{"id":7484,"date":"2011-10-11T02:14:23","date_gmt":"2011-10-11T06:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=7484"},"modified":"2025-09-18T04:52:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T11:52:32","slug":"presbyterian-church-to-ordain-first-openly-gay-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/presbyterian-church-to-ordain-first-openly-gay-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"Presbyterian Church to ordain first openly gay minister"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

From the Los Angeles Times<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

For decades, the Rev. Mark Achtemeier believed gays and lesbians were unfit to serve as leaders in the Presbyterian Church.<\/p>\n

He believed homosexuality to be a kind of affliction, a destructive addiction that ran counter to Scripture. In the 1990s he helped craft restrictions to keep gay and lesbian candidates from joining the Presbyterian clergy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0But on Saturday, Achtemeier will deliver a sermon at the ordination of his friend Scott Anderson, who will become the first openly gay minister in the church after the very restrictions Achtemeier once advocated were abolished.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In May, the Presbyterian Church USA voted to amend its constitution to allow gays and lesbians to serve as ministers and lay leaders. With the move, the 2.3-million-member church became the fourth mainline Protestant denomination to allow gay ordination, following the Episcopal and Evangelical Lutheran churches and the United Church of Christ. Click here <\/a>to read more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the Los Angeles Times:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257,113,114],"tags":[2915,2919,2932,237],"class_list":["post-7484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-same-sex-marriage","category-homosexuality","category-churches-in-crisis","tag-the-emerging-church","tag-signs-of-the-times","tag-homosexuality","tag-end-times","wpcat-257-id","wpcat-113-id","wpcat-114-id"],"yoast_head":"\nPresbyterian Church to ordain first openly gay minister - From the Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/presbyterian-church-to-ordain-first-openly-gay-minister\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Presbyterian Church to ordain first openly gay minister\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From the Los Angeles Times:...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/presbyterian-church-to-ordain-first-openly-gay-minister\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"From the Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-11T06:14:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-18T11:52:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Miscellaneous News Source\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Miscellaneous News Source\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/presbyterian-church-to-ordain-first-openly-gay-minister\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/presbyterian-church-to-ordain-first-openly-gay-minister\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Miscellaneous News Source\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9fdbcbd48da5f29bb452804f6cac87fd\"},\"headline\":\"Presbyterian Church to ordain first openly gay minister\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-11T06:14:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-18T11:52:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/presbyterian-church-to-ordain-first-openly-gay-minister\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":161,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"The Emerging Church\",\"Signs of the Times\",\"Homosexuality\",\"end-times\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Same-Sex Marriage\",\"Homosexuality\",\"CHURCHES IN CRISIS!\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/presbyterian-church-to-ordain-first-openly-gay-minister\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/presbyterian-church-to-ordain-first-openly-gay-minister\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/presbyterian-church-to-ordain-first-openly-gay-minister\\\/\",\"name\":\"Presbyterian Church to ordain first openly gay minister - 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