gone these days and with people avidly celebrating their emancipation, it does not seem probable a different approach to sexuality will appear in the near future.

What, though, about the morality of permanent homosexual relationships (and those intended to be permanent)?  Of course the traditional attitude (restated in the recent Vatican document) is an absolute prohibition:  "homosexual relations are acts which lack an essential and indispensable finality"; they  "are intrinsically disordered and can in no case be approved."   As a condition for absolution, one must give up all "occasions of sin," and this would obviously include a lover.  Many Christians hold to this view; needless to say, most who do (though not all) are heterosexual.  In the past ten years some moral theolo­gians have begun asking a more tolerant view.  It is possible to follow the thinking of Fr. Charles Curran through several changes.  His latest view is that the sexuality of homosexuals is not something they have chosen but is the result of sin in the world ("many experts trace homosexuality to psychological roots springing from the lack of love in early development").  Thus, in a practical application of the theology of compromise, a relationship is allowed for homosexuals:  "Homosexual acts for such a person, provided there is no harm to other persons, might be the only way in which some degree of humanity and stability can be achieved." Fr. Curran offers a warning that anyone acting in such a compromise situation does not do so with a free and easy conscience, for he is acting contrary to the Christian ideal, which remains heterosexual marriage.  Certainly most people would agree that a relationship is preferable to promiscuity.  Not many theologians would take the next step and permit the "mar­riage" of homosexuals, but one does read of "services of commitment."  What is happening in practice is that whereas the Church officially prohibits such cere­monies, the couple can usually find a minister who will run the risk of performing it.  One of the most striking facts about the current scene ‑‑ one that needs to be taken seriously by the Church ‑‑ is that in the midst of rampant promiscuity and acceptance of almost any sexual practice, more and more homose­xuals are seeking religious sanction for their relationships.  When the Church says no, they turn to separatist sects like the Metropolitan Community Church.

 

Substantial controversy will no doubt arise when Jesuit theologian John McNeill's book on homosexuality appears in the near future.  He argues that the homosexual is so much a part of God's plan for the world that if he or she were to disappear, God's plan would not be fulfilled.  Thus, in a startling reversal of the usual view, homosexuality is "according to God's will rather than contrary to it."  Fr. McNeill points out the absence of a scriptural condemnation of a love relationship between two constitutional (permanent) homosexuals ‑‑ and such a condemnation is absent because "the sacred authors knew nothing about the homosexual condition as such and, therefore, could not pass judgment on it." Roman Catholic theologian Gregory Baum responds: "It is not likely that the Catholic church is about to change its traditional teaching.  He goes on to describe a now-familiar position:  "A realistic strategy, in my view, would be to create a moderate and well-founded minority position in the Cath­olic church."

 

This article is not intended to supply answers to the many issues of Christian sexual morality.  It does hope to raise some further questions that need serious consideration:

 

A basic issue is to what extent we accept the scriptural witness as definitive.  Jesus himself had relatively little to say about sexuality and absolutely nothing about homosexuality, but St.  Paul has quite a lot on the subject, including specific condemnations of homosexuality in several letters (Romans 1:26-27, 1 Co­rinthians 6:9, 1 Timothy 1:10).  Some scripture scholars now assert that Paul was speaking about heterosexuals who had deliberately chosen to perform homosexual acts, not about people who were permanently homosexual.  As Fr. McNeill reminds us, the Church has not previously encountered the situation it faces today, namely, homosexuals who wish to remain homosexual but who also wish to be Christians.

 

If we are not going to permit homosexual relationships between Christians, what will be our attitude toward gay people?  The usual reaction is that homosexuals should go to a psychiatrist in order to become heterosexual.  But can the Church demand such an extraordinary expenditure of time and money (seeing a doctor even once a week can cost about $2,000 a year)?  In addition, the number of "cures" is so small as to cast doubt on the usefulness of treatment; in fact, no one is yet sure of the causes of homosexuality.  Beyond any doubt we should only reject the traditional "cure" for the homosexual ‑‑ that he or she get married.  The wreckage of such marriages is strewn about the Church for all to see.

