That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS): Participating Organization Profile

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Dublin Core

Title

That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS): Participating Organization Profile

Description

That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS) was founded in 1992 to advocate for an inclusive and welcoming Church and for the ordination of qualified lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) candidates for ministry in the Presbyterian Church (USA). We were formed in response to a 1992 ecclesiastical court decision by the highest judicial body of the Presbyterian Church (USA) which set aside the pastoral call of the Rev. Dr. Jane Adams (Janie) Spahr to the Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, NY, simply because she was open about her lesbian identity. In a constructive response to this painful denial, the Downtown Church created a mission project, That All May Freely Serve, and called on Rev. Spahr, their “traveling lesbian evangelist,” to visit congregations with pastors and church members throughout the country, telling the stories of LGBT Presbyterians.