Gay clergy in the Presbyterian Church will have to wait for yet another round of voting before they’ll be approved for ordination. A presbytery vote on removing the prohibition against gay clergy has failed – but by a closer margin than the last time a vote was held.
“The big story here is that many traditionally conservative areas of the country voted to accept gay clergy and lay officers in the church,” Tricia Dykers Koenig, national organizer for the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, said in the Dallas Morning News. “Our image of what it means to be created in the image of God is broadening.”
It’s only a matter of time before gays and lesbians will grace the pulpits of Presbyterian churches. The tide is turning!
Founder of Motley Mystic and the Jubilee! Circle interfaith spiritual community In Columbia, S.C., Candace Chellew (she/her) is the author of Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians (Jossey-Bass, 2008). Founder and Editor Emeritus of Whosoever, she earned her masters of theological studies at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, was ordained by Gentle Spirit Christian Church in December 2003, and trained as a spiritual director through the Omega Point program of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta. She is also a musician and animal lover.