By Gabe Bullard
Louisville, KY – The Presbyterian Church U.S.A. will no longer reject candidates for the clergy based on sexual orientation. The church's national council voted last year to lift a requirement that unmarried clergy remain celibate. The change required approval from a majority of the regional presbyteries to become official, and it gained that approval Tuesday night. More than 60 of the 173 presbyteries still reject the change, and church elder Cynthia Bolbach says that's to be expected.
"You know, we recognize we are still divided in the church about the ordination of gays and lesbians. A decision has been made, but we are not of one mind."
Any presbyteries that wish to block gay and lesbian clergy from being ordained may still do so. One such group is in western Kentucky. Individual presbyteries may reverse their stance at any time, and Bolbach predicts that as social attitudes change and conservative parishioners leave the church. Other mainline Protestant churches to loosen restrictions on same-sex relationships and gay clergy include the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.