MINNEAPOLIS, May 10 (UPI) -- A vote by Presbyterians in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area Tuesday changed the policy of the Presbyterian Church (USA) on gay clergy, church officials said.
The Twin Cities presbytery in Minnesota was the 19th to change its vote on the issue, The New York Times reported. The church made the opposite decision two years ago.
The vote in Minneapolis-St. Paul was 205-56 and means a majority of the 173 presbyteries have now voted in favor of ordaining sexually active gays.
The top elected official in the national church, the Rev. Gradye Parsons, said some leaders were surprised by the speed of the change once presbyteries started changing their votes a few months ago.
"We've been having this conversation for 33 years, and some people are ready to get to the other side of this decision," he said.
A number of conservative congregations have left the church, with the Presbyterian News Service putting the number at 100. The departures may be another reason for the change.
Paul Detterman, executive director of Presbyterians for Renewal, said the group plans to propose a separate body for conservatives within the Presbyterian Church (USA).
"We see this as a bit of a crisis of conscience for us," he said. "The book that we hold up as holy is saying one thing, and now the church is behaving differently."
