Presbyterians Bar Gay Ministers

The Presbyterian Church has upheld the church’s ban on ordination of “unrepentant” practicing homosexuals, church officials announced today.

The officials said the 3.1 million-member denomination’s Permanent Judicial Commission--the church’s equivalent of a supreme court--has reaffirmed 1978 and 1979 actions by two General Assemblies that barred homosexuals from being ordained into the clergy or as elders and deacons in local congregations.