Openly gay PUP panel member seeks to become inquirer toward ordination as PCUSA minister
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, November 6, 2006
John Knox Presbytery’s Committee on Preparation for Ministry has unanimously recommended that the presbytery enroll Scott D. Anderson, the only openly homosexual member of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity, as an inquirer on track for ordination as a minister of Word and Sacrament.
Scott D. AndersonAnderson believes the 2006 General Assembly’s approval of the PUP report and authoritative interpretation on ordaining practicing homosexuals opens the door for consideration of his request to be re-ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He says he resigned his ordination as a matter of conscience in 1990 after two members of the congregation he was serving in California “outed” him.
John Knox Presbytery has voted against the denomination’s “fidelity/chastity” ordination requirement in all three national referendums.
The presbytery’s consideration of Anderson’s request is docketed for Nov. 14. “Ordinarily, we would wait till the presbytery meeting to explain such a recommendation,” the Committee on Preparation for Ministry said in a letter to presbytery commissioners. “In Scott’s case, however, we think it is important to inform you ahead of time and to give you the context of our recommendation.”
The committee added, “We are aware that presenting Scott Anderson to presbytery to be enrolled as an inquirer will raise questions that don’t ordinarily arise at this initial stage of the preparation process. We believe we owe you this advance notice, and that it is essential for us to clarify the exact nature of what will be before you as a presbytery.”
Mark Achtemeier and Barbara Wheeler, who served with Anderson on the PUP task force, will address the presbytery on Nov. 13. Like other task force members, Achtemeier and Wheeler have indicated strong support for Anderson.
Achtemeier, a member of the faculty at Dubuque Theological Seminary in Iowa and once considered an ally of evangelicals favoring the prohibition against ordaining practicing homosexuals and adulterers, told John Knox commissioners in November 2004, “I have come to realize that I don’t want to be a part of the church that doesn’t have Scott in it.”
Before the task force issued its final report, students at Dubuque disclosed to The Layman that Achtemeier told his Christian ethics class that his position on homosexuality had changed to represent a “departure from the Biblical tradition.” Achtemeier vehemently denounced that report, claiming that it was “categorically false,” and later engaged in a running debate with Robert A.J. Gagnon, a Pittsburgh Theological Seminary professor, over the issue of ordaining homosexuals. Gagnon is the author of The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics, which many consider to be the definitive work on Biblical reasons not to ordain practicing homosexuals.
Wheeler, president of Auburn Theological Seminary in New York, has long advocated ordaining practicing homosexuals. And she worked tirelessly to bring evangelicals and liberals together on the issue.
Both Achtemeier and Wheeler – as did all of the PUP members – voted in favor of the task force’s report and authoritative interpretation, which gives ordaining bodies the leeway to ordain men and women who say they will not live by the constitution’s “fidelity/chastity” requirements.
After resigning his ordination, Anderson became a leader of More Light Presbyterians, a group committed to repealing the denomination’s “fidelity/chastity” constitutional requirement for church officers. He says he is no longer associated with More Light Presbyterians or any other special interest group.
Anderson served as the executive of the California Council of Churches for 12 years and has been the executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches since his installation on Sept. 18, 2003. General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick was among the religious leaders taking part in the installation.
Anderson was recommended to the presbytery for consideration as an inquirer by the session of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Madison, a congregation that is affiliated with the Covenant Network. The network, which had several of its allies on the PUP Task Force, was established to work for the repeal of the ordination requirements.
The task force’s biographical profile of Anderson describes him as a “life-long Presbyterian” and a former Presbyterian minister who “lives with his life partner, Ian MacAllister, in Madison.”
Anderson said he does not believe his case will be pivotal in deciding what the authoritative interpretation allows. But, contrary to many who say the AI changes nothing, he believes it opens the door. “I have always felt called to be a pastor,” he told The Layman Online today. “Given the action of the General Assembly, I felt this might be an opportunity. It gives some clarity to the scrupling process.”
Anderson said his short-term goal is to remain in ecumenical work and, if ordained, to be an at-large member of presbytery without serving a pulpit. “In the longer term,” he said, “I do feel called to the parish ministry at some point.”
In 1999, Anderson spoke at the denomination’s “unity in diversity” conference in Atlanta, describing his coming out as “a self-affirming gay Christian” as the theological equivalent of “justification” and his “same-sex bonding” as the equivalent of “sanctification.”
He said he plans to attend the Nov. 14 meeting, but will not speak unless he is invited to answer questions.
In its letter, the Committee on Preparation for Ministry says, “If Scott Anderson, or any other candidate, presents a scruple concerning a constitutional or scriptural standard, presbytery’s examination of him at that time will take on greater weight than we are used to shouldering in these examinations. In due time, through the preparation process, John Knox Presbytery will discover if we will have to wrestle with such questions.”
Besides approving the authoritative interpretation, the 2006 General Assembly adopted the task force’s own interpretation of its new policy (lines 1226-1234) under which the presbytery might determine that Anderson meets the ordination requirements for sexual behavior:
- If an ordaining or installing body determines that an officer-elect has departed from G-6.0106b, a manner-of-life standard, the ordaining/installing body must then determine whether this departure violates essentials of faith or polity. If so, the candidate may not be ordained. If the departure is judged not to violate the essentials of Reformed faith and polity, after the ordaining/installing body has weighed the departure in the full context of a candidate’s statement of faith and manner of life, then there is no barrier to ordination (though there also is no requirement that the person be ordained).”
The text of the Committee on Preparation for Ministry’s letter:
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
On November 2, 2006, Presbytery’s Committee on Preparation for Ministry met with Scott D. Anderson and voted unanimously to recommend that presbytery enroll him as an Inquirer. The committee’s action was prompted by Scott’s request and by the endorsement of the session of Covenant Presbyterian Church of Madison, where Scott is a member. This recommendation will come to presbytery at its November 14 meeting.
