REGIONAL PRESBYTERIANS Vote defeats bid to bar same-sex rites by clergy

For a local Presbyterian official, the vote was just part of a larger debate.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
A proposal to bar Presbyterian clergy from officiating at commitment ceremonies for gay couples was defeated in a vote tally released Wednesday. That leaves clergy free to conduct such rites as long as they are not confused with marriages.
The vote is a victory for the liberal side in a conflict that has divided the 3.6 million-member Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for 24 years.
The district that represents 55 Presbyterian churches in the Youngstown and Akron areas voted with other districts to defeat the ban.
Representatives of Eastminster Presbytery voted 56-57 against adoption of the ban.
The Rev. Meta Cramer, the stated clerk for Eastminster, said Wednesday, "I don't take the vote as any kind of referendum."
Larger debate: All that has happened is that the ban has been defeated, said the Rev. Mrs. Cramer. She and her husband, Stephen, run four churches in Salem, New Waterford, Rogers and Hanoverton.
There is always a tendency to tie other issues into such votes, Cramer said. "There isn't in this case."
The vote was "one little piece of a large debate," Mrs. Cramer added.
There are 173 presbyteries that act as the national arm of the church. An independent website, www.Presbynews.com., reported that 63 presbyteries had voted to adopt the amendment, and 87 had voted against it. Presbyteries are still voting even though enough have cast ballots to prevent adoption of the ban, which was named "Amendment O."
The amendment reads:
"Scripture and our Confessions teach that God's intention for all people is to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or in chastity in singleness. Church property shall not be used for, and church officers shall not take part in conducting, any ceremony or event that pronounces blessing or gives approval of the church or invokes the blessing of God upon any relationship that is inconsistent with God's intention as expressed in the preceding sentence."
The rules: The Presbyterian church bans gay and lesbian marriages, but Presbyterian ministers can perform same-sex unions as long as it is clear they are not marriages.
In presbytery votes, each church sends its pastor and at least one representative, based on the size of the congregation. However, representatives vote their conscience and not a directive from their congregation.
Mrs. Cramer couldn't recall if representatives of all 55 Eastminster's churches attended the local vote.
Eastminster's vote was secret. She declined to say how she voted, but she said there was discussion beforehand, "with extraordinary quality of mutual respect and restraint."
A minor issue in the debate was the amendment's language on the use of church buildings, which is normally left to individual congregations, Mrs. Cramer said.
Presbyterians will continue to argue for and against expanded roles for gays and lesbians in the church.
"Time will tell if we can hold hands across the aisle," said Mrs. Cramer. "It won't go away."
Power issue: Hans Cornelder, who runs the Presbyweb.com Web site, said that most Presbyterians oppose same-sex rituals but that the proposal lost because many felt it intruded too much on the powers of local clergy and congregations.
"Very few people in the presbytery debates have spoken in favor of blessing same-sex unions," he said.
The next round of conflict could come at the annual national assembly June 9-16 in Louisville. Some 30 bills for that meeting propose repealing a requirement that clergy and lay officers "live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness."
The only other major U.S. Christian denomination that permits same-sex blessings is the United Church of Christ, though in practice the Episcopal Church also allows them.
XContributing to this report was D.A. Wilkinson, Vindicator religion editor.