Invitation to Pride: Celebrating the Queer (LGBTQIA+) History of the PC(USA)

by Clarence Baney, for the Social Justice and Peacemaking Committee

It’s Pride month!  This means parades, people marching regaled in all manner of rainbowed garments (or lack thereof), parade floats with pretty people on exercise bikes promoting steamy spin classes… but I digress…Regardless, surely at First Pres, with the season of Pride comes the spirit of celebration and the spirit of enthusiasm.  And let me tell you, nothing gets this Presbyterian more celebratory and excited quite like Presbyterian Polity (cue the quizzical looks)! 

Ah yes…the run on sentences tailored for the Book of Order, the frequent use of the word unity, and the parsing out of amendments and their implications…what a rush!  However, this season of Pride, we Presbyterians do have some “business” items to celebrate.  Two amendments to our Book of Order, part of the PC(USA) Constitution, have been ratified and are set to go into effect sometime this year: Amendments 24a and 24c.  These amendments are special because they codify two very important elements of LGBTQIA+ affirmation into the Constitution of our denomination: (1) 24a provides protections from discrimination of LGBTQIA+ people and includes them in the full life of the Church including representation in worship, governance, and membership, (2) 24c calls on councils to examine candidates ordination (elders, deacons, etc.) on their commitment to and understanding of the principles of participation, representation, and inclusion.  In short, one way to see this is that the Spirit is calling the Church to be more intentional in its inclusion and affirmation of the LGBTQIA+ community.   

Here are my questions: Why were these amendments to the Book of Order necessary? While I know not every PC(USA) congregation is like First Presbyterian, why is it important to codify what seems to be obvious into the Constitution of the denomination? Why should these amendments be a reason for affirming congregations to celebrate?  And if First Pres is already welcoming and has made progress in its LGBTQIA+ affirmation, what does it mean for us to be intentional? At least these were the questions I started asking myself a couple of months ago after first hearing news of these amendments.  While I admit that many in our church have pieces of the story, or can tell a tale or two about it, I imagine most of us have never really pieced together all the parts of our denomination’s history with the queer[1] community. 

Therefore, I invite you to join us celebrating LGBTQIA+ Pride at First Presbyterian.  Our theme this year is “Our Queer History: The LGBTQIA+ History of the Presbyterian Church”.  This year, guided by the resources of the Presbyterian Historical Society, we will dive into many of the actual details of our denomination’s history.  We will seek to understand our present by learning to tell the story of our past.  Be advised, in no way do I seek to point fingers of blame, re-dredge past pains, or promulgate accusations.  Rather, I want you to join me in understanding more deeply why Amendments 24a and 24c are significant in the present-day life of our Church.  And lastly…I want you to embrace your Presbyterian-ness and love polity as much I do!

The Social Justice and Peacemaking Committee has been planning several items to help us keep Pride this year.  Be on the lookout for timelines of Church’s history in the Harris Commons, as well as a summarized “story version” to appear in bulletin inserts.  On June 8th, we joyfully welcome Mama Bella back for our Fourth Annual “Drag Queen Story Hour” after worship.  And we want to hear from you this year.  What are your questions?  What are some ways you feel we can be more intentional as a congregation?  And lastly, we have Pride Sunday on June 22nd.

To learn more about Amendments 24a and 24c to the Book of Order, check out these FAQs from The Covenant Network of Presbyterians (print versions are available upon request).

[1] The term queer is another term often used to refer to the LGBTQIA+ community.