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Tensions Rise as Presbyterian Church Ordains Gay Minister

A Presbyterian congregation on Sunday ordained an open and practicing gay man despite a denominational ban on sexually active homosexual ministers.

A Presbyterian congregation on Sunday ordained an open and practicing gay man despite a denominational ban on sexually active homosexual ministers.

Raymond Bagnuolo, who has repeatedly and publicly stated that he is a practicing homosexual and that he is not willing to submit to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s standards on sexuality, was ordained at the South Presbyterian Church in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

According to the Associated Press, Bagnuolo said during his ordination ceremony that he believed in one God and the Creator and accepted the Scriptures, but that he is unwilling to abide by the church’s constitutional standards that call for its ordained leaders to practice fidelity in marriage or chastity if single.

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"This is a happy and wonderful indication of what can happen when you don't give up and when you wait and see what God has in store for you," Bagnuolo was quoted as saying.

The ordination is likely to ignite more flames within the PC(USA) – a denomination already struggling over the divisive issue of gay clergy.

“This will just heighten the intensity of the debate. Whether it's good or bad for the church depends on your point of view,” the Rev. Jerry Van Martyr, news director for the PC(USA) told AP.

The fidelity/chastity standard will be at the center of a national debate next year when the PC(USA) holds it biennial general assembly. At issue is a peace, purity and unity report that affirms the current standards on sexuality but gives room for individual presbyteries and churches to decide whether these standards are “essential” enough to uphold.

Conservatives who have already criticized the report also scorned Bagnuolo’s ordination an “outright defiance” of the church’s laws.

“It’s quite unambiguous that they are defying our constitution,” said Alan Wisdom, interim president of the Institute for Religion and Democracy and past director for the conservative Presbyterian Action. “Our problem is that the higher governing body has been slow and reluctant to compel these presbyteries and churches to comply.”

A complaint might be filed against the Hudson River Presbytery, which oversees South Presbyterian Church, for approving the ordination. Hudson River Presbytery is among a handful of the 173 PC(USA) presbyteries that stand in open defiance of the fidelity/chastity standard.

The debate over same-sex marriage will likely continue until the General Assembly makes a clear decision next June.

Bagnuolo will serve as pastor of the Palisades Presbyterian Church in Palisades, N.Y. – a 139-member congregation and one of more than 16 in the Presbytery of Hudson River whose sessions have declared that they will ignore the constitutional prohibition against ordaining practicing homosexuals.

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