The Interfaith Alliance and Equal Partners in Faith

In a TIA press release entitled, “Mainstream Clergy Endorse ENDA,” it states:  “ENDA strengthens civil rights by extending them to those who presently suffer legal discrimination in the workplace,’ said Rev. Meg Riley, TIA Board Member and Director of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Washington office of Faith in Action.”[i] (emphasis ours)  Rev. Riley, a lesbian,[ii] is also a member of the governing board of Americans United and co-chair of a pro-homosexual group called Equal Partners in Faith (EPF).  According to an EPF press release:  “Mainstream religious leaders across the country have joined together to form Equal Partners in Faith, a multi-racial, interfaith coalition committed to equality and diversity.”[iii]  (emphasis ours)

In an Equal Partners in Faith publication entitled: “An Open Letter by People of Faith for the Passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act,” Rev. Riley’s organization reveals clearly that ENDA is just the first step in securing full legal protection for homosexuality.  The Open Letter states:     

Though we concede that ENDA is only a small step to securing the full equality of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people, we believe our faith compels us to urge the passage of this legislation.  Our common mission in society should be to end all discrimination against all persons and urge Americans to recognize the intrinsic worth and value of every human being regardless of individual differences.  These differences in the human condition are a need for celebration, not condemnation and oppression.[iv] (emphasis ours)

In an effort to “end all discrimination” against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, Equal Partners in Faith issued a press release which “called ‘misguided and discriminatory’ a decision to offer Sunday School lessons in Southern Baptist churches on how homosexuals can ‘change’”  According to the press release: 

‘This is one more tragic example of justifying social inequality in the name of religion,’ said Rev. Steven Baines, a Southern Baptist minister and Projects Coordinator for Equal Partners in Faith (EPF).  ‘We abhor this latest attempt to teach young people that lesbians and gays are not full and equal human beings created in God’s image, deserving of love and respect.’ 

The press release continues:  “Baines noted that the content of the lessons, prepared by Lifeway Christian Resources, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, reflects the claims of Christian ‘ex-gay’ ministries that lesbians and gays can change their sexual orientation through a fundamentalist religious conversion [to Christ] or a course of ‘reparative’ psychotherapy.  ‘These claims are scientifically and theologically inaccurate,’ said Baines.  ‘They have been refuted by the entire mainstream medical community and most mainstream faith communities.’”[v]  (emphasis ours) Rev. Baines is openly “gay.”

Quoting Rev. Meg Riley in the same press release, she states: ‘“Teaching young people that lesbians and gay men are ‘sinful’ and should change contributes to a climate that sanctions anti-gay discrimination and violence,’ said Riley.  ‘What we need to teach instead is that differences in the human condition are cause for celebration not condemnation.’” 

Rev. Riley, who formerly served as director of the Office of Lesbian and Gay Concerns for the Unitarian-Universalist Association, stated in a March 31, 1999 EPF press release that “many people of faith believe that homophobia, not homosexuality, is a sin, and that discrimination, not love, is to be condemned.”[vi]  According to Laura Montgomery-Rutt, national organizer for Equal Partners in Faith:  “We as people of faith affirm that standing for GLBT [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered] equality does not conflict with our religious beliefs.”[vii] 

Though legislation against employment discrimination (ENDA) is just the first step toward full legal protection for homosexuality, it is important to note that “full equality” for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, including the “right” to legally recognized marriage, the “right” to adopt children, the “right” to be ordained and the “right” to serve in denominational leadership positions are all being advocated as issues of discrimination, justice and civil rights  --  and it is now being advocated in large degree by “religious” people.     

TIA & Equal Partners in Faith Leaders

Endorse SIECUS “Declaration”

On January 18, 2000, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) released a document entitled: “Religious Declaration on Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing.”  Calling for the “full inclusion” of homosexuals in congregational life, “including their ordination and the blessing of same sex unions,” more than 850 liberal religious leaders endorsed the declaration.[viii]  (SIECUS was also one of the 68 participating organizations in the How to Win manual.)     

Fourteen members of the Equal Partners in Faith board of directors/advisory board signed on as endorsers of the SIECUS “declaration,” including EFF’s co-chair Rev. Meg Riley, who also serves on the board of directors of The Interfaith Alliance.  Five members of the TIA board of directors signed the “declaration.”    

Among the endorsers of the “declaration” were Nancy Hastings Sehested, a recent past president of the Alliance of Baptists, which, as mentioned previously, claims to have “provided much of the leadership for the [Cooperative Baptist] Fellowship.”  The current president of the Alliance of Baptists is TIA executive director Dr. C. Welton Gaddy. 

