Presbyterians voting on gay clergy

By Julia Duin
Tuesday, April 21, 2009

About 300 Presbyterians meeting Tuesday night at National Presbyterian Church on Nebraska Avenue will vote on an amendment to the constitution of their national church body that would allow practicing gay clergy.

The new language only specifies clergy will "declare their fidelity to the standards of the church." It would replace language in the constitution that requires clergy to maintain "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness."

There are homosexual clergy members in the 2.2-million-member Presbyterian Church, USA (PCUSA), but they have been required to stay celibate since the denomination voted in that requirement in 1978. the rest