 

If we are to require sexual abstinence for homosexuals, then what supports will we offer them?  Is the Church willing to approve of houses where a group of gay Christians could live together for the mutual care and friendship that all humans need?  Are we willing to show compassion when a celibate falls from the ideal?   What is to be the Christian's attitude toward gay clergy and religious?  Will we continue to discriminate against unmarried priests in job placement?  We need also to encourage Christians to see what celibacy actually means; it is far too common for people who have vowed to remain chaste to rationalize their vow away, so that they feel free to have sexual encounters.

 

Of those who approve of gay relationships for Christians, we must ask: If such relationships are right, then why not acknowledge them openly ‑‑ in fact why not celebrate them?  What standards of fidelity will we require?  What supports will we provide ‑‑ counseling, social interaction, etc.?  How will we deal with Christians who cannot accept the couple in their congregation?

 

None of these questions admits of a flippant answer, and no matter what attitude we take, serious problems remain.  After twenty years of research in the field of sex, Dr. Wardell B. Pomeroy writes:  "I have seen many homosexuals who were happy, who were participating and conscientious members of their community, and who were stable, productive, warm, relaxed and efficient.  Except for the fact that they were homosexual, they would be considered normal by any definition."  This evidence of a change cannot be dismissed, but for most people homosexuality remains a burden to bear, and the liberated cries of gay activists do not disguise this reality.  Helmut Thielicke has called it "a kind of symptomatic participation in the fate of the fallen world."  From a secular point of view, Joseph Epstein has said it as bluntly as possible:  homosexuals are "condemned to a state of permanent niggerdom among men, their lives, whatever adjustment they might make to their condition, to be lived out as part of the pain of the earth."  Heterosexual Christians need to direct their active concern to the issue of homosexuality, for if the Church is sent to save all people, surely we cannot exclude one group.  And if the Church is sent to minister especially to those who suffer, we need look no further than the nearest gay bar to find great suffering.  At the very least Christians have something constructive to say about freedom and sexuality, about the terrible slavery that sexual licentiousness actually is.

Indeed the whole issue of sexuality is one that must concern Christians.  Like it or not, sex is no longer taboo ‑‑ it is a subject that concerns everyone and permeates the lives of all of us.  If the Church is not to allow the forces of secularism to have their way and cheapen sex so that it becomes nothing more than physical satisfaction, then we must face the issues raised by people today.  We must emphasize the proper use, indeed the sacramental nature, of our God-Given sexuality.  If the Vatican Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics has caused us to take a look at a few of these issues, it has accomplished something of value.

 

                                  ‑‑ (The Rev.) James T. Dutton

 

INTEGRITY - SECOND NATIONAL CONVENTION

August 6-8, 1975    San Francisco, California

 

A G E N D A

 

Thursday - August 5

 

Early registration and housing desks open at Trinity Church.  Meetings of national committees.

 

Friday - August 6

 

 9:00 a.m.    Registration and Housing

10:00         Opening Eucharist

10:45         General Business Meting

 

12:45 p.m.    Lunch

 2:00         Workshops/Panels (1)

 3:30         Workshops/Panels (2)

 5:00         Evening Prayer

 6:30         Social House

 7:00         INTEGRITY Awards Banquet

     Speaker:  Ms. Barbara Gittings, Chairperson, Task Force on Gay Liberation, American Library Association

 9:00         Adjournment

 

Saturday - August 7

 

 9:00 a.m.    Eucharist, Grace Cathedral

          Celebrant:  The Rt. Rev. C. Kilmer Myers, Bishop of California

10:30     Keynote Address:  Hear What the Spirit Is Saying to the Churches

              The Rev. Malcolm Boyd

 

12:30 p.m.    Box lunch and talk-back with Fr. Boyd

 2:30         Workshops/Panels (3)

 4:00         Workshops/Panels (4)

 5:00         Business Meeting

 6:30         Evening Prayer - Adjournment

 

Sunday - August 8

 

A.M.          Free time

 

 1:00 p.m.    Executive Committee Brunch

              Press

P.M.          Committee Meetings

              S.F. Hospitality

 

REGISTRATION FEE

 

$35.00 ($10 in advance, non-refundable; $25 on arrival).  This includes reservations for the Awards Banquet and box lunch on Saturday, plus convention literature.

 

HOUSING

 

Information on hotel and motel accommodations will be available for the delegates.  In addition, members of INTEGRITY/San Francisco, DIGNITY/San Francisco, and MCC/San Francisco have offered housing for out-of-town visitors.  Please indicate your housing preference when registering, as well as your expected arrival and departure dates.

