Presbyterian Voices for Justice 

Only Say the Word: Affirming Gay and Lesbian Love 

by Dr. Alan McManus

(Ropley, England: Christian Alternative, 2013)

A former Franciscan friar, Dr. Alan McManus holds degrees in Church History/Practical Theology and Religious Studies. He has taught languages at home and abroad, and Religious, Moral & Philosophical Studies in Scotland. He has published articles on political philosophy and WW1 remembrance in "Citizenship, Social and Economics Education." He is a member of Affirmation Scotland.

Foreword by the Rev. Lindsay Biddle, Chaplain of Affirmation Scotland

“In Only Say the Word: Affirming Gay and Lesbian Love, Dr. Alan McManus offers a unique queer interpretation of a few traditional Christian stories. He raises questions that require moving beyond the surface understandings, and he provides a deeper, fresh view of how these stories can be read.                                                                              

“As a gay Catholic McManus speaks to his own faith and spirituality in his journey toward personal acceptance and his search for acceptance for himself and other gay, lesbian, or bisexual, and transgender persons within the Church. In slightly more than one hundred pages the author engages the reader in a conversation that will continue beyond the final chapter.”

—Review by the Rev. Dr. John W. Mann,                                                                   Minister at St. James’ (Pollok) Parish Church, Glasgow,                                                                                     an Affirming Congregation in the Church of Scotland

Order now in Kindle edition or paperback from Amazon.com

By Susan Perry | 02/14/13

CC/Flickr/Jeremy Wilburn

The blog was well-intentioned, but giving parents gender-stereotyping tips isn't going to solve the science gender gap.

A lot of myths about gender brain differences get bandied about in the media, but a recent Guardian blog post aimed at helping parents get their daughters interested in science was so gob-smacking silly, it could be read as an Onion spoof.

The article overflowed with outdated gender stereotyping, as can be seen in these three back-to-the-‘50s examples from the article’s list of parenting tips:

Have her read instructions and recipes aloud. When she eventually performs science experiments this will help her break down the steps involved. It also helps with deconstructing more elaborate math problems down the road.

Research shows that as girls get older they retain their mathematical and scientific abilities when applied to domestic scenarios. So make your domestic scenario more mathematic and scientific. Shopping is filled with math problems, particularly if your daughter wants something that is too expensive.

Emphasize that we live in a scientific world. … [Girls] are invariably receptive and energetic students when the same scientific principles are presented to them as "social studies." The weather forecast, climate change, what we eat, illnesses and allergies, methods of transportation, the electronics that fill your house — are all areas of science that surround your daughter. Scientific theory fires her imagination when connected to current or domestic affairs, or when she can empathize.

To add scientific gravitas to its parenting tips, the article presented as facts several controversial and definitely-not-proven findings about neurological gender differences, such as “girls are more responsive to color than boys” and “girls generally begin processing information on the brain's left, or language, side.”

Quick responses

Fortunately, the article didn’t go unanswered. Dean Burnett, a British scientist who also blogs for the Guardian, quickly wrote a scathing tongue-in-cheek reply in which he pointed out that “it’s important to encourage young boys to take up science too”:

Whilst watching any particular sporting event, command [your son] at random to work out the scientific components of the game, e.g. what is the trajectory of the ball following that free kick? How much force did that cricket bat just withstand based on the velocity and approximate mass of a cricket ball? Judging by the severity of that injury, what is the likely period the player will spend in hospital and what therapies will be used to reattach the leg?

Encourage this behaviour further with social reinforcement. Take your son to a live football match or other sporting event, so he can impress all the die-hard fans with his meticulous analysis of the game. They will definitely appreciate it.

And in yet a third Guardian article, two other scientists, psychologist Chris Chambers of Cardiff University and anthropologist Kate Clancy of the University of Illinois, took direct aim at the pseudoscience in the original blog post.

“For instance,” they write (with British spellings and punctuation)

the author argues that girls are more responsive to colour than boys, so parents of daughters — the target audience of this piece — should “colour-code toys and blocks for sorting and patterning beginning at an early age”.

