3 Denominations Take Stands on Gays
In actions underscoring deep divisions within mainline Protestantism, United Methodist, Presbyterian and American Baptist church organizations each made conflicting decisions this week on the issue of church dealings with homosexuals.
Clergy and lay members representing more than 400 United Methodist churches in Southern California, Hawaii, Guam and Saipan voted for three resolutions that would strike down the church’s long-standing prohibition against same-sex unions and allow the ordination of gay men and lesbians.
But at the annual meeting of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the commissioners of the 2.6-million-member denomination voted overwhelmingly to reject a measure that would have been a first step toward allowing the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians.
Meanwhile, four American Baptist churches in Northern California were expelled by the national board of American Baptist Churches USA in a vote Tuesday in Des Moines. The vote followed a similar vote in January 1996 by the denomination’s Western regional body, American Baptist Churches of the West. An Ohio church narrowly escaped being thrown out of the denomination.
The four were ousted because they declared themselves “welcoming and affirming” congregations for gay men and lesbians.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
