don't let the door hit you on the way out, g-6.0106b

I may be a bit precipitous with my celebrating. After all, this is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), wherein everything is decided by committee over a very. long. time. However, yesterday was an auspicious day: a committee at the denomination's biannual General Assembly voted to recommend the deletion of G-6.0106b, the notorious constitutional stricture through which the church bans openly gay and lesbian people from being ordained. If this motion passes the next few hurdles before it, then my friends will actually be able to answer their calls to ministry and serve in churches. Be nice, eh?

And yet, caution: motions for deletion like this have come up before, and been defeated at local levels. Let's hope that the past few years have affected a change in people's hearts and understanding. Plus, this motion's passage would mean a huge number of churches would leave the denomination. While this may prove to be an important week for civil rights, there are hard times ahead.

Still, why can't we be happy now? Enjoy the moment!