Tonight, the Seattle Presbytery--the local legislative body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)--will vote on whether or not to approve something called Amendment 08B. If the amendment is passed in a simple majority of the nation's presbyteries, it would mean that the policies forbidding gays and lesbians from becoming ordained as pastors would be what the Presbyterian Outlook calls "less specific." Basically the result would be that each presbytery would then get to choose whether or not to allow gay and lesbian ordination in their area, or could decide on a case-by-case basis, rather than having to follow national policy either way. Tonight's vote should provide some insight into which way the Seattle presbytery would swing if Amendment 08B does pass nationally. Here's the discussion paper local presbytery members will be looking at during the conversation preceding the vote tonight. [UPDATE: The amendment failed, with 91 members voting yes and 155 voting no of 248 qualified voters. Huh, not sure how to interpret that one. WTF, Seattle?] more ›

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 ›