But does this argument stand up to the evidence? The nature of gender differences in adult colour vision is controversial, with some peer-reviewed studies pointing to a female advantage, others to a male advantage, and yet others indicating no difference. This complexity is mirrored in pre-school children, with boys and girls each showing advantages under different conditions. It distorts currently knowledge to say that girls are categorically more responsive to colour.

What about the claim that “girls generally begin processing information on the brain’s left, or language, side” and therefore that girls “deconstruct math concepts verbally”? Existing studies do indicate a slight advantage for girls in acquiring language at a very young age (1-2 years), but — crucially — this difference has been shown to disappear by the age of six. A recent review even concluded that overall sex differences in language ability and language-related brain functions are “not readily identifiable”.

Needed: a systemic approach

The original gender-stereotyping blog post had good intentions. It opened by noting that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently reported that among 470,000 15-year-olds in 65 developed countries who were given a science test in 2009, the girls generally outperformed the boys — except in the United States, Britain and Canada.

Offering pseudoscientific and gender-stereotyping tips for parents is not going to solve the science gender gap in those three countries. What is needed is a broad societal structural change, as Chambers and Clancy point out:

The broader societal constraints that lead so few girls to consider themselves “science people” by middle school derive not from whether we push them into science, but what we value in girls as a culture. What gendered representations of science continue to exist in underperforming countries like the US and UK? What messages do we send about how we value intelligence and knowledge, about how girls contribute to society? And, what would it take to overcome these obstacles to produce a more egalitarian learning environment?

Just telling parents of daughters to force their children to become scientists, without providing the foundational support of institutional change (or at the very least, some institutional navel-gazing), is telling parents to work alone and with the wrong tools. We would rather see a systematic approach to combating social inequality than another list that tries to tell parents they’re doing something wrong.

You’ll find all three articles linked together on the Guardian website.

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

The Time Has Come!

Guest Blogger: Rev. Dr. Arlene Gordon, President of the National Black Presbyterian Caucus (NBPC)

On January 24, 2013, Leon Panetta, Defense Secretary made an astounding announcement that will  change the course of history for women in the military announcing the elimination of ground combat exclusion and suggesting a plan to move forward to eliminate all gender based barriers.  The  announcement, in my opinion, is a wake-up signal to the church and calls the church to also re-examine it's stance on women in ministry.

Ironically, this announcement came between theMartin Luther King, Jr. holiday celebration and the beginning of Black History Month.  What a more appropriate time to raise the issue considering the journey of black clergywomen within the PC(USA).  As we look to Committees on Representation for answers to why more black clergywomen are not being called to serve congregations within the PC(USA), a few troubling questions arise for me.  How are Committees on Representation working with local judicatories to assure equal consideration of women in congregations and, particularly, black clergywomen or does that fall beyond COR boundaries?  Has the time come for the church to pay more attention to the increasing number of black women in ministry who never receive a call?  Why is it still an issue in these critical times in the life of our congregations to see a black women called as Senior or Associate Pastor? 

The stakes are still high for black women who make the choice to be in ministry within the PC(USA) structure.  While some noticeable change has occurred, the disproportionate presence of black women in senior pastor positions is still quite evident and the number of women who have completed all the requirements for ministry and have been rejected time and time again is astounding. In many cases, local PNC's (Pastor Nominating Committee's) eliminate women before they even have a chance based on the outdated and unreasonable bias that only men should be head of a church.  Churches are willing to let women serve as Associates, Interims, and pulpit supply but when it comes to being the Senior pastor, forget it.  If a woman is called it is usually the case that the church is hanging on for dear life and barely able to meet mandatory operational expenses, including paying a pastor.  Because most Presbyteries do not interfere with the congregations choice for a pastor, the practice of not selecting or even considering a woman continues, even as I speak.

