The Presbyterian Church (USA) gave final approval to marriage equality today. Eighty-six of the presbyteries have voted in favor of approval (of the total of 171). The denomination has about 1.8 million members. It, however, has been losing members recently as the more conservative congregations have left the denomination.
From The New York Times:
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 church’s constitution to include same-sex marriage.
The final approval by a majority of the church’s 171 regional bodies, known as presbyteries, enshrines a change recommended last year by the church’s General Assembly. The vote amends the church’s constitution to broaden marriage from being between “a man and a woman” to “two people, traditionally a man and a woman.”
“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 don’t mean to minimize that, but I think we are learning that we can disagree and still be church together.”
From
Box Turtle Bulletin:
Although not all presbyteries have voted, the lopsided two-thirds results to date are sufficient to ensure the endorsement of the change.
They join Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), the United Church of Christ (UCC), the Episcopal Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as major denominations that now support marriage equality.
There are also a number of independent or smaller churches that value equality. The United Methodist Church does not allow for marriage equality primarily due to Asian and African voters in the international denomination, but the church body in the US is in open revolt and has mostly ceased trying to punish the growing number of ministers who flout the policy.
From
The New Civil Rights Movement:
Over the past few years, the Presbyterian Church has faced various splits, with its more conservative members peeling away over social justice issues like same-sex marriage.
Last summer, the 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A.), as it is officially known, voted to support same-sex marriage, and ordered a vote of its local leadership for this year.
From the
Washington Post:
The vote comes amid a larger debate over whether gay marriage conflicts with Scripture and would cause more Presbyterian churches to break relations with the PCUSA. The church has lost 37 percent of its membership since 1992. Most of the congregations that depart opt to affiliate with either the Evangelical Presbyterian Church or a newer body called Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians. The formality of Tuesday’s decision could accelerate more departures.