Newark Diocese Sponsors Conference on Sexuality
Diocesan Press Service. November 21, 1973 [73252]
NEWARK, N.J. -- Are sexual relations before or outside marriage ever permissible ? Should the church recognize homosexual unions? Is there a Scriptural basis for male chauvinism? What are the ethical issues involved in abortion?
These were just a few of the many questions that were freely explored by some 200 clergy and laity at a conference on "Human Sexuality and Christian Ethics" sponsored by the Department of Christian Social Relations of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark on Saturday, October 13th.
The conference -- believed to be one of the first ever held on the subject by an Episcopal diocese -- brought together a diverse group of participants, including two bishops and many teenagers.
They did not attempt to reach any consensus on the issues. Instead, they listened to speakers from several major denominations and then engaged in small-group discussions on abortion, homosexuality, extra-marital sex and sexuality outside of sex.
In opening the conference in Newark' s Trinity Cathedral, the Rt. Rev. George E. Rath, S. T. D., Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of Newark, prayed for an end to "fears, misunderstandings, prejudice and guilt " on the subject of sex " so that we may be open to enjoy the great blessing Thou hast given us in all its fullness."
The conference chairman, the Rev. J. Eric Hayden, a priest and social psychologist, who is chairman of the Department's Committee on the Study of Sexuality and Ethics, said the meeting was designed not to produce "definitive answers or a party line," but "to reaffirm the church's commitment to human values in an age of sexual exploitation and dehumanization."
Father Hayden said the frank discussion "shows a new day for the church" in dealing with sex. Often in the past, he said, the church has been "blind and deaf to the problems of human sexuality," and has compounded these problems with puritanism or misunderstanding of Scripture.
One of the keynote speakers, the Rev. John McNeill, S.J., professor of ethics at Woodstock College, Jesuit seminary in New York City and also visiting lecturer at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, said the church has too often claimed divine sanction for merely historical or cultural patterns. Beliefs in male superiority and in sex as only an instrument of procreation have been widespread in the church, Father McNeill said, but they have no real basis in the teachings of Christ.
In answer to a question from an Episcopal priest, the Jesuit said the church should provide a ceremony to solemnize the union of two homosexuals. Homosexual love, he said, can be "just as unselfish and generous " as heterosexual affection.
"I see no reason at all why two 'gay ' people who love each other and want to dedicate their lives to each other in the presence of God should not be able to do so in the,church," declared Father McNeill. He said this is already being done in some Roman Catholic parishes in Holland.
On the other hand, the Rev. Dr. Albert Mollegen, the eminent Episcopal moral theologian professor of ethics at the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, said there is a "Christian imperative " for a homosexual to try to become heterosexual. If the homosexual's efforts fail, then "the Christian thing to do " is to help him or her adjust to homosexuality, Dr. Mollegen said.
The Episcopal theologian said the church must provide a norm -- or "North Star " -- to guide human behavior, but this should be applied with compassion in individual situations.
The third keynote speaker, Dr. Joanna B. Gillespie, assistant professor of sociology at Drew University in Madison, N.J., and wife of an Episcopal priest, said Americans live in an "eroticized environment, " in which sex most often has no relationship to reproduction.
She predicted that new definitions of marriage and family will emerge in the near future.
At a luncheon presentation, the Rev. John Owens, associate rector of St. Luke's Church, Montclair, N.J., and two of his parishioners advocated use of the Unitarian sex education program, "About Your Sexuality." Mr. Owens said the church must provide sex education because parents and schools have failed at the task. Also, he said the Church can be the arena where values and responsibility can be mutually explored by teenagers and their parents.
In the afternoon workshops the discussion was often lively. In one session on marital infidelity a priest observed that no one seems to want to talk about sin any more.
A young woman in the group promptly asserted that the church has no right to interfere in a couple's decision to terminate a marriage.
The priest retorted that he doesn't mind if people live together, but once they ask the church to sanctify their relationship, then the church could insist they keep their commitments to each other.
In summarizing the conference, the Rev. Dr. H. Kimball Jones, psychotherapist and lecturer on pastoral counselling at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, said he had sensed much confusion and uncertainty. Many participants expressed intellectual acceptance of modern trends in sexual behavior, but emotional resistance to some changing mores.
Dr. Jones also declared that the church has no final and definitive answers to sexual questions. He said that in the final analysis we each must make our own moral decisions and must personally bear the responsibility for these decisions.
The Rev. Canon Benedict H. Hanson, chairman of the Diocesan Department of Christian Social Relations, said the conference could serve as a model for similar conferences in other dioceses, as well as for conferences in convocations and parishes within the Diocese of Newark and throughout the Church.
Other participants in the conference included the Rt. Rev. Kenneth Anand, D.D., former bishop of Amritsar, India, who is now a vicar in the Diocese of Newark, and the Very Rev. Dillard Robinson, Dean of Trinity Cathedral and member of Executive Council of the Episcopal Church.
Most of the proceedings were tape-recorded, and Canon Hanson said the three hours of recordings would be an excellent basis for discussion in a parish conference on the subject for both adults and young people. Or, in a different section could be used at each of several meetings of a parish organization thus stimulating discussion following each address. The following addresses are included: "The Cultural and Sociological Scene Today, " by Dr. Gillespie; "The Traditional Judeo-Christian Sex Ethic," by Dr. Mollegen; "The Situational Sex Ethic," by Dr. McNeill. The Rev. John Owens spoke on "The Church's Role in Sex Education." Dr. Jones' summary of the conference is also included.
The tapes of the conference are available through the Department of Christian Social Relations, 24 Rector Street, Newark, N.J. 07102. The price is $6.50 for the entire recording which is available either on two cassettes or on open reel (to be played at either 7 ½ ips or 33/4 ips.).