In 1995, the Alliance of Baptists released a “Report of the Task Force on Human Sexuality.”  In support of “gay marriages,” which the report refers to as “covenant-making,” it states:  “We encourage churches to lift up the ideal of covenant – that is, challenging persons, whether heterosexual or same-sex oriented, to express sexual intimacy within the covenant context of a committed, monogamous relationship.  One example of that support could be a ritual of covenant-making between the couple, the couple and God, and the couple and the Christian community.”[ix] 

In the years 2000, 2001 and 2002, the Alliance of Baptists will be holding its annual meetings in churches that ordained homosexual deacons, ministers and one of which has voted to “allow its ministers to officiate at same-sex weddings.”[x]  In 1997, all six churches receiving mission grants from the Alliance of Baptists had a “pro-gay stance.”[xi] 

SIECUS endorser Nancy Hastings Sehested is the wife of Ken Sehested, executive director of the CBF-funded Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America[xii] which in 1995 called for the ordination of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons and the freedom for such people to serve as chaplains and in denominational leadership positions.[xiii] 

According to the Baptist Peace Fellowship:  “Welcoming gay and lesbian people into the life of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America is, for us, a matter of justice; therefore, we pledge…[t]o work with our brothers and sisters to secure full civil and human rights within the larger culture and full participation within the body of Christ for those who have been excluded because of their sexual orientation.”[xiv] (emphasis ours)  In an article appearing in the Baptist Peacemaker, the official publication of the Baptist Peace Fellowship, opposition to same-sex marriages is said to be “as much an issue of the separation of church and state as it is an issue of justice…”[xv]  Both Nancy and Ken Sehested have served as CBF General Assembly “breakout” leaders.[xvi] 

Another signer of the SIECUS “declaration,” Rev. Barry Lynn, is the former legislative Counsel for the ACLU and currently the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.  Rev. Lynn also serves on the advisory board of Equal Partners in Faith and was a scheduled “breakout” leader at the 1999 CBF General Assembly.[xvii]  Five members of the TIA board of directors have served on the governing board of Americans United:  Meg Riley, John Swomley, Joan Brown Campbell, Foy Valentine and Welton Gaddy.  Gaddy and Valentine have both served as presidents of Americans United since Barry Lynn became executive director in 1992. 

As the executive director of Americans United, Rev. Lynn, a United Church of Christ minister has  defended the reproduction and distribution of child pornography;[xviii] argued that “anti-choice legislation and sodomy laws [are] unconstitutional because they enact particular religious views into statutory form;”[xix] declared that homosexual groups should view Americans United as a “gay ally;[xx] declared his support for same-sex marriages;[xxi] and re-defined “the American family” to include “same-gender families.”[xxii] 

In the CBF’s 1994 AIDS resource packet for churches, the traditional definition of “family” is said to have “changed through time circumstances, and disintegration.”  According to the CBF publication, the new definition of “family” includes “gay families and lesbian families,” by virtue of their “enduring covenants.”[xxiii]  Numerous members of the CBF Coordinating Council and leaders of CBF-funded organizations serve (or have served) on the governing board of Americans United, including two former moderators of the Missouri CBF -- W. B. Tichenor and Cynthia Holmes.[xxiv] 

TIA and The National Religious Leadership Roundtable

In July of 1998, Equal Partners in Faith and the Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force co-convened the National Religious Leadership Roundtable (NRLR).  Claiming the support of “over 30 national faith based organizations, representing millions of people of faith who support equality for GLBT [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered] people,”[xxv] the Roundtable identifies The Interfaith Alliance as one of those supporting organizations.  As mentioned earlier, TIA board member Rev. Meg Riley serves as a co-chair of Equal Partners in Faith (EPF).  According to an EPF press release about the Roundtable:   

The National Religious Leadership Roundtable [is] a national network of leaders of faith, spiritual and religious organizations who affirm gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) equality…  Across the country millions of spiritual Americans now embrace the simple truth that their faith does not conflict with support for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.[xxvi]     

By February 9, 1999, the National Religious Leadership Roundtable issued a press release claiming the support of “[m]ore than 40 leaders of religious and advocacy organizations that support gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender spirituality and equality…”  The press release further states: “The existence of this Roundtable demonstrates a growing movement of support and acceptance in faith communities for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people…”[xxvii] 

Another participating organization in the Roundtable is Americans United for Separation of Church and State.  The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United, serves on the advisory committee of Equal Partners in Faith,[xxviii] a co-convener of the Roundtable.  Ken Brooker Langston, formerly the director of Education and Religious Outreach for TIA and currently national field director for Americans United, is an Equal Partners in Faith board member.  Cedric Harmon, associate field director for Religious Outreach for Americans United is also a member of the Equal Partners in Faith board.[xxix]

On August 23-24, 1999, the National Religious Leadership Roundtable held a public forum in Colorado Springs, Colorado entitled: “Spirituality and Sexuality:  In the Image of God.”[xxx]  The Roundtable delivered a letter to Dr. James Dobson, expressing the group’s “concern about the false and inflammatory rhetoric against homosexuality and homosexuals that flows regularly from Dr. James Dobson and his Focus on the Family organization.”  The message further states:  “We support Dr. Dobson’s right to preach his conscience about homosexuality but we condemn his dangerous and untrue rhetoric against homosexuals.  Focus on the Family’s anti-homosexual campaign leads directly and indirectly to broken families, to divided churches, and to suffering and death for God’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people.”[xxxi]  (emphasis ours) 

One of the discussion sessions at the August 1999 National Religious Leadership Roundtable in Colorado Springs pertained to “Same Sex Marriage,” and “other ways to effectively elevate the sanctity of same sex relationships if achieving marriage rights is not the chosen goal.”[xxxii]

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