Posted on 03/17/2015 6:09:07 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
After three decades of debate over its stance on homosexuality, members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted on Tuesday to change the definition of marriage in the churchs constitution to include same-sex marriage.
The final approval by a majority of the churchs 171 regional bodies, known as presbyteries, enshrines a change recommended last year by the churchs General Assembly. The vote amends the churchs constitution to broaden marriage from being between a man and a woman to two people, traditionally a man and a woman.
The Presbytery of the Palisades, meeting in Fair Lawn, N.J., put the ratification count over the top on Tuesday on a voice vote. With many presbyteries still left to vote, the tally early Tuesday evening stood at 86 presbyteries in favor and 41 against and one tied.
Finally, the church in its constitutional documents fully recognizes that the love of gays and lesbian couples is worth celebrating in the faith community, said the Rev. Brian D. Ellison, executive director of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, which advocates gay inclusion in the church. There is still disagreement, and I dont mean to minimize that, but I think we are learning that we can disagree and still be church together.
The church, with about 1.8 million members, is the largest of the nations Presbyterian denominations, but it has been losing congregations and individual members as it has moved to the left theologically over the past several years. There was a wave of departures in and after 2011, when the presbyteries ratified a decision to ordain gays and lesbians as pastors, elders and deacons, and that may have cleared the way for Tuesdays vote.
(Excerpt) Read more at mobile.nytimes.com ...
“Church”.
Not my job to judge them...but man can not make clean what God finds offensive.
The reason this happened is a large number of churches have left. My church left last year.
At some time... the burning will suck!
I don’t think “final judgment” is in their power to pronounce.
No doubt in a year or two it will be:
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After three decades of debate over its stance on adultery, members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted on Tuesday to change the definition of marriage in the churchs constitution to celebrate “having a little fun on the side”.
The final approval by a majority of the churchs 171 regional bodies, known as presbyteries, enshrines a change recommended last year by the churchs General Assembly. The vote amends the churchs constitution to broaden marriage from being “for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live” to “a legal contract and convenience that offers financial benefits but no restrictions”.
Finally, the church in its constitutional documents fully recognizes that the love of those who stray is worth celebrating in the faith community, said an intern, speaking on behalf of the Rev. W. J Clinton, executive director of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, which advocates horndog inclusion in the church. There is still disagreement, and I dont mean to minimize that, but I think we are learning that we can disagree and still be church together.
The church, with about 0.9 million members, was once the largest of the nations Presbyterian denominations, but it has been losing congregations and individual members as it has moved to the left theologically over the past several years. There was a wave of departures in and after 2011, and again after 2015, when the presbyteries ratified decisions to ordain gays and lesbians as pastors, elders and deacons, and again to recognize gay “marriage” was if it was real marriage, and that may have cleared the way for Tuesdays vote.
Now they are the Presbyterian People’s Popular Front. The word “church” cannot in any way apply to them. The Presbyterians are now officially a Synagogue of Satan.
There! Fixed it.
"Citizen Zed: Sounds more like a schism than a vote."
Thread title is evidently pro-gay activists once again trying to give impression that LGBT people are more numerous than they really are.
Well,,clearly this shows how much endorsing homosexuality has permeated our entire culture.
So now we are going to see major recognized religious denominations approving and performing homosexual marriages???
Never thought I would see the day. I naïvely thought that churches would stand firm against homosexual marriage, even though homosexual marriage was happening in civil or non religious ceremonies.
Are there other major Christian denominations which allow homosexual marriage??
Once they stop following the Bible, they are no longer a Christian church, no matter what they call themselves. Same with Episcopalians. Morals do not “evolve”.
Many "churches" stand firm for one thing: the flow of money from the collection plate.
I’m sure they used the homosexual bible to find the scripture to justify this because in the Christian Bible Jesus talks of marriage being between a man and a woman.
Matthew 19:5 KJV
And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 5and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH ‘?
Praying for the still true congregations there to have the courage to leave as many others have done. It is very traumatic and expensive in some cases... my heart goes out to the faithful Pastors and members still within the denomination for the days ahead.
Did anyone ever think, a few years ago, that we would see schisms in major denominations, over homosexuality, of all things???
Apparently though the conservatives continue to donate generously to their liebral “churches.” They are too uninformed to know any better.
It’s not really over homosexuality: it is over God Himself (they even reject the pronoun now).
You’d be surprised how many Presbyterians won’t bat an eye over this.
The root of the problem is grounded in the very beginning of the gentile “church”. Yeshua and all of his Talmidim were Jews and they observed all, that’s ALL the commandments. The apostles warned the movement that to willfully break a single commandment ruins the integrity of the whole Torah. The so called “church fathers” willfully did just that. They broke certain mitzvot and taught their followers to do the same. A fatal disease found purchase within the church that has now germinated and will eventually destroy Christianity entirely. You doubt this? Watch, it is happening all around you. The answer is, and has always been to learn to walk as the Nazarene walked: in perfect observance of the Torah. As David the King said, “All of your righteous statutes are everlasting!”
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