Presbyterian Church Approves Ordination of Gay People

Representatives of the Twin Cities presbytery, which covers Minneapolis and St. Paul, cast the deciding vote at its meeting on Tuesday.Pic by Craig Lassig, AP, Courtesy of NY Times

by Laurie Goodstein, New York Times, May 11, 2011

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.

  The outcome is a reversal from only two years ago, when a majority of the church’s regions, known as presbyteries, voted against ordaining openly gay candidates.

This time, 19 of the church’s 173 presbyteries switched their votes from no to yes in recent months. The Twin Cities presbytery, which covers Minneapolis and St. Paul, cast the deciding vote at its meeting on Tuesday. The vote was 205 to 56, with 3 abstentions.

Cynthia Bolbach, moderator of the church’s General Assembly, its highest legislative body, said in a phone interview from Minneapolis after the vote: “Everyone was civil. There was no applause, no cheering. It was just reflective of the fact that we are moving forward one other step.”

Although by the time the vote was taken in Minneapolis the outcome was expected, Presbyterian church officials said that even a few months ago they would not have predicted that the church was ready to change its policy.

“All of us are surprised,” said the Rev. Gradye Parsons, the church’s stated clerk, its highest elected official. He attributed the turnabout in the votes to both the growing acceptance of homosexuality in the larger culture, and to church members simply wearying of the conflict.

“We’ve been having this conversation for 33 years, and some people are ready to get to the other side of this decision,” he said. “Some people are going to celebrate this day because they’ve worked for it for a long time, and some people will mourn this day because they think it’s a totally different understanding of Scripture than they have.”

“I hope that going forward we can stay together and be faithful witnesses to the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he said. Read full Story on The New York Times here >>

Other Recent Top Ajabu News
Young Africans Who Want to be Porn Stars
African Hair Braider Sues for Right to Work without a License
Multi-National church in Lowell Celebrates 12th Anniversary
East Africans Celebrate Easter, Look Forward to Mother's Day
Kenyan Diaspora Voter Mapping Deadline Extended
Sierra Leoneans Celebrate 50th Independence Anniversary in style
Meet the New Kenyan Envoy to the UN
Eye Opener Atlanta Career Event
Women who Enrich Pastors
Obama Crushes Osama-Terrorism War not a Pep Rally
Bin Laden- One Gangster Down, many Waiting in the Wings
Soft on Terrorism?Bin Laden Kill Shatters Another Obama Myth
Tension as Museveni, Besigye Arrive in Kenya
Chaos in Uganda as 84 protesters are Shot
Kenyan Pastors Seek Change of Direction,blast Media for Woes
Mapping for Kenyan Diaspora Voters to End in 2 days
Birtherist Response Highlights Racial Undertones of ‘Debate’
ICE Gave Conflicting Info on Fingerprint Program, Emails Show
The Great Immigration Stalemate


Return to Home Page