Kentucky
Presbytery Votes to Overturn Ban on Gay Ministers

A governing body of the Presbyterian Church (USA) for the Kentucky region voted on Tuesday to overturn a national ban on gay ministers. The vote by the Presbytery of Transylvania, which covers 56 counties in central and eastern Kentucky, marked the first time a local presbytery rejected the ban, which has been in place since 1996.

The amendment to overturn the ban on gay ministers would need approval by a majority of the 173 presbyteries in the United States to succeed. If passed, it would allow gays and lesbians to be ordained as pastors, elders, and deacons. Several previous attempts to overturn the ban have failed.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) claims to have approximately 2.3 million members, with large concentrations of members near Charlotte, N.C., and Pittsburgh.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) has considered such amendments to its Book of Order several times since 1996, when an amendment was put in place requiring church officers to live "in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness."

Votes from all 173 presbyteries are expected to be completed by May.