Ordination of gays: Yes or No? FINAL Edition

• Published in: Windsor star
• Main Authors: Taylor-Walsh, Ella, Hancock, Maxine
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Windsor, Ont Postmedia Network Inc 06.08.1988

Editor's Note: Members of the United Church are sharply divided over a recent report recommending the church allow sexually active homosexuals to become ministers. The debate is the most visible and contentious issue in a larger disagreement about sexuality and the overall principles of the church. The issue of gays in the pulpit is expected to be decided at the United Church general council, beginning in Victoria, Aug. 17. In advance of the meeting, The Canadian Press asked two people on opposite sides of the debate to express their views.; Ella Taylor-Walsh is an ordained minister of the United Church who lives in Toronto.; Maxine Hancock, who lives in Marwayne, Alta., is a member of a United Church congregation and an author whose most recent book is Child Sexual Abuse: A Hope for Healing. In the United Church, the question of the open acceptance of homosexuals into leadership has become a hot issue only in the past few years. Some congregations have experienced the ministry of pastors involved in homosexual relationships, and they have valued that ministry. Other congregations have made it clear that homosexuals were not acceptable for ministry unless they remained celibate. Such a restriction has not been demanded of heterosexual ministers in the United Church (though at one time it may have been expected of women ministers that they remain single). Black & White Photo; Black & White Photo; ELLA TAYLOR-WALSH believes the Bible contains advice that is wrong; ELLA TAYLOR-WALSH MAXINE HANCOCK believes the report should be accepted as 'information'; MAXINE HANCOCK