PCUSA Proposal Requiring Monogamy for Clergy Draws Strong Opposition

The Presbyterian Church (USA), whose headquarters are in Louisville, Kentucky, has a proposal before it that would require all clergy, including those in same-sex relationships, to be monogamous. The proposal has drawn strong opposition from within the denomination.

The Council of Women and Sexuality Advocacy, responding to the proposal, which is titled “Definition of moral character by narrow relationship rules,” said it goes beyond the church’s mission to train disciples and attempts to regulate the private lives and relationships of individuals. The Council cited the principle “God is the Lord of Conscience” from the Church Act, stating that the church’s duty is not to impose a single lifestyle but to nurture a people marked by justice, responsibility and love.

The LGBTQIA+ Equality Initiative Council criticized the proposal for relying on “consistent and culturally specific family and relationship structures,” which it said does not reflect “the diversity of the people of God.” The Council also said the proposal wrongly treats multiple intimacy and polygamy as the same thing, adding that “people in a multi-family relationship may be highly satisfied with their relationship.”

The Social Witness Policy Advisory Board recommended a separate project to develop a systematic study guide on theological frameworks for human sexuality and sexuality, and to set guidelines on the use of inclusive and non-dual language. The Board also warned that “a policy that attempts to define and limit forms of relationships from the point of view of trauma may inadvertently strengthen structures of shame, silence and spiritual coercion, particularly for those who are in a complicated or borderline situation,” a concern for protecting the vulnerable (Psalm 82:3).

More Light Presbyterians, an advocacy network supporting LGBTQ people in the church, said it represents hundreds of congregations in the United States. The group said the proposal strengthens “the definition of a narrow and culturally limited relationship,” which it said has historically been used to exclude, discipline and harm members of the community. It added that “God’s call does not determine whether a person is in line with the rules of a restrictive relationship.”

The source places the proposal within the denomination’s recent history. In 2015, the Presbyterian Church (USA) amended its constitution to allow same-sex marriage, and most presbyteries officially recognized such marriages by amending the Church Act. The source also states that the denomination opened the way for LGBT people to serve as clergy as early as 2011.

Robert Gagnon, a conservative biblical scholar who taught at Wesley Biblical Seminary and wrote *The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics*, said that the controversy over multiple intimacy is the logical result of the denomination’s position on same-sex relationships. He wrote: “If you have removed the root — that is, all sexual intercourse must be based on a man and a woman — then you can no longer expect to maintain the other principle that leads from that root: that any sexual relationship can only involve two persons at the same time.” He also said that “the more serious damage to sexual integrity is the acceptance of same-sex unions,” because it is “directly against the very foundations of the Holy Bible’s sexual principles.”

Source: Read the original report (translated from Mandarin Chinese)