William P. Thompson, Presbyterian and ecumenical leader, dies at 87
'Stately clerk' had long and distinguished career
[4-28-06]

William P. Thompson, 87, a towering figure in Presbyterian and ecumenical circles in the last half of the 20th century, died on April 27, 2006, at Plymouth Place, a Christian retirement community in suburban Chicago. He had been in declining health for several years.    More >>

On ordination: 

On the morning of June 25, 2000, before the opening worship service of the 212th General Assembly, many lgbt Presbyterians and their friends gathered to welcome people arriving for worship, while making clear their own urgent desire to be full members of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The group Soulforce was present for the vigil, and a number of people engaged in acts of civil disobedience by standing in places where the police had ordered them not to stand.

One of the speakers at the event was former Moderator and Stated Clerk William P. Thompson.

A moving moment in the Soulforce action came when Thompson stepped to the microphone. Thompson, whose rulings as Stated Clerk helped to establish the "definitive guidance" against ordination of gay and lesbian people, has come to a thoughtful change of mind. We publish here the written text from which he spoke, with sincere thanks to him for sharing it with us.  His text >>
 

Thompson reflects on John Witherspoon and the present "Presbyterian debacle"

The Rev. Hal Porter shares his appreciation for William Thompson

[5-10-06]

We all had our experiences with William P. Thompson. I shared the podium with him at a couple of events and certainly remembered his steady hand at many Assemblies. I want to be among the many to give thanks for his life. I offer a few remarks I made a few years ago that speak of one aspect of his life not often mentioned:

The General Assembly in 1978 failed our highest authority, Jesus Christ, when it pronounced its absolute judgment of intolerance regarding homosexual persons. In doing so they said they were troubled by it, but decided anyway as if they could speak God’s final word on this matter. In doing so they forever branded gays and lesbians to be inferior, and their behavior always outside the grace of God.

All of our confusing and foolish policies regarding the treatment of gays and lesbians stem from this first absolute assumption that all homosexual behavior is sinful and we must repent and apologize for it. It has not only caused enormous harm to gays and lesbians but has caused many, gays and straights, to no longer believe in the church’s integrity. Even a majority of our Biblical scholars in our seminaries disagree with what the 1978 Assembly said.

And so does the Stated Clerk of that Assembly of 1978, William P. Thompson, who declared then that definitive guidance was binding - but does no longer. Thompson was Stated Clerk for 18 years, a man of the deepest integrity and faith, and an important leader in world-wide ecumenical Christian concerns. But it was this same Thompson, having served the church so well, who was arrested, along with many of us, outside the General Assembly’s meeting in Long Beach a few years ago. Our purpose was to demonstrate that the worship service being held inside the Assembly did not have a communion table set for all. I remember thinking in the police van as we were driven away, looking across at this dignified, lawyerly, man who I had admired for so many years, this man, whose primary task had always been to keep our church running, decently and in order, now handcuffed and off to jail, just how far, indeed, the Presbyterian Church had truly gotten off the track.

Those who believe in an inclusive Presbyterian Church, after the manner of Jesus, owe him much.

Hal Porter