Episode Details

Rev. Susie is the lead pastor at Summit Ave Presbyterian Church. She is an ordained minister, MDiv from Princeton Seminary and a Doctorate from Fuller Seminary. She leads the congregation in worship and discipleship as well as pastoral care and counseling. 

Summit Avenue church kicked off the year by issuing this Statement of Inclusion:

Summit Avenue Presbyterian Church welcomes all persons regardless of race, ethnic origin, worldly condition, sexual orientation, or gender identity. All the sacraments, celebrations, privileges, and responsibilities of church participation and leadership are available to each person who responds in trust and obedience to God’s grace in Jesus and desires to become part of the mission and ministry of Christ’s Church.    

It came not from her but from her congregation. The words were intentional and purposeful, going through many drafts with feedback from the elders and the congregation to engage.  The statement had to reflect all people and was built on scripture and responding with trust. 

The statement was the culmination of a twenty-year long conversation beginning with a pastor who had a family member that came out. This cracked open the conversation but nothing formal was done. In 2011, the Presbyterian Church changed an amendment in their constitution that allowed churches to decide for themselves whether they would be affirming and inclusive, which made it possible for the discussion to happen at the leadership level. Three years ago, the outreach team lead the way in wanting to welcome people from the LBGTQ community. 

"We learned that advocacy work isn't just for people on behalf of others, it has to be with [them]."

So the church began to have conversations with people in their congregation, in their families and in their community.  It takes more than just putting a rainbow flag out, there has to be conversations.  The team spent a year did research, had interviews, they looked up resources. Then in 2018 the Elder Board decided to spend a year doing a Bible Study, followed by inviting the entire congregation to read with discussion groups, have conversations, and Susie preached a sermon series. She calls it "Presbyterian Standard Speed" because they do not move quickly. 

Danielle acknowledges that it's honoring to take the time and space to engage the conversation. There is sometimes a resistance to the long commitment to the process, starting with  awareness, an evaluation of your beliefs, and a willingness to step into doubts in your faith. 

The decision to become inclusive wasn't just made by the leadership and then told to the congregation. It was a gift to allow the congregation to participate in the process, engaging and deciding for themselves what they believed and supported. Then when the statement was made, the congregation had some ownership in it.  Doing it this way allowed for each person to have the confidence to engage the conversation, not just Susie as their Pastor.  

The resource they used for this process was first and foremost was the Bible. The Bible is also used for the against this conversation, so always starting with the text as the primary source.   The tool they used was a book called "Jesus, the Bible and Homosexuality: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church" by Jack Rogers. The book starts with asking how do we interpret the Bible? How is it that we come to the Bible? He outlines the 7 guidelines for biblical interpretation. Is it through the lens of Christ? Are we keeping the context? Does it follow the Rule of Love?

Ultimately the bible has been misused for centuries to justify slavery, never mind that the whole arc of scripture is God's heart to free people from slavery.  And the same with oppressing women even though God honors and gives voice to women throughout scripture. 

The author engages the "clobber" passages... Susie unpacks the Sodom and Gomorrah: Sodom has