The U.S. Presbyterian Church voted to adopt a new definition of marriage that includes same-sex couples. At 1.8 million, the church is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the country.
Having received support from the majority of the church’s 171 presbyteries, the constitution will be altered to to redefine marriage as a union between "two people" instead of "a man and a woman".
The move comes a year after the General Assembly recommended such a change, and after decades of debate on the place of LGBT congregants. In fact, the church decided in 2011 to allow for the ordination of gays and lesbians as pastors, elders and deacons.
Currently, within the United States, the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, the Quakers, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Churches and Reform and Conservative Judaism officially allow for their religious leaders to marry same-sex couples.
my home church has been sold off by the presbytery and is now in the hands or some other people but i was the 5th generation to be there....... gonna bring my Thai lover from there and get married in the church i was brought up in..... even though it has changed
ReplyDeleteJust in case anyone is interested, the Presbyterian Church in the USA is descended from the Church of Scotland, just like the Episcopalian Church in the USA is descended from the Church of England. American Presbyterians generally have Scottish ancestry somewhere.
ReplyDeleteBy Tim Peter:
ReplyDeleteThx for sharing this! It's important to know that good things - like equality in the churches - are happening for LGBTQ. I'm a member of the PC (USA) {www.pcusa.org} as well, so this is good news for me too. I shared the news all over FB the day the votes happened but forgot to post it to my G+ groups. I'm glad someone else is keeping up. 😏