Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Recognizes Same-Sex Marriage

[cbayer]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/presbyterian-church-usa-recognizes-same-sex-marriage-n325406

BY M. ALEX JOHNSON

The 1.75 million-member Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has updated its constitution to recognize same-sex marriage, bringing the laws of the nation's eighth-largest Protestant denomination in line with its already accepted practice. Individual churches will still be able to decline to perform such marriages if they believe them inappropriate, the church said Tuesday.

The General Assembly of the PC (U.S.A.), the largest of several U.S. Presbyterian denominations, approved the amendment to its Book of Order last year, but the change had to win the approval of a majority of the 171 local governing bodies, or presbyteries, to become official. The church said Tuesday that the Palisades Presbytery, based in Rochelle Park, New Jersey, had become the 86th local body to approve the amendment.

The Book of Order currently defines marriage as "a civil contract between a woman and a man." The new wording reads: "Marriage involves a unique commitment between two people, traditionally a man and a woman, to love and support each other for the rest of their lives."

Pastors — traditionally known as "teaching elders" — have already been allowed to perform same-sex marriages in states where they're legal since last June. The new amendment leaves the discretion of whether to conduct such ceremonies with individual ministers.

more at link

[Warren Stupidity]

1. but hey what the heck, if you still want to be a bigot, that's fine.

"Individual churches will still be able to decline to perform such marriages".

[AtheistCrusader]

2. All right, and it only took them three decades to come up with a weasel-word solution to it.

""Marriage involves a unique commitment between two people, traditionally a man and a woman, to love and support each other for the rest of their lives." "

Couldn't leave that 'traditional' bit out of it. Oh no. Gotta pander to the troglodytes.

[hrmjustin]

3. I congratulate them on this step and hope they will continue to break down old bigotry.

[longship]

4. Well, there is a bit of weasel there.

But, it is a move in the right direction.

The thing is the way the press is covering it, as that the church is allowing same sex marriage at all, in spite of the weasel words. Let the conservatives chomp on that for a while.

[cbayer]

5. Agree. They didn't exactly kick the door down, but they did open it

enough for some to get through.

And, as you say, the religious right isn't going to like it one bit.

[phil89]

6. Absolute cowardice to

leave the option for individual churches to decline it. We shouldn't be praising half measures imo.

[cbayer]

7. I hope there will be a trend with people moving away from

the churches that opt out.

It appears that the rise in the "nones" is due in large part to the dissatisfaction with mainline churches positions on things like GLBT marriage equality.

But we shall see and I agree that leaving this as optional was pretty cowardly.

[LostOne4Ever]

8. I will celebrate any advancement no matter how minor

[font size=3]But I will also continue to condemn the faults as well.

Good on the church for this step, but the weasel word and allowing individual churches to continue being bigots is bull.[/font]

[cbayer]

9. Agree. This is a mixed bag.

I want to shake them with one hand and pat the one the back with the other.

But this kind of "compromise" is, I hope, the beginning of another wall coming completely down.