As President of the National Black Presbyterian Caucusand having served two different Presbyteries in a leadership position, I have witnessed first-hand the challenges for black Presbyterians and, particularly, black women in ministry.  Noteworthy is the continued struggle of black women clergy to receive a call.  As significant is the lack of youth and young adults in the life of our congregations and the seemingly disinterest in even considering a seminary education anymore.  The struggle of clergywomen to remain in ministry with limited and insufficient salary packages has caused many to go into other fields.  In other cases, women have been forced to take administrative positions rather than be placed in the church where they have a sense of call.  Others have simply made the decision to depart from the PC(USA). The sacrifice, struggles and financial obligations of seminary education for black Presbyterians in these times is discouraging.  Additionally, local judicatories through their Committees on Preparation for Ministry have discouraged and delayed, for whatever reasons, the  journey toward ordination for many black clergywomen.  The failure of pastor nominating committees to choose or even consider black women clergy for calls remains an issue that Committees on Representation must find a way to address. 

The most recent test for black clergywomen comes with the focus on multiculturalism.  Some would perceive the multicultural agenda as an old process of elimination all over again?  I wonder if the new Book of Order intentionally leaves the discretion to implement Committee on Representation policies to local judicatories so that, essentially, they can ignore the policy.  As we strive toward becoming one family of God, it is important that we not erase the plight, problems and successes related to our various cultures but instead make our legacies evident to future generations in the hope that they will learn and thrive from it.

The PC(USA) offers a wide variety of opportunities to be in ministry and mission that are exciting and enticing.   However, the lack of persons in leadership as black clergywomen presents a difficult effort to encourage new leadership.   CORs needs to find ways to encourage persons to want to be a part of an organization that still needs to work on and press the dialogue on many issues including calling black women as Senior Pastors?

Committees on Representation must continue to identify discernible indications that PC(USA) is striving toward more inclusive participation in its life and mission.  This calls for a need to go beyond collecting statistical data to providing ways that all churches welcome the variety of gifts among its constituency.  Black clergywomen's presence and perspective offer a source of enrichment in the life of the PC(USA).  It beckons the whole church to move beyond stereotypes, prejudice, boundaries and limitations in order to see God's plan as reflecting the Body of Christ and clergywomen are included in God's plan.  Therefore, black clergywomen expect Committees on Representation to continue to be the entity that encourages and supports an inclusive community of Presbyterians working together for the betterment of our whole church.

The Time has come!

ABOUT THIS BLOG

In Spirit and Truth is the blog of the General Assembly Committee on Representation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It will feature content written by the sixteen members of the committee, who are teaching and ruling elders from across the country, and our staff person in the Office of the General Assembly, as well as links and articles of particular interest.  These blog entries are intended to prompt reflection and dialogue on aspects of expanding representation and supporting full participation in the PCUSA, especially at the assembly level.  The ministries of advising, consulting, advocating, reviewing and recommending are vital to the life of the whole Body of Christ.  Committees on Representation and/or their functions exists at all councils above session so from time to time we may highlight activities and insights from our sister committees on representation at smaller councils throughout the church.
 
Author Molly Casteel is an Assistant Stated Clerk and the Manager for Representation and Inclusiveness Services.  She is a teaching elder (a.k.a. Minister of Word and Sacrament) in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary.

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013SOCIAL ISSUES

American Baptists take on gun violence

By Bob Allen

American Baptist Home Mission Societies directors approved a statement intended to equip churches to take action on reducing the impact of guns on American life.

Directors of American Baptist Home Mission Societies unanimously adopted a statement Jan. 23 recommending 10 measures aimed at combating gun violence in the United States.

The measures, approved during a two-day retreat in Atlanta, include a ban on assault weapons, requiring criminal background checks for sales at gun shows, strengthening regulations of gun dealers, required reporting of lost or stolen guns to law enforcement, and restoring firearms research funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Clifford Johnson

“We want to provide the tools for local churches to take action,” saidClifford Johnson, president of the board that oversees the domestic mission arm of American Baptist Churches USA. “This will be a board of action. If we are to be true to our history, we have to speak out on issues like gun violence.”

The statement deplores acts including the Dec. 14, 2012, mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., as symptoms of the “daily toll of gun violence in the United States.”

“Firearms are a part of the history and fabric of our nation,” the statement reads. “Changes in the laws governing the ownership and use of firearms must take into account this uniquely American experience and the ways in which our understanding of the right to keep and bear arms has developed over time.”

American Baptist leaders noted the Supreme Court has held that the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees an individual the right to “keep and bear arms,” while also making it clear that such a right is “not unlimited.”

