Proud of the "P" in PCMK

The New York Times

"Presbyterians Approve Gay Marriage in Church Constitution"

This has been a good week to be a Presbyterian.  Once again the Presbyterian Church (USA) made headlines, including the NY Times.  On Tuesday, our neighbors of the Palisades Presbytery in New Jersey voted to affirm the change to our constitution which defines marriage as "a unique commitment between two people, traditionally a man and a woman, to love and support each other for the rest of their lives."  Palisades was the 86th Presbytery (out of 171) to affirm, so it is now part of our Book of Order.  I am particularly proud because I was one of the commissioners from Hudson River Presbytery to the 221st General Assembly where we approved this language.  I was there when the amendment was made to add the words, "traditionally a man and a woman."  That clause seemed to calm any last minute jitters and it was passed by a wide margin.

It has been quite a journey, but it feels like we can finally move beyond decades of conflict at Presbytery and General Assembly gatherings.  There are those who think the denomination has lost its soul, but I think we have been wise and even inspired as we have taken steps to remove a significant barrier to the inclusive justice we proclaim.  There is room in our church for people who are not yet comfortable with gay pastors or same sex marriage, but more importantly there is room and a warm welcome for those who face so much discrimination in life.

It's a proud day to be a Presbyterian, and it is a proud day to be a part of PCMK.  On Sunday our Church School children packed over 100 lunches for the homeless of New York City.  One touching story is shared by our CE Director, Kathy Anderson.  While helping the younger children decorate the lunch bags one child asked why their mommies didn't make lunches for these people.  When Kathy explained that these people are grown ups who don't have mommies around, the child said she wanted to give lots of hugs through her lunch bag.  She proceeded to completely cover it in X's and O's (hugs and kisses).

So, I think you can see why I am proud to be a "P", especially since it is part of PCMK!