What a hopeful sign that three evangelicals had the guts to stand up to the majority and vote a resounding, "No!" Unlike TPUP and so many other national groups, these three have issued the No Heard Round the PC(USA).

May this trend continue!

@Jime Keyes: how does going "our separate ways" bring any more unity to the body of Christ, if that suggestion means schism? I agree with everyone that this issue is never ending and there will never be a complete resolution. In light of that, the question is how we go on living as a family, when there is a divisive issue that threatens to divorce us from one another. Can we, as witnesses to the love of Christ which binds us, proclaim a reconciled, unified, and loving family, albeit with major disagreements? I pray so...

On one side we have people who read and believe the Holy Bible. On the other side we have people who read the same Holy Bible and believe what they want to believe. The difference seems to lie in the worldview that is brought to the reading. In other words, the argument is pointless before it is even begun! Let us follow scripture as our separate worldviews lead us, agree to disagree and, therefore, go our separate ways. Our interminable arguments and ever weaker pronouncements serve merely to weaken the body of Christ.

Did anyone think the Special Committee on Civil Union and Christian Marriage would bring anything to the table that is definitive? I am glad there will be three committee members putting forth a minority report. I trust that what they will write will be well thought out, biblical and pastoral. As most of us know there will be no end to this debate on homosexual participation within the life of the PCUSA. I am one of those pastors who strongly believes that God does not create homosexuals. He creates only heterosexuals. A very small percentage of our population, for reasons that are not genetic, have same-sex attraction. Just because someone is attracted to the same gender does not mean they are gay or lesbian. As one who has worked for over twenty years with homosexually-identified people I make my assertions about homosexuality based upon experience and more important on the Word of God. I am not going to change my mind on this divisive issue. Those on the other side aren't going to change their collective minds either. What do we? How do we proceed? I suggest we have no more national committees to discuss this matter. That is a losing cause. Let me also suggest we get the best pistol shooter from either side of this battle and have them duel one another on the floor of the General Assembly this summer. It will be High Noon at the O-Gay Coral. If the gay-affirming shooter wins the entire denomination will embrace homosexuality. If the other shooter wins there will be no place within the PCUSA for homosexual leadership. This sounds like a better idea than the never-ending battle we have experienced since Ozzie and Harriet was a #1 TV show.

Jeffrey Winter
Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

I would prefer that we all practiced the loving inclusivity that Jesus Christ taught us. All people, good or bad, male or female, straight or LGBT, Christian or not, Native-American, African-American, Pacific Islander, Asian, Caucasian, Democrat or Republican or other -- all people are God's children. If over the thousands of years of humanity on this planet mankind had not forced those with the homosexual gene to procreate against their nature, the gene would long-since have vanished from the gene pool. It isn't fair, kind nor Christian to treat folks as outsiders for something that doesn't hurt anyone in anyway but is practicing love. In my past practices as a counselor I never encountered a single male who had not engaged in some sort of practice that homophobes would define as homosexual practices -- not one single fellow ever in 25 years of counseling could say that he had never done something with another fellow. It has also been true that those who were the most questioning of their sexual orientation were the loudest in protest of what should be and individual's private experience with a consenting adult in the privacy of his/her own bedroom.

The result reported here and the comments so far tell us that consensus is still far from reality and that attempts to force the issue will lead only to more conflict. "If we keep doing what we've always done, we'll keep getting what we've always gotten."

The solution lies in "the fourth dimension:" time. Ten or twenty years from now those who now argue so bitterly will have left the scene (one way or another) and a new generation will be asking, "Why were those folks so uptight about people whom God has made different, in one way only, from the rest of us?"

The assertion of Janet Edwards is incorrect. Both the Book of Order and the Book of Confessions state clearly that Christian marriage is the union of one man and one woman. No one has been "acquitted" on the ground that there is no prohibition on same-sex marriage in our constitution. These "acquittals" have come from less than honest courts of the church dominated by liberals who know what the rules are, but simply did not want to apply them. In fact, if my memory serves me, these "acquittals" were done on the basis that since there is no such thing as same-sex marriage, those performing these services actually did nothing, and hence one cannot be charged for doing nothing. Sad, indeed, but let's not misrepresent what happened.

How disappointing. Until the church takes the obvious step of DOING THE RIGHT THING(upholding the rights of all citizens, and actively refusing to participate in discrimination), we will continue to see a passionate disinterest in Christianity. Our membership numbers dwindle. Our capacity to support missions shrinks, our opportunities to serve God and humanity become limited, and we become a mascot of hypocrisy, rather than a beacon of light. What a shame, and a grave diservice to ALL God's children.

Why would this not constitute coverage of the issue. I don't quite understand that comment. Unless their is a recommendation to change the constitution, I fail to see how the committee can say that same sex marriages are acceptable when the constitution defines marriage differently.

How sad that our denomination leaders continue to feel that unity is more important that a right relationship with our Lord, and a holy lifestyle in conformance with his Word. I am not impressed that these folks continued to work together in the face of their differences. Once again we see that long-term discussion is often pointless, especially when our most basic beliefs are being challenged. These discussions were doomed from the beginning for their goal was to seek "unity" instead of God's will.

There is no prohibition in the Constitution of the PCUSA against marriage between two men or two women. If there were, how could three ministers be acquitted in church courts and two others have Investigating Committees fail to even bring charges? Please stop suggesting that there is in any Outlook coverage of this important conversation in our church.