The following principles, endorsed by the Mt. Auburn Session on January 22, 2003, will serve as the cornerstone for the analysis and/or development of policies related to our inclusive ministry for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) persons and our participation in the movement for full inclusion in the Presbyterian Church USA and in society.

1.  We are STEADFASTLY INCLUSIVE

We will welcome all persons, including gays, lesbians, transgender and bisexuals (GLBT), to the full ministry and life of our church. We will do so openly, protesting and declining to be governed by any provision, policy, report, ruling, amendment, or other statement anywhere in the life of our church and the PC(USA) that imposes discrimination, attempts to limit the love of God, or implies a second-class status of membership. Our inclusive witness is without compromise.

2. We are GUIDED BY BOTH FAITH AND REASON

We will convey our witness (written and spoken) with reason, clarity, thoroughness, and determination, deeply anchored in Biblical and theological perspectives, core tenets of the reformed tradition, and the best insights available on how minds and hearts are changed on GLBT issues. In particular we will illuminate our fundamental understanding of the nature of sexual orientation as a natural, God-given trait, and not sinful, which is the basis of our ethical beliefs and actions. We will offer information and persuasive reason, as well as faithful witness, to support our position and engage others in this issue and cause.

3. We are PRESBYTERIAN

We will affirm and uphold the essential tenets of the Presbyterian Church USA as embedded in its Constitution, which hold in high regard freedom of conscience, openness of discourse, mutual forbearance, inclusiveness of human diversity, and continuous reformation. Mindful of the historic struggles over previously excluded categories of persons, we recognize that the road to inclusion may be neither short nor easy. Nonetheless we believe the PC(USA) to be potentially a force for immense good, and will strive to maintain our rightful place in it.

4. We are RELATIONAL AND OUTREACHING

We will remain in dialogue with, and act with mutual forbearance and respectfulness toward, the diverse views and positions along the road to more light. Among individuals, groups, institutions, and society, we will treat no one as our enemy. We are all on a journey and, potentially, at different places on the path. We will deliberately and actively seek out the like-minded, those near us on the path, and engage with other individuals, churches and organizations working for full inclusion for GLBT persons, both locally and nationally, to advance this important cause.

5. We are AFFIRMATIVE AND HOPEFUL

We will witness by example and seek to reflect the faith, hope, and radical inclusive love and example of Jesus, as we understand it. We will seek to become agents of change in the Cincinnati Presbytery and the PC(USA) via policy statements, overtures and actions aimed at achieving constitutional inclusiveness. We will do so providing resolutions and actions for people to be for, as well as, when necessary, speaking against those provisions that seek to discriminate. We will act with vision and imagine with hope the success of full inclusion against GLBT persons.

6. We are MINDFUL AND RESPECTFUL