Presbyterians Vote To Drop Ban On Gay Ordination

Yesterday, one of the largest mainline Protestant Christian denominations--the Presbyterian Church (USA)--voted at their General Assembly to end the ban on ordination of gays and lesbians. The vote was 54% to 46%, an impressive margin for a denomination that has been roiled by bitter conflict over this issue for a solid thirty years. Technically worded, the vote dropped the rule that "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between and a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness" was an absolute requirement for ordination. It will take another year for the nation's 173 presbyteries, or geographically grouped churches who have a shared governing body, to vote individually to approve a change to the PC(USA)'s constitution. But as of right now, a church--yes, even a church in the moderately conservative Presbytery of Seattle--may on a case by case basis overrule the ban and ordain gays and lesbians. This is huge news!

We just learned about the decision an hour ago, and we are still wiping tears of joy from our cheeks. It was just last night that we were talking about gay ordination over beers at Hooverville, moaning to our colleagues about how long we thought it would take for things to change. In many ways, the bitter fighting is not over; it has begun anew, because every church--including the diversely-opined churches of Seattle--will now be faced with the decision about how to respond to the General Assembly's vote. Presbyteries will organize informational meetings. There will be long (long, long) arguments in church basements and in church members' kitchens over coffee. Committees will form and reform. Individuals, churches and entire presbyteries will likely decide to leave the denomination if they are, a year from now, required to ordain gays and lesbians without prejudice.

Seattlest is not even going to try to feign objectivity: this is a major, major day of celebration for us!! We grew up Presbyterian, attended a PC(USA)-affiliated college, and our parents are both ordained PC(USA) ministers. We first learned of the existence of homosexuality within the context of this very issue some fifteen years ago. There has never been a time in our lives when the denomination has not been fighting about it, and our own family is divided on how the church should be moving forward. Though we left the church on other grounds, this feels like a significant piece of redemption of all of those years of tense arguments, endless biblical interpretations and reinterpretations, and personal grief over the homophobia and bigotry in the church that raised us.

We'll keep you posted about Seattle churches' response to the vote! For now, we say this, and mean it with every atom of our being: Happy Pride Weekend!!