wfn.org | General Assembly Backgrounder: The Women of Faith Awards

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

11-June-1999 
99222 
 
    General Assembly Backgrounder: 
    The Women of Faith Awards 
 
    by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
    Now in their 13th year, the annual Women of Faith awards have generated 
considerable controversy this year because of the selection of two openly 
lesbian women to receive the awards - the Rev. Jane Spahr, and the Rev. 
Letty Russell.  The third recipient is Jane Dempsey Douglass. 
 
    Spahr is an evangelist for "That All May Freely Serve" - a mission 
project of Downtown Presbyterian Church, Rochester, N.Y. and Westminster 
Presbyterian Church in Tiburon, Calif. that seeks full inclusion of gay and 
lesbian Presbyterians in the church, including as ordained officers. 
Russell is professor of theology at Yale Divinity School.  Douglass is 
emerita professor of historical theology at Princeton Theological Seminary 
and a leader in the world ecumenical movement. 
 
    They were chosen from a field of 59 candidates whose names were 
submitted to a five person Awards Selection Committee composed of 
representatives of four constituency groups within the Women's Ministries 
Program Area of the National Ministries Division - Advocacy Committee for 
Women's Concerns, National Association of Presbyterian Clergywomen, 
Presbyterian Women and National Network of Presbyterian College Women - 
plus a representative of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators. 
The latter group was invited to participate this year because the theme of 
the 1999 awards called for recognizing women educators and clergy. 
 
    When Spahr was announced as a recipient of the award, National 
Ministries Division director the Rev. Curtis A. Kearns immediately 
rescinded the award, saying that Spahr's vocal opposition to PC(USA) law 
barring sexually active gays and lesbians from ordination made her an 
inappropriate recipient.  His decision was subsequently affirmed by the 
division's steering committee. 
 
    With the controversy still roiling, the Executive Committee of the 
General Assembly Council, of which the National Ministries Division is a 
part, met in mid-May and restored the award to Spahr on the grounds that 
the current selection process was properly followed and there is therefore 
no justification for rescinding the award.  The Executive Committee also 
announced, however, that the criteria for all General Assembly-sponsored 
awards will be reviewed prior to next year's Assembly in order to avoid 
future controversies such as this one. 
 
    The three recipients will receive their awards at the annual Women of 
Faith Breakfast, June 20, during the 211th General Assembly in Fort Worth, 
Texas. 
 
    The Women of Faith awards are given to living Presbyterian women "who 
in their life exemplify faith in God and commitment to the mission of the 
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and who are leaders in the denomination and/or 
ecumenical arena.  In addition, recipients in 1999 were chosen to reflect 
the theme "On Behalf of Women: Reforming Through the Word." 
 
    Forty Women of Faith have been honored over the years, including former 
General Assembly moderators Thelma Adair, Dorothy Barnard, Sara Bernice 
Moseley and Isabel Wood Rogers.  One moderatorial candidate this year, 
Freda A. Gardner, is also a past recipient. 

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