In the early 1960s, the Methodist Church appointed a young Methodist clergyman, The Reverend Ted McIlvenna, to the Interdenominational Young Adult Project of the San Francisco Methodist Union, the first of several urban projects designed to study sexuality needs of young adults. (The Young Adult Project was a cooperative venture of the Methodist Church, United Church of Christ, United Presbyterian Church, American Baptist Church, and the Southern Presbyterian Church, IASHS, 1995.) This program was funded in part by a grant from the Glide Foundation and by the Methodist Women’s Division (Moore, 2002a). Cecil Williams and Ted McIlvenna, both Methodist clergy, began a ministry to "castoffs" in the Tenderloin area of San Francisco in 1962, and Glide Urban Center was established at Glide Methodist Church, San Francisco (IASHS; Moore, 2000a; McAdams, 1999, McIlvenna, personal communication, February 6, 2002).

McIlvenna’s primary assignment was to study the nature and needs of young adults in order to discover how the church could serve them. In the course of this work, McIlvenna, director of the Young Adult Project, found three distinct populations of young adults: the gay/lesbian community, the artistic community, and young adults with mental health and drug abuse problems. Through the Young Adult Project, McIlvenna and others created programs for these young adults: Intersection: a Center for Religion and the Arts, and Baker House for young adults with mental health and drug problems (Moore, 2000a; McIlvenna, personal communication, February 6, 2002; McAdams, 1999). One thing McIlvenna learned through this research and these programs was that many lesbians and gays "sensed a sharp division between themselves and the Church" (McAdams) or were "totally alienated from the church" (Lyon and Mauer, 1971, p. 14).

McIlvenna reports that the main conclusion of his research and study was that homosexuality could not be understood without first understanding human sexuality (1977, p. 9; 1994, p. 310; personal communication, February 12, 2001), and he reported this to his supervisory committee.

In the spring of 1964, under the auspices of Glide Foundation and several lesbian and gay organizations, a four-day "Consultation on the Church and the Homosexual" was conducted. The major focus of this consultation: the church and homosexuality. One half participants were gay/lesbian activists, others were heterosexual/protestant ministers (Methodist, Episcopal, Lutheran, Quaker). Glide staff and local Methodist pastors participated. The clergy participants toured bars and gay nightspots, including a church–sponsored coffeehouse. Ground rules for the consultation stipulated that no one had special access to truth or righteousness; in addition, there was no identification as to roles, positions, and/or orientation of the participants (McAdams, 1999; McIlvenna, personal communication, February 6, 2002; Martin, 1964, p. 9).

McIlvenna stressed that "acceptance of homosexuals into the life of the Church [organized religion] would give depth and meaning to their relationships . . . The Church must concern itself with whole persons, in their totality (including sexuality)" (McAdams, 1999; Martin, 1964, p. 11). The Rt. Rev. C. Kilmer Myers (who later became the Episcopal Bishop of California but was then representing the Chicago Urban Training Center), described the Church’s attitude on homosexuals as

not one that can be readily identified. It varies from utter rejection to acceptance. . . . There exists no dogmatic statement about homosexuality or about sexuality in general. On the other hand, doctrine against homosexuality was based upon fear of the unknown, lack of knowledge, and legalistic rejection. (McAdams)

Leaders of this event subsequently established the Council on Religion and the Homosexual at the Glide Urban Center, Glide Methodist Church, San Francisco in 1964 (Moore, 2000a; McIlvenna, personal communication February 6, 2002; McAdams; Lyon and Maurer, 1971, p. 15; GLINN).

The purpose of the Council of Homosexuality and Religion (CRH) was "to promote continuing dialogue between the church and homosexuals" (GLINN; RCP, 2000a, p. 26; McAdams, 1999; Comstock, 1996, p. 244). Until 1974, the CRH was the primary organization for educating clergy and introducing them to concerns of gay Christians (Comstock,, p. 244).

The CRH Board of Trustees included Methodist, Lutheran, UCC, and Episcopal clergy, with other denominational representatives participating in many discussions (McAdams, 1999). Among the CRH objectives were the following:

orienting members of religious communities on aspects of homosexuality in accordance with homosexual testimony and scientific data; promoting dialogue and deeper understanding of sexuality, morality, ethical behavior, and life of religious faith; . . . promoting thorough and objective consideration of human sexual behavior from all points of view and with deep concern for the human beings and values involved in such sensitive, personal matters. (McAdams)

In subsequent years, other consultations took place at the headquarters of the UMC in Nashville, at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Washington, DC, and in London, England (McIlvenna, 1994, pp. 310). The CRH met with the leaders and decision-making bodies of the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal and Methodist Churches, and the Lutheran Church in America, and similar councils were formed in a number of cities (Comstock, 1996, p. 244). The resultant findings revealed that knowledge about human sexuality was lacking and that a center for training professionals was needed (McIlvenna, pp. 311).

Also in 1964, Toward a Quaker View of Sex was published by the Friends Home Committee, one of the first religious organizations to speak out in support of the homosexual community (McAdams, 1999). Kathleen McAdams (former administrator of Oasis California, the GLBT ministry of the Episcopal Church of California) writes about attitudes toward homosexuality in a 1999 article about the San Francisco Council on Religion and the Homosexual,

It is the nature and quality of a relationship that matters: one must not judge it by its outward appearance but by its inner worth. Homosexual affection can be as selfless as heterosexual affection, and therefore we cannot see that it is in some way morally worse. Neither are we happy with the thought that all homosexual behavior is sinful: motive and circumstances degrade or ennoble any act, and we feel that to list sexual acts as sins is to follow the letter rather than the spirit, to kill rather than to give life.

Next: GC 1964 (Pittsburgh)