wfn.org | UCC names specialist in gay, lesbian concerns

[powellb@ucc.org]

Feb. 20, 1997
Office of Communication
United Church of Christ
Andy Lang
(216) 736-2215
E-mail:  langa@ucc.org
On the World Wide Web:  http://www.ucc.org                  

National church agency names specialist
in gay, lesbian concerns

      CLEVELAND -- The Rev. Dr. William R. Johnson is the
United Church of Christ's first national staff minister for
lesbian and gay concerns.
      The United Church Board for Homeland Ministries has
added "lesbian, gay, bisexual and genderal minority concerns"
to Johnson's portfolio.  Based in Cleveland, he has been the
Homeland Board's HIV/AIDS ministries specialist since 1990 and
will continue in that capacity.  The Homeland Board is the
U.S. mission arm of the 1.5-million-member UCC.
      The UCC's General Synod and the church's national
agencies have long supported equal rights for gays and
lesbians, both in society and in the church.  But until the
directors of the Homeland Board created the new area of work
for Johnson, no national staff member has been specifically
responsible for lesbian and gay concerns.
      Johnson says the action by the Homeland Board's
directors "will make it clear to UCC members -- especially
local church pastors -- which of the national offices to call
when they have a concern."
      "We are committed to responding to the resourcing needs
of local church clergy who seek to provide pastoral care to
lesbian and gay people and their families," Johnson says. 
"The increasing visibility given to these concerns will 
deepen our commitment to be an open and affirming church."
      Johnson will develop resources for pastors ministering
to lesbians and gays and their parents, as well as to lesbian
and gay youth.  "Resources for pastors will come first," says
Johnson, "followed by educational resources for
congregations."
     Materials will include basic information
about sexual minorities and will deal with issues like hate
crimes, equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, suicide
related to sexual orientation, and gender identity.
      Equal marriage rights for same-sex couples is one of the
controversial issues Johnson plans to address.  The UCC's
Homeland Board is seeking to promote a churchwide dialogue on
the issue.
      Johnson is also chair of the Lesbian and Gay Rights
Cluster of the UCC's Justice and Peace Ministry.  The ministry
is a new network involving several national UCC agencies and
concerned UCC members who are interested in taking action on
social issues.  In this role, he will continue to organize
support for the federal "Employment Non-Discrimination Act,"
or ENDA, which was narrowly defeated in the last Congress and
will be reintroduced this year.  ENDA would prohibit job
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
      Johnson's portfolio includes bisexuals and genderal
minorities -- two groups that are often misunderstood and
excluded from churches.  "We've been remiss in not learning
more from the bisexual people in our church and have not
always responded well to their pastoral needs and those of
their families," Johnson says. "We also have transgenderal
people in the UCC who need our pastoral support."
      Johnson says issues related to sexual orientation and
gender identity require special pastoral care skills.  "It's
not just a matter of helping individuals and families," says
Johnson, "but of also helping them -- and ourselves --
confront the prejudices in church and society."
      "We have worked hard in the UCC to create open and
affirming communities where people who have not felt welcome
anywhere else have found a spiritual home," Johnson says. 
"Our new efforts will build upon more than 25 years of
prophetic witness and service."
      Johnson, ordained in 1972 by the UCC's Golden Gate
Association in the San Francisco Bay area, is believed to be
the first openly gay man ever ordained to the Christian
ministry.  That same year, Johnson was one of the founders of
the United Church Coalition for Lesbian/Gay Concerns -- an
organization with which he now works cooperatively as a
national staff member.
      Johnson graduated from Elmhurst College, Elmhurst Ill.,
in 1968.  In 1971, he earned a M. Div. degree from UCC-related
Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Calif.  In 1977, he
received a doctorate in education from the Institute for
Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, San Francisco.  He is a
Diplomate of the American Board of Sexology.  In 1991, he was
honored for his pioneering leadership in AIDS ministry by the
AIDS National Interfaith Network.  Johnson is co-author of
"Affirming Persons -- Saving Lives," the only comprehensive
curriculum for AIDS prevention and awareness designed for use
in Christian education settings.  The curriculum is published
by the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries.
      The United Church of Christ, with national offices in
Cleveland, has more than 6,100 congregations in the United
States and Puerto Rico.  It was formed by the 1957 union of
the Congregational Christian Church and the Evangelical and
Reformed Churches.
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