Close Vote Seen on Gay-Union Rites
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OSKALOOSA, Iowa — A vote on a plan to ban ceremonies for same-sex couples in the 3.6 million-member Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) looks very close, according to church analysts.
The issue “will be decided by a narrow margin,” the denominational news office in Louisville, Ky., predicted.
Presbyweb.com, an independent news Web site based in Oskaloosa, reported that, with a third of the vote tallied earlier this week, 40 regional presbyteries had voted against the ban on same-sex ceremonies and 16 approved. The lopsided tally is misleading, because many regions regarded as liberal voted early.
In 1997, 56.7% of presbyteries voted to bar actively homosexual clergy and lay officers. In the current vote, six presbyteries that favored the 1997 ban are now voting against the ban on same-sex unions, Presbyweb.com said. If another six presbyteries move the same way, the proposal will be defeated, according to the analysis.
Passage of the ban requires approval from 87 of 173 presbyteries in meetings around the nation through mid-April.
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