Freedom of conscience, freedom from fear

In 2004, Brenda Cole—a colleague in a group dedicated to improving the spiritual lives of LGBT people—asked me to preside at her wedding, scheduled more than a year away. “Nancy is a lifelong Presbyterian and wants a Presbyterian minister to preside at our wedding," Brenda said hopefully. "Would you meet with us and talk about officiating?” 

I smiled when I met Nancy McConn. She was so like many Presbyterian women I know: truly the salt of the earth. I told them that I was interested, but that I needed time to pray about it. I knew that, by participating, I would be taking a visible action deemed by many to be at odds with church law.

In good Presbyterian fashion, my prayer included serious conversations with a variety of people: the stated clerk of my presbytery, friends in the church, my lawyer. It also included careful reading of the Bible and the PCUSA constitution.