Presbyterian Church Adds List To Growing Number Of Faiths That Recognise Gay Marriages
The Presbyterian Church in the US will start to recognize gay marriages by June 21, 2015. It is the result of the critical 86th “yes” vote that came in on Tuesday night from the Presbytery of the Palisades in New Jersey.
The church’s redefinition of marriage expanded to include a commitment between two people, not necessarily of different genders, was endorsed in 2014 by the General Assembly, reports AP. However, it needed majority approval from the bulk of its members who are spread in 171 regional districts or presbyters in Louisville, Kentucky.
All regional districts voted, and the top leaders of the church accepted the results. With its almost 1.8 million members spread in 10,000 congregations, the Presbyterian Church is now the biggest Protestant group to accept and authorize same-sex weddings within its fold.
Explaining the redefinition of marriage, Rev Robin White, the leader of the More Light Presbyterians, said, “So many families headed by LGBTQ couples have been waiting for decades to enter this space created for their families within their church communities.”
Ahead of the redefinition of marriage, the church in 2014 permitted its ministers to preside at gay weddings if there was approval of the local church. The same-sex unions were only for those in states where such kinds of weddings are allowed.
Because of the rejection by 41 presbyteries of the redefinition, the amendment of the church constitution has a provision that no clergy would be forced to preside in a gay wedding or host a same-sex union right in church property.
In 2011, the church also approved the ordination of gay pastors, elders and deacons, causing a large number of conservative congregations to leave the denomination, reports BBC.
To contact the writer, email: v.hernandez@ibtimes.com.au
