The debate still rages - already there's talk of the Texas Presbyterians separating from the national church because of this. (IMO no big loss; in fact they can take the whole state with them, but I am a petty woman.)
Prior to 1974, there were a number of openly gay and lesbian ministers ordained into the Presbyterian church; in 1974, however, the General Assembly, the main governing body of our church was seeking to unite the National Presbyterian church of the North with the Southern Assembly Presbyterians - they accomplished this in 1976 to become the United Presbyterians, but there were a lot of changes and compromises along the way. The big one becoming the language of ordination - ministers were supposed to be "faithful or celebate" and all the gay semiary students were shoved into the closet to stay there.
But we are an argumentive bunch and the arguements against this started almost immediately - in the 1980's we celebrated over a hundred years of women in "mission" but only fifty years of women in ministry and that debate had started after the Civil War. . .
The fact that it took from 1974 to 2011 to accomplish this goal is a miracle and that I do believe.
Prior to 1974, there were a number of openly gay and lesbian ministers ordained into the Presbyterian church; in 1974, however, the General Assembly, the main governing body of our church was seeking to unite the National Presbyterian church of the North with the Southern Assembly Presbyterians - they accomplished this in 1976 to become the United Presbyterians, but there were a lot of changes and compromises along the way. The big one becoming the language of ordination - ministers were supposed to be "faithful or celebate" and all the gay semiary students were shoved into the closet to stay there.
But we are an argumentive bunch and the arguements against this started almost immediately - in the 1980's we celebrated over a hundred years of women in "mission" but only fifty years of women in ministry and that debate had started after the Civil War. . .
The fact that it took from 1974 to 2011 to accomplish this goal is a miracle and that I do believe.
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