Presbyterians do turnaround on gay clergy
Few experts in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) were predicting that 2011 would see the denomination dropping its three-decade opposition to ordaining gay and lesbian clergy. The PCUSA's General Assembly last July approved a measure to do just that—for the fourth time. But in all previous cases, a majority of regional presbyteries had overruled any change.
On May 10, however, when the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area voted 205–56 to approve the change, it became the decisive 87th presbytery to vote yes. Voting nationwide had already shown a steady 55 percent approval rate, well before all 173 regional church bodies had voted. Tallies from across the country showed that 19 presbyteries had switched their no votes in 2009 to yes this year; only three small presbyteries changed from yes to no.
Groups seeking change "wept for years" over the many gay and lesbian Presbyterians who left the church, but "today we shed tears of jubilation," said Sylvia Thorson-Smith of Presbyterian Voices for Justice.
