Presbyterian pastor here seeks

to lead parley, fears rift

By Darrell Holland

Religion editor

A Presbyterian pastor here says he is running for moderator of his denomination because he believes he can help prevent a permanent split in the church over the issue of homosexuality.

The Rev. Alexander C. Meakin said he fears that a proposal to ordain gays that will be considered by the denomination's General Assembly next month could create such a schism in the church it might not be able to deal with other significant issues.

The Rev. Mr. Meakin, 55, has been pastor of Parma-South Presbyterian Church, 6149 Pearl Rd., since 1967.

He has been nominated for one of the two highest posts in the United Presbyterian Church in the United States by the Western Reserve Presbytery, the local governing body.

He will be one of seven candidates for moderator at the General Assembly May 16-24 in San Diego, Calif.

rift on gays

The Plain Dealer/Charles Harris

The Rev. Alexander C. Meakin

delegates to the assembly to endorse ordination for homosexuals.

Mrs. White, 34, who voted in favor of ordination for gays, said the denomination does not seem to be ready to grant qualified gays ministerial standing.

Among the decisions confronting the assembly will be a 200-page report from a denominational task force which recommends that avowed, practicing homosexuals who meet all other qualifications for The Rev. Mr. Meakin, a native Cleveordination should be certified by presby-lander, said he was still studying the issue teries for the ministry.

A minority report, signed by five members of the 19-member task force, recommends that the assembly declare that avowed homosexuals cannot become ministers.

Church members disagree over how church law deals with ordination of homosexuals.

Both the Rev. Mr. Meakin and Barbara P. White, wife of a Presbyterian minister in Lyndhurst and a member of the task force, said in interviews 'last week that they d do not believe there will be enough support from the 650 voting

and would announce his position early in the assembly, when the moderator's election is held. The new moderator will preside over the meeting.

He said he believes the issue of homosexuals in Church and society is important, but that the church also must, be healthy and united enough to deal with other issues such as war, hunger and the status of children in American society.

"If the gay issue destroys the church, it will keep us from dealing with these other matters," the Rev. Mr. Meakin said.

Some church observers, he said, be-

lieve that a local presbytery, which ordains ministers, could now proceed legally under present church law to ordain a qualified homosexual.

But, he explained, if the minority report should be accepted by the assembly, a presbytery could not ordain a homosexual. No avowed homosexual has ever been ordained in the Presbyterian Church.

The Rev. Mr. Meakin noted that when a person is ordained in the church, he promises to maintain the peace of the church. He suggested that ordaining a homosexual might not fulfill that pledge

now.

Asked if homosexuality is a sin, as the minority report suggested and as many Presbyterians and other Christians believe, he said, "I don't think we can answer that flat out."

He said psychiatrists and medical doctors cannot agree on whether homosexuality is chosen or if persons are inherently homosexual. "If chosen," he said, "it might be considered sinful."

The denomination's New York City headquarters reported last week that a dozen petitions have been received from the 152 presbyteries nationwide that oppose the task force majority's recommendation to accept homosexual ministers.

The Rev. Richard B. Carley, executive of the Western Reserve Presbytery, said it had not taken a formal position on the issue.

But he said that Presbyterian churches in Wickliffe and Avon Lake have formally opposed the ordination of homosexuals.

The question of whether homosexuals can become ministers has hounded Presbyterians for several years. Two years ago, the General Assembly said it would be "injudicious, if not improper," to do so. That assembly also established the task force to study the issue.