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A thousand liberal religious scholars and clergy in the United States have endorsed a statement affirming sexuality as God's gift and calling for the full participation of women and gays and lesbians in the life of religious institutions.

"We feel there is a need to develop a clear and articulate basis for the living out of sexuality as a life-affirming gift," John Thomas, president of the United Church of Christ (UCC), told Ecumenical News International (ENI).

The declaration, known as the "Religious Declaration on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing," was publicly released January 18. The text of the declaration and a list of supporters were published this week as a full-page advertisement in the New York Times. Conservative critics of the document accused the signatories of trying to overthrow Bible-based morality.

Liberal Protestants dominate the list of signatories, though a smaller group of Roman Catholics and Jews also endorsed the resolution. John A. Buehrens, head of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, endorsed the declaration, along with 14 bishops from various denominations, 15 seminary presidents and academic deans, and theologians from more than 32 US seminaries.

Originally 850 people signed the resolution, but since its release to the public, a further 150 have added their support.

Among prominent clergy endorsing the document were Edmond Browning, retired presiding bishop of the Episcopal (Anglican) Church, and Paul Sherry, former president of the United Church of Christ, who has been honored for his work in ministry to gays and lesbians.

The document's signatories declared they were speaking out "against the pain, brokenness, oppression, and loss of meaning that many experience about their sexuality."

"Our culture needs a sexual ethic focused on personal relationships and social justice rather than particular sexual acts," the document said. "All persons have the right and responsibility to lead sexual lives that express love, justice, mutuality, commitment, consent, and pleasure."

Grounded in respect for the body and for the vulnerability that intimacy brings, this ethic fosters physical, emotional, and spiritual health. It accepts no double standards and applies to all persons, without regard to sex, gender, color, age, bodily condition, marital status, or sexual orientation."

The document goes on to support, among other things, the "full inclusion of women and sexual minorities in congregational life, including their ordination and the blessing of same-sex unions," and calls for religious leaders to participate "in movements to end sexual and social injustice."

The resolution's supporters said the document was significant because for the first time a group of US religious leaders had collectively called for a re-examination of sexual ethics and sexual morality. It was also, they said, the first time that so many religious leaders had, as a group, signed a formal declaration countering traditional theological positions on sexual issues.

Immediate reaction to the resolution—including criticism by several well-known religious conservatives—focused on the resolution's call for the blessing of same-sex unions, one of the most contentious issues facing a number of Protestant denominations here.

But Thomas, of the UCC, told ENI that the document's lasting significance stemmed from its overall emphasis on a new sexual ethic linking spirituality and sexuality.

"This is a starting point for a much wider discussion," Thomas said, adding that liberal religious leaders "have not, in an effective and positive way, presented our view on human sexuality. Often we've been silenced in moral debates. We want to make the public aware that there is another perspective."

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January (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44