“Nor should it be,” the statement continues. “The liberties we enjoy are often in tension with one another, and no right should be so broadly construed as to undermine the ability of the broader community to maintain order and the peace necessary for human life and flourishing.”

The statement calls specifically for:

-- Decreasing the firepower available to civilians by banning assault weapons and prohibiting the sale of large capacity ammunition magazines.

-- Closing gaps in the background check system including requiring criminal background checks for all sales at gun shows.

-- Implementing a common-sense, comprehensive approach to help law enforcement prevent gun trafficking that will decrease the availability of illegal guns, including licensing handgun purchasers and strengthening the regulation of gun dealers.

-- Strengthening record-keeping of gun transfers, and requiring the reporting of lost or stolen guns to law enforcement to ensure better accountability of guns for persons involved in the supply of guns to the illegal market.

-- Increasing resources and capacity for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and repealing existing statutory restrictions that hamper the agency’s ability to combat illegal gun trafficking.

-- Developing new technologies to help law enforcement more effectively trace crime guns and developing safety features to childproof guns.

-- Encouraging local efforts to prevent and reduce gun violence.

-- Urging firearms retailers to implement protocols aimed at preventing the sale of firearms to prohibited purchasers such as “straw purchases,” buying a gun for someone who is prohibited by law from owning one or does not want his or her name associated with the purchase.

-- Improving the National Violent Death Reporting System and restoring firearms research funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

-- Encouraging greater societal attention to issues of mental health and illness as well as cultural issues including the pervasiveness of violence in entertainment and the media.

“Pursued together, we believe these measures will reduce gun violence while maintaining access to firearms for individuals for the purposes of self-defense, sport and hunting, and we reject the rhetoric that misleadingly portrays these goals (reduced violence and legitimate access) as incompatible,” the statement concludes.

“In the name of the Prince of Peace, we encourage our constituent congregations and the membership thereof to join us in support of these measures as we commit ourselves and the American Baptist Home Mission Societies to the patient work of reform, of taking the sensible steps necessary to reduce gun violence in our land.”

Aidsand Wright-Riggins

Established as the Home Mission Society in 1832 to work on America’s frontier, American Baptist Home Mission Societies now ministers across the United States and Puerto Rico through initiatives that focus on discipleship, community and justice.

From 1972 to 2010, the society operated under the name National Ministries butreclaimed its historic moniker as more descriptive of the organization’s work to those outside of American Baptist circles.

Recently American Baptist Home Mission Societies declared its mission center in King of Prussia, Pa., a “gun-free zone” and encouraged churches to consider similar efforts to “alleviate the proliferation of guns in our communities and the nature in which they are out of control in so many of our lives.”

“Too many of our children are dying,” ABHMS Executive Director Aidsand Wright-Riggins says in avideo on the ministry website. “Too many of our citizens live in fear, and an eye-for-an-eye and a tooth-for-a-tooth as a result of using these weapons ultimately leaves our entire country blind and toothless.”

© 2013 Associated Baptist Press, Inc.

Bob Allen

Bob Allen is managing editor of Associated Baptist Press.

© 2013 Associated Baptist Press, Inc.

Pastor Judy Lee Hay delivers her sermon as she is set to retire from the Calvary St. Andrew's Presbyterian Parish in the South Wedge on Sunday. Hay, a staunch advocate for the neighborhood, will offer her last sermon this Sunday. / KRIS J. MURANTE//STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Written by

Sean Dobbin

Staff writer for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Rife with gang activity and strewn with vacant houses, the city’s South Wedge in 1973 was a dying neighborhood.

Forty years later, its real estate is among the most sought-after in the city, and its vibrant business district just welcomed its newest boutique: The Little Bleu Cheese Shop.

And in between, at nearly every step along the way, was Rev. Judy Lee Hay.

Hay, 66, of Rochester, will give her final sermon on Sunday. After 40 years as an advocate, steward, and champion of the South Wedge — as well as a pastor at Calvary St. Andrews Presbyterian Parish church — Hay is retiring to spend more time with friends and family.

But thanks in part to her efforts, the neighborhood she’s leaving behind is a different place.

