Dear Editor:

In response to Pastor Elliott Scott's question regarding the applicability of 1 Cor 5:9-13, I also have a couple of questions:

1. In Pastor Scott's reading of the passage he cited, is he advocating that we should go further and deny membership, even fellowship, to active homosexuals? Does he believe that G-5.0103 and G-5.0301 should be amended to preclude homosexuals (and the greedy, and other persons who might be considered "wicked") from participation in the church? After all, 1 Cor 5:9-13 is speaking of more than the selection of church leaders.

2. I suggested that we should emulate PUP through the process of meeting with persons with whom we disagree. Is a person who disagrees with him about the law – rather than engages in various practices – also someone we should refrain from being in community with? Or to put it simply: I happen to be straight. I also support GLBT ordination. Would Pastor Scott be willing to be in table fellowship with me and maybe share a bottle of wine – for sacramental purposes only, of course :-) – and just talk about these issues as two people seeking the Lord? Or would he see that as a violation of God's Word to him?

And yes, I am suggesting that if conservatives would hang out with liberals they'd be better Christians. But please don't ignore the fact that I am also saying that if liberals would hang out with conservatives, they'd also be better Christians.

Pastor Scott may be correct in suggesting that my position is naive, but I wouldn't call it "hopelessly naive" – I believe that following Christ is all about being "hope-fully naive." My naivete is how I express the "foolishness of the cross" to a cynical world.

With regard to Wayne Barrett's sequence of ad hominems, I simply state that process is not a god nor an idol – but it is a way for us to find God together. Let us remember G-4.0301d: "Presbyters are not simply to reflect the will of the people, but rather to seek together to find and represent the will of Christ." To decide, in advance, what the will of Christ is and then deride any group that reaches a different conclusion is guilty of violating the spirit of G-4.0301d.

He suggests that there was no "real substantive debate over theology and biblical exegesis" in the PUP process. I suggest that he talk to a few task force members. Perhaps they would take exception to the comment.

In Christ,