After ardent debates, PCUSA changes little

The nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination has decided not to redefine marriage as a contract between “two persons” instead of between a woman and a man. And the nearly 700 delegates, or “commissioners,” at its General Assembly in Pittsburgh which ended July 7 also did not favor allowing clergy to perform same-gender marriages in states where those marriages are legal.

But then the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) had taken a bold step just last year by accepting ordination of gay and lesbian ministers after years of discord and declining membership. In late June, statisticians said the PCUSA’s membership in 2011 dropped from 2.01 million to 1.95 million, continuing the yearly attrition.

Putting a positive spin on the weeklong General Assembly, the four top executives of the PCUSA declared in a joint pastoral letter that the deliberations, often lasting into early morning hours, reflected a church wrestling “respectfully and graciously”—despite repeated requests from the floor “to reconsider items already approved.”