Openly Gay Man to be Ordained as Presbyterian Minister

The issue of gay and lesbian clergy has roiled the Presbyterian Church, as it has so many other faiths. But the Presbyterians have moved toward embracing fully equal participation by gays and lesbians in their faith, first by proposing changes to the church's constitution that would guarantee a place of equality in the church for the GLBT faithful--and now by voting to ordain as a minister an openly gay candidate.

The vote was taken amongst the membership of the church's largest governing body in America, comprising 61 churches and 10,000 people, reported the Wisconsin State Journal in a story that was posted at TwinCities.com on Feb. 23.

Official church rules stipulate that gays and lesbians with same-sex life partners are not eligible for ordination. But the John Knox Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA), which includes portions of three states--Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota--approved the candidate, 54-year-old Scott Anderson, anyway, in a vote taken in Madison, Wisconsin, on Feb. 20. Anderson and his male life partner have been committed to one another for 19 years.

"I could see [the vote] having national implications, for sure," said Rev. Alex Thornburg of Madison's Westminster Presbyterian Church. "Some will proclaim this decision the best thing in the world and others will say the church is dying. It will have its drama around it." Those opposed to gays and lesbians being permitted to live family lives while serving the faith as ministers are expected to appeal; if the vote carries, however, "it essentially opens the door" for similar votes across the nation, Thornburg said.

The vote was possible under Presbyterian rules that allow for candidates to voice a conscience-based objection to the rule. It was under that stipulation that Lisa Larges, an open lesbian and a candidate for ordination in 1992, sought to be ordained last year, 17 years after being rejected on the basis of her sexuality. Larges' candidacy was put to a vote a year ago, with the same outcome: she was not approved.

The outcome in Anderson's case was far different: deciding that the doctrinal doubts regarding Anderson's fitness were outstripped by his gifts as a ministerial candidate, the presbytery voted in favor of his ordination by a margin of just over three-quarters.

"I'm very proud to be a Presbyterian today, and that has not always been the case," said Anderson, who was formerly an ordained Presbyterian minister, but who resigned twenty years ago after being outed by members of his congregation in Sacramento, California.

Anderson submitted a statement to the presbytery about the questions of gays in ministerial life, arguing that Biblically-based proscriptions on gay and lesbian clergy are "a grievous misapplication of biblical teachings" and "unfaithful to God's loving intentions for humankind and seriously undermines the church's gospel witness to gay and lesbian partners. I cannot in Christian conscience support it." That statement met the criteria for a conscience-based objection to the ban, opening the way to the vote.

In 1996, the church officially adopted a policy of requiring openly gay men and lesbians in the faith to remain celibate in order to qualify for ordination. A movement last year to repeal that policy gained some traction, but was ultimately unsuccessful.

A poll of the church's membership conducted this year assessed the level of church-wide acceptance for the idea of gay and lesbian clergy in familial relationships. A Feb. 11 Associated Press article reported that 53% of the church's membership, and 60% of its elders, said that gays who not celibate should not be allowed to be ministers.