Addressing blight

Like many city neighborhoods, the South Wedge of four decades ago was being abandoned by families who were flocking to the suburbs. The recently-completed Inner Loop served to cut off the business district from downtown, and about 120 houses were vacant, including about 25 percent of the homes in the northernmost section of the South Wedge.

It was a neighborhood in need of saving.

“There were drugs, gangs, guns; it was pretty tough in that early transitional time,” said Hay.

So upon arriving at Calvary St. Andrews in 1973, Hay brought together local block clubleaders, business owners, and residents. In 1975, they formed the South Wedge Planning Committee (SWPC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to revitalizing the neighborhood. Hay was appointed the organization’s first executive director.

Hoping to reduce the blight in the neighborhood, Hay and others started contacting homeowners and landlords, asking them to fix up their houses. SWPC established a tool-lending library where residents could borrow what they needed, and worked to secure revitalization grants from the city.

Summer work groups were formed, which included youths from the neighborhood and elsewhere, and the youngsters helped poorer or disabled residents work on their homes.

SWPC also brought in the Landmark Society to do an analysis of every house in the South Wedge, which is the city’s second-oldest neighborhood.

“People learned about their houses in a new way: Those on Hamilton Street that were part of the Underground Railroad, that began to emerge, and some had Greek Revival features, though people didn’t even know what that was at that stage,” said Hay. “But it was really about getting people to take an interest in their property and make that investment.”

If a homeowner or landlord refused to make necessary improvements, the committee would ask them to consider selling the home, even offering them the services of a local real estate agent who wouldn’t charge them any fees. By the time Hay stepped down from her position with SWPC in 1991, there were zero vacant homes remaining in the South Wedge.

Like virtually every project she’s been involved in over the past four decades, ridding the neighborhood of vacant homes was a hugely collaborative effort, said Hay. Without the buy-in from the block groups, and countless hours put in by volunteers all over the neighborhood, it wouldn’t have been possible.

“It’s like a philharmonic orchestra, the South Wedge,” said Ron Maier, who owns several properties in the South Wedge and has been involved with neighborhood revitalization efforts since 1975. “But she was able to be a conductor and really provide some of that direction and orchestration.”

Fighting gentrification

As homes were fixed up and slum landlords were ushered out of the neighborhood, the business district began to re-emerge. Real estate prices zoomed up, with many homes more than tripling in value between 1973 and 1991.

But Hay was committed to ensuring that the neighborhood remained diverse.

“She wasn’t going to allow the South Wedge to be gentrified,” said former mayor William Johnson. “Her church became almost a sanctuary for the poor, for the people who didn’t have as much. They were made to feel that they were as important a part of the project as anyone else who could spend a million dollars.”

When School No. 13 closed as part of the city’s consolidation plan circa 1979, Hay and others fought to prevent the building from being demolished, and it was eventually converted into the Gregory Park Condominiums and targeted toward towards the young professionals community.

But in the mid-80s, when developers were proposing a variety of plans for a new complex across from Southview Towers, the South Wedge Planning Committee threw their weight behind a proposal that included a large portion of Section 8 housing.

Nonprofits who serve the less fortunate also found a home in the South Wedge during this time, with among the most prominent being the Veterans Outreach Center, which moved to its current location on South Avenue in 1985. St. Joseph’s Neighborhood Center, which provides health care, education, and social work for families without health care, opened on South Avenue eight years later.

After Hay stepped down from SWPC, the attitude persisted. The recently-built Erie Harbor, a series of high-end luxury apartments along the Genesee River, was tied in with a $16 million project to renovate the adjacent Hamilton tower, which offers affordable housing.

“As you’re building a community, you want to build the poor in, you want to build the middle class, and you want to make sure people are invested,” said Hay.

Progressive ministry

While fighting to revitalize the neighborhood, Hay was also helping to lead one of the more progressive congregations in the area.

When she arrived, Calvary St. Andrews was one of the few combined Presbyterian-Episcopal congregations in the country. The Episcopal Church had yet to allow the ordination of women, so Hay was not fully accepted by the entire congregation in the early going.