 

TRAVEL

 

We have arranged a discount tour package.  Sample rates:  from New York City, TWA round trip + four nights (Th-Sun) hotel:  $365 single, $339 double; from Chicago, $309 single, $272 double; other cities quoted on request.  For reservations, contact Bob Higgins, Jackson Travel Service, 1829 Polk Street, San Francisco 94109.  Phone:  415-928-2500.  Deadline:  July 15th.

 

We hope to have some money to help with travel costs, and chapters may be able to assist delegates.  Please indicate if help is needed and how much.

 

GENERAL

 

The official meetings of the convention will be on Friday and Saturday at Trinity Church, but there will also be informal meetings elsewhere on Thursday and Sunday.  If possible, plan to be here for the full weekend.  You may also want to stay on after the convention for a San Francisco holiday, and you're welcome.  Let us know in advance and we may be able to help with the planning.

 

CLOTHING

 

"My coldest winter was a summer in San Francisco"--Mark Twain.  Summer temperatures range 50-75 degrees, with an occasional over 80 degree heat wave.  Dress is casual/conservative, but bring a light topcoat or jacket (the fog) and comfortable shoes (the hills).

 

PROPOSED WORKSHOP/PANEL TOPICS

 

There will be four time slots for workshop/panel sessions, with some of the topics listed below.  Please indicate your interest in suggested topics on a scale of 1 (= least interested) to 5    (= most interested) to help us avoid scheduling two popular topics at the same time.  Also, we would welcome suggestions for additional topics, especially on women's concerns.

 

___  AGING AND THE GAY EXPERIENCE

 

Growing old with joy and grace.  The needs of older Gay people and the oppression of ageism.  May-December and December-May relationships.

 

___  CONVENORS' PANEL

 

How to get started back home.  A sharing of past experience with INTEGRITY convenors.

 

___  COUNSELING WITH GAY PERSONS

 

Developing counseling skills and insights to meet the needs of Gay persons.  For professional and peer counselors, Gay and nonGay.

 

___  GAY LIT - A MINI-SURVEY

 

The essential humanity of Gay persons as presented (or obscured) in prose, poetry, and song.

 

___  GENERAL CONVENTION 1976

 

INTEGRITY's presence at General Convention and the report of the Joint Commission on the Church and Human Affairs.

 

___  TRICKS, LOVERS, WORKING ARRANGEMENTS

 

A consideration of some alternatives to celibacy as appropriate expression of Gay sexuality.

 

___  IN DIVERS TIMES AND PLACES

 

An anthropological glance at the Gay experience in other cultures than our own.

 

___  ONE FAITH, ONE LORD

 

Ecumenism and the Gay caucuses and the Metropolitan Community Church.  Developing strategies for working together.

 

___  SODOM AND ST. PAUL

 

Confronting traditional theology and Biblical interpretation which have served as instruments of Gay oppression within the Church.

 

___  UNDER EIGHTEEN

 

Meeting the needs of Gay young people for information, guidance, friendship, and emotional support.

 

___  OTHER SUGGESTIONS

 

     __________________________________________________________

 

     __________________________________________________________

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

REGISTRATION

 

To:  INTEGRITY/San Francisco

     P.O. Box 6444

     San Jose, CA 95150

 

Name ________________________________

 

Address______________________________

 

       ______________________________

 

Arrive ______________________________

 

Depart ______________________________

 

___ $10 registration fee, non-refundable

___ $25 balance enclosed

___ Will pay balance on arrival

 

Housing:

___ Wish to stay with local host

___ Wish hotel/motel information

___ will contact Jackson regarding tour

 

LOCAL CHAPTERS

 

INTEGRITY/ATLANTA.  Co-convenors Dr. Ara Dostourian. (3830 Highway 5, Douglasville, GA 30134; 404-942-­9813) and Steve Matthews, 145 F-6 Peachtree Park Road, Atlanta, GA 30309, 404-351-1943).

INTEGRITY/AUSTIN.  Convenor Adam F. Stricker (Box 14056, Austin, TX 78761).

INTEGRITY/AUSTRALIA.  Convenor The Rev. Ron Dowling, St. George's Church, 4/296 Glenferrie Road, Malvern, Victoria, 3144, Australia.

