Tennessee clergy are signing the following statement against Senate Bill 1:

"As clergy serving the people of Tennessee, we oppose Senate Bill 1 that retains the discriminatory provision of a law passed in 2016 and expands it to include discrimination based on beliefs.  In addition, the law completely abandons the American Counseling Association's code of ethics and requires the state board to write its own.  This puts all Tennesseans seeking counseling at risk because we cannot know whether the new ethics code and standards will include, delete, or add to the existing provisions of the code.  For these reasons, we urge the Tennessee General Assembly to reject SB1."

If you are active or retired clergy serving people in Tennessee and would like to sign the letter, contact us at [email protected] .

Rev. Chris Buice, Knoxville

Rev. Viki Matson, Nashville

Rev. Bruce Spangler, Knoxville

Rev. Ken Edwards, Nashville

Chaplain Jon Coffee, Knoxville

Rev. Dave McIntyre, Normandy

Rev. Judi Hoffman, Nashville

Rev. Ken Carroll, Chattanooga

Rev. Steve Wolf, Clarksville

Rev. Laura Bogle, Maryville

Rev. Jason Shelton, Nashville

Rev. Mark C. Pafford, Cookeville

Rev. Tim Kobler, Knoxville

Rabbi Philip "Flip" Rice, Brentwood

Rev. Gordon Gibson, Knoxville

Rev. Carolyn Dipboye, Oak Ridge

Rev. Larry K. Dipboye, Oak Ridge

Rev. Judith Meyer, Knoxville

Rev. Mark Brown, Memphis

Rev. Greg Bullard, Madison

Rev. April Baker, Nashville

Rev. Dr. Amy L. Mears, Nashville

Rev. Sandy Prigmore Lewis,

Rev. Amy R Probst, Kingsport

Rev. Howard Bowlin, Maryville

Rev. Cynthia Andrews-Looper, Memphis

Rev. Denise Yeargin, Nashville

Rev. Jonathan Jeffords, Memphis

Rev. Ray White, Greeneville

Rev. Dr. Katherine White, Greeneville

Rev. Jay Voorhees, Nashville

Rev. Dr. Tim Stewart, Nashville

Rev. Mike Wilson, Nashville

Bishop Melvin Talbert, Nashville

Rev. Kimberly Rodrigue, Nashville

Rabbi Shana Goldstein Mackler, Nashville

Rev. Mary Louise McCullough, Nashville

Rev. Kevin E. Mitchell, Murfreesboro

Cantor Tracy L. Fishbein, Nashville

Rev. Lillian H. Lammers, Nashville

Rev. Sharon Temple, Nashville

Rev. Andrew B. Ward, Nashville

Rev. Ingrid McIntyre, Nashville

Rev. Brandon Gilvin, Chattanooga

Rev. Mark Flynn, Chattanooga

Rev. Jake Morrill, Oak Ridge

Rev. Robert B. Coleman, Nashville

Rev. Lisa Gwock, Nashville

Rev. Michael Williams, Nashville

Rev. Hope Hodnett, Nashville

Rev. Dr. L. Susan Bond, Jackson

Rev. Dr. Janet L. Wolf, Nashville

Rev. Kira Schlesinger, Lebanon

Rev. Pamela Hawkins, Nashville

Rev. Deven Hazelwood Johnson, Johnson City

Rev. Shane Smith, Kingsport

Rev. Autumn Dennis, Nashville

Rev. Peter van Eys, Nashville

Bishop Patrick Potts, Johnson City

Rev. R.J. Powell, Knoxville

Rev. Chris Harpster, Kingsport

Rev. Matthew Kelley, Brentwood

Rev. Paul Slentz, Nashville

Rev. Jeannie Alexander, Nashville

Rev. Josh Beeler, Knoxville

Rev. Nancy Speas Hill, Franklin

Rev. Floridia Jackson, Memphis

Rev. Barbara P. Garcia, Nashville

Rev. Debbie Shield, Johnson City

Rev. Eric Minton, Knoxville

Rev. Rob Van Ess, Memphis

Rev. Joseph R. Woodfin, Gallatin

Pastor Michael Alford, Goodlettsville

Rev. Becca Stevens, Nashville

Rev. Thomas Kleinert, Nashville

Rev. Beth Lefever, Cordova

Rev. Lauri Jo Cranford, Kingsport

Rev. Tim Bath, Murfreesboro

Rev. Katie Woodard, Clarksville