“Here I am, a Presbyterian, serving a joint Presbyterian-Episcopal congregation, serving Communion every Sunday when Episcopalians were not allowing women to serve Communion — can you imagine the tension we were going through?” said Hay.

But when Episcopalians did begin tackling the issue, Calvary St. Andrews, with Hay on staff, was uniquely positioned to be a leader in the movement for the Episcopal ordination of women. And when the Episcopal Church ordained its first 11 women in 1974, Calvary St. Andrews brought in one of the new pastors to celebrate her first service in Rochester.

Hay became head of staff at the church in 1979, and that same year, the church’s board voted unanimously to join the More Light Presbyterian movement, a group of Presbyterian churches that welcomed gays and lesbians. The movement, still in its infancy at the time, would eventually, in 2011, push the church to allow the ordination of gays and lesbians.

“We were saying ‘Finally!’” said Hay, adding that she still believed the church was behind the times on its views of marriage.

Her leadership has inspired many of her parishioners to continue attending the church even upon leaving the neighborhood; churchgoers at Calvary St. Andrews come from Macedon, Honeoye Falls, Gates, Bloomfield, and Webster.

“I changed religions for her,” said Toni Beth Weasner, 52, of Brighton. “I was born and raised Catholic, went to Catholic schools, but after I met Judy, I was so inspired that I switched to being Presbyterian.”

While many churches have struggled to retain membership, Calvary St. Andrews’ 150-member congregation has remained stable in recent years, said Hay. Her parishioners say that she’s a big reason that’s the case, and some are concerned about the church’s future.

“At one time, the church saved the neighborhood, and now we’re hoping the South Wedge is going to save the church,” said Weasner.

Upon retiring, Hay won’t be allowed back on church grounds for six months, an ethical practice followed by many ministers of varying denominations. In the mean time, she’s planning a trip to the Holy Land, something she said has been on her bucket list for a while.

But it’s unlikely Hay will be able to stay away from church or neighborhood for long. She’s got a house in Penn Yan and plans to spend much of her time there, but when she speaks of the future, the discussion invariably drifts back to the South Wedge.

“At the corner of South and Linden, there’s a proposal for a whole new thing there that will change the whole corner…”

SDOBBIN@DemocratandChronicle.com 
http://twitter.com/Sean_Dobbin

Pastor Judy Lee Hay delivers her final sermon, as she is set to retire from the Calvary St. Andrew's Church in the Southwedge, in Rochester Sunday morning, January 13, 2013. / KRIS J. MURANTE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

South Wedge revival

A timeline of activity in the South Wedge during Judy Lee Hay’s early years in Rochester: 
1973: Judy Lee Hay arrives in Rochester at Calvary St. Andrews church. There are 120 vacant homes in the South Wedge, and many properties are selling for between $5,000 and $20,000. 
1975: The South Wedge Planning Committee is formed, with Hay as its executive director. An initiative to get rid of the neighborhood’s vacant homes begins. 
Circa 1979: The city school district closes School No. 13 on Hickory Street. SWPC protests the closing, but once the closure is finalized, the organization begins working to prevent the building’s demolition. Meanwhile, more than 25 houses are sold through the city’s homesteading or tax foreclosures auctions and are renovated. Ten store owners apply for city grants. 
March 1980: Five developers offer to buy a series of vacant buildings on South Avenue. “We never would have gotten this kind of response, and probably no offers, three years ago,” says Mark Dudman, a neighborhood planner for the city department of community development. 
Summer 1980: School No. 13 is sold to a developer, who converts it into the Gregory Park Condominiums. 
May 1982: Sentry Color Labs Ltd., a professional photofinisher, moves from Mt. Hope to South Avenue, marking the first new industrial development in the South Wedge in more than 10 years. 
1982-1984: At least 13 businesses open in the South Wedge, mostly along South Avenue in a five-block stretch between Hamilton and Cypress Streets. 
1984-1989: The city provides $4.4 million in housing improvement loans and $2 million in commercial assistance grants to the neighborhood. 
1985: The Veterans Outreach Center opens in its current location at 459 South Ave. 
1989: Only two empty lots remain in the South Wedge. The average sale price for a home in the neighborhood is $57,000. 
1991: Hay steps down from South Wedge Planning Committee.