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News, events, updates, and tidbits from the Presbyterian Historical Society. Use tags to read related articles or sort by author for similar posts written by PHS staff members and volunteers.

Stories of More Light Churches

June 17, 2021

In 1978, several churches took issue to a ruling by the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly. The assembly had ruled that although LGBTQIA+ people could join churches, they could not serve in official leadership roles. The churches that heard this ruling and were determined to stand against it began to declare themselves “More Light” churches. The name More Light came from a quote in John Robinson’s Farewell Address that said that God had...

Author: 
Elizabeth Wittrig
Tags: 
LGBTQIA+ History
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Past PHS LIVE: The David Sindt Papers and LGBTQIA+ History

May 11, 2021

On April 15, 2021 PHS welcomed Barry Smith, the historian of Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church in Chicago, who described his personal experience working with the David Sindt Papers and knowing David.

David Sindt (1940-1986) was the founder of Presbyterians for Lesbian/Gay Concerns, which is still working today as More Light Presbyterians. In the early 1970s, Sindt...

Author: 
Kristen
Tags: 
PHS Live, LGBTQIA+ History
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Progress Report: The Pam Byers Memorial Collecting Initiative

January 22, 2020

In September 2018, I was hired as the Pam Byers Memorial Fund Project Archivist to work full-time on collecting and making accessible the history of the movement for LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Thanks to the generosity of donors and the willingness of Presbyterians to participate in this project, PHS has been able to add a substantial amount of material to our collections that document LGBTQIA+ history from the late 1960s until today. 

New...

Author: 
Elizabeth Wittrig
Tags: 
LGBTQIA+ History, Collections
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Bill Thompson Changes His Mind

September 16, 2019
William Phelps Thompson clippings and photographs, 1966. Pearl ID: 1947

--by Dean H. Lewis

William Phelps Thompson, the Kansas lawyer who was elected Moderator and then Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, was not noted for admitting error. However, in an October 15, 1991 letter, he publicly acknowledged having changed his mind on a contentious issue on which his earlier position had been critical.

The 1978 United Presbyterian General...

Author: 
Guest Blogger
Tags: 
Stated Clerks, LGBTQIA+ History, General Assembly
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"Is Anyone Else Out There Gay?"

June 17, 2019

At the 1974 General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., David Sindt stood on the Assembly floor holding a hand-written sign that read, “Is anyone else out there gay?”

David Sindt was born in 1940 and grew up attending Presbyterian churches in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received his Masters of Divinity in 1966 from...

Author: 
Elizabeth Wittrig
Tags: 
LGBTQIA+ History, Congregations
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