Wed 21 Mar 2012 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
The Reverend Dr Allan Davidson calls for inclusion A prominent Presbyterian cleric has called for the Presbyterian Church to drop its policy of refusing to ordain openly gay people as ministers. The Reverend Dr Allan Davidson ONZM was before his retirement for 27 years a theologian and teacher at St John's Theological College and is a member of the St Luke's parish. Speaking at the funeral of St Luke's gay minister, The Reverend David Clark, in Auckland today Davidson reflected on the pain the Church had caused a man he considers to have been an exemplary minister. He said the Church's stance had "deeply wounded" Clark who had nevertheless shown "great courage" in the face of the policy of rejection. The Presbyterian General Assembly, the church's governing body, voted to exclude glbt people in 2004 and ratified the decision in 2006. Although there are a number of now-openly gay and lesbian ministers in the church they could not come out prior to being ordained and can face considerable opposition when they attempt to move to other parishes. "If the Presbyterian Church wants to honour David, then it will revisit its attitude towards gay Christians in ordained leadership and promote the inclusive church which David himself embodied," Davidson told mourners this afternoon. Asked later why the Presbyterian Church has so far failed to embrace glbt people amongst its leaders Davidson says he feels the issue is too great a challenge for the Church hierarchy and therefore gets "put to one side." "Possibly it is too painful as it has caused divisions and disunity in the past," he says. "Sometimes the Church has put unity ahead of addressing injustice." The Reverend Dr Keith Rowe (l) Davidson's call for change in the Church was reinforced by another speaker at today's funeral, The Reverend Dr Keith Rowe. He reflected on how Clark had "retained a love for the church which had caused him considerable pain." "But being inclusive is the very essence of Christianity," said Rowe after the service. He pointed out that there are a number of more liberal parishes throughout the country which have embraced their gay and lesbian ministers. Despite the acrimonious national debate "St Luke's stayed with David," Rowe noted. Rowe believes that a significant underlying cause of the Presbyterians' inability to come to terms with including glbt people is a fundamental split based on how the modern Church should "use the Bible." He believes there are some elements of the Bible stemming from societal attitudes and knowledge of two thousand years ago, on matters such as homosexuality, which should not now be given the weight they once were. You can discuss this New Zealand gay community news story in the GayNZ.com Forum.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 21st March 2012 - 8:07pm