It's January 2001, the dawn of a New Year and maybe even--depending on which calendar you follow--the beginning of a new millennium. In keeping with such a forward-looking occasion, I'll stick my neck out and make a prediction: Amendment O will be approved. The vote may well be close, but opposition to same-sex unions will carry the day in a majority of presbyteries.
I base this prediction on that most American of crystal balls, the sample survey. In this case, our very own Presbyterian Panel. In August 2000, we asked 1,192 members, 1,110 elders, and 1,486 ministers for their opinions on this very issue. (Response rates were 51 percent, 58 percent, and 66 percent, respectively.) The key result: majorities of members (57 percent) and elders (61 percent) favor prohibiting PC(USA) clergy from presiding at same-sex union ceremonies. But ministers are more divided: only about half of pastors (49.6 percent) favor such a prohibition and almost two-thirds of specialized clergy (64 percent) oppose it.
A similar pattern obtains for three related issues. Majorities of members and elders believe that:
But pastors and other clergy hold a different view--at least on the two civil rights issues. Specifically, majorities of both pastors and specialized clergy believe that "gay partners who make a legal commitment to each other should be entitled to the same rights and benefits as couples in traditional marriage" (among pastors, 52 percent agree; among other clergy, 67 percent), and that "homosexuality should be considered an acceptable alternative lifestyle" (pastors, 51 percent; other clergy, 61 percent).
However, the two clergy groups split on the use of church facilities for same-sex ceremonies: While 55 percent of specialized clergy agree that "it's okay for two people of the same sex to hold a union ceremony in a Presbyterian church," only 38 percent of pastors agree with that statement--and 53 percent disagree.
In short, clergy are divided down the middle on the acceptability of same-sex union ceremonies, with a majority of elders against such ceremonies.
Q1: It's okay for two people of the same sex to hold a union ceremony in a Presbyterian church
Q2: Ministers should be prohibited from performing same-sex union ceremonies
Email the author: Jack Marcum
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