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! more ›