Presbyterian Church Ordains Openly Gay Minister

[undeterred]

MADISON, Wis. -- The Presbyterian Church is ushering in a new era by allowing gay and lesbian ministers to be ordained. On Saturday at Madison's Covenant Presbyterian Church, Scott Anderson, 56, became the first openly gay minister to be ordained under the new guidelines of the church.

It was a day that Anderson said didn't think he'd ever see. "I left the ministry 21 years ago, and I never thought this day would come in my life time," Anderson said. After two decades, Anderson's title officially changed back to reverend on Saturday. "By this act today, the Presbyterian Church is living what it believes," said Anderson. "We are witnessing with some integrity what we proclaim to be true about God."

Anderson served as a minister in Sacramento, Calif., from 1983 to 1990. He was in the closet, but when a couple threatened to reveal that he was gay he came out to his congregation and then resigned. Over the summer, the church made changes to its constitution allowing gay and lesbian people to serve as ministers. Some parishioners at Saturday's service said the honor is long overdue. "What an important moment in a person's life, a congregation's life, and the life of the Christian church," said Nancy Gunder. "Ordaining him is just recognition of the gifts God already gave him," said Bob Lorenz.

The Rev. Mark Achtemeier was previously an opponent of gays and lesbians being ordained. Now, he said God changed his heart, making him a supporter of the change. "I don't think the Christian faith is designed to destroy people like that," Achtemeier said. "And so I figured something is wrong here, I've missed something. I went back to studying the Bible over a series of years and found I'd missed a lot of stuff along the way."


http://www.channel3000.com/family/29431516/detail.html

Slowly but surely, people are changing their minds....

[aquart]

1. Presbyterians have come a long way, baby.

I was going to say, "Take that, John Knox." But Wikipedia says he preached a "a duty to oppose unjust government in order to bring about moral and spiritual change."

So maybe they've just found their way back to their roots.

[undeterred]

2. I knew a gay woman who wanted to be a minister back in the 80s

so she got married. Never figured out why someone loved the church so much that she would do that. But hopefully she was one of the ones who helped change the denomination.