Conservative Presbyterians Mulling Split Over Gay Ordination?

The Christian Post reports that a mere three months after the 2-million-member Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) became the fourth Protestant denomination in the U.S. to give ordination rights to openly gay and lesbian clergy, the denomination seems headed for a split. Nearly 2,000 conservative Presbyterians are gathering in Minneapolis this week with an agenda to create a “new Reformed body.” The Rev. Paul Detterman, executive director of Presbyterians for Renewal, wrote to conference participants: “The idea is to recapture our core identity, believing that Reformed theology has much to say to our contemporary culture, and that Calvin’s original vision for the nature and role of presbyteries offers a better way of relating to one another than most of us are experiencing now.” Detterman added that he was urging the group to consider alternatives short of splitting, and that there would be no formal voting. However, a split is being anticipated.