“True Confession: A Presbyterian Dissenter Talks About the Church” by Barbara G. Wheeler

True Confession: A Presbyterian Dissenter Talks About the Church
By Barbara G. Wheeler

On November 6, 1999, Barbara Wheeler, then President of Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City, delivered an address at the 1999 Covenant Network Conference in Atlanta, GA, entitled: True Confession: A Presbyterian Dissenter Thinks About the Church. (A link to the full transcript can be found below). In it she says the following:

“As I noted earlier, our condemnation of homosexual practices reinforces hatred of homosexuals throughout this society. Former moderator John Fife once said that every time a gay teenager commits suicide, there is a sense in which that goes on the Presbyterian Church’s chart.”

We, the church, have spent decades adding terrible harms to the “Presbyterian Church’s chart.” We have stifled welcoming to others, limited the expression of the gospel, and sat quietly when we should have spoken out. – Ray Bagnuolo on support for Item 11-05.