The largest Presbyterian body in the nation, The Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUSA), maintains doctrinal standards which state that a Christian marriage is one in which "a lifelong commitment is made by a woman and a man to each other ...."

However, the PCUSA supports extending "gay and lesbian couples access to the civil status of civil marriage and to share fully and equally in the rights and responsibilities of that status," according to Rev. Elenora Gidding, director of the Washington, DC, office of the PCUSA. Gidding made the comment at a March 3 press conference prior to the U.S. Senate hearings on the Federal Marriage Amendment. She clearly stated that the PCUSA opposes such a constitutional amendment to protect the traditional definition of marriage.

As further evidence of support for the homosexual political agenda among PCUSA leadership, last summer the PCUSA named a radical feminist pastor to its highest elected post. Susan Andrews, pastor of Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland, is on record as saying it is her "fondest dream" that the PCUSA remove its ban on ordaining practicing homosexuals.

PCUSA pastor Parker T. Williamson, editor-in-chief of the Presbyterian Layman, calls Andrew's selection an "unfortunate" vote by the General Assembly.

"Susan Andrews stands for everything that has caused the decline of this once great denomination," Williamson said. "She is part of an organization called the Covenant Network of Presbyterians that has been lobbying for the full inclusions of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered persons into the leadership of the church."

The Presbyterian Church In America (PCA) is a smaller, theologically conservative group that split from the liberal mainline church 30 years ago. Their primary expression of orthodoxy is the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF), written in the 1640s. The WCF chapter titled "Of Marriage and Divorce" begins with the statement: "Marriage is to be between one man and one woman ...."

At their General Assembly in June 2003, the PCA used that WCF language in a resolution to reaffirm the denomination's strong stand for a Biblical view of marriage.

Lutheran Tradition

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is the fourth largest Protestant group in the U.S. with 5.3 million members. According to ReligiousTolerance.org, a website that "promotes religious diversity as a positive cultural value," ELCA is one of the most liberal denominations in the country.

In 2001 the Churchwide Assembly called for the development of a study on homosexuality, which is due in 2005. The purpose of the study is "to deal with the blessing of same-gender unions and the rostering of persons in committed gay or lesbian relationships."

A companion denominational study guide titled "Journey Together Faithfully" asks ELCA members "to consider how this church should respond to the requests to bless same-sex unions and to ordain, consecrate, or commission people in committed same-sex unions."

Meanwhile, the document A Message on Sexuality: Some Common Convictions, adopted by the Church Council in 1996, states: "Marriage is a lifelong covenant of faithfulness between a man and a woman."

The smaller Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, remains faithful in belief and practice to biblical teachings on marriage. A pastoral letter in March 2004 from Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, president of The Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, states, "We are against [same-sex marriage] in no uncertain terms. The definition of marriage must always be what it always has been: the loving, permanent relationship between one man and one woman .... If it takes an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to preserve the timeless and holy definition of marriage in our country, then I am in favor of it."

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Rusty Benson, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is associate editor of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association.  This article appeared in the May 2004 issue.

© 2004 Agape Press.