Gay Man Uses Pulpit to Fight for Acceptance

Dec. 9, 2006 — -- Michael Adee is one of the very few openly gay elders in the Presbyterian Church. He was ordained by a liberal church in Santa Fe, New Mexico -- a direct violation of church law.

Adee would like to take the next step and become a pastor who performs sacraments such as baptism and marriage, but that's unlikely unless the church changes its policy.

Asked if he has a problem with being a member of a denomination that refuses to ordain gay and lesbian ministers, he answered, "Yes, I would be disingenuous if I say anything else."

But Adee has turned his disappointment into activism. For the past five years, he has headed up an organization called More Light Presbyterian, which through media outreach promotes the inclusion of gays and lesbians in every part of the church -- both as members and as leaders.

Under his tenure, the number of More Light churches supporting gay leadership has grown 30 percent.

"While it's still the tip of the iceberg, it's radical progress in a short time," he said.

Adee has taken his message of acceptance to the pulpit -- traveling to churches across the country and speaking to congregations who have never heard an openly gay minister preach.

"Not only am I a person of faith and a Christian," Adee told the congregation at Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., "but I am gay."

After the service, member Emily Counts compared Adee's words of acceptance for gays in the church to those of advocates of the civil rights movement who built support by taking their message to individual churches.

"Maybe not all churches are ready to hear it, but I'm not sure it's a reason not to approach the issue," she said. "There has been a long history of what people have stood up in the pulpit and said. It's obviously torn congregations apart. But it's also been an important platform."

Adee is confident the Presbyterian Church will eventually accept the ordination of gays. Just this summer, the Presbyterian general assembly voted to allow each local congregation the power to consider whether or not to ordain gays.