INTEGRITY/BOSTON.  Convenor Joe McCauley, Box 2582, Boston, MA 02208.

INTEGRITY/CHICAGO.  Convenor David Williams, Box 2516, Chicago, IL 60690.

INTEGRITY/DENVER.  Convenor The Rev. Thomas Dobbs, 1734 Washington Street, Denver, CO 80203.

INTEGRITY/EUGENE.  Convenor Randolph Harrison West, Box 3682 University Station, Eugene, OR 97403.

INTEGRITY/FORT VALLEY.  Convenors Ernest Clay and Louie Crew, 701 Orange Street, No. 6, Fort Valley, GA 31030, 912-825-7287.

INTEGRITY/HARTFORD.  Convenor The Very Rev. C.R. Jones, 45 Church Street, Hartford, CT 06103.

INTEGRITY/JACKSONVILLE.  Convenor Dr. Robert Ragland, 2783 Oak Street, Jacksonville, FL 32205.

INTEGRITY/LANSING.  Convenor Gary Lee Phillips, Box 95, East Lansing, MI 48823.

INTEGRITY/LEXINGTON.  Convenor Philip Mitchum, 435 East Maxwell St., #1, Lexington, KY 40508.

INTEGRITY/LOS ANGELES.  Convenor Dick Sheppard, 4767 Hillsdale Drive, LA, CA 90032.

INTEGRITY/MICHIGAN.  Convenor James Toy, Human Sexuality Advocates, 325 Michigan Union, U-Mi, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.  Also: Michael L. Gowing, 2696 Indian Trail, RR 3, Pinckney, MI 48169.

INTEGRITY/NYC.  Convenors The Rev. Michael G. Koonsman (31 Stuyvesant St., NYC 10003) and David Allen White (23-71 27th Street, Astoria, NY 11105).

INTEGRITY/PHILADELPHIA.  Convenors The Rev. John Lenhardt (4711 Baltimore Ave., Phila. 19143, tele. 726-1089) and The Rev. Ron Wesner (5014 Willows Avenue, Phila., PA 19143).

INTEGRITY/PHOENIX.  Convenor Bob Eff, P.0. Box 27212, Phoenix, AZ 85017.

INTEGRITY/PORTLAND.  P.0. Box 1334, Portland, OR 97207.  Convenor John-Mark Gilhousen, 2015 N.W. Kearney, #101G, Portland, OR 97209, tele. 503-223-4682.

INTEGRITY/PROVIDENCE.  Convenor Edgar F. Staff, Box 71, Annex Station, Providence, RI 02901.

INTEGRITY/ROCHESTER.  Convenor The Rev. Walt Szymanski, 14 Highmanor Drive, Apt. 8, Henrietta, NY.

INTEGRITY/SAN ANTONIO.  Convenor Jim Eggeling, P.O. Box 12260, San Antonio, TX 78212.

INTEGRITY/SAN DIEGO.  Convenors The Rev. H. C. Lazenby, ACSW, 4645 West Talmadge Drive, SD, CA 94117, and Randall Bennett, 402 N. 35th St., SD, CA 92102.

INTEGRITY/SAN FRANCISCO AND BAY AREA.  Co-Convenors Jim Frooks (1256 Page Street, No. 1, SF, CA 94117 415-621-0182) and The Rev. Richard Younge (P.O. Box 6444, San Jose, CA 95150).

INTEGRITY/TORONTO.  Convenor John Gartshore, 20 Berryman Street, Toronto, M5R 1M6, Ontario, CANADA.

INTEGRITY/TWIN CITIES.  Convenor Frank R. Eggers, 26 Arthur Avenue, Box 203, Minneapolis, MN 55414.

INTEGRITY/WASHINGTON, DC.  Temporary convener, our national president Jim Wickliff, P.O. Box 28424, Washington, DC 20005

 

Additional convenors have contacted us about the possibilities of new chapters in the places below.  All queries should be sent to our officer in charge of chapter advisement, President Jim Wickliff, P.O. Box 28424, Washington, DC 20005:  CHAPEL HILL; ENGLAND; HOUSTON; MADISON; MIAMI; MONTANA; NORFOLK; OKLAHOMA CITY; RICHMOND; SEATTLE; TOLEDO; TOPEKA.

 

This ministry is very important.  We need you.  Please write today.  Isn't it time for you to convene a chapter?