Church's ban on gay ministers is clarified
Presbyterian court rules on candidates
By Peter Smith
The Courier-Journal
Monday, May 14, 2007

The ban on ordaining non-celibate gays and lesbians in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) extends to those seeking to become candidates for the ministry, the highest court of the Louisville-based denomination says.

The statement came in a ruling issued last week by the Permanent Judicial Commission of the church's General Assembly.

The case involved a woman who was accepted in 2005 as a "candidate" for ministry -- a formal step toward ordination -- by the Mission Presbytery, a local governing body in Texas. the rest