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Presbyterians who support gay rights are prepping sanctuaries this Sunday (July 10) to celebrate the passage of a new church policy that allows gay pastors to serve openly for the first time in the denomination's history. As the new policy for the Presbyterian Church (USA) becomes official that day, several left-leaning churches "will mark the moment with prayer and rejoicing" in their Sunday services, according to a press release from More Light Presbyterians, which advocates for gay rights in the church. "The Presbyterian Church enters a new era of equality on Sunday," said Michael Adee, the group's executive director. "It...

Brett Webb-Mitchell, a Presbyterian minister who is also gay, took to Salon today to share his experience preaching in Hnederson, North Carolina. It has not been easy:The bigotry, disgust and underlying fear of those of us who are different than the rest -- whoever "the rest" may be -- was breathtaking in its viciousness. And the place where so much of this prejudice found light was in the pages of "Home in Henderson." People from the town and county had free rein to insult and mock me. "Homo of Henderson" they dubbed me, but often they weren't nearly as eloquent:...

As an out Presbyterian preacher, I'd experienced prejudice before. But nothing like what I faced in North CarolinaI was reading "Home in Henderson" -- the unofficial city website for a small town in North Carolina where I had recently moved to preach -- when I came across the blog entry. It was posted under the pseudonym "Church Reporter." "A friend that attends the First Presbyterian Church told me to do a Google search on their new minister Brett Webb-Mitchell," the entry began. "Having done so, I have only three comments to make on the pastor selection: 1. Who is responsible...

Rev. Eric Elnes, pastor of Countryside Community Church, said the proclamation was created because, “we were just fed up with the popular notion that the Christian point of view is anti-gay.” Elnes, who leads an Omaha church of 1,500 members at 87th Street and Pacific Street, said more than 100 ordained Christian ministers have signed the proclamation, including leaders from Lutheran, Episcopalian, United Church of Christ, Methodist and Presbyterian churches. The ministers will join together on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge to publicly unveil the proclamation and show full acceptance of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and...

After decades of debate, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on Tuesday struck down a barrier to ordaining gays, ratifying a proposal that removes the celibacy requirement for unmarried clergy, in the latest mainline Protestant move toward accepting gay relationships... Differences over the Bible and homosexuality have split Protestant groups nationally and worldwide for years. Within the Presbyterian Church, about 100 of the 11,000 congregations had already broken away ahead of the vote, but a group of large theologically conservative congregations, which calls itself Fellowship, has decided to remain in the denomination for now. Top Presbyterian executives issued a statement to the...

After 33 years of debate, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has voted to change its constitution and allow openly gay people in same-sex relationships to be ordained as ministers, elders and deacons...

A panel of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has acquitted a minister who was accused of violating the denomination's constitution by legally marrying his male partner. The church judicial commission split 3-3 Monday on the charge against the Rev. Erwin Barron, who is under the jurisdiction of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, but now works as a college professor in San Francisco.

The Presbyterian Church (PC-U.S.A.) elected Cynthia Bolbach – a strong supporter of same-sex marriage – as moderator of 219th General Assembly meeting in Minneapolis. Bolbach will oversee the deliberation of a number of contentious resolutions involving the issue of homosexuality within the denomination. The assembly kicked off Saturday and concludes July 10. Currently, the Presbyterian Church holds that marriage is "a civil contract between a woman and man" and requires clergy to live in "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between and a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness." However, an attempt to redefine marriage is up for...

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota July 6, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Presbyterians gathering this week in Minneapolis will face a potentially momentous decision: whether to preserve the teaching that marriage exists only between a man and a woman, or change the definition of marriage to a relationship between any "two people."The 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which began Saturday and concludes July 10, will take up a series of items, among them proposed constitutional amendments to change the definition of marriage in the PCUSA Book of Order. The effect would be to allow churches to host and ministers to officiate at same-sex "marriages." Other proposals...

Smiles and congenial chit-chat abounded as the first of an expected 2,800 people started checking in at the Minneapolis Convention Center Friday for the Presbyterian Church USA's general assembly. But how long the pleasantries will last is in question as the denomination hunkers down to spend the next eight days hashing over several highly contentious issues, including same-gender marriage, the ordination of gay clergy and a committee report on the Middle East that many interpret as being anti-Israeli. Almost lost among the hot-button issues is a matter that likely would have dominated any other general assembly: a proposal to completely...

From WKYT News in Louisville, Kentucky:"The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) eliminated 49 more jobs at its Louisville headquarters." "The Courier-Journal reported that the church, struggling financially, announced the cuts on Friday that included a combination of layoffs, voluntary severance and attrition." "The cuts come after the council's governing board earlier thisweek approved an $82 million budget for 2011 and $80 million for2012 - down from this year's budget of $93.8 million." "The newspaper reported that the denomination has been copingwith losses in membership, congregations, contributions andinvestment returns."No wonder,----- read the most the most recent previous post.For those who would like to protest...