“Inquiry” is the first phase in the constitutional process of preparation for ordination to Ministry of Word and Sacraments. The entire process is one of discernment and conversation. We as a committee have made a commitment to Scott to be in prayerful conversation with him. With this letter, we invite the presbytery to join in this conversation.
Ordinarily, we would wait till the presbytery meeting to explain such a recommendation. In Scott’s case, however, we think it is important to inform you ahead of time and to give you the context of our recommendation.
WHO IS SCOTT ANDERSON? Scott was ordained as a Minster of the Word and Sacrament in 1982. From 1982 1990, Scott served two congregations in California. Since 1990, he has been open about the fact that he is gay. During the intervening 16 years, he has ministered in non-congregational settings, and has worked to remove the denominational barriers to ordination that led him to set aside his own ordination in 1990.
WHY ARE WE INFORMING YOU AHEAD OF TIME? We are aware that presenting Scott Anderson to presbytery to be enrolled as an Inquirer will raise questions that don’t ordinarily arise at this initial stage of the preparation process. We believe we owe you this advance notice, and that it is essential for us to clarify the exact nature of what will be before you as a presbytery.
WHY IS CPM RECOMMENDING THAT PRESBYTERY ENROLL AN OPENLY GAY INQUIRER WHEN G-6.0106b BARS ORDINATION IN SUCH CASES? We have two reasons for our recommendation:
(a) The focus of the Inquiry Phase is found in G-14.0302: “The purpose of the inquiry phase is to provide an opportunity for the church and for those who believe themselves called to ministry of the Word and Sacrament to explore that call together in such a way that a decision regarding the inquirers suitability for ministry of the Word and Sacrament will be based on knowledge and experience of one another.” At this beginning point, the only question an inquirer is required to answer are those that have to do with his or her sense of call. Because no one knows where the discernment process will lead, CPM and presbytery must not, at this stage, consider ultimate questions about requirements for ordination, lest we jeopardize the process – and miss its benefits – not only for Scott Anderson but also for ourselves and for everyone else who may come before us. Issues concerning qualifications for ordination are not relevant when a person is enrolled as an Inquirer at the beginning of the process.
(b) In 2001, the 213th General Assembly constituted a Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church, composed of 20 persons of widely differing life experience and theological perspective. (Scott Anderson was a member of that task force.) Their assignment was to “lead the church in spiritual discernment of our Christian identity in and for the 21st Century,” and to give attention to four specific issues: Christology, biblical authority and interpretation, and sexuality and ordination. That Task Force made its final report last summer. In an Authoritative Interpretation of the Constitution, the 217th General Assembly included the Task Force’s Recommendation 5, which in part says: “Ordaining and installing bodies, acting as corporate expressions of the church, have the responsibility to determine their membership by applying [these] standards to those elected to office. These determinations include:
“(1) Whether a candidate being examined for ordination and/or installation as elder, deacon, or minister of Word and Sacrament has departed from scriptural and constitutional standards for fitness for office,
“(2) Whether any departure constitutes a failure to adhere to the essentials of Reformed faith and polity under G-6.0108 of the Book of Order, thus barring the candidate from ordination and/or installation.” The Task Force recovered an old term in our church – “scruple” to deal with those times when a candidate for Ministry of Word and Sacraments in conscience disagrees with a constitutional requirement for ordination. When, at the point of being examined for ordination, a candidate “declares a scruple” concerning some “scriptural or constitutional standard for fitness for office,” the General Assembly’s newly-issued Authoritative Interpretation requires that presbyteries wrestle with the question of what “the essentials of Reformed faith and polity” are, as applied to that candidate.
If Scott Anderson, or any other candidate, presents a scruple concerning a constitutional or scriptural standard, presbytery’s examination of him at that time will take on greater weight than we are used to shouldering in these examinations. In due time, through the preparation process, John Knox Presbytery will discover if we will have to wrestle with such questions. While CPM is clear that now is not the time for these questions, we feel great urgency that now is the time for our presbytery to begin preparing for more rigorous examinations.
WHY THEN DOES CPM RECOMMEND THAT PRESBYTERY ENROLL SCOTT ANDERSON AS AN INQUIRER? Because he meets all the requirements to enter with us into the discernment process called “Preparation for Ministry.”
As a committee, we invite every member and commissioner to presbytery to participate in the conversational opportunities that will be provided in connection with the upcoming presbytery meeting:
1. At 7:00 p.m., Monday, November 13, (the evening before the Presbytery meeting) at Lake Edge Lutheran Church in Madison, General Assembly Task Force members Mark Achtemeier and Barbara Wheeler will review the Report of the Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity, and its implications.
2. In a 90 minute morning period on the Presbytery meeting docket on November 14 (and before action is sought in the afternoon), our Committee will offer opportunities for Presbytery Commissioners to learn about:
- The purpose of the Inquiry and Candidacy phases of preparation for ministry of the word and sacrament and the nature of todays recommendation from the CPM.
- The implications of The Final Report of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church.
- A separate track will be offered to provide an orientation for Elders who are unfamiliar with the history of the controversy surrounding sexuality and ordination.
Each of these briefings will begin with a period of community building in small groupings, where each presbyter will be asked to say how they feel about this communication and the CPM recommendation.
WE URGE ALL PRESBYTERS TO TAKE FULL PART IN THESE CONVERSATIONS, for we are beginning our preparation for a more demanding level of presbytery participation in the preparation for ministry process.
Yours in Christ’s Service,
Committee on Preparation for Ministry John Knox Presbytery
Rev. Nancy Enderle, Member at Large
Elder Loel Gorden, Grace, Winona
Rev. Da