10 Year Anniversary of the Passage of 10A in the Presbyterian Church (USA), aka, Celebrating 10 Years of Ordaining LGBTQIA+ People in the PCUSA

May 10, 2021 was the date for the 10 year anniversary of the Presbyterian Church (USA) finally getting the necessary vote among our Presbyteries that would amend our Book of Order, part of our Constitution, that made it possible for all LGBTQIA+ to be ordained as officers in the PCUSA.

Amending either the Book of Order and our book of Confessions and Creeds--both part of our Constitution--is a process. All amendments come from a local church session, winding themselves through a process in which other churches in other Presbyteries sign-on, going through various church legislative committees, then being voted at our once-every-two-years General Assembly. If an amendment passes and is voted on positively at the General Assembly, then it has to be ratified by half of the Presbyteries the coming year. Needless to say, there are times that what was voted for and passed on the floor of the General Assembly simply didn't pass the voting process among the Presbyteries. Nothing is done and completed until this last step. 

And that's what happened. It was at the stated meeting of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities--Minneapolis and St. Paul vicinity--that voted "yes" for the amendment. And with that, the amendment became part of church law.

The previous language in the Book of Order was fidelity in marriage, chastity in singleness, approved in 1996.

The new language: “Standards for ordained service reflect the church’s desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life. The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate’s ability and commitment to fulfill all the requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation. Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.”

The new amendment took effect on July 10, 2011, a year after the previous General Assembly meeting in 2010, in which it passed as an amendment. A majority of Presbyteries had voted in favor of 10A.

Woohoo!  Hallelujah!

With that vote, a charge and complaint against me that was pending in the Presbytery of New Hope because I was out and gay, a charge leveled against me by a minister I knew well as a friend, who had followed me into some tough pastoral positions where I was the interim and smoothed the way for him, simply stopped in its tracks. 

Amen! Alleluia!

However, there is still work to do. What passed as an amendment was also the provision that not all Presbyteries have to accept candidates for ordained office in their Presbyteries. In other words, LGBTQIA+ people, like myself, are locked out of being called/installed into a church in some Presbyteries in the PCUSA. 

Second, we can still be discriminated against in the hiring/called-installed process as LGBTQIA+ people in churches, just because we are LGBTQIA+.

Nevertheless, I give God thanks for the passage of 10A. It has made it easier to breathe and be in the PCUSA.

Oh! One of the beautiful benefits of passing 10A? The PCUSA can address more pressing problems in the world as the Church of Jesus Christ such as hunger, fossil fuels, voting rights, poverty, and violence in the world/gun laws.

And that's some good news!