Soulforce Demonstration Planned for GA 2000

Below is the official Press Release that was made by the National Board of MLP on May 21, 2000.

For those of you who have not heard what is going on, a demonstration of civil disobedience, with the intent of provoking the arrests of the demonstrators, is scheduled to be led by Soulforce at the 9:30 AM opening of the GA Worship Service on Sunday, June 25th. The stated goal of the demonstration is to end the Presbyterian debate on glbt issues. (You can read the Soulforce Alert at http://www.soulforce.org/longbeach.html.)

For further information about why the Los Ranchos Chapter position differs from the of the National Board for More Light, contact the chapter moderator, Linda A. Malcor, at Legend@maclor.com.

Dear MLP Members, Friends, and Allies
- FYI - regarding Soulforce Presence at General Assembly next month in Long Beach, CA.

More Light Presbyterians and That All May Freely Serve Respond to Soulforce Presence at General Assembly Press Release -- for Immediate Release
May 21, 2000

For further information, please contact Michael J. Adee, National Field Organizer, More Light Presbyterians, 505-820-7082, or MichaelAdee@aol.com. Check MLP website for more news, information, and updates about General Assembly, MLP, and the GLBT Movement in the PCUSA, www.mlp.org

Press Release:

In response to the recent announcement that Soulforce will be present at the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly meeting in Long Beach CA in June, the boards of More Light Presbyterians and That All May Freely Serve issued the following joint statement:

"We understand that Soulforce is an ecumenical and interfaith organization with an absolute commitment to non-violence in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. We appreciate that the ultimate goal of Soulforce is to encourage the conversion of hearts and minds to the end that individuals and communities of faith will affirm and celebrate God's love for all people, without distinction of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, or other worldly condition. With Soulforce we affirm that any action of any denomination that demeans and discriminates against an entire class of people affects the entire Christian family, and indeed, society as a whole. As Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote so eloquently from his Birmingham jail cell,

"The More Light movement in its different forms has labored within the Presbyterian Church since 1974 and continues to work toward the same ultimate goal as the Soulforce community: the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons in church and society. While the boards of More Light Presbyterians and That All May Freely Serve are not Soulforce sponsors at General Assembly, we commit our wholehearted support to those individual Presbyterians who, in good conscience, choose to participate in the anticipated non-violent Soulforce witness. In the same way we offer our continued full support to individual Presbyterians who, in faith, choose other peaceful methods of advocacy and witness to change our denomination's present unjust and discriminatory policies against God's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender children."

Scott Anderson
Co-Moderator, More Light Presbyterians

Mitzi Henderson
Co-Moderator, More Light Presbyterians

Jane Adams Spahr
National Evangelist, That All May Freely Serve

Virginia Davidson
Co-Chair, That All May Freely Serve