Morrison ordained

MLP staff member ordained

Katie Morrison ordained in PC(USA)

[10-22-01]

Press release from More Light Presbyterians

San Anselmo, CA -- 10-22-01 - For the first time since the 1978 ban on the ordination of "practicing, self-affirming homosexuals," an openly lesbian candidate has been ordained as Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Redwoods Presbytery, one of the 173 local governing bodies with jurisdiction for ordination of ministers in the 2.3-million-member denomination, voted 90-37 September 21 to approve the ordination of Katie Morrison, M.Div., a life-long Presbyterian and 1997 graduate of San Francisco Theological Seminary.

"Where the world closes a door, God opens a window for more light to break through. Allelujah!" said Morrison. "I am thrilled about this wonderful opportunity to live further into my call to ministry within the Presbyterian Church (USA)."

The 2-hour service of ordination and installation was held Sunday, October 21 at First Presbyterian Church, San Anselmo, CA, Morrison's home congregation. The worship service was joyful in tone, celebrating the historic moment and Katie's gifts and call to the ministry. Participants included Executive Presbyter of Redwoods Presbytery Brian Pippen, Chandler Stokes, pastor of First Presbyterian San Anselmo and chair of Morrison's Committee on Preparation for Ministry, the Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder of the City of Refuge Ministry in San Francisco, and Katie's father, an elder at Pasadena Presbyterian Church (Pasadena, CA).

Bill Moss and Mitzi Henderson, Co-Moderators of More Light Presbyterians (MLP), participated in the installation of Katie Morrison as a National Field Organizer for MLP, which works for "the full participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the life, ministry, and witness of the Presbyterian Church (USA)."

"We live into hope that the door is open to all God's people," said MLP Co-Moderator Bill Moss. "With this act today God opened this door to Katie. Katie's job is to keep that door open and to welcome others into the church who have been excluded."

Especially poignant was the acknowledgment throughout the service that there is a huge cloud of witnesses who have been denied opportunities to serve the church in an ordained capacity. The sanctuary was adorned with a multitude of liturgical stoles from the Shower of Stoles Project, donated by individuals barred from service in the church because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Martha Juillerat, Director of the Shower of Stoles Project, spoke about the meaning of ordination, as a woman who gave up her ministry in order to be out, and later found she reclaimed ordination in its truest sense as understood in the Bible and in the Reformed tradition. Juillerat said, "For all those folks who never saw this day or who lost their ministries, this is certainly an amazing ray of hope."

The Rev. Dr. Jane Adams Spahr, a lesbian minister whose call to the Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester NY was denied by the denomination's highest judicial commission in 1992, delivered one of the reflections during the service. Lisa Larges, who was denied ordination as minister in 1993 because she came out as a lesbian, delivered the charge. Rev. Susan Leo, who left the PC(USA) so she could serve openly in the United Church of Christ, presented the invitation to Communion.

Katie Morrison began work as MLP National Field Organizer in September 2001.

Presbyterian News Service reports on a challenge to Morrison's ordination, which was not sustained by the Presbytery. [10-23-01]