A new policy that opens the door to ordination of openly gay deacons, elders, and ministers in the Presbyterian Church ( USA ) took effect July 10, with prayer vigils and liturgical celebrations to mark the historic occasion held across the nation from Pittsburgh to Nashville to Denver and beyond.
Closer to home, the landmark change means that Andersonville resident Jeannine Oakes' dream of becoming an ordained minister of word and sacrament—in a church she dearly loves—may very well come true after all.
"I am still in the early stages of the process, with a lot of requirements to go," Oakes said during a telephone interview last week.
Currently, Oakes is an "inquirer," a denominational term for a one-year period in which a person "discerns"—or figures out—what it means to be an ordained pastor.
The next stage is "candidate," a one-to-two-year period when prospective ministers complete divinity degrees and take ordination exams.
Once that process is complete, a committee certifies that a candidate is ready to receive a "call."
Before being ordained, Presbyterian policy requires that a congregation call—or seek out—a pastor to ministry.
Like many LGBT people of faith, Oakes struggled to reconcile her sexuality and spirituality Not raised a Presbyterian, she grew up in Aurora, Ill., and attended a non-denominational evangelical bible church.
By junior high school, Oakes and her brother found their way to a nearby Presbyterian church that had lively youth group.
Still, "that church was pretty conservative and so not a lot different from a bible church," she said.
Both at home and in church, the message was clear: It's not okay to be openly gay and Christian in the same breath. "I felt quite oppressed in my sexuality—still closeted," Oakes said.
A 2001 graduate of from the University of Illinois-Chicago, Oakes first began attending Fourth Presbyterian Church while in college. Located along Chicago's Magnificent Mile, Fourth Presbyterian is a progressive congregation, fully welcoming and inclusive of LGBT persons. "There, I started to recognize that God is accepting of all people," Oakes said.
After college, she worked for the Chicago Park District, liked her job, but could not see a career as a supervisor and gymnastics instructor for the city.
Initially, Oakes considered a career teaching in academia and enrolled at Yale Divinity School where she earned a master of divinity degree in 2008. "I had hoped to continue on and earn a Ph.D.," she said. "In a heavy academic environment, however, I realized that I missed being in church, so I started to discern a call."
However, for years, Oakes said, because of the ban on non-celibate LGBT persons in ministry, she "pushed away" any Presbyterian calling, wondering why she should have "to fight" for ordination.
Oakes even came to the brink of "seriously consider switching to another denomination," namely the United Church of Christ, she said.
"I really feel Presbyterian," Oakes explained. "In the end, if my call is to have to fight to prove that it is okay for me to be ordained," so it is.
The Presbyterian Church's democratic system of governance appeals to Oakes, she said. "It's really a community where the elders have people power to the pastors where in a lot of other churches that's not the case."
Oakes also appreciates the academic emphasis that Presbyterians place on theological education and training of pastors, "getting back to the biblical languages so that ministers are able to interpret scripture from the original words," she said.
In addition, "Our church is a confessional or creedal church," Oakes explained, referring to written statements of beliefs, which have to do with the different ways God operates in other cultures and periods of time.
"I appreciate that that the Presbyterian Church is not super fixated on theology or confessions," she said, explaining that when change in thinking comes along, "We accept new creeds and new constitutions, but we don't get rid of the old ones, we add to them."
All in all, being open and honest about her sexual orientation has been the guiding principle for Oakes in discerning a call to ministry.
"Throughout the ordination process. I was out from the start," she said, "even if it meant that I reached the point where I could go no further, I felt it would be completely dishonest in who I am and what my call is to be closeted."
Sure enough, Oakes experiences the July 10 lifting of the official church ban on openly LGBT ordination as "a joyous occasion," she said.
Even before the landmark change in Presbyterian policy, Fourth Presbyterian endorsed Oakes's decision to enroll in McCormick Theological Seminary, where she is completing ordination prerequisites, including language requirements in Greek and Hebrew, along with course work in reform theology and church polity, or governance.
Overall, "I hope that this type of policy change now in effect, will let the [ LGBT ] community know that Presbyterian Church ( USA ) is becoming more accepting," she said. "Certainly, having a gay pastor in the pulpit, I would hope, is a sign of welcome to all people."
