Rev. Scott Anderson

The Rev. Scott Anderson, long-time gay activist in the Presbyterian Church, was born in 1955 in Sacramento, California. At the age of five, his parents divorced and he and his older sister moved with their mother and grandmother to the west side of Los Angeles. Scott attended elementary school there. After Scott finished sixth grade, his father remarried and Scott and his sister returned to Sacramento to live with their new blended family. Following middle school, Scott moved with his again-divorced father to Roseville, California for his father's new job. Scott attended Oakmont High School where he played saxophone in the band and was elected student body president his senior year, graduating in 1973.

Scott attended Sierra College in Rocklin, California for two years and transferred to the University of California at Davis to complete his undergraduate work, earning a B.A. degree in political science in 1977. Having sensed a call to ministry since he was a sophomore in high school, Scott entered Princeton Theological Seminary in 1978 to study to become a minister in the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA).

As a teenager, Scott knew he was different from other boys, but at the time didn't have a name for it. He never had an interest in dating girls and in high school and college he was socially a loner. During the first year of seminary Scott fell in love with a fellow student, and what had been a mysterious part of life became clear: he was a gay man. Like his gay peers at this time in Presbyterian Church history, he chose to remain in the closet in order to pursue his calling. While on an internship in California he met and fell and love with an international student. They were together for eight years.

Scott graduated from Princeton with an M.Div. degree in 1982. Following ordination, Scott served as pastor of St. Stephens Presbyterian Church in North Highlands, California, from 1983-1987. He then moved to become the Pastor and Head of Staff at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Sacramento. While at Bethany, two members of the congregation found out from a colleague in town that he was a closeted gay man. They attempted to blackmail him with this information, and when they followed through with the threat, Scott resigned and left the ministry in 1990.

Scott began a second long-term relationships that year which led to a 30-year marriage. Scott returned to graduate school at California State University earning an M.A. in Public Policy and Administration in 1992. While intending a career in state government, Scott had taken a part-time job with the California Council of Churches while in school. That led to a full-time job and eventually to becoming the executive director from 1997-2003. Scott continued in ecumenical church leadership as executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches from 2003-2017. During this time, Scott also served six years on the governing board and executive committee of the National Council of Churches. Scott subsequently served as Chair of the PCUSA’s General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations from 2010-2012.

After leaving the Presbyterian ministry in 1990, he became active within the PCUSA in support of full participation of LGBT persons in the life and ministry of the church. He served for four years as national co-Moderator of More Light Presbyterians, an LGBTQ advocacy group within the Presbyterian Church working for full inclusion. He then served as the only openly gay member of the General Assembly’s Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church from 2001-2006. The Task Force unanimously adopted recommendations which led to a change in denominational policy on ordination.

In 2006, Scott began the process to reclaim his ordination as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the PCUSA. The John Knox Presbytery voted to approve Scott for re-ordination in February 2010. After facing an ecclesiastical trial at the Synod level which was a result of this vote, and a subsequent amendment to the denomination’s constitution fully opening the door to ordination, Scott became the first openly gay man to be ordained by the PCUSA on October 9, 2011, at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Madison.

Scott accepted the call to serve as pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Madison, Wisconsin, a mid-sized congregation about two miles from the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The church was over 100 years old with a long history of community engagement and interfaith collaboration. Scott’s ministry at Westminster was focused on congregational revitalization. He was passionate about equipping the followers of Jesus for ministry in all aspects of their lives and in building relationships across theological, racial, gender and religious barriers.

Scott retired from Westminster in 2024. He continues to live in Madison and serves on the McCormick Theological Seminary Board of Trustees in Chicago and chairs its Student and Faculty Policies and Procedures Committee.

Scott is a contributing author to three books: Called Out: The Voices and Gifts of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Presbyterians (Chi Rho Press, 1995), Presbyterians Being Reformed: What the Church Needs Today (Geneva Press, 2006), and That All May Be One: Essays Celebrating the World Communion of Reformed Churches (Westminster/John Knox Press, 2010).

(This biographical statement written by Mark Bowman from information provided by Scott Anderson and was reviewed by Anderson.)

Biography Date: June 2026

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