Standards for leadership in Christian churches

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In 2011 the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA)(see below), the largest Presbyterian domination, voted to allow the ordination of homosexuals.
The vote on this issue has been close for years. Some attribute this change to many conservative congregations moving to other branches of the Presbyterian church. e.g. the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a smaller more conservative Presbyterian denomination, does not allow homosexuals or women to serve as clergy, deacons or elders.

Churches seem to be ranking three of the the issues in terms as ability to lead as:

Really bad - Homosexuality
       Bad - Adultery *
Not so bad - Female leadership

* There are many cases of pastors forced to resign after having affairs.
Matthew 19:9 says, "I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."
I don't know of any churches which list divorce as an obstacle to ordination.

Adultery and Homosexuality:
Christ had a lot to say about adultery and next to nothing to say about homosexuality.
See Christian Ethics

What if you view these in terms of harm done? I think that adultery is clearly a bigger problem than homosexuality.
See Adultery - Homosexuality - Female submission on the ethics page.

Women:
As mentioned above the Presbyterian Church in America does not allow women and the Southern Baptists have women in less that 1/10 of 1% of their churches.
PCUSA has women as senior pastors in 19% of their churches.

Reasons for not ordaining women vary among traditions. In the Catholic Church, it is because Jesus chose only men as his 12 apostles. For Orthodox Jews, it is because rabbis are judges in rabbinic courts, and tradition restricts that role to men. Some Protestants cite Paul's words in 1 Cor. 14:35 that "it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church."

I agree with the exclusion of homosexuals from ordination in mainline churhes because of their promotion of this lifestyle (e.g. Gay pride parades). Adulters may brag about their exploits while watching football with their male friends, but they don't make public displays of it.

Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA):
The PCUSA, the largest Presbyterian domination with over 2 million members, has wrestled with these issues for some time.

1956 - Women gained full clergy rights. In 2010 19% of senior pastors were women.
1990-91 - A report entitled "Keeping Body and Soul Together: Sexuality, Spirituality and Social Justice" was distributed throughout the PC-USA and received a lot of publicity. It was the result of several years of deliberation from a committee of lay and clergy within the church.
One of the more controversial concepts was "justice-love" which condoned co-habitation before marriage and homosexuality.
It was ultimately rejected by the General Assembly.
2011 - They passed amendment 10-A permitting congregations to ordain elders and deacons and presbyteries to ordain ministers in same-sex partnerships and marriages if they feel called to do so.
In addition the Book of Order, consisting of the Foundations of Presbyterian Polity, Form of Government, Directory for Worship, and Rules of Discipline, was completely revised.
See: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - Wikipedia

Books:

links:
Faiths seeing wider spectrum of female clergy at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Rise of Women Pastors at NeverThirsty.org
Gay Marriage
Comparison Chart of Ethical Views of Christian Denominations - ReligionFacts
Gay Marriage
Political Issues (Abortion, Homosexuality, Environment, Evolution, ...)
Political Issues (Abortion, Homosexuality, Environment, Evolution, ...)

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last updated 9 Aug 2011