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Presbyterian Court OK's Gay Man's Ordination

Presbyterian Court OK's Gay Man's Ordination

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Scott Anderson (pictured), a gay man who left the Presbyterian ministry 21 years ago, can now return to the pulpit, the denomination's highest court ruled this week.

The Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Permanent Judicial Commission dismissed an appeal aimed at blocking Anderson's ordination, noting that a recent change in church law allowing noncelibate gay and lesbian clergy made the appeal moot, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinelreports. The ruling came Monday and was made public Tuesday.

Anderson, executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches since 2003, is scheduled to be ordained in Madison, Wis., October 8. "It's wonderful news," he told the Journal Sentinel. "It's been a long and exhaustive journey, and I'm thankful it's over."

Anderson was originally ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1982 in California, but he left the ministry in 1990 after being outed by members of his congregation. In 2006 he applied for ordination in Wisconsin. The Presbyterian governing body for the state approved his application last year, but a group of churches sued to block it. A lower church court upheld the approval in November, and the judicial commission's ruling affirms that.

In May a majority of presbyteries voted to ratify a policy approved by the denomination's legislative body last year, removing language requiring clergy to live "in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness" and therefore allowing individual presbyteries to decide whom to ordain.

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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.