January 18, 2002

(AgapePress) - While its denomination struggles to retain members in thousands of churches across the United States, representatives of the North Coast region of the Presbyterian Church USA are meeting this week with a controversial item on the agenda: whether to ordain homosexuals and lesbians.

Delegates to the meeting, taking place in Napa, California, will vote on "Amendment A," which would remove from the church's constitution a clause requiring church officers either to be married in a heterosexual relationship or living a celibate single life. Eighty-seven of the church's 173 presbyteries must vote in favor of the amendment for it to take effect.

Specifically, the following text would be stricken from the denomination's constitution if the amendment is adopted: "Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament."

The latest update available from Presbyterian News Service shows 37 presbyteries having considered the amendment, with 31 voting against it.

According to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, the position of the national office of the denomination has caused deep divisions among liberal church members and pastors in California. A church official with the denomination's national office in Louisville, Kentucky, says that if Amendment A passes, it is expected that a small number of churches may leave the denomination.

Officials say homosexual rights has been the most divisive issue for the church since the 1930s, when Presbyterians argued over whether to interpret the Bible literally. The denomination is already battling to retain the members it has. According to Presbyterian News Service, two-thirds of the denomination's 11,200 churches are losing members. The news service says leaders of failing churches are being told to "embrace change" and find ways to attract people with "alternative" lifestyles, such as homosexuals.

Marriage Amendment in Massachusetts
On the other side of the continent, the president of the Massachusetts Family Institute says the people of the Commonwealth have done their job -- and now it is up to the legislature to move forward with a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Dr. Ron Crews says they have obtained more than enough signatures from the people of Massachusetts who are opposed to same-sex unions. He says the drive for a constitutional amendment has been fueled by a lawsuit by seven homosexual couples who want their relationships completely recognized as marriages, more than just civil unions as in neighboring Vermont.

"The same attorneys that represented the litigants in Vermont are the ones who are representing the seven homosexual couples in our state," he says. "They’ve let it be known from day one that they are not interested in a Vermont-style civil union. They want the full benefits and recognition of the word ‘marriage’ to be used in their relationships."

Crews says now the very liberal Massachusetts legislature must vote on the people’s petition. But he is encouraged that only 25% of the 200 lawmakers must vote yes in order for the amendment process to move forward.

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