DETROIT (AP) — The top legislative body of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) has voted by large margins to recognize same-sex marriage as Christian
in the church constitution, adding language that marriage can be the union of
"two people," not just "a man and a woman."
The amendment approved Thursday by the Presbyterian General
Assembly requires approval from a majority of the 172 regional presbyteries,
which will vote on the change over the next year. But in a separate policy
change that takes effect at the end of this week's meeting, delegates voted to
allow ministers to preside at gay weddings in states where the unions are legal
and local congregational leaders approve. Nineteen states and the District of
Columbia recognize same-sex marriage.
The votes, during a national meeting in Detroit, were a sweeping
victory for Presbyterian gay-rights advocates. The denomination in 2011
eliminated barriers to ordaining clergy with same-sex partners, but ministers
were still barred from celebrating gay marriages and risked church penalties
for doing so. Alex McNeill, executive director of More Light Presbyterians, a
gay advocacy group, said the amendment was "an answer to many
prayers."
The Rev. Krystin Granberg of the New York Presbytery — in a state
that recognizes gay marriage — said she receives requests "all the
time" from friends and parishioners to preside at their weddings.
"They want to be married in the church they love and they
want me to do it," Granberg said during the debate. "I want pastoral
relief."
But Bill Norton, of the Presbytery de Cristo, which covers parts
of Arizona and New Mexico, urged the assembly to delay any changes. "We
are laying hands on something that is holy, that God has given us, so we need
to be sure any changes we make are in accord with God's will revealed in
Scripture," Norton said.
Since the 2011 gay ordination vote, 428 of the denomination's more
than 10,000 churches have left for other more conservative denominations or
have dissolved, though some theological conservatives have remained within the
denomination as they decide how to move forward. The church now has about 1.8
million members.
The conservative Presbyterian Lay Committee decried the votes in
Detroit as an "abomination." The assembly voted 371-238 to allow
ministers to celebrate same-sex marriages, and 429-175 in favor of amending the
definition of marriage in the constitution.
"The General Assembly has committed an express repudiation of
the Bible, the mutually agreed upon Confessions of the PCUSA, thousands of
years of faithfulness to God's clear commands and the denominational ordination
vows of each concurring commissioner," the Presbyterian Lay Committee said
in a statement.
Of the mainline Protestant denominations, only the United Church
of Christ supports gay marriage outright. The Episcopal Church has approved a
prayer service for blessing same-sex unions. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America has eliminated barriers for gay clergy but allows regional and local
church officials to decide their own policies on ordination and blessings for
same-sex couples.
The largest mainline group, the United Methodist Church, with about
7.8 million U.S. members, bars ordaining people in same-sex relationships.
However, church members have been debating whether to split over their
different views of the Bible and marriage. Gay marriage supporters have been
recruiting clergy to openly officiate at same-sex ceremonies in protest of
church policy.
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