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Calif. Presbyterian Church Secedes Over Gay Clergy

Calif. Presbyterian Church Secedes Over Gay Clergy

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Members of Fremont Presbyterian Church, the largest Presbyterian congregation in Sacramento, voted Sunday to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) over its ordination of gay clergy.

The congregation voted 427 to 164 to "seek dismissal" from the PCUSA and join a smaller denomination called the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, The Sacramento Bee reports. "Let me make it clear that Fremont didn't leave the PCUSA, they left us," said the Reverend Donald Baird, senior pastor of the church, shortly before the vote.

This year a majority of the PCUSA's regional governing bodies, known as presbyteries, ratified an amendment to the denomination's constitution so as to allow partnered gay and lesbian clergy to serve. The amendment removed language requiring "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness" for clergy members. This month the PCUSA ordained its first gay minister under the new policy, Scott Anderson, in Wisconsin.

About 800 people packed Fremont for its meeting on the issue, making it the largest congregational gathering in the church's history, the Bee notes. Attendees debated the matter for about two hours.

According to the religious news site The Layman Online, several other congregations, in states including Ohio and Tennessee, have voted to leave the PCUSA this year because of the new policy on gay clergy.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.