American Presbyterian Church Adopts Policy on Gay People

The leadership body of the US Presbyterian Church concluded on Tuesday that homosexuals and lesbians would be allowed to become priests, a measure that would surely spring intense debates, Reuters informs. However, the ordaining standard procedure regarding them would only be conducted under special circumstances.


The policy was approved during the biennial meeting of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., attended by around 500 of its representatives, on a vote of 57 percent, as apposed to 43 percent who rejected it. What the measure basically allows for is the freedom of local church organizations to decide if gay individuals can be chosen to serve as lay deacons or even as clergy, but only provided they remain true to the fundamental values and principles of the church.

Jon Walton, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Greenwich Village, New York State and respected member of the "Covenant Network of Presbyterians" organization, commented upon this matter, providing further explanations: "It permits local governing bodies to examine candidates on a wider criterion than sexual orientation ... it allows these bodies to look at the whole person and not categorize them".

Furthermore, another religious official, represented by Kim Clayton Richter from the Columbia Theological seminary in Atlanta and member of the above mentioned organism as well, backed the decision, stating that religious leaders should not be chosen only on a sexual criterion and that people should not take the Bible's view on homosexuality exactly as it is professed there: "You cannot pick out two or three passages to prove your point. You have to look at the whole witness of Jesus Christ. We've changed our mentality on slavery and the role of women. We have to change with reality".

Others, like Donald Baird, a clergyman from Sacramento, California, fear that this decision may seriously undermine the future of the church and its dogmas, as well as its harmony.