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Q: As a conservative, what should I do and what should our church do as the PCUSA moves toward gay ordination? A: First of all, let’s clarify: There are no genuine "conservatives" in the PCUSA if by conservative you mean radical-right or fundamentalist Christians. The very fact that the most conservative organization in the denomination, The Presbyterian Lay Committee, is led by an ordained woman speaks to that reality. Over the past 45 years the PCUSA has migrated so far to the left that we can no longer see the right from our current vantage point. The vote to eliminate...

The Presbyterian Church USA has opened the door for ordaining gay ministers, deacons and elders. The church's constitution used to have a requirement for its leaders to "live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness." However, recently the PCUSA has dropped that stipulation and now nebulously requires church leaders "submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life"--whatever that means! In doing this the PCUSA contradicts the Bible's clear teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman: i.e. Adam and Eve not Adam...

Yet another denomination has voted to ordain openly homosexual candidates to its ministry. Yesterday, the Presbyterian Church (USA) presbytery of the Twin Cities in Minnesota voted to approve a change to the church’s constitution that will allow the denomination’s 173 presbyteries to ordain persons without regard to sexual orientation. The Twin Cities presbytery cast the deciding vote in what is now a 33-year effort to remove all restrictions on homosexuals serving in the church’s ordained ministry. It became the 87th presbytery to affirm the action of the church’s 219th assembly last summer authorizing the constitutional change. The action not only...

The church’s constitution used to have a requirement to “live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness” for church officers. The amendment change removes that stipulation and requires church leaders to “submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life.”... The changes also state that the governing body responsible for ordaining ministers or installing lay leaders should examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation and suitability for the responsibilities of office. “Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual...

Washington D.C., May 12, 2011 / 12:39 am (CNA).- The Presbyterian Church USA has voted to remove clergy requirements of marital fidelity or single chastity, thus allowing the ordination of ministers and lay leaders who are openly homosexual or living in unmarried relationships.“This is a lonely day for Presbyterians who believe what the Bible and the Church have consistently taught: that God’s will is that we be faithful in marriage or chaste in singleness. Now we belong to a denomination that is no longer sure it believes that teaching,” said Allan Wisdom, a director of Presbyterian Action at the...

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...

As the Presbyterian Church (USA) looks poised to remove a prohibition on ordaining gay people, local Presbyterians are reflecting on what the change could mean for them....The proposed change replaces fidelity and chastity requirements with more general guidelines instructing governing bodies to “examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation and suitability for the responsibilities of office.”...“What it means is that we can no longer categorically eliminate a group of people from ordination,” Schempp said. The Rev. Davis Price of Covenant Presbyterian sees the culture-Bible dichotomy as being nuanced. .. Price welcomes the potential for greater inclusion of gays in leadership, and...

MINNEAPOLIS -- An ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church USA was acquitted Monday by a church panel of charges that he violated the church constitution when he legally married his gay partner in California in 2008. The case of the Rev. Erwin Barron, who was associate pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis in the 1990s, is likely to be appealed. It is the first time the divided church, which sidestepped the issue of gay marriage at its national convention last summer in Minneapolis, has dealt with the possible discipline of a gay pastor who legally married a same-sex partner....

The Presbyterian Church-USA, one of the nation’s oldest and largest mainline Christian denominations, is in the middle of a crucial vote among its leadership to determine whether or not open homosexuals will be allowed to fill the church’s pulpits. At the denomination’s General Assembly in July 2010, delegates approved by a 373 to 323 vote a measure that would allow open homosexuals to pastor and minister in the flagship Presbyterian denomination’s 11,000 congregations and serve its estimated 2.3 million members. A vote on the amendment is now making its way through the church’s 173 regional presbyteries, a process that must...

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.

Bingo in the Buff By Parker T. Williamson, The Layman, Posted Wednesday, October 6, 2010 “This is not your grandmother’s bingo,” says Marcus Wise, a writer for ArtVoice, a Buffalo, N.Y. area Web publication. Wise’s article, written in 2008, refers to Saturday night games that are now being played at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, home of “Buff Bingo.” The players’ pitch is clearly intended to attract Buffalo’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender population. But – true to management’s professed inclusiveness – “the crowd averages half and half,” according to the event’s hostess and drag queen Gladys Over. Wise describes Gladys as...

Opening Worship Processional - 219th General Assembly (Presbyterian - PCUSA)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Presbyterian leaders want the U.S. to end aid to Israel unless the country stops settlement expansions in disputed Palestinian territories. Delegates of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted Friday to support the call during the church's general assembly in Minneapolis. The measure passed with 82 percent of the vote. ...

Presbyterian leaders approve gay clergy policy The change needs approval from a majority of the church's regional presbyteries to take effect. By PATRICK CONDON Associated Press Updated: 07/08/2010 06:31:58 PM EDT MINNEAPOLIS -- Leaders of the Presbyterian church have voted to allow non-celibate gays in committed relationships to serve as clergy. Thursday's vote isn't a final stamp of approval for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) or its more than 2 million members. But it's a step that could make the church one of the most gay-friendly major Christian denominations in the country. Delegates voted during the church's general assembly in Minneapolis,...

MINNEAPOLIS – Presbyterian leaders voted Thursday to allow non-celibate gays in committed relationships to serve as clergy, approving the first of two policy changes that could make their church one of the most gay-friendly major Christian denominations in the U.S. But the vote isn't a final stamp of approval for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) or its more than 2 million members. Delegates voted during the church's general assembly in Minneapolis, with 53 percent approving the more liberal policy on gay clergy. A separate vote is expected later Thursday on whether to change the church's definition of marriage from between "a...

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...